L6II2- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1-59 March 30, 1918 AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF ABNORMAL CHILDREN, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PROBLEMS OF DEPENDENCY AND DELINQUENCY BY OLGA BRIDGMAN, M.D., PH.D. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY UNIVEBSITY OP CALIFOENIA PUBLICATIONS Note. — The University of California Publications are offered in exchange for the publi- cations of learned societies and institutions, universities and libraries. Complete lists of all the publications of the University will be sent upon request. For sample copies lists of publications or other information, address the Manager of the University Press, Berkeley, California, U. S. A. All matter sent in exchange should be addressed to The Exchange Department, University of California Library, Berkeley, California, U. S. A. OTTO HAREASSOWITZ, E. FEIEDLAENDEE & SOHN, LEIPZIG. BEELIN. 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An Experimental Study of Abnormal Children, with Special Eeference to the Problems of Dependency and Delinquency, by Olga Bridgman. Pp. 1-59, March, 1918 65 PHILOSOPHY. — George H. Howison, Editor. Price per volume $2.00, Cited as Univ. Calif. Publ. Philos. The first volume of the University of California Publications in Philosophy appeared in November, 1904, and was prepared in commemoration of the seventieth birthday of Pro- fessor George Holmes Howison, under the direction of a committee of his pupils composed of Evander Bradley McGilvary, Charles Henry Eieber, Harry Allen Overstreet and Charles Montague Bakewell. The price of the volume is $2. It may be had bound, or the papers may be obtained separately. Its contents are: Vcl. 1. 1. The Summum Bonum, by Evander Bradley McGilvary, Pp. 1-27 25 2. The Essentials of Human Faculty, by Sidney Edward Mezes. Pp. 28-55 .25 3. Some Scientific Apologies for Evil, by George Malcolm Stratton. Pp, 56-71 .16 4. Pragmatism and the a priori, by Charles Henry Eieber. Pp. 72-91 20 5. Latter-day Flowing-Philosophy, by Charles Montague Bakewell. Pp. 92-114 20 6. Some Problems In Evolution and Education, by Ernest Norton Hen- derson. Pp. 115-124 10 7. Philosophy and Science in the Study of Education, by Jesse Dismukes Burks. Pp. 125-140 15 8. The Dialectic of Bruno and Spinoza, by Arthur Oncken Lovejoy. Pp. 141-174 25 9. The Logic of Self-Eealizatlon, by Henry Waldgrave Stuart, Pp, 175-205 .30 10. Utility and th« Accepted Type, by Theodore de Lopez de Laguna. Pp. 206-226 20 AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF ABN0RM:AL CHILDREN, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PROBLEMS OF DEPENDENCY AND DELINQUENCY A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PAETIAL SATISFACTION OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA OLGA LOUISE BRIDGMAN May, 1915 / ^^ TO 6 v5^> UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY Vol. 3, No. I, pp. 1-59 March 30, 1918 AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF ABNORMAL CHILDREN, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PROBLEMS OF DEPENDENCY AND DELINQUENCY BY OLGA BEIDGMAN, M.D., Ph.D. CONTENTS PAGE I. Introduction 2 Opportunities for special studies ; Definition of types of environment; Definition of the terms dependency and delin- quency. ' II. Special study of the group of delinquent children 7 Offenses; Measurement of the intelligence by the Binet scale; Limitations to the use of the Binet scale; Employments; Parents ; Environment. III. Special study of the group of dependent children 31 Age of the dependent children ; Clironological and mental ages compared; Delinquent and dependent children compared; Parents of dependent children ; Family status of dependent children; Employment of parents; Nativity of parents; En- vironment of dependent children. IV. Notes on cases in miscellaneous group 47 V. General conclusion .50 VI. Appendix: summary of typical case-histories 55 2 University of California Publications in Psycliology [^'ou 3 INTRODUCTION The following study of abnormal children has been made in the Psychological Clinic of the Children's Out-Patient Depart- ment of the University of California Hospital in San Francisco. The Psychological Clinic was established in January, 1914, under the direct supervision of the Department of Pediatrics of the Medical School and with the co-operation of the Department of Psychology of the University in Berkeley. It was created in response to a recognized demand for the special services it could render, in that many defective and peculiar children were appearing and were not being cared for satisfactorily. The Psychological Clinic has been most fortunate in its association with a medical school and hospital ; through their special clinics it has been possible to determine accurately the child's physical condition and to observe the effects of appropriate care on his mental progress, Witli the assistance of the Social Service De- partment of the Hospital, information has been assembled as to home conditions — the social and financial standing of the family- — and as to hereditary traits. Opportunities for special studies. — It has been possible in this clinic, perhaps largely because of its connection with a state universit3% to investigate certain particular problems which arise in connection with the study of mental deficiency. A large proportion of the children coming to the clinic are dependent or delinquent, and there is, as a consequence, an opportunity for studying the problems of dependency and delinquency and their relation to that of mental abnormality. It is also possible to a limited extent, to study the hereditary tendencies shown; this is due to the fact that, in most cases, the parents and brothers and sisters of the child can be consulted and observed personally. In several cases, it has been possible to make actual examinatiions of all the children in a family. This is necessarily an exceedingly limited study of . hereditary tendencies, if it can 1918] Bridgman : Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 3 be considered such a study at all, but the observations that have been made are as accurate as actual personal contact with the individuals concerned can make them. Definition of types of environment. — Considerable stress has been laid on environmental conditions in this study. Under this title, we have discriminated as to good environment, unsatisfac- tory environment, and had environment. It is simple enough to decide in extreme cases whether an environment has been uni- formly good or bad, or where both conditions have existed, to draw a distinct line where the bad environment has left off and the good one begun. On the other hand, there are many cases where the distinction is not at all clear, where the environment has perhaps never been actually good, and at the same time never positively bad in the sense that the child has been sur- rounded by vicious influences. A child in an institution, for example, is not ordinarilj^ considered as having a satisfactory environment. To be sure, this child is usually well fed and comfortably housed and clothed, but there is lacking that most important element, namely, personal contact and interest, which may be found even in a poverty-stricken home, where proper food cannot always be obtained. Again, the child-placing agencies place their children in boarding-homes, but there is a vast difference in the homes which are found. Of course, the mental ability and physical appearance of the child itself deter- mine the type of such a home to a large extent. Good homes, where the keenest sympathy is given, can be provided with comparative ease for the bright, attractive child. But the dull child, in poor health and of unprepossessing appearance, is not so easily provided for. This child may go from home to home, usually to the less desirable and more temporary homes, and because of the frequent changes, may actually be worse off than are some of the children in institutions. Then as to the institutions, there is as great a variation as in the foster-homes. Certain of the smaller institutions are doing excellent work. Controlled as they are by trained persons, and with officers alert to their problem and to the personal needs of their charges. 4 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol. 3 they furnish homes which unquestionably surpass in efficiency many of the less desirable foster-homes. But in some of tlie less efficient orphanages, it is a different story ; in such cases it must be agreed that even a poor foster-home would be a great improvement. Then too, the same environment will have an entirely different effect on different children, depending again on the child itself. Some children who are forced to look out for themselves to a greater or less extent even in early childhood, develop a self-reliance and a strength of character which is quite remarkable, while other children of whom no greater require- ments are made, become lawless and may go doMai completely because of lack of control and direction. Therefore, environ- ment will have to be judged largely by the effect it has on the child and not in an abstract way. Poverty and privation ma}' early bring out high traits of character in certain individuals, whereas in other cases, where there is less inherent strength, they result in the child's following the path of least resistance and developing the worst side of its character. In deciding as to environment, then, whether it is to be regarded as good, had, or unsatisfactory, each child has been considered as an individ- ual, and its surroundings have been judged, first, without regard to their influence on the child, and again, solely from tlie effect they have had on the child. An environment has not been classified as had. unless it was actually vicious and of a type to have a bad lasting effect even on the most promising child. Children in institutions and those in foster-homes have all been considered carefully and have been held as having had unsat- isfactory or good surroundings as each particular case has seemed to warrant. This method of classification as to type of environment, unfortunately leaves much room for personal judgment, but it has been felt that the ultimate conclusions would be more fair than they could have been had whole groups of children — as for example, all children in foster-homes or all children in institutions — been placed in one or the other class, without special regard to the variations within each group. j — Lp-nifn^ ji t n »> ^jBj,^»8:gja_»»t^ i n^i. - _-i a^g 1918J Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 5 Definition of dependency and delinquency. — The two most important terms used in this report are dependency and delin- quency ; and that there may be no uncertainty as to the exact sense in which the terms are used, it will be necessary to define the present usage of the terms as clearly as is possible. The term delinquent will herein be applied to: (1) all such children as have actually violated any state law or city ordinance; (2) all such as associate with vicious companions, absent themselves from home, or are growing up in circumstances that make it highly probable that they themselves will lead vicious or criminal lives. Dependent will be used in referring to those children who have no proper homes or guardians, where financial depen- dency is virtually the whole problem. A child will be called delinqxient whenever it has acquired such knowledge or habits as make it an undesirable companion for other children, and dependent only where there are present no such traits to be over- come, and M^here the child has shown no marked abnormalit}' of character, that makes it an undesirable companion for other children. Bj^ making use of such a distinction as this it will not be difficult to make a division into the two classes, in which the necessary care to be provided will be clearl.y of a different type. This terminology is in the main in accordance with the definitions of dependency and delinquency which occur in most of the juvenile court laws in this country. A few of the older laws still adhere to the old terminology, including under the heading delinquency only such children as have vio- lated statutes or ordinances or are incorrigible, leaving out of consideration the large number of children who, because of bad environment or inherent anti-social tendencies, are in serious "danger of coming to lead criminal or dissolute lives." On the other hand, in the juvenile court law enacted in California in 1913,^ the term neglected child was introduced, to refer to the same class of children as is ordinarily regarded as dependent. 1 Tlie iieAv Juvenile Court Law of California, passed in 1915, does not distinguish by definition the various groups of children but refers to tliem all simply as ' ' wards of the Court. ' ' 6 University of California PiiMications in Psychology [Vol. 3 A delinquent child according to this law, is one who has violated some statute of the state or some city ordinance. A dependent child is one who is in serious danger of growing up to lead a criminal or dissolute life. This distinction has been made on account of a growing objection to the term delinquent, because of the stigma it attaches to the child and of the difficulty it raises later in attempts to provide for him an honorable place in the community. This feeling is in accord with the general opinion of those working with the children in the courts, that since these are only the victims of unfortunate circumstances, it should not be possible to attach to them any blame or responsibility for their unfavorable situation. Nevertheless, for the sake of con- venience, the term delinquency will be used in this report in the same sense in which it is used in the states of Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washing- ton, in all of which states the law regards as delinquent any child who (rt) violates a state law or a city or village ordinance; (&) is incorrigible; (c) knowingly associates with thieves, vicious or immoral persons; [d) absents himself from home without the consent of parent or guardian, or for no sufficient cause ; ( e ) is growing up in idleness or crime; (/) knowingly visits or enters a house of ill-fame; (g) visits gambling houses or saloons; (h) wanders on the streets at night or about railroad yards or tracks ; (i) jumps off and on trains; (j) enters a car or engine without authority; (k) uses vile, obscene or indecent language, or (l) is immoral or indecent. In short, a delinquent child is one who needs the supervision of the court, both for the furtherance of his own interests, and for the interests of the community in which he lives. This study has been made of the first four hundred and fifty cases coming to the clinic from Januarj^, 1914, to January, 1915. These cases were drawn from widely varying sources, the vast majority, however, coming from public institutions such as the juvenile court, or charity organizations. 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 7 SPECIAL STUDY OF THE GROUP OF DELINQUENT CHILDREN Of the total number of children examined, two hundred and five have been classified as delinquent. These children have been sent to the clinic for mental examination by several differ- ent public agencies but the largest number are juvenile-court cases. Of the total of two hundred and five cases, one hundred and eighty-five were referred to the clinic by the juvenile court, ten came from other departments of the University of California Hospital, and there were scattered cases from various other sources. Table 1. — Agencies Sending Delinquent Children for Mental Examination; Number of Cases Juvenile Court 185 University of California Hospital 10 Public Schools 2 Associated Charities of San Francisco 1 St. Francis Technical School 1 City and County Hospital 1 St. Catherine's Home 1 Detention Hospital 1 Boys and Girls Aid Society 1 Protestant Orphan Asylum 1 Children's Home-Finding Society 1 Total 205 Table 2. — Offenses of Delinquent Children Boys Stealing 43 Incorrigibility 33 Truancy 24 Running away from home 13 Vagrancy 10 Bad personal sex habits 9 Immoral sex relations 5 8 University of California Piihlioations in Psychology [Vol. 3 Girls Immoral sex relations 83 Incorrigibility 24 Running away from home 8 Bad personal sex habits 6 Truancy 2 Drunkenness 2 Offenses of delinquent children. — Of the delinquent children examined, ninety-eight were boys and one hundred and seven girls. These children, who came from widely different homes, were brought to the attention of their guardians as delinquent for a variety of reasons. Of the total number of delinquent children, sixty-two were dependent as well. These dependent delinquents have been included in the statistical tables of the delinquents but not in those of the dependents. The offenses comm.itted show considerable variation with sex. Forty-three of the boys classified as delinquent had been guilty -of stealing, this being the commonest form of delinquency on the part of the bo3's. None of the girls, on the other hand, had been guilty of stealing as the primary offense, but eighty-three had been guilty of sex immorality. Some of these differences may be fairly easily explained. In their earlier j-ears, boys are allowed much greater freedom from supervision than are girls, and as a result a much smaller number of little girls appear before the juvenile court than of little boys. Also, boys are brought before the court on much less provocation than are girls and as a result of this tendency to shelter girls from the disgrace associated with a court hearing, they seldom appear until they have com- mitted some comparatively serious offense and it is imperative that active measures be taken to improve the situation. The average age of the boys is approximately thirteen j^ears, and there are more thirteen-year-old boj^s than an}- others appearing in the group of delinquents. The average age of the girls is roughly fifteen years, approximately two years greater than that of the boys. However, there are far more sixteen-year-old girls in the delinquent group than of any other age. 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 9 Table 3. — Distribution of Delinquent Children According to Chronological Age Boys GMs 6 yis 1 4 yrs 1 1 1 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 25 26 1 8 4 9 10 10 3 11 5 12 12 13 17 14 12 15 10 16 10 17 9 18 1 19 1 20 1 21 1 23 — 24 98 31 2 2 5 10 11 25 16 " 10 17 " 19 15 7 1 1 1 Total 98 31 " 1 Total 107 Table 4. — Distribution of Delinquent Children According to Mental Age Boys Girls 2 yrs 1 5 yrs 1 5 " 2 6 " 1 6 " 3 7 " 4 7 " 4 8 " 3 8 " 7 9 " 15 9 " 16 10 " - 16 10 " 17 11 " 26 11 " 26 12 " 18 12 " 9 15 " 21 15 " 10 18 " 2 18 " : 2 — ? " 1 Total 107 Total 98 10 University of California PiiMioations in Psychology [Vol. 3 Table 5. — Distribution of Delinquent Children According to Chronological and Mental Ages Boys Mental age 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 13 ? Tola Chron. age 6 .. 1 „ .. . 1 7 .... 1 . .. 1 8.... .. 1 1 1 1 4 9.... 1 2 3 2 . 9 10 .... .. 1 2 . 3 11 .... 1 1 1 ] 1 5 12 .... 1 6 3 2 . 12 13 .... 2 3 9 2 . 17 14 .... 1 1 4 5 1 .. . . 12 15 .... 1 1 2 2 1 o o . 11 16 .... 1 1 3 2 3 .. . . 10 17.... 1 1 4 1 2 .. . . 9 18 .... 1 .. . 1 Over 18 1 1 .. 1 3 Total 7 16 17 26 9 10 1 98 Girls Mental age Chron. age 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Over 18 10 11 12 15 18 Total 1 1 2 2 2 5 10 11 25 19 15 13 Total. 3 15 16 26 18 21 2 107 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 11 Chi-on. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Over 18 age Graph 1. Distribution of delinquent boys according to chronological age. No. 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 Chron. 3 4 5 6 7 age 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Over 18 Graph 2. Distribution of delinquent girls according to chronological age. 12 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol. 3 Mental 1 2 3 4 5 G 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 18 age Graph 3. Distribution of deliiiquont boys according to mental age. No. 28 26 24 2 2 20 IS 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 Mental 01234567 age 9 10 11 12 15 U Graph 4. Distribution of delinquent girls according to mental age. 1918] BrkJgman: Experimental Study of Ahnormal Children 13 2 6 2 4 2 2 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 o Age 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Over 18 Graph 5. Comparison of mental and chronological ages of delinquent boys. Mental age, dotted line. Chronological age, solid line. No. 28 I 26 24 2 2 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 Age 1 _J 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Over li Graph 6. Comparison of mental and chronological ages of delinquent girls. Mental age, dotted line. Chronological age, solid line. 14 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol, 3 Measurement of intelligence hy the Binet scale. — Inspection of the preceding tables and graphs brings out several rather striking facts. In the case of both boys and girls, the mental age is lower than the chronological age, and in both groups there are more delinquent children having a mental age of eleven years than any other. This is a mental age about which there is considerable debate, and not a few conservative persons feel that a child having this mental age, no matter how much older he is according to chronological age, should not be considered as being actually feeble-minded. It is probably true that there are individuals who are not above eleven years in mental age who are not feeble-minded in any sense. Occasionally special factors enter in, such as marked lack of normal educational opportunities, or lack of fluency in the use of English, this latter difficulty showing in foreign-born persons or even in American-born children when a foreign language is spoken in the home. There is another type of case, found oftener in agricultural districts than in cities, in which the ability to think in abstract terms is very poorly developed. Persons of this type may be phj'sieally vigorous and capable of managing their affairs in a foresighted way, while decidedly below the average in their ability to acquire book knowledge. They are usually the de- scendants of generations who have lived by using their hands rather than their wits ; thus with an innate lack of interest in school work, if not an actual distaste for it, they fail to profit by scholastic training and remain dunces throughout their school course. Along practical lines, however, and in the particular directions in which their interests extend, they show marked ability and keenness. But such cases as these are unusual and stand out from the group of really defective persons because of the peculiar features which have been mentioned. As a rule the child brought up under average conditions, who has a mental age of only eleven years after having attained a chronological age of fifteen years or more, is a defective person 1918] Bridgnmn: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 15 as judged hy other standards than the Biuet scale alone. A good many of these children are very deceptive in their appear- ance of intelligence and under favorable circumstances they may never stand out from the rest of society as being abnormal. They are, however, distinctly below the average in all kinds of ability, and are peculiarly unable to adapt themselves to trying or unusual circumstances. They make up to a considerable extent the great body of incompetents, often become vicious and criminal, and form a large part of those groups who are in chronic need of aid from public charities, or who fill the alms- houses, jails and prisons of this country. The fact that a few of them under favorable conditions seem to be able to look after themselves without special care, does not make the class as a whole any the less dangerous, and it seems obvious that for most of them the exercise of full personal liberty should be limited in some way if they are to be supervised in anything like an adequate manner. They must always be regarded as potentially anti-social and should be taken in charge by the state at as early an age as possible. If this were done in a wise and humane way, it would probably do away with a great deal of petty crime and would diminish to a great extent the number of women becoming prostitutes. The group of children, then, having a mental age of eleven years and retarded more than four j^ears mentally, will, in this paper, be included in the moron group. Those children with a mental age of twelve years who are retarded more than four years are classified as defective, but are not considered feeble-minded. Those children with a mental age of fifteen years or over have in every case been regarded as having nonnal intelligence. This terminolog}^ and method of classification is in the main in accordance with that described by E. B. Huey- and Henry H. Goddard.^ 2 Huey, E. B., Baclnvard and feehJe-minded children. Baltimore, War- wick and York, 1912, pp. 4-10. 3 Goddard, H. H., Feeble-mindedness : its causes and consequences. New York, Macmillan, 1914, pp. 4-6. 16 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol. 3 Table 6. — Diagnosis of Delinquent Children as Graded by the BiNET Scale Idiot 1 Imbecile 5 Moron 69 Defective 14 Backward 50 Normal 64 Precocious 1 ? (Insane) 1 Total 205 Of the whole group of two hvindred and five eases, seventy- five have been graded as feeble-minded, a proportion of approximately 32 per cent, this percentage including those cases indicated in table 6, as idiots, imhcciles and morons. Of those referred to as defective, some will probably deteriorate and finally fall into the class of children actually feeble-minded, and in the hackward group a considerable proportion ^\\\ almost certainly fail to develop normally and will later have to be regarded as feeble-minded persons. Those children having normal intelligence as estimated hy the Binet scale are interest- ing, indeed puzzling. Of this number comparatively few can be regarded as average children. Thirteen out of a total of sixty-five, or 20 per cent, seem quite normal and apparently have become delinquent only because exposed to especially un- favorable conditions or because of a marked lack of the super- vision and training which falls to the lot of the average child. The delinquenc}^ in these cases might almost be considered acci- dental, as something from which the child could have been protected with little difficulty. For these children it is only necessary to provide favorable surroundings, and good results may be hoped for. But as to the rest, the problem is a different one. All of these have manifested, either because of innate tendencies or because of long-continued bad environment, serious defects of character. It is undoubtedly true that had they been placed in favorable conditions, many of these children would 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Al>)iormal Children 17 at the present time to all intents and purposes have been normal. It is a most unfortunate thing, that those children with bad hereditary tendencies, who have the greatest need of careful moral and mental training, and who should be protected both from mental and physical excesses, should be those who are most exposed to moral and physical dangers. It is such individuals as these who represent the first stages on the downward road toward mental disease, who are responsible for much of the crime which is committed, and who become the parents of true defectives. Limitations to use of Binet scale. — Table 7 suggests the limi- tations to the use of the Binet scale as the only method of examination. Surely nothing could be more absurd or mis- leading than to regard as normal the group of children here tabulated, simply because, according to the intelligence scale, they have a normal or at least approximately normal mental age. Table 7. — Delinquent Children Graded as Normal by the Binet Scale Apparently normal in every way 13 Persistently immoral sexually 14 Generally irresponsible 13 Constitutionally psychoi>athic 8 Guilty of inveterate thieving 7 Obsessed with Wanderlust - 5 Perverted sexually 3 Wantonly cruel 1 Insane (now in asylum) 1 Total 65 Binet, himself, in the use of his scale, made no pretense of dealing with all sides of a complex nature, and though this system of tests furnishes a surprising variety of information, it nevertheless gives far from the whole stor3\ First of all, it is necessarj' to know what opportunities a child has had in his own home and neighborhood. Then hereditary tendencies must be taken into consideration. And perhaps most important of 18 University of California PuMications in Psychology [Vol. 3 all, it is necessary to understand the child's point of view, his attitude toward persons and things, and his emotional response to his experiences and to situations which he is called upon to meet. A careful interpretation of even such simply conducted tests as those in the Binet scale gives some information along all of these lines, but not nearly enough. In the actual administra- tion of tests made in this study, the method of examination which has given most satisfaction has been the use of the Binet scale as modified by Henrj- H. Goddard, supplemented by a large number of tests designed to emphasize some points which the Binet tests merely touch upon and to test more thoroughly such complex faculties as persistence, interest, judgment and ability to make more or less complicated associations. The Binet scale has one very important point in its favor ; it gives a definite and communicable finding. In making use of the results of mental examinations of delinquent children it is necessary that the reports be made intelligible to those officials who finally rule as to the child's further care. The terms mental age and retardation are easily made clear to anyone, Avhich is a great advantage ; but when these tests are used indiscriminatelj^ the results may be and often are misleading, and the whole system may work to the detriment of the child and of the scale itself, by creating impressions which are not justifiable. Employments of delinquent children. — The occupations under which these children can be grouped, to a large extent fall into a few important classes. More children are still in school than are employed in any other way, eighty-six, or 42 per cent, being school children. Fifty, or 24 per cent, are not employed in any remunerative way even though they are out of school. The paid occupations in which these children have been engaged are simi- lar, requiring no previous training and but little intelligence. Thirty-four, or approximately^ 17 per cent, are engaged in domes- tic service. This large proportion of delinquent children, nearly all girls, employed as domestic servants does not necessarily point to this as an undesirable occupation, or as one which by its very nature contributes to delinquency. Domestic service 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 19 Table 8. — Occupations in which Delinquent Children have been Engaged Schoolchild 86 Without employment 50 Domestic servant 34 Factory worker 6 Housewife 4 Cashier 3 Newsboy 3 Laborer 2 Messenger 2 Saleswoman 2 Wagon-boy 1 Cashgirl 1 Prize-fighter 1 Telephone operator 1 Stockgirl , .'. 1 Clerk in ice-cream parlor 1 Candy packer 1 Gardener's helper 1 Office boy 1 Comptometer operator 1 Multigrapher 1 Of unknown occupation 2 Total 205 is almost the only occupation by means of which an untrained, often sadly incompetent girl can obtain for herself food and a comfortable room. For girls who are at best capable of doing only routine work and who are not trained to do that, there is no other alternative than housework ; many of the girls themselves admit that they dislike this work, but cannot in any other way earn enough to live. The problem of training incompetent indi- viduals to some useful emplojTuent and of providing employment for them, is one whose solution has been attempted only in a small way, though the need of effective measures for looking after these individuals is a very pressing one. At the present time it is a pitiful reflection on the inadequacy of relief meas- ures, that so many charitable agencies and penal institutions find it necessary to regard the marriage of a delinquent girl, even though she may be known to be mentally defective, as the best 20 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol. 3 possible solution of the problem of her case. This may relieve present conditions to a slight extent ; it at least transfers the legal responsibility in most cases to other shoulders ; but the situation will have to be faced by another generation, if not by this one, and the problem will not be easier to solve because of years of delay and shortsightedness in dealing with it. If defective-delinquent girls marry, they will probably marry per- sons like themselves. This seems to be a social law for which much evidence can be found. Their children will in all prob- ability be at least as defective as themselves, and in another generation the whole situation will not have improved but will almost certainly have become more serious. Parents of deUnquent children: types of character. — Even a brief and necessarily superficial study of the parents of this group of delinquent children shows that very many, though by no means all, are potentially if not actually anti-social. Com- paratively few of these children come from good homes, and poverty, vice and incompetency are the common findings. The parents are variously employed and except that there is a pre- ponderance of seasonal and unskilled trades, and of those in which emplo^'ment is very irregular, nothing is especially noticeable. (See table 10.) Table 9 shows in a general way Table 9. — Condition of Pakents of Delinquent Children Both i^arents inefficient 92 Both i^arents normal 3.^ Both parents unknown 26 One parent inefficient, the other unknown 33 Mother normal, father inefficient 9 Father inoffi.cient, mother insane 2 Father inefficient, mother neurotic 2 Mother normal, father insane 2 Father normal, mother inefficient 1 Both j)arents neurotic 1 Both parents insane 1 Father normal, mother insane 1 Mother normal, father neurotic 1 Mother inefficient, father eccentric 1 Total 205 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 21 Table 10. — Occupations Laborer Carpenter Gang-foreman Cook Teamster Stevedore Fruit-peddler Stationary engineer Physician Longshoreman Janitor Chiropodist Horse-trader Painter Machinist Fireman Candy-factory hand Tailor Night watchman Restaurant manager Mattress-maker Boiler-maker Post-office clerk Bartender Car-oiler Real-estate agent Stock accountant Gambler Plaster-of-Paris statue maker.. Proprietor of bakery and chophouse Tinner Metal-roofer OF Parents ov Delinquent Children Father 12 10 1 1 1 1 1 1 Travelling salesman 1 Piano-luner 1 Architect 1 Waiter 1 Electrician Furniture merchant Old-clothes man Musician Gardener , Balloon-maker Night-starter (ferry) 1 Cobbler 1 Candy-seller at theatre 1 Miner 's helper 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Marble-worker Police officer Stationary fireman Civil engineer Cabinet-maker Soldier Dyer and cleaner 1 Promoter 1 Special policeman 1 Horse-trainer 1 Iron-moulder 1 Porter 1 Owner of cigar stand 1 Tanner 1 No occupation 7 Occupation unknown 81 Total 205 Mother House^\-ife 118 Servant by the day 11 Laundry-worker 8 "Practical" nurse 3 Manager of boarding-house .... 2 Factory hand 2 Telephone operator 1 Paper-seller 1 Solicitor 1 Waitress 1 Trained nurse 1 Chambermaid 1 Dyer and cleaner 1 Milliner 1 Real-estate dealer 1 No occupation 1 Occupation unknown 51 Total 205 22 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol. 3 the types of parents of the delinquent children who have been studied. The term inefficient has been used of persons who are distinctly below normal, either in character or intelligence or both, persons who must be considered social failures. They may be well-meaning^ in every way, but unable to cope with situations at all complex ; or they may be vicious and degenerate as well as incompetent. This group includes the drunken, im- moral, generally shiftless and worthless individuals who seem often to recognize no responsibility, and who would be unable to bear it were it recognized. Of the total number of delinquent children, ninety -two, or 45 per cent, have both parents inefficient. Without doubt many of these parents are mentally defective and are of the same type as the children, having probably a mental age of eleven years or even less. Only thirty-three, or 16 per cent, of the delinquent children have both parents normal, as far as can be ascertained. Table 11.— Financial Status op Families of Delinquent Children Dependent on public aid Children in institutions 39 Cliildren whose families are in clironic need of aid 15 Children in foster-homes 5 Widows '-pension cases 3 Total 62 Independent of public aid Children with poverty in homes 47 Children with vicious homes 44 Children with brutal parents 1 Cliildren with good homes 49 Insufficient data 2 Total 143 Presence or absence of parents. — Table 12 shows the number of cases in which one parent is absent from the home either because of death or desertion. This tabulation takes into account only the fact of the presence or absence of one or both of the parents, entirely without regard to the character of the 1918] Bridgman : Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 23 parent. Some parents who are living and apparently providing a home, are most undesirable in character, and in some cases it is known that parents who are dead were in every way normal. The presence or the absence of the parents from the home is of importance only in so far as it shows a relationship between delinquency and abnormal family situations. In thirty-two cases the mother is absent from the family, four mothers having Table 12. — Family Status of Delinquent Children, According to Presence or Absence of Parents Both parents living together 71 Father living, mother dead or unknown 28 Father dead or unknown, mother living 43 Mother at home, deserted by father 21 Father at home, deserted by mother 4 Both parents dead or imknown 32 Both parents deserted 3 No information 3 Total 205 deserted and twenty-eight being dead or unknown. On the other hand, in sixty-four cases the fathers are absent from the family, twenty-one fathers having deserted and forty-three being dead or unknown. In just twice as many instances then is the father the missing parent when only one is absent. That de- pendency should result more often because of absence of father than of mother may be explained in part by two facts : First, that the mother when left alone is more helpless, largely for financial reasons, than is the father, hence the children lack more of the necessary supervision than when the father is left alone, the father being able to provide servants or other care. Second, the desertion of the family is more common by the father than by the mother. Table 13 shows the families, already included in Table 13. — Parents not Living Together Divorced 10 Separated 21 Total 31 24 University of Calif orniu Publications in Psychology [Vol. 3 table 12, where the parents are not living together. Of these families, thirty-one in all, ten parents have been divorced and the rest have voluntarily separated, or one parent has deserted. Nativity of parents. — Of the parents of the delinquent and the dependent children, tabulations have been made of the place of birth, and the results compared with the corresponding re- Table 14. — Nativity of Delinquent Children Native-born of native parentage 73 36% Native-born of mixed parentage 16 S% Native-born of foreign parentage 61 30% Foreign-born of foreign parentage 22 10% Parentage unknown 33 16% Total 205 100% Note. — The term viixed in this and other tables means that one parent is native-born, the other foreign-born. Table 1.5. — Nativity of Dependent Children Native-born of native parentage 34 26% Native-born of mixed parentage 8 6% Native-born of foreign parentage 44 33% Foreign-born of foreign parentage 13 9% Parentage unknown 34 26% Total 133 100% Table 16. — Parentage of the Population of San Francisco U. S. Census Report, 1910 Native-born of native parentage 31.4% Native-born of foreign or mixed parentage 36.9% Foreign-born of foreign parentage 31.4% ports in the last United States Census. Comparisons have first been made of the two large groups, the American-born and the foreign-born, and in another table the nationalities of the foreign- born have been compared with one another. These comparisons are not entireh' satisfactory. Many nationalities do not adapt themselves readily to the customs and requirements of this country during the first or even the second generation, hence the 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 25 □ American born of American parents American born of foreign or mixed parents American born of foreign parents Graph 7. Parentage of the population of San Francisco. Table 17 — Population of San Francisco, Native-born of Foreign Parents or Foreign-born Listed under Native Country of Parents, Computed from 13th U. S. Census Eeport, 1910 Ireland 54,413 Germany 48,890 Italy 27,124 England 14,050 Sweden 9,736 France 8,931 Canada 8,073 Eussia 6,825 Austria 6,315 Scotland 5,240 Norway 4,735 Denmark 4,243 Switzerland 3,832 Greece 2,274 Finland 1,846 Mexico 1,763 Australia 1,347 Hungary 1,247 Spain 1,170 Wales 693 Portugal 570 Holland 500 All others 24,350 Total 238,167 26 University of California Puhlications in Psychology [Vol. 3 Table 18. — Native Country of Foreign -born Parents of Delinquent Children Both parents born in Italy 22 Ireland 12 Germany 9 France 4 England 3 Portugal 3 Austria 3 Russian Poland 2 Russia 2 Spain 2 Mexico 1 Porto Rico 1 Nonvay 1 Canada 1 Sweden 1 Both parents foreign, but from different count- tries 16 Total 83 Table 19. — Native Country of Foreign-born Parents of Dependent Children Both parents born in Italy 12 Spain 8 France 7 Ireland 5 Germany 3 Porto Rico 3 Chile 2 Mexico 2 Hawaii 2 Portugal 1 Russia 1 Both parents foreign but from different coun- tries 11 Total 57 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 27 Table 20. — Number of Dependent and Delinquent Children in San Francisco Relative to Total Population of Foreign Pakentage, or Foreign -bokn Population of San Francisco foreign-born or of foreign parentage Delinquents Dependents Ireland 54,413 12 5 Germany 48,890 9 3 Italy 27,124 22 12 England 14,050 3 Sweden 9,736 1 France 8,931 4 7 Canada 8,073 1 Eussia 6,825 4 1 Austria 6,315 3 Scotland 5,240 Norway 4,735 1 Denmark 4,243 Switzerland 3,832 Greece 2,274 Finland 1,846 Mexico 1,763 1 2 Australia 1,347 Hungary 1,247 Spain 1,170 2 8 Wales 693 Portugal 570 3 1 Holland 500 All others 24,350 17 18 Total 238,167 83 57 conditions found among the immigrants often continue among persons born in this country. In nearly all of our large cities there are whole districts where the population, though made up to a large extent of persons born in the United States, still continues to use its own language, the social condition here re- sembling that under which they lived in their own country rather than that commonly found in this. These groups, though Amer- ican-born, are still unassimilated immigrants; this difficulty of nationality is one which cannot be overlooked in working with them. A rather striking thing in tables 14 and 15 is the small proportion of delinquents and dependents found in the group of 28 University of California Piiblications in Psychology ['Vol. 3 Table 21. — Data of Table 20 Eestated as Ratios to the Total Groups Total, foreign derived population Country of San Francisco Delinquent Dependent Ireland 228 .145 .088 Germany 205 .109 .053 Italy 114 .265 .211 England 059 .036 Sweden 041 .012 France 038 .048 .123 Canada 034 .012 Eussia 029 .048 .017 Austria 027 .036 Scotland - 022 Norway 019 .012 Denmark 018 Switzerland 016 Greece .010 Finland 008 Mexico .007 .012 .035 Australia 006 — ... Hungary 005 Spain .005 .024 .140 Wales 003 Portugal 002 .036 .017 Holland 002 All others 102 .205 .316 Total 1.000 1.000 1.000 foreign-born persons, and the comparatively large number of de- pendents and of delinquents in the group of native-born of foreign or mixed parentage. This may in part be explained by the fact that the larger number of foreign-born persons are above the age at which they would come before the juvenile court when first admitted to this country, so that the number of foreign-born juvenile delinquents would not represent the correct proportion of delinquency actuallj^ occurring in the foreign-born popula- tion. However, the proportions of dependents and delinquents in each foreign nationality as compared with the population of that foreign nationality in San Francisco, correspond rather closelv. 1918] Bridgiiio)) : Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 29 As has alreach' been pointed out, the number of cases avail- able for this study is not sufficient to make the results conclusive, though the}' agree on the whole Avith conclusions of other investi- gators. As regards the different nationalities represented, the most striking single fact brought out is the comparatively large number of Italians having dependent and delinquent children. More children of Italian parentage are delinquent than of any other, Avhereas, relative to the number of population, Italy is third on the list as determined by the thirteenth United States Census, and far below either Germany or Ireland. (See table 17.) This result tends to confirm the idea, already' common, that the Italians as they are now coming into this country — that is, from southern Italy and Sicil.y — are on the whole undesirable additions to the population. An interesting fact with regard to German^y is brought out by comparing the percentage of delinquent children with that of the dependents. Approxi- mately 11 per cent of the total number of delinquent children are the children of German-born parents, while only 5 per cent of the dependents are of German parentage. In the case of the Italians, on the other hand, the percentages indicating de- linquency and dependency are much more nearly equal. These facts would suggest that the difficulty with the Italian group is a rather marked inability to cope with the situation met in city life, whereas with the Germans this difficulty is not prominent. The delinquency of the Italians may be purely secondary, due to their lack of adaptability to trying conditions, whereas in the case of the Germans other factors enter in. Environment of delinquent children. — Table 22, showing the environment of delinquent children, judged according to the scheme previously described (see pp. 3 ff.), shows that in the vast majority of cases the surroundings in which these unfor- tunate children have developed have been veiy far from desir- able. Of the two hundred and five delinquent children, only forty-seven, or 23 per cent, have had such an environment as falls to the lot of the average child. Sixty, or 29 per cent, have 30 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol. 3 Table 22. — Environment of Delinquent Children: Cases under Each Environment always good 47 23% Environment always bad 60 29% Environment always unsatisfactory 94 46% Environment unknown 4 2% Total 205 100% grown up in positively vicious surroundings, while ninety-four, or 45 per cent, have had surroundings which were not satisfac- tory, though they were not actually vicious. The problem of the unsuccessful home, therefore, is seen to loom large in the whole problem of delinquency. Heredity is probably the im- portant factor in the production of actual feeble-mindedness, but in the causation of delinquency, environment is as large a factor as heredity, if not a larger one. It has been well said that hereditj^ gives the plasticity of the substance, environment the mould into which it is poured. Hence, since it is recognized that the development of the moral sense depends to a large de- gree on the early training and environment, it must also be agreed that much of juvenile delinquency is directly the result of a defective environment. To be sure, defective or markedly abnonnal parents could hardly give their children normal homes, so that, in very many cases, the children with bad hereditary tendencies are also subjected to the worst possible surroundings. That they themselves should be abnormal is the only possible outcome. 1918] Bridgman: Experimental Study of Abnormal Children 31 SPECIAL STUDY OF THE GROUP OF DEPENDENT CHILDREN The next group to be considered will be the group of depen- dent children. Of the total number of children coming to the clinic, one hundred and thirty-three were dependent to a large extent on public aid. These children were for the most part referred to the clinic hy public agencies, the great majority coming from the associated charities' organizations and the juvenile courts. The following table shows the distribution of dependent children according to the agencies interested in their care. The dependent children, as a whole, are probably less Table 23. — Agencies Referring Dependent Children to the Clinic; Number of Cases Associated Charities 56 , Juvenile Court 35 Roman Catholic Orjihau Asylum 13 Catholic Humane Bureau 7 University of California Hospital 5 Pacific Hebrew Orphanage 4 Widows' Pension Bureau 2 Children's Home Society 2 Children's Hospital 2 Protestant Orphan Asylum 1 People's Place (Social Settlement) 1 Nurses' Settlement 1 Hebrew Board of Relief 1 State Children's Visitor 1 McKinley Orphanage 1 School 1 Total 133 Table 24. — Sex of Dependent Children Boys 66 Girls 67 Total 133 32 University of California Puhlications in Psychology [Vol. 3 representative of dependency than are the delinquents; it is therefore likely that in some instances the conclusions will be less accurate for the dependent cases. The larger number of these children are the children of parents who are almost con- tinuously in need of aid from public agencies. However, a goodly number has been sent from orphanages and home-finding agencies and it has been gratifying to note a growing tendency on the part of such institutions to demand that a child, before being placed for adoption, shall have a clean bill of mental and phj'sical health. This policy can hardly fail to increase the confidence of the public in the child-placing agencies and will perhaps also increase the number of careful and conscientious persons who will be willing to undertake the great responsibility of earing for dependent children in good homes. Age of dependent children. — The average age of the depen- dent children is, as would be expected, less than that of the delinquents, and it is unfortunately true that as they grow older a certain proportion of the dependents, especially those whose parents are continuously in need of public aid and whose homes Table 25. — Distribution of Dependent Children According to Chronological Age Boys Girls 4 yrs 2 o yrs 5 6 " 5 7 " 2 7 " 6 S " 3 6 2 3 6 5 7 6 S 8 9 4 10 11 4 12 9 13 5 14 6 15 7 16 2 17 _ 25 9 10 11 12 13 " 5 14 " 11 14 " 6 15 " 2 15 " 7 16 " 2 18 " 2 17 " 2 1 Total 66 36 Total 67 1918J Bridgman: Experimeniitl Study of Abnormal Children 33 Table 26. — Distribution of Dependent Children According to Mental Age Boys Girls 1 yr ■i yis 2 5 3 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1.3 yr yrs 1 2 ...„ 2 6 " 3 4 7 " 1] 5 8 " 5 9 9 " 10 " 10 12 9 12 5 11 " 16 12 " 3 8 15 " 2 2 ? 1 1 Total &Q Total 67 are not satisfactory, will become delinquent and will later be included in that group of dependents who are also delinquent. The average age of the dependent boys is ten years and of the dependent girls twelve years. The difference in age of the sexes may be accounted for, at least in part, by the fact that it is easier for young boys to become self-supporting than it is for girls; hence the boj^ falls out of the group of dependents more easily and at an earlier age than the girl. Chronological and mental ages compared. — The average men- tal age of the dependent children is almost the same for both boj's and girls, being a little over eight years. A comparison of the mental with the chronological age shows that the average mental age of the boys is two years less than the average chrono- logical age, while the average mental age of the girls is four years less than the chronological age. This would indicate, in at least this group of dependent children, that the girls are on the whole more backward than the boys. This may be par- tially explained by the fact that the boys as a group are younger and, as a result, defect does not show itself as clearly as it may in later years. The fact, too, that the boys are more likely than the girls to be held as delinquent on small provocation 34 University of California Publications in Psychology [Vol.3 would tend to make a larger number of the hoys appear in the group of delinquents, where the average chronological age of the bovs is greater than in the dependent group. It not infrequently occurs that, in the families where the girls are No. 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 n Age 1 9 10 11 12 15 Gi'apli 8. Mental age of depeiuleut boys and girls. Boys, solid line. Girls, dotted line. 1 4 1 2 10 8 6 H 4 G L_^ j 4 . > 6 7 8 9 Age 1 2 3 10 11 12 1.3 14 15 16 17 18 Ove Graph 9. Chronological age of dependent boys and girls. Boys, solid line. Girls, dotted line. dependent, there ma}' be boys even younger who already have delinquency records in the juvenile court. The following table gives the diagnosis of the dependent children when classified according to the Binet scale. 1918] Bricl