Deficiency and Delinquency: An Interpretation of Mental Testing

Deficiency and Delinquency: An Interpretation of Mental Testing

As an interpretation of the results which have been obtained with mental tests, this book lies between the topics of deficiency and delinquency. It is an attempt to discover the significance of objective measurements of ability in connection with both of these fields. The pressing practical problem was to find out what positions on a scale for testing mental development were symptomatic of social deficiency. After working out a percentage method for conservatively indicating these borderlines for tested deficiency, it was then possible to reinterpret the test records of over 9000 delinquents who have been examined with some form of the well-known Binet Scale. The size of the problem of the deficient delinquent has thus been determined on a significant scientific plan. The outcome is a new basis for judging the current statements about this problem by those who have used the Binet scale. Scores of investigators by their tireless energy have provided data which may now be compared for many types of delinquents and in many parts of the country. Some sixty studies of deficient delinquents have been thus summarized from the point of view of psychological tests. Closely related to the problem of the frequency of feeble-mindedness among delinquents is the question of the cause of delinquency. This has further been considered in the light of the most important scientific studies, especially those using the method of correlation. Among these researches stands out the fundamental investigation of the causes of criminality by Goring, a work which has received very inadequate attention in this country, although it involved ten years study of a group of 3000 convicts by the 4best quantitative methods. The careful study of these objective investigations should take the question of the relation of deficiency and delinquency out of the realm of opinion and theory. It may be expected to have an important influence upon the social handling of these problems. In this connection I have added a chapter of suggestions which have grown out of my year's study of the education of deficients and delinquents in European schools and institutions. To determine the size of the problem of dealing with deficients, especially deficient delinquents, is a task of first importance. In spite of our more conservative basis for judging the results with tests, the necessity of caring for the feeble-minded remains the most vital problem connected with social welfare. The movement for more individual training in our schools, which has been gaining such headway, may also be encouraged by the evidence that maladjustment to school work is also definitely related to delinquency. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 52826
Author: Miner, James Burt
Release Date: Aug 17, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English