Temat: The Institute of - Katalog OPAC zbiorów

Skocz do pozycji: 1.

Tytuł:: Grupy nieletnich przestępców
Gangs of juvenile delinquents
Autorzy:: Pawełczyńska, Anna
Powiązania:: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/699155.pdf
Data publikacji:: 1960
Wydawca:: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN
Tematy:: grupy przestępcze
nieletni przestępcy
badania
Zakład Kryminologii Państwowej Akademii Nauk
Warszawa
criminal groups
juvenile offenders
research
Department of Criminology at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Science
Warsaw
kradzieże
chuligaństwo
thefts
hooliganism
Opis:: In the years 1953 to 1955 the Department of Criminology of the Institute of Legal Sciences carried out research on gangs of juvenile delinquents; it was a matter of the offences committed by three or more boys aged up to 17 who formed gangs of offenders. At the Warsaw Juvenile Court the records of 716 juveniles who had, during the period in question; participated in 181 crime-committing gangs, have been investigated. Out of this material detailed investigation has been carried out on 50 groups, comprising 215 juveniles. Such detailed investigation comprised environment interviews in the family home, comprehensive conversations with the mothers, interviews at the schools, psychological examination of the minors themselves (part of them were also examined by a physician) and talks with the juveniles, who were investigated in detail from the point of view of the problem of gangs. Apart from the research carried out in Warsaw, 74 gangs comprising 309 juvenile offenders were investigated at the Juvenile Courts in the following provincial cities: Łódź, Katowice, Cracow, and Bialystok. The research dealt with all the gangs of juvenile offenders whose cases came before the above-mentioned four Juvenile Courts in the first six months of 1954. Such research has been carried out by the Judges of the Juvenile courts themselves, according to a special questionnaire; and consisted in the juveniles giving detailed evidence concerning circumstances such as participation in the gangs, in talks with the mothers, and environment interviews (with part of the cases also psychological examination was carried out). The basic material for the present, contribution are the 50 Warsaw and the 74 provincial gangs, all of them investigated in detail. 1. Out of a total of 255 gangs investigated (181 gangs investigated on the basis of judicial record and 124 gangs investigated in detail) there were: a) 113 gangs systematically committing thefts. b) 36 gangs committing either thefts or else deeds consisting in aggressively accosting or beating up (whether boys of their own age or older persons), in destroying property and in disturbing public peace. These are so-called acts of hooliganism. c) 24 gangs committing only acts of a hooligan character mentioned above. Finally, out of the 255 gangs investigated 82 gangs were selected which had committed only one theft, and the majority of which cannot be considered to be offender gangs because of the lack of any real bond between the members of such gangs. The age of the members of the offender gangs was as follows: 17.3 per cent of the boys were under 10 years of age. 34.6 per cent were from 11 to 12. 31 per cent were from 13 to 14. 17.1 per cent were from 15 to 17. The percentages in the several types of gangs are, in principle, rather similar. In the gangs which systematically committed thefts a bigger span between the ages of the members was found than in the other types of gangs. While in the remaining types of gangs the juveniles are usually of the same age, or else the difference of age between them amounts to from one to two years, in the gangs which systematically commit thefts, in 37 per cent of the cases the difference of age amounts to more than three years. As far as the number of members of whom a gang was composed is concerned, detailed investigation has established the fact that gangs numbering from three to four members amounted merely to 16 per cent, while gangs composed of six and more members were as many as 64 per cent (gangs of ten and more members were 22 per cent), It ought to be stressed that the actual number of members of a gang was not known to the Court; in the records the number of members of such an offender gang was, as a rule, considerably smaller. 2. The data concerning the home environment of the members of the gangs under investigation, their way of life and personality look more or less similarly as those concerning juvenile recidivists whose cases are discussed in the same volume of the Archives, and this is why we do not discuss these data in detail here. It is worth noting that a bad material situation of the families was more frequent in the case of the juveniles belonging to the gangs which went in for systematic thefts than with the other types of gangs: there were 60 per cent of such cases, while e.g. with the members of hooligan gangs the same situation was found in a mere 21 per cent. In the gangs which went in for systematic thefts there were more juveniles who hailed from homes where the family life had altogether gone to pieces. They were families in which an accumulation of such factors as the alcoholism of the fathers, continual brawls in the home, delinquency, etc., was found. In 66.6 per cent of the gangs which went in for systematical stealing all their members came just from such families, while e.g. in 45 per cent of the hooligan gangs all their members carne from families in which no decay of the family was found. Similarly, the number of children deprived of parental control at home was the largest among the members of the gangs which went in for systematic stealing. On the other hand, a bad attitude of the parents towards their child was more frequently found among the members of hooligan gangs than in the other types of gangs. The percentage of fathers who treated their children brutally was also highest here. 3. With offender gangs it is a matter of great importance whether the members of such gangs had committed criminal offences prior to their starting criminal their activities in gangs. In the areas of the several Juvenile Courts the percentage of juveniles who had previously been committing offences amounted to from 30.3 per cent to 52.6 per cent. The largest number of juveniles who had been committing crimes before, and consequently brought a considerable degree of depravation with them into the gangs belongs to the hooligan-and-stealing gangs (62.4 per cent) and to the gangs which go in for systematic thefts (42.4 per cent). On the other hand, the percentage of recidivists is low in the hooligan gangs and in those gangs which committed theft but once. Thefts constitute 76.7 per cent of the total of the offences committed previously, thefts together with hooligan acts - 14 per cent, and hooligan offences alone - only 9.3 per cent. Prior to their joining the gang, the boys stole mostly small sums of money, and' in the next place, food and sweets. Thefts of intoxicating liquor appear more frequently than with other types with those juveniles who later on joined hooligan gangs. At the time of making our investigations, the juveniles who acted in delinquent gangs had already gone astray considerably, and their way of life was almost entirely disorganized. 4. The data concerning the origin of the gangs show that: 40 per cent of the gangs arose owing to contacts between boys who lived in the neighborhood; 32 per cent of them arose partly owing to neighbourly contacts, and partly owing to acquaintance struck at school; 15 per cent of the gangs arose as a result of boys meeting in the street, in public parks, at the cinema, in various places of public entertainment; 9 per cent of the groups were composed of boys who had met only at school; 4 per cent of the gangs were composed of boys who had come near each other during escapes from home or a correctional institution. The large majority of the gangs which arose owing to neighborhood and school contacts consists of stealing gangs. The picture is altogether different in the case of gangs which arose in places of common entertainment. Here the majority consists of hooligan gangs mostly formed by older boys. The period of activity of such a gang down to the moment of it committing its first offence is mostly very brief. The mechanism of the formation of such criminal gangs also varied: the boys, as a rule, at first formed groups just with the view to having good time. The transformation of ordinary neighborhood groups for purposes of play into criminal gangs was fostered by the family conditions of the members of such groups; by the lack of adequate care and of proper bonds between the boy and his family home, as well as by the harmful influence of the social environment at large. School becomes, under certain circumstances, an additional factor favorable for the creation of gangs. Part of the members of such gangs consist of children who are excitable, nervous, retarded in development, and encountering great difficulties in adapting themselves to study at school and to the requirements set by the school. Such children easily become alienated from the pupils community, forming a peculiar social margin within the school. 5. From the point of view of organizational structure we can distinguish, in the material under investigation, loose gangs, gangs with certain elements of organization, and organized gangs. Loose gangs amounted to 52.4 per cent. Their composition varied, they lacked elements of an organization altogether, they had no leader and no ,,den" of their own. Organized gangs, with a leader and a crystallized division of roles within the gang, amounted to 23.4 per cent. Gangs with but some elements of organization amounted to 24.2 per cent. Organized gangs occur more frequently among the gangs which go in for systematic stealing (35 per cent) than among other types of gangs, while, on the other hand, loose gangs are typical, of hooligan gangs (91 per cent). There exists a very essential difference between the gangs which go in for systematic stealing and those of a hooligan character. While the former are offender gangs the prime purpose of which is to commit thefts, the gangs which go in for hooligan offences are really groups for purposes of play, with whom the offence is closely connected with perverted play. 6. With the gangs which committed thefts the object of such thefts were mostly things of very small material value - food in 31 per cent of the cases, sums of money, mostly very small, in 10 per cent, sports and technical articles in 10.1 per cent, sweets in 9.1 per cent, alcoholic liquors in 8.5 per cent, building materials in 7 per cent, clothing in 6,4 per cent, while bicycles accounted for only 1.1 per cent, and watches and jewelry - for 0.8 per cent. A comparison between the objects stolen by the hooligan-cum-stealing gangs with those stolen by the stealing ones shows obvious differences in accordance with the type of the gang. In the gangs which went in for stealing only, the most frequent object of theft is food (37 per cent), then sport and technical articles (12.9 per cent), sweets (11.8 per cent), clothing are (8.3 per cent). Alcoholic liquors one of the most infrequent objects of theft (0.8 per cent). On the other hand, with the hooligan-cum-stealing gangs, it is precisely alcohol that constitutes the most frequent object of theft !34.5 per cent); the next place is occupied by money (22.3 per cent), while the remaining objects of theft appear much more seldom; they are mostly such objects as can be sold (e.g. building materials account for 12.6 pe cent). In a definite majority of the investigated gangs the value of the stolen object is the outcome of mere chance, and it is dependent on the opportunity of theft which has arisen. The largest number of theft committed by the gangs investigated took place in shops (70.3 per cent). Specialization as to the mode of performing theft is an extremely rare phenomenon with the gangs investigated. The investigated boys who belonged to hooligan and hooligan-cum-stealing gangs have committed the following acts of a hooligan character: Aggressive accosting and beating up 41.6 per cent. Destruction of property (breaking window-panes, street-lamps ect.) 37.6 pe cent. Disturbance of public peace and order 19.1 per cent. Others 1.7 per cent. The character of the hooligan acts perpetrated is closely connected with the age of the investigated. For the younger age groups the characteristic offences are destruction of property (44.4 per cent) and disturbance of public peace (39.5 per cent). 66 per cent of the offences committed by older boys consist of more serious offences - accosting and beating up. Along with the age of the boys and the length of time a gang has existed the number of frequency of hooligan acts perpetrated by them also increases. Hooligan offences were mostly committed by them at school (68.1 per cent) and in the streets and gardens (27 per cent). 7. In the investigation concerning the 50 Warsaw gangs follow-up studies have been carried out, from two to four years after the trial and the following was stated: In this period only 42 per cent of the gangs underwent complete decay, while 58 per cent of them continued to go in to their criminal activities, including 38 per cent, the numerical strength of which had even increased. Nearly all the groups which had committed theft but once underwent a complete decay; so did one half of the gangs which went in for systematic stealing, and one about one-fourth of the hooligan and hooligan-cum-stealing gangs. In the light of our investigation it appears that the gangs composed of younger boys (9 to 12 years) are much more permanent than the gangs composed of older boys. As far as the individual destinies of the several members of the gangs are concerned, the follow-up studies which have been carried out have shown that only 28 per cent of the investigated have completely mended their ways. One half of the investigated have been declared to be recidivists, while with 22 per cent further symptoms of serious demoralization were found, in spite of lack of data concerning the commission of any criminal offences by them. Improvement took place mostly in the case of the less demoralized boys, those who played but a marginal role in the gang. The improvement with younger boys was much more infrequent than that with the older ones (more than 70 per cent of the members of the hooligan-cum-stealing and systematically stealing gangs, aged up to 12, have proved to be incorrigible). The lack of improvement was also related to the length of the period of a juvenile offender's association with his gang. The longer they had participated in the offences committed by the gang, the more difficult it was for them to mend their ways, even after having severed any contacts between themselves and the gang.
Źródło:: Archiwum Kryminologii; 1960, I; 113-163
0066-6890
2719-4280
Pojawia się w:: Archiwum Kryminologii
Dostawca treści:: Biblioteka Nauki

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Tytuł:: Nieletni recydywiści
500 juvenile recidivists
Autorzy:: Kołakowska, Helena
Powiązania:: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/699132.pdf
Data publikacji:: 1960
Wydawca:: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN
Tematy:: nieletni recydywiści
badania
Zakład Kryminologii Państwowej Akademii Nauk
Warszawa
Łódź
Katowice
Kraków
przestępczość nieletnich
juvenile recidivists
research
Department of Criminology at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Science
Warsaw
Cracow
juvenile delinquency
Opis:: The research conducted by the Department of criminology of the Institute of Legal sciences has covered 240 juvenile recidivists in Warsaw, and 260 juvenile recidivists in Łodź, Katowice, Cracow and Białystok. In a total of 500 juvenile recidivists there were 463 boys and 37 girls. The age of the juveniles covered by the investigation was as follows: 116 recidivists were between 7 and 12 years of age, while 384 were between 13 and 16. The research carried out in Warsaw in the years 1954 to 1955 consisted in examining judicial records, in environment interviews, interviews at school, at the place of work, as well as in psychological and medical examinations. All the cases of recidivism, whether formal or actual, which came before the juvenile court, were included in the research. Follow-up studies, carried out several times, have made it possible to establish what were the further destinies of the juvenile recidivists after the lapse of some three years from the termination of the research. The research carried out in the four provincial juvenile courts was less detailed and did not comprise psychological or medical examination. Moreover, they could not be supplemented with follow-up studies. All the cases of juvenile recidivists which came before the juvenile courts in six months of the year 1954 were included in the research. The results of the follow-up studies in Warsaw are the following: It appeared that out of the 240 juvenile recidivists examined 116 continued to commit criminal offences within the following three years, 32 of them did not, to be sure, commit offences, but they could be considered as but partly reformed considering their unsettled way of life, their unsystematic work and the whole of their social attitude, while 54 had completely mended their ways. The remaining 38 examined persons could not be included into any of the preceding groups, since part of them still remained in correctional institutions and concerning the rest of them reliable data were lacking. Thus out of 202 juvenile recidivists in Warsaw the percentage of those who continued to commit offences within a three-year period after the termination of our research amounted to 57 per cent, and, over and above that, a further 16 per cent could not be considered as truly reformed. 1. Out of the 500 juveniles recidivists examined only 49 per cent have both parents living, 30 per cent are being brought up only under the care of solitary mothers, 16 per cent have a stepfather and mother, or else a stepmother and father, 3 per cent are brought up by a solitary father, and 2 per cent are orphans who remain under the care of relations. The percentage of factory workers among the fathers amounted to 65 per cent, 13 per cent of the fathers were unskilled manual workers, 10 per cent were clerical workers, 4 per cent were handicraftsmen, and 2 per cent farmers. 32.3 per cent of the mothers did not have any trade and had never worked, 30 per cent were employed as workers, 2s per cent worked manually as cleaners, laundresses, while 9 per cent were clerical workers. In the families where both parents are alive both father and mother worked in 52 per cent of the cases, and the father only - in 48 per cent. In the families where the mother is solitary, as many as 90 per cent of the mothers work. The material situation in the families investigated was described as bad in 47 per cent of the families, middling in 36 per cent and good - in 17 per cent. Taking into consideration both the social outlook of the families and an evaluation of the total of educational factors at work in the family home, four categories of families have been singled out: Family Group A, the most negative, where we have to do, first and foremost, with a particularly intense alcoholism of the fathers, a complete neglect of the home by the parents, bad relations between the parents, a delinquency of the father, a bad attitude towards the child, a lack of care for the child and control over it, and similar factors. These are family environments of the lowest moral level, in which the habitual drunkenness of the fathers has led to a decay of family life. Of such families there were 101, i.e. 20.2 per cent. Family Group B includes the families which also deserve a negative evaluation, but the intensity of negative factors in them is less than in the Group A families. The alcoholism of the fathers is also a typical factor here, only it assumes slightly lesser proportions, while the mothers show more care for their home. A lack of protection of the child, bad educational methods, bad material conditions are present in these families too, just as they are in Group A. of such families there were 125, i.e. 25 per cent. Family Group C consists, first and foremost, of those families in which the children are usually brought up by a solitary mother (42.5 per cent of the cases), who cannot cope with all her duties, and in which the children are deprived of proper care and control. Moreover, in those families where there is a stepfather or stepmother, a very bad attitude to the child and very faulty educational methods have been found to exist. Of such families there were 162, i.e. 32.4 per cent. Family Group D is composed of the families described as ,,good home environment", in which investigators have failed to find any factors negative in the educational sense. Both the moral level of the parents, their mutual relations and the care of the child were beyond any obvious criticism. Of such families there were only 112, i.e. 22.4 per cent. It ought to be stressed, however, that on the basis of the investigation which has been carried out it was not possible to establish properly either the whole of the complicated factors which go to form the educational atmosphere of the home, or fully to elucidate the father's and mother's emotional attitude to their child. It is, therefore, probable, that a detailed analysis of such good family environments (Group D) could yet bring to light the sources of such psychical experiences and emotional conflicts with the children under investigation, as did influence them, causing character deviations. In analyzing how, apart from the delinquency factor, data concerning the degree of demoralization of the five hundred juvenile recidivists investigated looked in the several family groups, and making use of such factors only as the degree of neglecting school work, the amount of playing truant from school, the number of flights from home, strolling about the streets in the company of demoralized schoolmates, etc., on the basis of the Chi-square test a significant relationship has been stated to exist between the type of family environment and the intensity of the demoralization of the juveniles investigated. What is noteworthy, besides, is the fact that among the brothers and sisters of the investigated there were the following percentages of children above 10 years of age, showing symptoms of very serious demoralization: in Group A families - 90 per cent, in Group B families - 32 per cent, in Group C families - 30 per cent, and in Group D families - only 8 per cent. The data concerning the further destinies of 202 Warsaw juvenile recidivists after a lapse of three years also testify to the fact that there exists a significant relationship between the type of family environment and the recidivism or else improvement of the investigated in the future. Of the juveniles seriously demoralized and continuing to steal systematically only 15.2 per cent came from Group D homes, i.e. those with a good reputation, while among the juveniles who had completely mended their ways a mere 7.4 per cent came from the worst family environments (Group A). Among the investigated brought up in those worst family environments as many as 68.5 per cent continued to steal systematically after a lapse of three years, while among the investigated who belonged to Group D families only 26.6 per cent continued to show recidivism on a large scale. 2. On the basis of the results of psychological and psychiatric examination it can be stated that 42 per cent of the Warsaw juvenile recidivists exhibited various pathological traits, while among those of the investigated who later on proved unreformed the percentage of juveniles with pathological traits amounted to 53.4 per cent, among the partly reformed - to 40.6 per cent, and among the entirely reformed - to 18.5 per cent. The percentage of children with psychopahatic traits and of children with symptoms of neurosis together constituted 22 per cent of the total of those examined in Warsaw (42 cases). Of children with symptoms of a post-traumatic state there were 16, of sufferers from epilepsia - 7, with post-encephalitic disorders - 3. Mental deficiency (feeblemindedness) has been stated in g per cent of the cases. Even though the majority of the recidivists who continued to commit criminal offences in the period of the next three years exhibited pathological traits, yet 47 per cent of the recidivists, with whom no such traits were found, also committed offences. On the other hand, among the entirely reformed there were 18.5 per cent of such recidivists who also exhibited pathological traits. Although on the basis of the Chi-square test we find a significant relationship to exist between pathological traits and the lack or the presence of moral improvement, yet we ought not to forget the dependence between other factors and the lack of improvement, which has been established in the course of tests. 3. All the 500 juvenile recidivists examined committed thefts, even those few (16 per cent) who were tried for various other offences, also committed thefts. Barely 8 per cent of the boys examined committed thefts individually, while a typical phenomenon are thefts committed by them in a group of juvenile accomplices. 68 per cent of the investigated acted in gangs of three or more. 43 per cent of the juvenile recidivists (boys) began to steal between the 7th and the 10th year of their lives, and 28 per cent between the 11th and 12th. There exists a significant relationship between the early starting of delinquent activities and recidivism later on. Out of the investigated with whom the first thefts took place between the 7th and the 10th year of their lives as many as 72.5 per cent continued to steal during the period of follow-up studies, while only 11.4 per cent reformed. Similarly, those recidivists who had begun stealing at the age of from 11 to 12 continued to steal systematically in 68.4 per cent of the cases. On the other hand, such recidivists with whom the first thefts took place only at the. age of 13 or 14, or even of 15or 16, later on figured in the entirely reformed groups in 44 per cent and 52 per cent respectively. There also exists a significant association between the length of the period of committing thefts and the further destinies of the investigated. Those juvenile recidivists who had previously been stealing for from 3 to 4 years and from 5 to 9 years, later on figured in the ,,unreformed" group to the amount of 69 per cent and 63.5 per cent respectively. On the other hand, those juveniles with whom the period of committing thefts did not exceed two years formed almost equal percentages in the unreformed groups (52 per cent and 48 per cent respectively). The results of the investigation seem to speak in favor of the view that the younger the age of the juvenile delinquent, and the longer the period of his criminal activities, the bigger the probability that he will continue to commit thefts for at least several years to come. Moreover, those juvenile offenders who had started stealing at the age of from 7 to 10 years continued to steal then systematically in 85 per cent of the cases, while those juveniles who had started stealing only after completing their 13th or 14th year of age, later on stole only sporadically, at least in an overwhelming majority of the cases. Moreover, there exists a significant relationship between the systematic character of committing thefts and the lack of improvement later on. Out of the juvenile recidivists who stole ,systematically only 14 per cent were found, after the lapse of three years, in the entirely reformed group, while among those who stole only sporadically the percentage amounted to as many as 47 per cent. 4. The majority of the juvenile recidivists stole, first and foremost, money, and, apart from money, food articles and single articles of clothing. OnIy 11 per cent of the investigated went in for stealing objects of greater value, such as watches, bicycles, etc. A typical theft concerned but a small number of objects and the damage thereby caused was, as a rule, negligible. The place where thefts are most frequently perpetrated are shops and kiosks, and only after them - the family home and the school. Depending on the age of the investigated and on various lengths of the periods during which they committed offences there are, of course, differences, both as to the objects of theft and as to the places where the latter were committed. The thefts committed by the 37 recidivist girls investigated differed from the thefts committed by the boys. The girls stole almost exclusively money and articles of clothing, and it was only in exceptional cases that they committed thefts in shops. Girls began stealing a great deal later in Iife than the boys, and, as a rule, stole alone, without partners. The last chapter of the contribution discusses critically the practice of juvenile courts 'concerning the fight against the recidivism of juvenile offenders and the activities of the probation officers and correctional institutions.
Źródło:: Archiwum Kryminologii; 1960, I; 55-112
0066-6890
2719-4280
Pojawia się w:: Archiwum Kryminologii
Dostawca treści:: Biblioteka Nauki

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Skocz do pozycji: 3.

Tytuł:: Młodociani recydywiści
Young adult recidivists
Autorzy:: Szelhaus, Stanisław
Baucz-Straszewicz, Zofia
Powiązania:: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/699148.pdf
Data publikacji:: 1960
Wydawca:: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN
Tematy:: młodociani recydywiści
przestępczość młodocianych recydywistów
badania
Zakład Kryminologii Państwowej Akademii Nauk
wykolejenie społeczne
młodzież
young adults recidivists
delinquency of young adults recidivists
Department of Criminology at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Science
research
young adult
social maladjustment
young adult recidivists
delinquency of young adult recidivists
Opis:: Investigation has covered 100 recidivists between the ages of 18 and 21, serving their term in jail; its purpose was to bring to light the scope of social misfitting and delinquency of the individuals with whom delinquency and recidivism seem to be of recent origin. Investigation has covered the individuals domiciled in Warsaw, who have been punished for at least the second time after having reached the age when penal responsibility begins (i.e. their seventeenth year of age) and have gone to jail for at least the second time. The investigation, started at the end of 1956 and finished in the middle of 1958, was conducted in two Warsaw jails and three provincial ones. All young adult recidivists with a condemning sentence who were at that time in jail were investigated, without making any selection of the cases, apart from the criteria enumerated above. The investigation, however, has taken into consideration data from judicial records and prison records, as well as from the Convicts, Register. Talks with the mothers of the convicts have provided material concerning the family home, the diseases which the convicted person had gone through, his pre-school and school days, way of life, etc. Psychological and medical examination has also been carried out. Young adult recidivists have been examined on an average, from four to five times within a few hours. In the case of those of the investigated who have been released from prison before December 1st , 1958, follow-up studies were carried out, to comprise a period of from six months to one year. 1. In investigating 100 young adult recidivists past record it was established that as many as 79 of them had been previously tried by a juvenile court (even though the law-court which tried them after they had completed the seventeenth year of age knew about that in a mere 23 cases). Apart from that, another 12 had committed thefts during their minority without being prosecuted before the law-courts. Consequently a mere 9 of all the investigated began to commit criminal offences after they were 16. The beginnings of delinquency took place in 19 per cent of the cases before the tenth year of their rives, and in 68 per cent before the thirteenth; it is highly probable however, that in reality the beginnings of their delinquency were earlier than that. Investigation into the further destinies of 79 investigated persons who had been tried while still minors has established the fact that 85 per cent of their number found themselves in jail before the lapse of two years from the moment of being released from a house of correction, or from their last trial before a juvenile court. As far as the 43 investigated. persons are concerned who had previously been in institutions for delinquent boys (training schools), as many as 27 were arrested before the lapse of six months from their release from such an institution, 12 remained at large for periods ranging from six months to one year and only 4 from one year to two years. The total of the data concerning the number of trials before both juvenile and ordinary courts looked as follows: out of 100 recidivists 13 had been tried twice, 20 - 3 times, 29 – 4 times, 17 - 5 times, 11 - 6 times, 10 - 7 or more times. Consequently 67 per cent of the investigated had already been tried 4 or more times, and every fifth one of them - 6 or more times. As far as their first term in jail is concerned, 16 of the investigated found themselves in jail before having attained the age of criminal responsibility, as a rule owing to their having given false birthdata at the time of their arrest, 55 at the age of 17, 26 at the age of 18 and a mere 3 at 19 years of age. Nearly one half of the recidivists had spent more time in jail than at large (from the moment of having reached the age of criminal responsibility), while the longest spell at large between one arrest and the next amounted to: below six months with 49 per cent of the investigated, from six months to one year with 33 per cent, while it was more than one year with a mere 18 per cent. Taking into consideration the kind of offences committed, we may divide the material under investigation into the following groups: A. Young adult recidivists punished exclusively for offences against property (as a rule, thefts) - 39 cases. B. Young adult recidivists punished exclusively for offences against life and health (grievous injury to the body, and slight bodily harm, brawls, infringement of bodily inviolability as well as for insulting a functionary of the police). There were only 10 offenders who committed such offences out of ,,hooligan" motives only, among all those investigated. C. Young adult recidivists punished for offences against property as well as for grievous injury to the body and slight bodily harm, brawls, infringement of bodily inviolability and insult to police functionaries - 51 cases. A. As for the persons investigated who had been punished only for offences against property (nearly exclusively for theft), they began to commit offences at the age of from 9 to 12 years, i.e. earlier than the rest. The first thefts, as a rule, took place in the family home. The majority of the perpetrators had been punished several times for theft by a juvenile court; one half of these, recidivists are criminals whose principal source of income are thefts, and, all of them had spent more time in jail than at large. It should be emphasized that both recidivists belonging to this group and the remaining ones had, in an overwhelming majority of cases (91 per cent), lived in their parents', or else their mothers’, homes, and were able to have their meals at home (70 per cent). B. The beginnings of delinquency with the persons investigated who have been punished only for infringement of bodily inviolability, damage to the body, brawls and insults to police functionaries are considerably later and take place about the thirteenth to the sixteenth year of age. Similarly, the rate of penalties inflicted is smaller, and the spells of liberty much longer than with the thief group. Nearly all such acts (accosting and beating up a passer-by in the street, insult by word of mouth or beating up a policeman, etc.) were committed while under the influence of drink. Nearly All of the investigated who belong to this group systematically abuse alcohol, and their delinquency is closely connected with their drunkenness. C. The most numerous group of persons convicted, those punished both for theft and for damage to the body, brawls, infringement of bodily inviolability and insult to a policemen, may be divided into two sub-groups: Sub-Group One, 30 strong, consists of individuals who commit more thefts then other offences. They do not fundamentally differ from the individuals who belong to the thief group, either as to the objects of theft and their value, or as to the method of committing their crime. Here, too, we have to do with individuals for whom thefts constitute their principal source of income. Sub-Group Two, 27 strong, is composed of the individuals who commit more offences of injury to the body, insulting policemen and similar offences commited out of so-called hooligan motives, than thefts. This group approaches the individuals discussed in point B. It is characteristic of them that 11 (out of a total of 15 recorded in our materials) of perpetrators of robbery are to be found in this group. In the material investigated by us robbery goes hand in hand almost exclusively with offences committed from hooligan motives. When we evaluate the general degree of social misfitting of 100 of the investigated we may state that as many as 82 per cent of them belong to the category of manifold recidivists, who, as a rule, work only, if at all, by fits and starts, and are in close connection with the criminal environment. Particularly bad in this respect was the case of 35 of the investigated. 2. In so far as the family environment of young adult recidivists is concerned, we meet with a large percentage (53 per cent) of half-orphans; out of that number in 39 cases it was the mother who took care of the person investigated, in 5 cases - the father, while in the remaining 9 cases there was a stepfather or stepmother. 79 of the fathers were workers (of which 34 unskilled ones), 16 – clerical workers, 5 had their own artisan workshops. The majority of the mothers also earned their living, as a rule, as unskilled workers. The extent of alcoholism in the families under investigation is very considerable: 38 of the fathers can be considered drunkards - for many years they have been systematically drinking, they get drunk several times a week, spend their wages on drink. In the remaining families 29 fathers drink, on the average, from twice to three times a week, while 32 drink only sporadically and do not get drunk. Taking into consideration the educational atmosphere of the home, as well as the state of care and control in the environment during the period of the minority of the persons investigated, it was established that in 58 families the whole set of educationally definitely harmful factors was present. 3. The data obtained during the investigation concerning the personality of young recidivists speak in favor of the view that the latter are characterized by features which prove their low psychical maturity, and, in particular, a domination of impulsive reactions, a considerable and uncontrollable thoughtlessness, acting in the wake of motives responsible for the desire to make the most of life, in the form of continual entertainments and adventures, and a desire to impose on one’s coevals. A striking thing here is a lack of planning, absence of reflections on their future life, as well as of any more serious considerations for work, which, with them, is not identified with the idea of any definite trade; there is also a failure to appreciate critically the effects of one's own behavior. As far as the level of intelligence is concerned, only 11 of the investigated showed signs of mental deficiency. There were 18 individuals of more than average intelligence. A psychological and psychopathological analysis of the investigated shows that 39 of those recidivists are to be included in the category of persons with personality disorders, who are usually described by the name of psychopaths. Yet it does not seem possible, on the basis of the investigation, to delimit the cases which could be diagnosed as psychopathic from such in which the normal development of the personality has suffered serious disturbances, mostly as a result of serious psychical shocks and psychical conflicts during their childhood. There can be no doubt, however, that the psychical qualities of the investigated cannot be squeezed within the framework of even a broad norm adopted, that their personality has pathological traits which exert an essential influence upon their behavior. In comparison with this most numerous group of 39 of the investigated, who are usually approached from the point of view of psychopathy, other pathological cases are not numerous in the material under investigation: with 6 of the investigated we have to do with encephalopathy after skull lesions, with 4 - with psychical changes after an 3 encephalitis, while 3 of the investigated suffer from epilepsy. In analyzing the abnormal personality traits with these 39 recidivists, the following re-occurring psychical qualities and reaction attitudes (incidentally mentioned in conversation by the investigated themselves) have been met with: a great irritability, lack of self-control, a tendency to provoke conflicts owing to an impulsive pattern of behavior, considerable difficulties in trying to subordinate oneself to various kinds of discipline, frequent states of depression and bad feeling, o tension and anxiety. It ought to be emphasized that out of 39 recidivists with serious personality disorders there were as many as 30 cases of very bad family environment in childhood. Besides, in all this material in which the family home so frequently assumes a negative outlook, it is noteworthy how many of young adult recidivists showed no emotional attachment whatsoever to their parents, including a large percentage of individuals of a very aggressive attitude. Among 47 young adults of a definitely aggressive attitude there were 30 lacking any emotional ties with the family home, and among the others there were only 10 free from an aggressive attitude. It is a significant thing that it is precisely with those of the investigated, revealing clear tendencies to aggression, over-impulsive, uncontrolled, that, in comparison with the other investigated, the various emotional conflicts appear much more conspicuously conflicts going back to childhood days, caused by an atmosphere in the family home (a feeling of loneliness due to the lack of manifestations of any tenderer feeling on the part of the mother, jealousy of a brother or sister, because the father liked them better, experiences of fear evoked by the brutality of a drunken father and an ambivalent attitude towards him, etc.) 4. As far as their mode of life was, concerned, only 16 of the investigated, who worked systematically, led a life similar to that of the generality of young people of the same age and of similar social environment. With the remaining ones we find a definitely negative attitude to work, while 32 of them worked very unsystematically, and 52 did but odd jobs or did not work at all. An overwhelming majority of the investigated spent most of their time strolling about the town, sitting in restaurants or nighthouses etc. Alcoholism reached big proportions with 56 of the investigated. They drink at least four or five times per week and frequently get drunk, while the majority of this group drink, and get drunk, every day. All the sons of alcohol addicts belong to this group. 27 of the investigated drink alcohol from once to three times per week, and it is only of 17 of them that it can be said that they either do not drink at all, or else drink only on rare occasions. 5. In our investigation, problems concerning the penalty and prison have been taken into consideration, first and foremost, under two of their aspects: whether or not, and if so, to what extent, the penalty of imprisonment does act, as a deterrent upon the persons investigated, according to their own opinion, and what influence a spell in prison had previously exerted upon them. Nearly all of them (70 answers have been obtained) believe that a penalty of imprisonment can act as a deterrent only on those who have not been in prison yet. Afterwards, that deterrent action ceases, since the prisoner comes to the conclusion that ,,you can get used to anything and bear any conditions". All the investigated also think that a spell in prison, so far from favouring their reformation, derailed them even further. Questioned whether after serving their present penalty they would go on committing criminal offences, 45 of the investigated answered indecisively, while admitting the possibility of their further committing offences, 15 declared bluntly that they would go on stealing, and a more 10 asserted that they would never again appear in the dock (their previous offences had, as a rule, to do with alcoholism). After the investigation was terminated, the further destinies of the 100 young adult recidivists who had been investigated were checked and it appeared. That 42 of them still served prison sentences, 29 had been released and remained at large, while another 29 had been once more arrested after their release for the commission of a new crime. Of the latter group, 17 remained free less than six months, 9 - from six months to one year, and only 3 for more than one year. It ought to be emphasized that out of the 29 investigated persons who were not arrested again after having been released from prison, 10 had been free for only about six months at the time of the last follow-up study. The results of the investigation bear witness to the fact that 80 per cent of young adult recidivists systematically commit criminal offences and belong to the category of the socially entirely depraved. The fundamental conclusion boils down to the following questions: The prophylaxis of young adults recidivism is closely connected with the problem of the recidivism of juvenile delinquents and with the problem of the earliest possible interception of the process of the juvenile's demoralization. With regard to recidivists aged from 17 to 20 the imprisonment penalty ought to be altogether eliminated and long-term educational-cum-correctional methods applied, similar to those used with older juveniles with a high minimum term (two years). Young adult recidivists ought to be submitted to detailed psychological and psychiatrical examination in order to find and apply the appropriate, individualized methods of re-education.
Źródło:: Archiwum Kryminologii; 1960, I; 165-214
0066-6890
2719-4280
Pojawia się w:: Archiwum Kryminologii
Dostawca treści:: Biblioteka Nauki

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