The following figures show what crimes are most often committed by the young delinquents.
Netherlands, 1896–1901.
| Crimes. | Average for the Period 1896–1901. | ||
| Number Convicted. | Percentage under 21. | ||
| Total. | Under 21. | ||
| Aggravated theft | 894 | 416 | 46.4 |
| Sexual offenses | 202 | 63 | 31.1 |
| Theft | 1,713 | 526 | 30.7 |
| Malicious mischief | 756 | 226 | 29.9 |
| Assault | 3,927 | 1,030 | 26.2 |
| Domiciliary trespass | 318 | 72 | 22.6 |
| Rebellion | 1,056 | 216 | 20.4 |
Keeping constantly in mind that in our days juvenile criminals are less often sentenced than formerly, we shall find that the foregoing statistics show:
First. That juvenile crime is increasing.
Second. That this increase is considerable in the countries like Germany, Austria, and Belgium, where there is a continuous industrial development; while in countries less developed industrially the increase is less.
Third. That England, where the capitalism is very intense, shows a great amount of juvenile crime.
The figures we have given have in general, in my opinion, gone to support the incontestable truth, that there is a relation between child labor and juvenile criminality. Although it is of smaller importance than the lack of care of the children among the proletariat, it is still one of the factors in the etiology of crime.[86] [[420]]
Following the order adopted in Part II, chapter I, we come now to the influence of long hours of labor. It has rightly been said that work has a strong moral influence. But it is also true that immoderate labor has the contrary effect. It brutalizes a man, makes him incapable of elevated sentiments, kills as Key says (in “das Jahrhundert des Kindes”), the man in the beast, while moderate labor ennobles the beast in the man.[87]
The housing conditions of the proletariat have also a significance as regards criminality, and for the special group of sexual offenses their importance is very great. We shall speak of this more fully when we treat especially of these offenses, and will, for the moment, note simply their general consequences.