A. IN MINNEAPOLIS
Besides the estimates of deficiency based on tests, the school records
may furnish valuable objective evidence about mental retardation among
delinquents. The school environment is the first prominent social
environment to which the child must adjust himself. If he fails in this
while in regular attendance we have an important indication of mental
deficiency. With laws which require attendance at school, we may even
estimate the mental character of groups, on the basis of success in
school, provided that we use proper caution as to the effects of late
entrance and of absence from school. Moreover, whether retardation in
school shows mental deficiency or not, it certainly sets forth a vital
problem in connection with delinquency. We shall first consider the
school retardation of delinquents and leave the problem of checking the
tests by school records until later.
In order to study school retardation we tabulated the school position of
236 boys and 95 girls consecutively found delinquent in the Minneapolis
juvenile court. To make the results more significant we did not include
any cases dismissed at their hearing in court. Comparison with more
serious delinquents is made by means of the group of 100 juvenile
repeaters and 123 from the Glen Lake Farm School. The school position
and actual age of each delinquent was compared with the age and grade
distribution among Minneapolis elementary school children. The latter
was determined by a census made the same year the returns for which
included about 15,000 of each sex (see Table XII).[31] The ages and
grades were recorded for the beginning of September, when the school
year opens, and the census was taken late in the year after all the
children had been registered in school. That different groups can only
be properly compared when the age-grade distributions are made for the
same time in the year is clear when one remembers that the ages are
changing throughout the school year while the grades remain the same for
at least half the year. The census was taken for another purpose so that
it unfortunately does not include the high school pupils. Since the
frequency and amount of retardation increases for older ages which occur
relatively more frequently in the groups of delinquents the comparison
somewhat exaggerates the difference between the groups. This difference
in the relative ages of the groups is allowed for, however, in a later
table on which the discussion will be based. The school positions of the
various groups of delinquents and of ordinary school children are given
in Table XIII and graphically in Figure 2.
TABLE XII.
AGE AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION IN SEPTEMBER OF PUPILS IN THE ELEMENTARY
SCHOOLS OF MINNEAPOLIS
BOYS
────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│ _Ages_
────┼──┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬───┬───┬──┬───┬─────
Gra-│ 5│ 6│ 7│ 8│ 9│ 10│ 11│ 12│ 13│ 14│ 15│ 16│17│18+│ To-
des │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │tals
────┼──┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼───┼───┼──┼───┼─────
I│61│1656│ 629│ 144│ 44│ 7│ 4│ 4│ 4│ │ 2│ │ │ 1│ 2556
II│ 1│ 151│ 979│ 650│ 221│ 92│ 28│ 11│ 4│ 2│ 1│ │ │ │ 2140
III│ │ 12│ 169│ 724│ 606│ 290│ 106│ 44│ 9│ 10│ 4│ 3│ │ 2│ 2140
IV│ │ │ │ 140│ 628│ 635│ 344│ 184│ 66│ 34│ 13│ 2│ │ │ 2046
V│ │ │ │ 2│ 120│ 489│ 541│ 371│ 190│ 88│ 36│ 9│ 1│ │ 1847
VI│ │ │ │ │ 5│ 94│ 428│ 594│ 380│ 223│ 96│ 20│ 1│ 1│ 1842
VII│ │ │ │ │ │ 7│ 97│ 422│ 458│ 397│204│ 60│ 6│ 2│ 1635
VIII│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 112│ 308│ 499│346│142│27│ 6│ 1444
────┼──┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼───┼───┼──┼───┼─────
│62│1819│1777│1650│1624│1614│1552│1742│1419│1235│702│236│45│ 12│15489
────┴──┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴───┴───┴──┴───┴─────
GIRLS
────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│ _Ages_
────┼──┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬───┬───┬──┬───┬─────
Gra-│ 5│ 6│ 7│ 8│ 9│ 10│ 11│ 12│ 13│ 14│ 15│ 16│17│18+│ To-
des │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │tals
────┼──┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼───┼───┼──┼───┼─────
I│45│1642│ 493│ 117│ 38│ 9│ 6│ 3│ 1│ 1│ 1│ │ │ 1│ 2356
II│ │ 143│ 890│ 582│ 159│ 63│ 27│ 6│ 5│ 1│ 1│ │ │ │ 1877
III│ │ 10│ 165│ 755│ 553│ 193│ 77│ 27│ 12│ 4│ │ │ │ │ 1796
IV│ │ │ 6│ 168│ 727│ 618│ 290│ 132│ 446│ 18│ 8│ │ │ 1│ 2014
V│ │ │ │ 12│ 133│ 573│ 611│ 309│ 131│ 44│ 15│ 4│ │ 1│ 1833
VI│ │ │ │ │ 7│ 132│ 493│ 519│ 330│ 179│ 80│ 17│ 1│ 3│ 1761
VII│ │ │ │ │ │ 6│ 113│ 447│ 554│ 342│173│ 29│ 5│ 2│ 1671
VIII│ │ │ │ │ │ │ 6│ 109│ 432│ 577│348│ 96│12│ 8│ 1588
────┼──┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼───┼───┼──┼───┼─────
│45│1795│1554│1634│1617│1594│1623│1552│1510│1166│626│146│18│ 16│14896
────┴──┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴───┴───┴──┴───┴─────
TABLE XIII.
RETARDATION IN SCHOOL OF GROUPS OF CONSECUTIVE JUVENILE DELINQUENTS IN
MINNEAPOLIS COMPARED WITH PUPILS IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, THE
DIFFERENCE IN THE RELATIVE AGES OF THE GROUPS BEING DISREGARDED
┌─────────────┬────────────────────┬───────────────────────┐
│ │ Summary │ Percentages │
├─────────────┼──────┬─────────────┼─────────┬─────────────┤
│ BOYS │Number│ Retardation │Advanced │Satisfactory │
├─────────────┼──────┼──────┬──────┼────┬────┼──────┬──────┤
│ │ │ Per │ Av. │ 2 │ 1 │ │ │
│ │ │ Cent │ Am't │ │ │ │ │
├─────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼────┼────┼──────┼──────┤
│Ordinary │ 15489│ 70│ 0.37│ 0.2│ 6.1│ 36.3│ 30.0│
│ pupils │ │ │ Yr.│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Ordinary │ 236│ 27│ 1.34│ 2.5│ 9.7│ 17.4│ 30.1│
│ delinquents│ │ │ Yr.│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Recidivists │ 100│ 74│ 1.77│ 1.0│ 1.0│ 6.0│ 18.0│
│ │ │ │ Yr.│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│County Farm │ 123│ 68│ 1.66│ │ 0.8│ 13.8│ 17.1│
│ School │ │ │ Yr.│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ GIRLS │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Ordinary │ 14879│ 23│ 0.27│ 0.3│ 6.8│ 40.0│ 30.2│
│ Pupils │ │ │ Yr.│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Ordinary │ 95│ 91│ 2.57│ 1.1│ 0.0│ 2.1│ 5.3│
│ Delinquents│ │ │ Yr.│ │ │ │ │
└─────────────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴────┴────┴──────┴──────┘
┌─────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ Percentages │
├─────────────┼───────────────────────────────────────┤
│ BOYS │ Retarded │
├─────────────┼────┬────┬────┬────┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┤
│ │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├─────────────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│Ordinary │15.9│ 7.6│ 2.7│ 1.2│ │ │ │ │ │
│ pupils │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Ordinary │24.6│ 9.7│ 3.4│ 1.3│0.9│ │ │ │0.4│
│ delinquents│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Recidivists │17.0│25.0│18.0│11.0│3.0│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│County Farm │22.8│21.1│15.4│ 5.7│3.3│ │ │ │ │
│ School │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ GIRLS │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Ordinary │14.0│ 5.9│ 1.8│ 0.│ │ │ │ │ │
│ Pupils │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Ordinary │15.8│32.6│20.0│ 8.4│9.4│1.1│2.1│2.1│ │
│ Delinquents│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
└─────────────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘
[Illustration: FIG. 2. _School Retardation of Minneapolis Delinquents
Compared With Elementary School Boys._]
In the Minneapolis group of elementary school children it will be found
that there is about as much chance of a child being in either of the two
most common ages for a grade. Among the boys, for example, 36% were in
the series represented by age 6 in the first grade, 7 in the second
grade, 8 in the third grade, etc., while 30% were in the series
represented by one year older for each grade. It is, therefore,
reasonable to regard either 6 or 7 as a satisfactory age in the first
grade, 7 or 8 in the second, when one estimates the amount of
retardation in this group. The allowance of two ages as satisfactory for
a grade is in conformity with the practise of Strayer (_189_). The
necessity of taking these ages at either the beginning or the end of the
school year, and not merely “in the grade,” is emphasized by the report
of the New York City Committee on School Inquiry (_72_). Ayres (_71_)
also considers only those pupils over-age who are over 7 in the first
grade, 8 in the second, etc., so that this may be regarded as fairly
well established as a standard for measuring the retardation in school
position of groups of children.
The summary of results in Table XIII shows that 70% of the ordinary
delinquent boys were retarded in school position as compared with 27%
among the Minneapolis boys in the elementary schools, 91% of the
ordinary delinquent girls as compared with 23% of the Minneapolis girls
of these schools. When one compares the age distribution of the
delinquent groups, given in Table XIII with that of the Minneapolis
school children in Table XII, it is clear that an allowance should be
made for the much larger proportion of older children in the delinquent
groups. This may be done by determining the percentage retarded at each
age and in each group and then calculating indices of retardation by
weighting the percentage retarded at each age in the proportion to the
number of delinquents at that age. Table XIV gives these results for the
ages 8 to 15 inclusive.
For example, in calculating the indices 39 and 70 for the frequency of
retardation among ordinary delinquent boys as compared with elementary
school boys, the percentages retarded at each life-age for each of these
groups was multiplied by the number of ordinary delinquent boys at this
age, as shown lower in the table, and the totals divided by the number
of ordinary delinquents, 213. The average frequency of the retardation
of a school group which compares in ages with the delinquent group was
thus determined. In calculating the indices of amount of retardation the
same procedure is followed except that the average number of years
retarded is found for each age and this is multiplied by the number of
delinquents at that age. The 16-year-olds are omitted because of the
inadequacy of the school census for this age. According to the standard
which regards 7 years as satisfactory in the first grade there can be no
retardation under eight years of age. Since some of the pupils 13 years
of age and over have reached high school and so do not show in the
Minneapolis table the percentage of retardation for children 13-15 years
is based on the assumption that the number of children at these ages
will be the same as the average number for 11 and 12 years. No credit
could be allowed for those advanced in school positions on account of
the incompleteness of the Minneapolis census for older ages. The
comparison is, therefore, on the basis of retardation alone.
TABLE XIV.
INDICES OF FREQUENCY AND AMOUNT OF SCHOOL RETARDATION OF MINNEAPOLIS
JUVENILE DELINQUENTS COMPARED WITH MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL CHILDREN OF
CORRESPONDING AGES.
(_Age 7 or younger regarded as satisfactory in the first grade._)
────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────
│ RETARDATION
────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────
│ Percentage Retarded at Each Life-Age
────────────────────┼──────────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────
│ Index │ 8 │ 9 │ 10 │ 11 │ 12 │ 13 │ 14 │ 15
────────────────────┼──────────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────
School Boys │ =39%=│ 8│ 16│ 24│ 31│ 35│ 40│ 45│ 43
Delinquent Boys │ =70%=│ 0│ 44│ 50│ 67│ 58│ 60│ 77│ 93
School Boys │ =36%=│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
Glen Lake Boys │ =86%=│ │ 17│ 50│ 46│ 66│ 81│ 61│ 87
School Girls │ =35%=│ 7│ 12│ 16│ 25│ 31│ 33│ 37│ 93
Delinquent Girls │ =90%=│ 0│ 100│ 50│ 50│ 75│ 83│ 95│ 100
────────────────────┼──────────┼────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────
│ Index │Average Amount of Retardation in Years
────────────────────┼──────────┼────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────
School Boys │ =.61 Yr.=│ .09│ .19│ .31│ .43│ .54│ .63│ .78│ .64
Delinquent Boys │=1.27 Yr.=│ .00│ .66│ .50│ .86│1.09│1.11│1.23│2.11
School Boys │ =.54 Yr.=│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
Glen Lake Boys │=1.54 Yr.=│ │ .17│ .50│ .62│1.25│1.86│2.11│2.03
School Girls │ =.64 Yr.=│ .07│ .15│ .22│ .34│ .45│ .50│ .59│ .82
Delinquent Girls │=2.29 Yr.=│ .00│1.00│1.00│1.00│1.25│2.25│2.05│2.84
────────────────────┼──────────┼────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────
│ Totals │ Number of Children at Each Life-Age
────────────────────┼──────────┼────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────
School Boys │ 13,123│1650│1624│1614│1552│1742│1647│1647│1647
Delinquent Boys │ 213│ 3│ 9│ 6│ 21│ 25│ 47│ 56│ 46
Glen Lake Boys │ 108│ 0│ 6│ 8│ 13│ 12│ 21│ 18│ 30
School Girls │ 12,781│1634│1617│1594│1623│1552│1587│1587│1587
Delinquent Girls │ 82│ 2│ 1│ 2│ 2│ 4│ 12│ 21│ 338
────────────────────┴──────────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────
Index equals the sum of retardation at each age multiplied by the
number of delinquents at that age divided by the total number of
delinquents.
From the indices of frequency of retardation in Table XIV it will be
seen that retardation of one or more years below the standard of age 7
in the first grade is nearly twice as common among the ordinary
delinquent boys as among a group of school boys of corresponding ages,
while it is fully 2½ times as great among the ordinary girl delinquents
as among a corresponding group of school girls, when estimated on the
same basis.
To understand the significance of this comparison one should consider
the relative difference which is shown between school children and
delinquents in the statistics of health, defective sight, nose and
throat obstructions, etc. The percentages of consecutive delinquents
showing other defective or diseased conditions has never, so far as the
writer is aware, been found to be double that among the school children
generally when figured on a corresponding basis. Medical inspection
shows that for other conditions than retardation the frequency of
defects and disease found among representative groups of ordinary
juvenile delinquents can often be equaled in the poorer schools of the
city. To find a factor relatively twice as common among delinquents as
among school children, when the frequencies are as great as with
retardation, means a variation that is unquestionably significant. This
is, of course, not an argument against the detection and treatment of
handicaps that can be benefited by the physician. It only suggests the
relative size of the two problems.
In considering the frequency of school retardation among delinquents in
Minneapolis, it will be noted that the most serious condition is clearly
among the girls, 90% of whom are below grade as compared with the index
of 35% for the corresponding group of school girls.
One may estimate that the chance of a Minneapolis boy who is retarded in
school getting into juvenile court is about 3½ times that of a boy who
is up-to-grade. But the chance of a girl who is retarded in school
getting into juvenile court is about 17 times as great as that of a girl
who is up to grade. This calculation is easily made on the assumption
that the indices of Table XIV are typical for a single year, knowing
that about 194 in 10,000 school boys in Minneapolis get into the court
annually and 21 in 10,000 school girls.
The best measure of the difference in school attainment cannot be shown,
however, without considering the _amounts_ instead of the frequency of
retardation in the groups compared. We should regard two years
retardation as twice as serious as one year and make a corresponding
allowance for each additional year of retardation. Thus weighting our
results we find in the indices of Table XIV that the boys 8-15 years of
age in the Glen Lake Farm School group of delinquents have on the
average lost 1.54 of a year through retardation in school attainment
compared with the satisfactory standard of 7 in the first grade. The
ordinary delinquent boys have lost on the average 1.27 of a year, while
the indices for Minneapolis school boys of corresponding ages are—.54
and—.61 of a year respectively. Among the ordinary delinquent girls the
average amount of retardation on the same basis is 2.29 years as
compared with .64 of a year among the school girls of corresponding age
distribution.
The indices for the amount of school retardation are the most
significant figures in any of these tables, although they are based on
too few numbers to afford more than rough comparisons. It is, however, a
fairly reliable estimate to say that retardation in school attainment in
Minneapolis is about twice as great among ordinary delinquent boys and
among the detention home group while it is three times as great among
ordinary delinquent girls as among corresponding groups of elementary
school children. If we had been able to credit the groups with those in
advance of the expected position for their ages the difference would
have been even greater.
B. SCHOOL RETARDATIONS AMONG OTHER GROUPS OF DELINQUENTS
In view of the fact that retardation in school offers an important check
upon the question of the frequency of mental deficiency among groups,
besides stating a different training problem of its own, it is curious
that it has not been more systematically studied in connection with
delinquency. Few investigations include any reference to the question.
Auden (_69_) reports that among 263 committed to Borstal institutions
(juvenile reformatories) in England for the year ending March 31, 1909,
71% (_186_) had not reached the fourth standard, corresponding to the
fourth school grade. These were delinquents between 16 and 21 years of
age. The next year 402 out of 554 (72%) had not reached the fourth
grade. Not one person had reached the eighth grade and only 13 the
seventh grade. In the Minneapolis detention home group only 23 out of
the 103 over ten years of age were below the fourth grade.
Cornell gives the distribution of 236 boys in special disciplinary
classes of two Philadelphia schools (_93_). These classes are for truant
and difficult boys 8 to 14 years of age inclusive. While they are not
technically delinquents the problem is similar and they show even more
serious school retardation than the Minneapolis group. Summarizing his
results according to the standard which counts ages six or seven as
satisfactory in the first grade, and so on, we find 12.3% satisfactory;
12.3% retarded one year; 26.7% retarded two years; 30.1% retarded three
years; 15.8% retarded four years; 2.5% retarded 5 years; and 0.4%
retarded 6 years. Eighty-eight per cent. are thus behind a satisfactory
position in the grades, and 48.8% three or more years behind. This is to
be compared with 70 and 16% among ordinary Minneapolis delinquent boys
(Table XIII).
Among 647 prostitutes at the Bedford (N. Y.) Reformatory 48% either
could not read or write any language or had not finished the primary
grades. Seven per cent. had graduated from the grammar grades. Among 610
prostitutes in other reformatories reported in the same work, only 23%
had finished the fifth grade. Among 877 street cases from which
information was obtained 814 had no more education than ability to read
and write, 53 had graduated from the grammar grades or had some special
education (_133_). Another report by Weidensall we shall consider in the
next chapter.
The attending physician (_60_) of the Morals Court in Chicago inquired
“of as many of the defendants as she could, who were charged with being
public prostitutes, as to what ages they had left school.” Among 3546
cases which passed before the court in seven months the report covers
494 cases. Of these only 17 had gone beyond the fifth grade in school,
only one was a high school graduate (_161_). Among 100 girls at the Ohio
Industrial School, 11 to 18 years of age, median age 15 years, 50% were
in the third or fourth grade and 54% had failed of promotion three or
more times (_55_).
Drucker gives the age-grade distribution of 100 randomly selected minor
offenders, 15 to 22 years of age, in the Cook County (Ill.) jail. This
shows that 41 of these were below the eighth grade and three or more
years retarded at the age they left school. They might well be examined
for deficiency. Among 86 who left school at 14 or after, 24 were in the
fifth grade or below (_101_). Among 100 consecutive admissions to the
Ohio State Girls Industrial Home, Renz reports 25% in the third grade
and 25% in the fourth grade, 15% in the fifth grade; 29% failed of
promotion 4.5 to 6 years and 25% more failed of promotion 3 years
(_47_). Storer reports on the same groups (_55_). Bluemel finds that 100
probationers in the Denver Juvenile Court were retarded in school 2
years on the average as compared with an average school retardation
among the school boys of Denver of 1 year (_2_). At the New Jersey State
Home for Girls among a group of 163 selected cases 102 had not reached
the fifth grade although their average age was 17 (_12_).
The school distributions by age is given for 215 delinquents in the
California State School at Whittier for boys by Williams (_62_) in
sufficient detail to make it usable for estimating the frequency of
deficiency on a plan we shall consider shortly. Regarding age seven as
satisfactory for the first grade, and so on, only 7 of these boys had
reached this standard. Supposing that those older should have attained
at least the grade which is satisfactory for the 14-year-old, and those
younger the corresponding grades, we find that 29% were four or more
years below this standard and 14% were five years below this standard.
In the next section we shall endeavor to find out how the school records
might also be used as symptomatic of mental capacity.
-----
Footnote 31:
The tables of Minneapolis school children were prepared by Mr. Andrew
J. Lein and of delinquents by Miss Lydia B. Christ, to whom I am much
indebted.