THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
... and Me'

Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus, JTA
(Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.)

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: Juvenile delinquency
is today one of the major problems in American life. It ex-
ists even-among the well-to-do classes of the population.
Some 50 years ago, Dr. John Slawson, now executive
vice president emeritus of the American Jewish Committee
and one of the outstanding personalities in the field of Jew-
ish social work, undertook a study of the delinquency prob-
lem among boys of all races. The purpose was to look into
the causes of delinquency and help prevent it.
The outcome of this study was a very impressive
450-page book by Dr. Slawson which appeared in 1926 un-
der the title "The Delinquent Boy." Russel and Russel, the
highly selective publishing house which is a division of Ath-
eneum Publishers, has deemed it important to have it re-
published today — 50 years later — without any changes in
text.
The scholarly volume was written by Dr. Slawson not
for the ordinary readers. As a socio-psychological study, it
was intended primarily for social workers, for physicians
specializing in the psychoneurotic field, for teachers, for ju-
venile court judges and for administrators of institutions
dealing with juvenile deliquency. The volume is like a doc-
tor's book for doctors.
Dr. Slawson deals in his "The Delinquent Boy" with all
Aspects of juvenile delinquency. Among other facts, he
brings interesting data showing that juvenile delinquency
was less 50 years ago among Jewish boys than among those
who came from Italian, Polish and other immigrant fami-
lies.
YESTERDAY AND TODAY: There may be a differ-
ence in the causes for Jewish delinquency between 50 years
ago and today but the problem as such remains. Fifty years
ago, Jewish delinquent boys could be found chiefly among
the poorer elements of the Jewish population. Today the
problem is not so much of poverty but of affluence. Delin-
quent youngsters can be found today in the Jewish well-to-
do families primarily because affluence permits them to in-
dulge in the use of drugs and other activities not permitted
by law.
Dr. Slawson analyzes the various factors leading to ju-
venile delinquency. Among others, he sees an association
between abnormal marital relations of parents — death,
divorce or separation among parents — and juvenile delin-
quency. The death of the mother, he found, is more inti-
mately associated with delinquency than death of the
father. The presence of step-parents is another factor.
Dr. Slawson's study showed that juvenile delinquency
was slight 50 years ago in families where the mother was
obliged to work. The findings of Dr. Slawson showed no sig-
nificant difference then between the number of arrests and
severity of delinquent careers of boys whose mothers were
employed and those whose mothers were not.
A slight association is seen by Dr. Slawson between the
size of the family and juvenile delinquency. Dr. Slawson
urged that serious consideration be given in any program of
delinquency prevention to children affected by death, di-
vorce or separation of parents. He points out that a boy
coming from a disintegrated home is more apt to become
delinquent than one who comes from a home of normal par-
ental relations.
JEWISH ACTION: The extent to which the problems
of Jewish delinquency are prevalent today is difficult to es-
tablish. However, accurate data presented by Dr. Slawson
for 1941 in another study reveals that 7 percent of the total
number of children arraigned in the Children's Courts in
New York City were Jewish. Jewish commitments to city
and state reformatories for young males constituted 3.3
percent of total commitments. The percentage of Jewish
commitments to New York State prisons was 7.9 percent of
the total commitments.
These percentages, Dr. Slawson points out, should be
compared with the Jewish population rate which was about
30 percent for New York City and about 17 percent for New
York State in 1941. When this is done, it will be seen that
the proportions of Jewish delinquency and criminality were
low
The Jewish Prisoners Aid Society, founded in 1893, was
the first group to give service to Jewish delinquents. Nine
years later, in 1902, the Jewish Protectory and Aid Society,
a separate organization, was established to provide a correc-
tional school for boys brought into the Children's Courts. In
1906 this group opened the Hawthorne School for Boys un-
der 16. Then came the Jewish Big Brothers, the Jewish Big
Sisters, and what is now known as the Jewish Board of
Guardians which was formed in 1921.
The preventive services which are being rendered today
to problem children, including delinquents, by the Jewish
philanthropic community in the larger cities contribute
greatly to the reduction of the number of Jewish children
that finally reach the stage of court arraignment. Dr. Slaw-
son emphasized this point. Incidentally, a government re-
port released this month in Washington says that it costs
nearly $10,000 a year now to keep a juvenile delinquent in
jail• •

Friday, September 19, 1975 9

Israel Creates
Overseas Liaison

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
The Foreign Ministry has
set up a new department "to
maintain liaison with the
Jewish communities
abroad." The department's
first head is Max Varon, a
veteran diplomat, former
Jewish National Fund offi-
cial and an experienced
fund-raiser.

Varon has served as Am-
bassador to Burma, Cam-
bodia and Sweden, and most
recently headed the Minis-
try's Asia and Oceania divi-
sion.
Among his department's
roles will be increasing
cooperation between the
government, World Zionist
Organization and Jewish
organizations abroad.

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