expected that criminal codes will cover all human and social life. The
old method of appealing to brute force and fear should gradually give
place to teaching and persuading and fitting men for life. All prisons
should be in the hands of experts, physicians, criminologists,
biologists, and, above all, the humane. Every prisoner should be made to
feel that the state is interested in his good as well as the good of the
society from which he came. Sentences should be indeterminate, but the
indeterminate sentence of today is often a menace to freedom and a means
of great cruelty and wrong. The indeterminate sentence can only be of
value in a well-equipped prison where each man is under competent
observation as if he were ill in a hospital. And this should be
supplemented with an honest, intelligent parole commission, fully
equipped for thorough work. Until that time comes, the maximum penalty
should be fixed by the jury, the parole board retaining the power to
reduce the punishment or parole. No two crimes are alike. No two
offenders are alike. Those who have no friends on the outside are
forgotten and neglected after the prison doors have been closed upon
them. Some men now are confined much too long; others not long enough.
No doubt, owing to the imperfections of man, this will always be the
case.
At present no penal institutions have the equipment or management to
provide against such shortcomings. They never can have it while men
believe punishment is vengeance. When the public is ready to provide for
the protection of society and still to recognize and heed the impulses
of humanity and mercy, it will abolish all fixed terms. As well might it
send a patient to a hospital for a fixed time and then discharge him,
regardless of whether he is cured or not, as to confine a convict for a
definite predetermined time. If the offense is one of a serious nature
that endangers the public, the prisoner should not be released until by
understanding or education, or age, or the proper form of treatment, it
is fairly evident that he will not offend again. When the time comes, if
it is the day of his incarceration, he should be released. The smallest
reflection ought to teach that for many crimes, especially for many
property crimes, it is hopeless to release a prisoner in an environment
where he cannot survive. An environment adjusted to his heredity must be
found by the state.
All indignities should be taken away from prison life. Instead the
prisoner should be taught that his act was the necessary result of cause
and effect and that, given his heredity and environment, he could have
done no other way. He should by teaching and experience be shown where
he made his mistakes, and he should be given an environment where he can
live consistently with the good of those around him.
Various reforms have been urged in the treatment of criminals and in
criminal procedure in the courts. Most of these impress me as possessing
no fundamental value. It is often said that the accused should be given
an immediate trial; that this and subsequent proceedings should not be
hindered by delay; that the uncertainties of punishment furnish the
criminal with the hope of escape and therefore do not give the community
the benefit of the terror that comes with the certainty of punishment
that could prevent crime. I can see no basis in logic or experience for
this suggestion. It is based on the theory that punishment is not only a
deterrent to crime, but the main deterrent. It comes from the idea that
the criminal is distinct from the rest of mankind, that vengeance should
be sure and speedy and that then crime would be prevented. If this were
true and the only consideration to prevent crime, then the old torture
chamber and the ancient prison with all its hopelessness and horror
should be restored. Logic, humanity and experience would protest against
this. If there is to be any permanent improvement in man and any better
social order, it must come mainly from the education and humanizing of
man. I am quite certain that the more the question of crime and its
treatment is studied the less faith men have in punishment.
England and Continental Europe are often pointed to as examples of sure
and speedy justice. The fact that there are more convictions and fewer
acquittals in England in proportion to the number of trials does not
prove that the English system is better than ours. It may and probably
does mean that ours is better. Here the accused has more chance. There
the expense, the formality, the power of the court all conspire to
destroy every opportunity of escape, regardless of innocence or guilt.
Even the fact that there are fewer crimes committed in England does not
prove that the system is best or that it prevents crime. An old country
with its life of caste lacks the freedom and equality that naturally
produce defiance of rules and customs and lead to breaches of the law.
Other things being equal, a greater degree of freedom leads to more
violations of rules and greater resisting power among the poor than a
lesser degree of freedom. It does not necessarily follow that the
country is best where the people are the most obedient. Complete
obedience leads to submission, to aggression and to despotism. Doubtless
China has fewer crimes than England. The power of resistance is so
crushed that no one thinks of defying a master, resenting an injury,
violating a rule, claiming any personal rights or protesting against
caste, age, or privilege.
Always there are certain men who believe that all reform in criminal
procedure must come by abolishing juries and submitting every question
to a court. Those who are rich and strong and the lawyers who advocate
their interests are mainly arrayed on this side. The poor and
rebellious, with those who naturally or otherwise advocate their cause,
stand for the juries as against the courts. Those who strive to be fair
are often misled from a lack of experience and little judgment of human
nature. The public is always against the accused. The press is against
him. The machinery of the law is against him. The dice are loaded for
his conviction. Some people have childish faith in the courts. But
judges are neither infinitely wise nor infinitely good; they come from
the ranks of lawyers and for the most part from those who have been long
engaged in defending property rights; they are generally conservative;
they are not independent of public opinion; almost invariably they
reflect public opinion, which means the public opinion of the community
in which they live. Few of them have much knowledge of biology, of
psychology, of sociology, or even of history.
One curse of our political life comes from the fact that as soon as a
man has secured an office, he has his eye on another and his whole
effort is to please the people, that is, the people who express
themselves the most easily. Very few judges rise to a great degree of
independence or defy popular clamor. A jury is less bound by public
opinion; their responsibility is divided; they are not as a rule seeking
office; while swayed by the crowd they are still more independent than
judges and with them the common man, the accused, has a better chance.
No doubt judges are abler, better educated, more accustomed to weighing
evidence and able to arrive at a more logical conclusion than most
juries. Still none of these qualities necessarily leads to just
findings. Questions of right and wrong are not determined by strict
rules of logic. If public opinion could come to regard the criminal as
it does the insane, the imbecile, or the ill, then a judicial
determination would be the best. But as long as crime is regarded as
moral delinquency and punishment savors of vengeance, every possible
safeguard and protection must be thrown around the accused. In the
settling of opinions and the passing of judgments, mob psychology is
all-powerful and really, in the last analysis, every human question
comes down to the power of public opinion.
The first thing necessary to lessen crime and to relieve victims from
the cruelty of moral judgments is a change of public opinion as to human
responsibility. When scientific ideas on this important subject shall be
generally accepted, all things that are possible will follow from it.
Some headway has already been made in the direction of considering
heredity and environment. Theoretically we no longer hold the insane
responsible, and some allowance is made for children and the obviously
defective. The discouraging thing is that the public is fickle and
changeable, and any temporary feeling overwhelms the patient efforts of
years. In the present mad crusade against crime consequent upon the
Great War, penalties have been increased, new crimes created, and
paroles and pardons have been made almost impossible. The public and
press virtually declare that even insanity should not save the life of
one who slays his fellow. Repeatedly the insane are hanged without a
chance, and sentences of death are pronounced, where before, a term of
years, or life imprisonment would have been the penalty for the offense.
Individual men and collections of men are ruled not by judgment but by
impulse; the voice of conscience and mercy is always very weak and
drowned by the hoarse cry for vengeance.
As long as men collectively impose their will upon the individual
units, they should consider that this imposition calls for intelligence,
kindliness, tolerance and a large degree of sympathy and understanding.
In considering the welfare of the public: the accused, his family and
his friends should be included as a part. It need not be expected that
all maladjustments can ever be wiped out. Organization with its close
relation of individual units implies conflict. Nevertheless, the effort
should be to remove all possible inducement for the violent clashing of
individuals and to minimize the severity of such conflicts as are
inevitable.
THE END
INDEX
Accidents, inevitability of, 48;
conditions affecting chances of, 253;
law of averages in, 259.
Acquisition, instinct for, 49-50, 51;
power of, not a measure of brain capacity, 51-54.
Adultery, crime of, 90-91.
Adventure, chance for, an incentive to crime, 54, 55, 79, 93.
Age, relation of, to crime, 251;
and disease, 252, 253.
Alcohol, relation of crime to use of, 197-198.
America, emotional side of man neglected in, 55;
high ratio of property crimes per capita in, 98;
system of justice in, superior to that of European countries, 281.
Ancestry, effects of, 126-128.
_See_ Heredity.
Anger, as one underlying motive in punishment, 12;
the cause of killings, 83.
Animal, man a predatory, 94-100.
Animal life, man's origin and development the same as that of other, 29-34.
"Anti-social," significance of term, 5-6.
Art, satisfaction of emotions by, 55.
Automobile, effect of the, on crime, 208-211.
Beauty, appeal of, to man's emotional side, 55.
Bible, vengeance as purpose of punishment shown by, 13-14.
Boys, development of criminals from, 58-64, 75-80;
sex crimes among, 90-91;
and the automobile lure, 210-211.
Buckle, H. T., "History of Civilization," cited, 102-103.
Burglar, development of a, 58-60, 62, 92-93.
Burglary, crime of, 92-93.
Capital punishment, question of, 166-171.
Chance, man as subject to element of, 255-262.
Children, as criminals, 75-80;
sex crimes among, 90;
rights of property unknown to, 107.
Christianity, Pliny's correspondence with Trajan regarding, 225-228.
Christians, belief of early, in punishment as vengeance, 14-19.
Cities, relative prevalence of crime in, 75-79, 207-208;
crimes against property in, 99.
Civilization, limitations built up around heredity by, 42-43;
growth of crime coincident with growth of, 203-211;
the road to decay, 211-212;
does not mean the humanizing of men, 228-229;
new evils and new complexities with each new, 229.
Confidence game in obtaining property, law against, 137.
Conscience, as a guide to conduct, 4-5, 109.
Conspiracy, statute concerning, 136-137.
Convicts, in prison and after 120-123, 230-232;
good found in, 181.
Courts, growth in number and kind of, 139.
Crime, defined, 1-11;
purpose of punishment of, 12-27;
failure of punishment as a deterrent from, 21-24;
need for better understanding of, by the public, 27;
responsibility for, 28-36;
part played by heredity and environment in, 36;
among women, 71-74;
of homicide, 81-87;
due to sex relations, 88-91;
of robbery and burglary, 92-93;
performed against property, 101-108;
question of increase in, 134-142;
industrialism and, 203-208;
increase of, due to the automobile, 208-211;
war and, 213-220;
disease, accident, and, 250-254;
elements of luck and chance as related to, 255-262;
remedies for, 273-285.
Criminal, scope of word, 1-6;
one who violates "folk-ways" of his community, 6-9;
purpose of punishment of the, 12-27;
need for better understanding of, 27;
reasons for existence of, 56-70;
the female, 71-74;
the juvenile, 75-80;
attitude of the, 109-115;
the law and the, 116-129;
effect on others of punishment of, 158-160;
stigmata of, 172-177;
the good in the, 178-182;
pardon, parole, and placing on probation of, 263-272.
Criminal conduct, psychology of, 44-55.
Dante, the hell of, 15.
Death penalty, methods of inflicting, 163.
Defectives, discussion of the, 183 ff.;
in prisons, 184-185;
proposed isolation or sterilization of, 233-249.
Disease, treatment of crime contrasted with that of, 139-140, 154,
230-232;
crime, accidents, and, 250-253.
Doctors, employment of, in trials, as experts, 143-149.
Dugdale, R.L., study of "The Jukes" by, 244-248.
Education, a response to suggestion, 65;
importance of, to the child, 77-78;
of the subnormal and the backward, 237.
Edwards, Jonathan, view held by, of punishment as vengeance, 17-19.
Emerson, R. W., on non-obedience to law, 114.
Emotions, factor of, in human action, 46-55;
lack of satisfaction of, in American scheme of things, 55.
England, system of justice in, 281.
Environment, man the product of heredity and, 34-36;
relation of heredity and, 37-40;
adjustment of, to heredity, 41-43, 277-278;
relation of, to development of criminal, 57-69;
effects of, 201-202;
necessity of improving, shown by studies of the Jukes and the
Kallikaks, 244-249.
Experts, medical, in courts, 143-149.
Factory system, growth of cities due to, 76;
and crime, 203-212;
Fear, emotion of, in man, 46-47;
instilling of, an object of punishment, 165.
Feeble-minded, distinguishing between the normal and, 185-188.
_See_ Defectives.
Feuds, family, 12.
Flight, instinct of, in man, 46-47.
Folk-ways, crime defined as violation of, 6-7;
enforcement of, by primitive man, 8;
present-day laws descended from, 28;
are still a guide to man, 99-100.
Forgers, development of, 66-68.
Freedom of speech, loss of, as result of World War, 220.
Gang, the boy's, 79.
Genius, a frequent indication of insanity, 239.
Girls, protected life of, as compared with boys, 72;
sex crimes among, 90-91.
Glands, the ductless, and their use, 33-34, 38, 174.
Grant, General, on repealing of bad law, 130.
Grasset, Joseph, "The Semi-Insane and the Semi-Responsible," cited, 239.
Gregariousness, instinct of, in man, 47-48, 50.
Hatred, punishment actuated by, 12-19;
killings traceable to, 83.
Heredity, view of man as the product of environment and, 34-36;
relation of environment and, 37-40;
problem of future, to adjust environment to, 41-43, 277-278;
responsibility of, for the criminal, 57-65;
child criminal as result of, 78-79;
accounting for accused men's actions by, 126-129;
effects of, 201-202;
laws of, not sufficiently known to justify sterilization, 237-238.
Homicide, the crime of, 81-87.
Ignorance, disease due to, 252.
Illinois, operation of parole law in, 267
Incest, crime of, 89-90.
Indeterminate sentence, the, 268-271, 278.
Industrialism and crime, 76, 203-212.
Insane, restraint of, a measure of self-protection, 26;
treatment of, 144;
in prisons, 184-185;
allowances for, in criminal codes, 187-190;
legal tests of, not logical or humane, 190-192.
Instinct, human action largely governed by, 44-54;
stress placed on, as motive power of life, 81-83.
Intelligence tests, use of, 185-186.
Intolerance, a persisting source of evil, 228-229.
Isolation of the subnormal, 233-249.
Jealousy, crime traceable to, 84-85.
Jesus, doctrine of vengeance repudiated by, 13-14.
Judges, attitude of, 282-283.
Jukes family, study of the, 244-248;
wrong deductions from, 248-249.
Juries, attitude of, toward women criminals, 72, 73, 85;
decision as to sanity of defendants left to, 144;
abolition of, proposed by some, 282;
better chances for the common man with, 283.
Juvenile Courts, 59, 139.
Juvenile Prison, the, 59.
Kallikak family, results of environment rather than heredity shown by, 249.
Kidnapping, death penalty sometimes advocated for, 156.
Killings. _See_ Homicide.
Kleptomania, a form of insanity, 191-192.
Labor, manual, and its poor pay, 69;
training for manual, in schools, 69-70.
Law, a codification of a custom, 8;
and its infraction, 110-114;
the criminal and the, 116-129;
repealing of, 130-133;
shortening and simplification of codes of, 278.
Laws, feeling against so-called property, 112.
Legislation, restrictive, resulting from World War, 220.
Legislatures, fixing of punishments by, 155-156.
Lockouts, crimes resulting from, 102.
Lombroso, C, discarded theory of, 172.
Luck, element of, as affecting man, 255-262.
Man, origin and development of, like that of other animal life, 29-34;
the product of heredity and environment, 34-36;
as a predatory animal, 94-100;
the outlook for, 274.
Milton, the hell of, 15.
Mind, operations of the, clouded in mystery, 24;
seat of, in whole physical organism, 174.
Money-getting, brain power not involved in, 51-54;
crimes due to passion for, 104-105.
Murder, not a profession like burglary or other crimes, 62;
by robbers and burglars, 93.
Music, satisfaction of emotions by, 55.
Negroes, disregard of laws pertaining to, 132.
Pacifism, a dream, 218-219.
Panics, strikes following on, 102.
Pardons, granting of, to criminals, 263-272.
Parole, release of prisoners on, 265-272.
Parole boards, 22;
responsibilities of, 266-272;
need of, for honesty, intelligence, and thorough equipment for work,
278-279.
Parole laws, 218-219.
Pick-pocket, development of the, 60-62.
Pliny, letter of, quoted, 225-228.
Poverty, relation between crime and, 101-102, 172, 176-177;
of men charged with crime, 120.
Prisoners, situation of, 120-123;
proposed remedial measures affecting, 273-282.
Prisons, reformation not accomplished in, 20-21.
gradual improvement in, 163-164.
Probation, system of, 271-272.
Prohibition laws, 138;
effect of, on crime, 197-198;
Property, crimes against, 97-99;
normal results of civilization, 100;
discussion and analysis of, 101-108.
Pugnacity, instinct of, in man, 47, 48.
Punishment, purpose of, 12 ff.;
hatred and vengeance as moving purposes of, 12-19;
reformation viewed as aim of, 19-21;
as a deterrent from crime, 21-24;
impossibility of justifying, by any reasoning, 25-27;
determining correct basis of fixing, 150-157;
effects of too drastic, 156-157;
results of, to others than the subject, 158-160;
evolution of, 161-165;
capital, 166-171;
viewed as cruelty, not as a remedial measure, 275.
Rape, crime of, 88-89, 91.
Reason, slight effect of, on actions of men, 44-55.
Reformation, viewed as purpose of punishment 19-21;
impossibility of moral, of man, 276-277.
Religion, emotional life supplied by 54-55;
in early times, subjects for criminal code furnished by, 161-163;
criminal code created with growth of, 223-224.
Repulsion, instinct of, in man, 47.
"Revelations of St. Peter," quotation from, 14-17.
Revenge. _See_ Vengeance.
Revenue laws, common violation of, 132.
Revolutionists, position of, 114.
Robbery, crime of, 92-93.
Sabbath observance, disregard of laws concerning, 132.
Self-protection, a justification of imprisonment, 25.
Sentences of prisoners, basis of fixing, 156-157;
indeterminate, 268-271, 278.
Sentimentalism, defense of, 168-169.
Sex instinct in man, 45, 48-49;
jealousy and revenge caused by, 84-85;
crimes resulting from, 88-91.
Shoplifting, kleptomania and, 191-192.
Social control, theory of, 136;
discussion of, 193-202.
Spanish Inquisition, ravages of the, 224.
Sterilization of the defective, 233-249.
Stigmata of the criminal, 172-177.
Strikes, crimes following on, 102.
Suggestion, power of, on human mind, 24, 65.
Sumner, W.G., "Folkways" by, 131.
Taboos, adoption of, by primitive man, 7-8.
Tests, physical, of prisoners, 176-177;
intelligence, for grading mentality of the backward, 185-186.
Trajan, correspondence between Pliny and, 225-228.
Vengeance, origin in, of idea of punishment, 12-19;
punishment inflicted solely for, not as remedial measure, 275.
War, encroachments on liberty during, 114-115;
effect of, on crime, 213-220.
Weather, relation between crime and, 250.
Westermarck, E.A., "History of Human Marriage," cited, 89.
Witchcraft, hangings for, 224.
Women, as criminals, 71-74;
shoplifting by, 191-192.
World War, underlying cause of, 106;
encroachments on liberty during, 115;
increase in crime since close of, 214-217;
spirit of super-patriotism a result of, 219-220;
restrictive legislation due to, 220.
Young, care of the, resulting from mother-instinct, 45-46.
End of Project Gutenberg's Crime: Its Cause and Treatment, by Clarence Darrow