Page Twenty-Two

Helping the 'Bad Boy

THE JEWISH NEWS

Friclay, May 25, 1945

Make the Sky the Limit in 7th War Loan

'

JSSB Case Workers
Handle Problem. Children

1110w

By DAVID WINEMAN
(Case Worker, Jewish Social Service Bureau)

The Jewish Social Service Bureau is now entering its
fourth year of a cooperative program for Jewish delinquents
with the Juvenile Court of Detroit. As a result of our, ex-
perience. with this type . of problem child, we have had the

opportunity to observe -how
linquency develops, what factors
are„ essential M alleviating it
and, above all, what preventive
measures may be taken.
The delinquent is a special
kind of problem child. He has a
special way of reacting to inner
emotional distress. He develOps
no signals: he acts.
How They React
Long before • his all-out revolt
against society culminating in
the Juvenile Court, the delin-
quent begins to act out his de-
fiance and. rebellion, the first
targets of his aggression being
those in his immediate circle:
parents, brothers,- sisters, etc.
The other type of problem
child draws back into himself,
and nurses his wounds. The de-
linquent does just the opposite:
he inflicts his wounds on society.
Some other characteristics of
the delinquent are these:
He rarely feels guilty or
frightened by what he does, and
usually , feels self -justified; he
does , not want to change his be-
havior, and is .suspicious of any-
one who tries to influence him
to change; he usually becomes
openly delinquent between - the
ages of 12 and 18.
The Story of Ralph .
Ralph, 15, was picked up for
breaking into a delicatessen. He
had robbed the cash register of
$200; stolen some canned goods,
and smashed a few show cases
just for the fun of it. He had no
accomplices. Since it was a first
offense he was placed on proba-
tion and referred to a JSSB
worker.
The parents revealed that
R alph had been difficult to -
manage at the age of 12'xi and
had grown worse since that
time. He played truant from
school and home for as long as
a week or 10 days, and • was a
bully in the classroom. By the
time he was 15, he belonged to
an. older "fast" crowd which
frequented beer_ gardens.
As an infant Ralph had been
a source of great joy - to his
mother. He was such a happy,
contented baby. Because she
feared to change hiS dispOsition,
he was not weaned until two
and a half and was "spoiled in
many other ways.
• Began to Punish Him
When the time came for him
to start school he Showed neith-
er.. fear nor unwillingness, but
the mother soon was called to
'school because Ralph did not
seem to grasp the difference be-
tween school and home; he did
exactly what he wanted -4- in
both places. At this point his
parents began to punish and
restrict him.
Ralph's parents, financially
well off, with two younger chil-
dren, tried everything to con-
trol the boy, but to no. aVan.
Repeated punishment and brib-:
ery failed. What • was Ralph's
trouble? As a • baby, Ralph was
"spoiled." He was not weaned
until two and a Mall, and was
allowed to express all the ag-
gressive and destructive tenden-
cies of an infant until he was
five. This was the root of "the
world owes me a living"
philosophy.
When he entered his teens,
Ralph became much worse.
Pushed on by the enormous in-
crease in the rate of his. biologi-
cal and emotional development,
he was intensely desirous of
proving that he was already
groWn up and did not have to
take orders from anyone.
Compared to. Explosion
What happened can be com-
pared to an explosion. Anything
that stood for law and order—
parent, school teachers, the po-
liceman on the - beat--only exist-
ed to be triumphed over, espe-
cially if it stood in the way of
satisfying his personal desires.
The delinquent is suspicious
and unfriendly to all adults. In

his own eyes he feels justified,
and having no conscience, feels
neither guilty nor afraid. His
basic language is: "Satisfy me
or I will take the matter into
my own hands."
At first the social worker is
just another adult to such a
boy: an object against whom he
hurls his • defiance and hatred.
What can the social worker do
with such a severe' delinquent?
The most important factor is to
win his confidence and affection.
This is vitally necessary because
the goal is to replace the anti-
social feelings of the delinquent
with the feelings of civilized
society.
Not Successful in All
We are not successful in all
cases. In those cases where we
do not succeed we find that the
anti-social feelings are too deep-
ly instilled by the time the child
is referred to us. Such delin-
quents, who cannot be helped
while in their own homes, must
be cared for in an environment
'planned specifically around their
needs. This can be found only
in specialized institutions.
But we have learned a very
important lesson from all -delin-
quents, especially the unsuccess-
fully treated. There is a stage
before they are openly delin-
quent when they show certain
signs of -what is to come and
when they could have been
helped without removing them
from the home. Take Ralph, for
instance. At six_ and a half he
should have been brought to a
social agency, not at 15, for at
that time he definitely "pre-
viewed" his later behavior. How
do we know that we could have
helped Ralph at six and a half?
The answer lies in our experi
ence with other children who are
brought to our attention.
The case of Henry shows how
early treatment can be of value.
Henry, age 7, is a little terror.
Overactive and restless, destruc-
tive and demanding, especially
since commencing school, he has
been completely , unmanagable.
Henry's mother brings the child
to the JSSB for advice. We see
in Henry a little Ralph: the same
inability to distinguish between
his own wants and the outside
world. We recognize that not
only Henry, but the parents,
need advice.
In his first interview Henry
demands that the social worker
give him a toy gun he sees lying
about. He 'expects to be refused
but is riot because the worker
r4alizes that the only way to win
the child over is to give in to
his demands.
Joins Child's Games
In several succeeding inter-

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views the worker joins in the
Child's games: commando raids,
cowboys and Indians, etc. Soon
the child begins to develop a
real interest and affection for the
worker.
At this point during an inter-
view Henry takes from the desk
an article belonging to the social
worker.- He insists on keeping
it. The social worker uses this
opportunity to point out to the
child that he needs this article.
What ' if all kids that came to
see him took • everything they
wanted, he asks. Henry. The child
argues, but the worker, secure

in his knowledge that the child
prizes his friendship, remains
firm.
Henry finally yields and vol-
untarily places the article on the
worker's desk. This .shows that
he has begun to develop a con-
science: he will give up satisfy-
ing a wish because he is afraid
he will lose the worker's affec-
tion, which he has come to prize.
Secondly, we have to make
sure that this change will be
carried over into the home and
other life situations. To insure
this, discussions are held with
the parents to increase their un-

derstanding • of their part in
Henry's difficulties. They • must
try to ,learn what feelings - -of
their Own caused them to allow
Henry to express himself in a
babylike way for so many years,
and, through understanding, to
change.

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