| Life-Ages | Mental Ages | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | Totals | |
| 18 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 17 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||||
| 16 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 22 | ||||
| 15 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 29 | |||
| 14 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 22 | ||
| 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 18 | |||
| 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |||||
| 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
| 8 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Totals | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 30 | 36 | 26 | 10 | 124 |
The accompanying Table X shows the distribution, omitting the dementia praecox cases. It classes .8 as in the next higher test age and shows the last birthday for life-age. In interpreting these figures it is highly important to remember that Thorn Hill is necessarily used at present to shelter deficient boys who are dependent or delinquent and cannot be otherwise provided for. This is undoubtedly a wise temporary relief until the state takes proper care of these unfortunates. Under the cottage system which prevails at Thorn Hill the segregation can be made with little interference with the main purpose of an institution for delinquents. It is apparent that any deductions made from the large frequency of feeble-mindedness among these delinquents without considering the particular local conditions under which they are found, would be wholly unjustified. A similar local condition probably explains the high percentage of tested deficiency among the following group of boys in the Newark, N. J., detention home.
A representative group of 100 in the detention home at Newark, “chosen entirely at random,” was examined by Mrs. Gifford, and reported by herself and Dr. Goddard ([17]). In this group of 100 there were 66 between the ages of 14 and 17 who were at least four years retarded mentally. Moreover, among these 66 “none tested over eleven and only a few at that age.” Only average mental ages are published, so that we cannot tell how many tested XI or X, but the statement quoted shows that few of these 66 would test XI, and would thus be above our doubtful class. We may, perhaps, suppose that about 66% of this group in the Newark detention home tested as low as the randomly selected group at Thorn Hill, Pittsburgh.
That the explanation of the excessive amount of deficiency found at Newark lies in the inadequate provision for recognized feeble-mindedness in that community is indicated by the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Newark City Home. It states that “the lack of a state institution for defective children made it necessary to commit to the City Home many children, who, on account of physical defects and psychic disturbances, have become juvenile delinquents.” A statistical table shows that of 181 boys, 151 were either illiterate or below the fifth grade in school in spite of the fact that the average age of the boys at the school is 13 years. This shows clearly that the differences between the test results at this institution and those in Minneapolis, Chicago, and elsewhere, is not the result of different methods of giving the tests. It seems to be mainly due to inadequate state provision for recognized feeble-minded children.
Among the more serious juvenile court offenders we have a group of 1000 recidivists referred to Dr. William Healy at the Psychopathic Institute connected with the Chicago Juvenile Court. The cases are not tabulated separately for the sexes as to mentality. They were all under 21 and averaged between 15 and 16 years of age. While he used the Binet tests quite generally, as well as his own and Miss Fernald's series ([125]), Dr. Healy has not summarized his data in reference to the test standards. Nevertheless, according to his experience after the results of the test examinations were known, he classified only 89 of these cases as moron and 8 imbecile, a total of only 9.7% feeble-minded. Another group above these amounting to 7.9% was classed as of “subnormal mentality—considerable more educability than the feeble-minded” (27, p. 139).
From the same psychopathic laboratory comes the estimates of Dr. Bronner ([7]) of a group of less serious offenders, some of whom were in court for the first time, a group at the Cook County Detention Home connected with the Juvenile Court in Chicago, where cases are held for trial or until other disposition can be made of them. I have already reported her results with the Binet tests for the girls in this group. Using the same standard which was there described, she found among 337 boys 7 to 16 years of age 7% “probably feeble-minded,” and 2.4% doubtful, a total of 9.4% “possibly feeble-minded.” As nearly as I can tell from the description of the borderline which she used with the tests, a boy was perhaps slightly more likely to be regarded as testing probably deficient than by our standard for the presumably deficient. Inasmuch as Miss Bronner worked with Dr. Healy, this may throw some light on the test standard which he had in mind in connection with his more serious offenders.
By means of Bluemel's study of different classes of juvenile delinquents who passed through Judge Lindsay's Juvenile Court in Denver, we are able to compare the intellectual ability of a group which was on probation, about half of whom were first offenders, with groups sent to the Boys' and Girls' State Industrial Schools ([2]). Although the report does not so state, I should judge that the cases were objectively selected. The published data is not adequate to state the results on the basis of our conservative borderlines; but we can note the cases which tested XI or below and were four or more years retarded with the 1911 Binet Scale (Goddard's modification). This only differs from my broadest interpretation by also including those that test XI. On this basis 6 of the 100 probationers were possibly deficient; 9 of the 50 boys sent to the State Industrial School, and 24 of the 50 girls sent to the State Industrial School or Florence Crittenden Home. These are all somewhat excessive estimates of the amounts of deficiency in this group as judged by the interpretation we have been using. A more telling comparison of the mentality of these groups may be made by weighting each retarded case by the tests according to the number of years he is retarded. The amount of retardation alone averages 1.3 years for the group of probationers, 1.8 for the boys at the state school, and 3.8 years of the institutional group of girl delinquents. Fifty first offenders among the probation group average 1.1 years retarded. The girls and the more serious juvenile delinquents in these younger groups show more retardation.
The Stenquist, Thorndike, and Trabue study of children 9 to 16 years of age, who were county charges as delinquents or dependents in a single county, provides results for a group of 104 delinquent boys. Translating their records as I have explained for the girls in the group, we find 11 of these presumably deficient and 18 doubtful, a total of 28%. So far as their delinquency is concerned these probably correspond to the local institution groups. While there is little difference in the average mentality of the groups of delinquent and dependent children in this county shown by tests there is apparently some difference in the frequency of serious deficiency. In their corresponding group of 63 dependent boys who were county charges, 2 are in the presumably deficient group and 10 in the doubtful, a total of 19%. Miss Merrill found only 0.8% in our presumably deficient group and 1.6% uncertain in a group of 250 dependent children at the Minnesota State home ([149]).
Dr. Pintner reports the examination of 100 cases in the Columbus, Ohio, Juvenile Court who were in the detention home waiting to be disposed of or held for trial.[[25]] He does not say whether they were selected cases among those in the home, but we may presume that they were more serious offenders than the usual juvenile court cases not in the home. Their ages ranged from 7 to 20 years. He used the Binet 1911 series and allowed double credit for any test passed in the XV or adult series. By placing his borderline so that a person testing 3.1 years retarded if he scored under XII would be regarded as feeble-minded, Dr. Pintner found 46% feeble-minded in this group. Under the same standard about 20% of the Minneapolis group would be classed as feeble-minded, instead of 2 to 7% under our more conservative borderlines.
In a preliminary report of the doctorate examination of Dr. Olga L. Bridgman ([132]) I find that she reports testing 205 delinquents and 133 dependent children sent to the psychological clinic of the University of California. She found 36% of the delinquent and 26% of the dependent cases thus especially selected for clinical examination to be “definitely feeble-minded,” but the preliminary report does not enable one to judge the standard used for her borderline ([3]).