MENTAL DEFICIENCY AND CRIME

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 81, 30 December 1920, Page 7

MENTAL DEFICIENCY AND CRIME

An assertion that wrongdoing is bound up with mental and physical conditions was made, by 'Dr. A. It. Abelson in a lecture on the Psychological Study of tho Delinquent Child, given in London before the Child Study Socioty. He- said that the child that was called inattentive or restless was frequently suffering from minor nervous <3sorders occasioned by insufficient food, want of sleep, or large tonsils. The future criminal generally belonged to a class of children of low intelligence and great cunning, and consequently lacking in moral. intelligence. And yet, the lecturer said, if the child -were taken early enough it had been proved over and over again that it was sensttlve to kindness and was mouldable. Heredity tnd» environment were undoubtedly potent factors in crime, and fne faot frequently came to light that the criminal had grown up in immoral surroundings, and that thero was insanity epilepsy in this family. Thie criminal' of high mential ability was rare. • He estimated thut. the relation between mental deficiency and crime was about 36 per cent, in America and about 10 per cent, in England, but he believed that crude testing methods were partly the cause of this discrepancy. Referring to the usa of the thyroid) gland, ho said that it was sometimes an excellent form of treatment, but its value was very muoh overrated. •