Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 31 Article 11 Issue 1 May-June

Summer 1940 Book Reviews

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Recommended Citation Book Reviews, 31 Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology 92 (1940-1941)

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A. R. Lindesmith [Ed.]

MIGRATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE. By Philip very great part transiency plays as a E. Ryan. New York: Russel Sage factor in producing crime. Foundation, 1940. Pp. 98. $0.50. In failing to provide adequate care for This monograph is "an approach to," the transient, wherever he may be found, rather than a solution of the problem of communities fail to realize that some of transiency or the non-settled person in their own citizens are being similarly the Community. The perplexing nature neglected in other communities. It is be- of this problem is frankly admitted. cause of the need of reciprocal relation- From this study it is made apparent ships between communities to meet mut- that social responsibility for the transient ual needs, that this problem becomes a Report rests lightly upon the public conscience. national one. On this subject, a The writer points out that the national of the Department of Labor is quoted as are to character of the problem has never been saying: "If preventive measures properly recognized except in the brief be effective, some method of assuring existence of The Federal Transient Pro- migrants adequate income and normal gram. Since that brief service has been community contacts must be devised, as terminated, and the passage in several well as making available to them the serv- states of stricter domicile laws, the shift- ices of agencies whose purpose is the ing of community responsibility threatens prevention of delinquency." to revert to out-dated treatment of all The author calls attention to the fact migratory members of sociey. that the prevailing policy of failure to That migration has been a more or less provide for transients is a reflection of essential factor in the building of America fundamental civil rights as specified in the and of shifting industry, is here shown. Constitution: It provides that: "Citizens The "Depression Decade" of 1930 to 1939, of each state shall be entitled to the priv- with its abnormal unemployment has ileges and immunities of the citizens of the magnified and accentuated a problem that several states. No state shall make or has always been in part the expression of enforce any law which shall abridge the unsatisfied cravings for adventure and for privileges or immunities of citizens of the essential human needs. United States." In fact, a major force that impels people From this, it would appear that such to move from place to place is held to measures as the Illinois three year law, be economic. To be sure, there is the which denies relief or subsistence to any chronic "tramp" or "mobile non-worker," who cannot prove their constant presence but there is also the transient unemployed, for three years, is unconstitutional, but or the "depression transient," worthy of who can prove that? Certainly not the greater consideration if they are to escape indigents who, as a result, must either the danger, and the burden, of becoming starve or steal. chronics or delinquents. The traditional American concept of re- It is this latter contingency-the relation lief for local residents only, partly derived of transiency to criminality that will be from the English poor-laws, is in conflict of special interest to the readers of this with the modern urge to aid all who are Journal. The writer of this review, in in need. Whether the Community Chest his forty years' experience with released movement has helped or hindered this prisoners, has long been impresed with the tendency may be seriously questioned. At r 92] BOOK REVIEWS

any rate, as this brochure states: "The The aim of this treatise on the theory of result is a group of needy persons for criminal law is to study the distinction whose welfare no governmental unit has between the principle of "act" and that of an accepted responsibility-people with- "actor." It is devoted to the historical out a state, although most of them are development of the theory of the criminal American citizens." Social workers, the actor, and a companion volume will apply author states, have long recognized the to the problem of the existing law of the injustice of settlement restrictions, and the Third Reich. consequent desert of need not provided The historical investigation goes back for in widely scattered Community Funds only to the Imperial Criminal Code of or in the resources of private agencies. 1871, where the principle of act was com- As to the psychology of the problem, pletely dominant With the collapse of this study, as well as others, recognizes the theoretical foundations (such as the that, human nature being what it is, peo- principle of retaliation) upon which the ple will move regardless of settlement laws Code was based, the principle of act be- or the availability of relief. Restrictive came more and more untenable, so that measures have proven of little avail in a reform movement arose which took as curbing migration. Because the causes its basis the principle of agent, or actor. and sweep of population movements are Bockelmann maintains, however, that this beyond the control of local 'communities, "naturalistic" reform movement formu- the entire nation should provide for the lated quite inadequately the principle of small per cent of needy migrants. agent, which has therefore never effec- Many proposals and experiments have tively supplanted the traditional principle been made in an effort to remedy the of act. The so-called naturalistic school, lack of coordination in this field. Councils which abandoned the dogma of atone- of Social Agencies, Congressional Com- ment nd looked upon the agent as homo mittees and Legislative enactments have naturalis, was in the opinion of the au- all pointed toward the need of a National thor bound to fail because the principle Policy and the coordination of numerous of guilt is indestructible. It will appar- State, Federal and Private Agencies. ently be the aim of the second part of his study to establish For such coordination and. the desired an accord between the long range planning, two existing agencies principle of agent and the idea of guilt, and to prove that this have been suggested, viz: the Interde- accord is the partmental Committee to Coordinate underlying idea of the Criminal Code of the Third Reich. Health and Welfare Activities, and the From National Resources Planning Board. Some the point of view of method the progress has already been made by these study is astonishingly superficial. The author bodies, but further cooperation is needed expressly states that he is confin- ing himself to specimens. between Federal, State, Regional and But it is cer- tainly open local Private Agencies to meet the prob- to question, firstly, whether lems of migration effectively. sound method permits of drawing general conclusions from specimens; and sec- This little volume is thoughtfully in- ondly, whether the specimens chosen are dexed, and an extensive topical bibli- those of greatest relevance for the pur- ography of 11 pages indicates the use of pose. It is arbitrary, furthermore, and extensive source material in the study. distinctly dubious method, to begin an F. EmoRy LyoN. historical investigation of criminal theory The Central Howard Association. with the Imperial Code of 1871, as if this Code had inaugurated a new epoch in criminology. Even more significant is Bockelmann's capricious treatment of the "STUDIEN zumr TXTRSTRAFRECHT," Teil L literature on the subject. By neglecting Abhandlungen des Kriminalistischen important works he has ruled out in ad- Instituts an der Universitlt . By vance any clear understanding, and has Paul Bockelmann. Berlin: Walter de compromised such scientific value as his Gruyter & Co., 1939. Pp. 141. monograph might otherwise have had. BOOK REVIEWS

The positive-juridical discussion is con- dividual is manifested. But he did not fined to the remarks found in the usual aim to favor the individual at the ex- criminological handbooks. And the in- pense of the state or to show him exces- quiries into the ideas and theories of law, sive tenderness. On the contrary, Liszt which should have been the core of the proposed to strengthen the authority of whole study, are so banal and naive that the state. The state, however, is for Liszt their brevity is almost their only virtue. not a vengeful Leviathan whose authority In the chapter on "Origin and Meaning of is measured by its frightfulness. For the Idea of the Criminal Act," for exam- Liszt public authority is an ethical power. ple, he might well have elaborated the It involves obligation, not privilege. alternative principia ultima underlying Finally, Liszt is no "naturalist" in the the dualistic criminological development common meaning of the word. True, he of the last 150 years-a fascinating study is a determinist, and he accepted the in- in the evolution of ideas. Instead, the terpretation of behavior-the one most author merely offers a wearisome chain current at the turn of the century-in of catch-words and misinterpretations terms of character, heritage and milieu. which miss the essential points. However, Liszt accepted this theory only It is not surprising to find in such a for the sake of argument: he saw in it a study a complete and thoroughgoing mis- weapon to use against the inhumane prin- interpretation of the criminological work ciple of retaliation. But his whole under- of . Such tags as "liberal- lying aim was to clarify the problem of ism," "individualism," and "naturalism" social responsibility. Therefore he main- are trotted out as substitutes for logical tained that it is the milieu-i.e., society analysis. For example, the author at one and the social situation-which stands point starts with the major premise that causatively behind the criminal and his Liszt is a "liberal." Now a liberal, he goes act. If, notwithstanding, society "pun- on, is by definition nothing but a "re- ishes," then it does so because of social former," and reform means compromise. necessity (par faute de mieux), namely But, in the rigorous either-or atmosphere to protect itself. Ethical justice, however, of today, compromise is the philosophy demands that society be conscious of its only of the weak and the antiquated. social responsibility in shaping social con- Consequently, Liszt's teachings are simply ditions in such a way as not to create the product of an outmoded liberal epoch. causes for further crimes. To be sure, there has been a "liberal" If this is the meaning of Liszt's so- epoch in German criminology, namely at called liberalism, individualism and nat- the time of Anselm von Feuerbach. Liszt, uralism, then it is a bit gratuitous for however, is no "liberal" in such a sense.* the author to dismiss Liszt condescend- In propagating the principle of nulla ingly as old-fashioned, and to leave his poena sine lege, and in teaching that the reader with only the consolation that in criminal code is the magna charta of the the second volume he will be compensated criminal, Liszt was not proposing to pro- by Bockelmann's own wisdom. tect the liberty of the individual at the PmLnP' WEINHAUB. expense of the state: his purpose was sim- Cornell University. ply to eliminate arbitrariness and to guar- antee legal security. Even in Soviet Rus- sia, which is scarcely a leading exponent ENGLISH JUVENILE CouRTs. By Winifred A. of liberalism, these are recognized crim- Elkin. London, England: Kegan Paul, inological principles. Trench, Trubner and Company, Ltd., 1938. Pp. viii-316. 12s. 6d. Neither is Liszt an "individualist" in the derogatory sense in which the author English Juvenile Courts is the first uses the term. True, Liszt is against re- volume of its kind to appear since Sir taliatory punishment, whereby the preva- Clarke Hall published Childre's Courts lence of the state's authority over the in- in 1926. The author explains that two * Cf. Arthur Baumgarten, "Die Lisztsche Gegenwart," Schweizerische Zeitschrift filr Strafrechtsschule und ihre Bedeutung fir die Strafrecht, Vol. 51, 1937. BOOK REVIEWS factors have occasioned the publication of very few of them "realize the full value the present volume, "The passing of the of the contribution" made by these men. Children and Young Persons Acts of 1932 The author, therefore, makes a plea for and 1933 and the increase in the number the use of specialists in making "prelim- of young offenders." The book surveys inary inquiries" prior to trial. the work of the juvenile courts in certain Of the juvenile cases that came before selected industrial areas of England, espe- the courts in 1935, 32 per cent were "dis- cially the South. The ten well written missed after charge proved or bound over chapters cover the causes of delinquency, without supervision," 51 per cent were the nature and jurisdiction of the juvenile "Bound over with supervision" (proba- courts, the organization of the courts, tion), 9 per cent committed to Approved methods of treatment, dismissals and pun- Schools, 6 per cent fined and 2 per cent ishments, probation, treatment in Ap- dealt with "Otherwise." "Birching" is proved Schools and Hostels and appraisal used as a means of punishment. "A boy of the success and failures of the courts. under 14 can be birched for any indict- The author summarizes the causes of able offense other than homicide." (p. delinquency by saying that the "delin- 154) When the Young Persons Bill was quent child is thus largely a problem of introduced into Parliament it contained his emotional life and of his relations to no "birching clause," but the House of the rest of his world. The individual can- Lords refused to pass it without the same. not be understood if he is regarded as an In the author's judgment the English isolated unit." (p. 27) Although juvenile public is not prepared to accept probation courts were first established by the Chil- as a means of treating juvenile offenders. dren Act of 1908 the juvenile courts of Hence, probation is more of an ideal and England still remain criminal courts in a hope rather than an actuality. general practice and procedure. The According to the Young Persons Act juvenile court is organized as a "panel" juvenile offenders are sent to certain of twelve justices (lay) sitting once a week Approved Schools in England and Wales with a permanent chairman. Each justice rather than to the Old Industrial Schools is required to sit eight or nine times a and Reformatories. The usual commit- year. Appointment to a bench is looked ment is for three years unless additional upon as 'a social distinction or as an training is considered necessary. In 1935, honour earned by those who have made 3,144 juveniles were committed to the 88 a success in some other walk of life." (p. Approved Schools and at the end of 1936 297). While the intent of the Children there were 8,000 boys and girls in these Act was to have separate rooms and build- institutions. These schools are a combi- ings for juvenile cases actually trials are nation of private support and state'super- held in police headquarters "in a corridor vision. According to the Home Office crowded with people waiting to go in to Directory 85 to 90 per cent of the the police court sittings." (p. 77) In the offenders "do well and give no ground main, the American idea of a "drawing for further anxiety" during three years room" juvenile court does not appeal to after their release. The percentages vary the English sense of dignity. somewhat according to the character of The general public is excluded from the school. Beyond these Approved court hearings although the Press may Schools are the Borstal Institutions for attend all sessions and report the same as older offenders. Here the regime is harder long as no names, addresses or schools are and a part of the penal system of England. mentioned in the newspapers. The author Instead of committing a child to a does not believe that a case should be "School" the court may place the youth tried in camera, for it would be a "dan- in a Probation Home (Foster Home) or gerous state of affairs in which no infor- Hostel with familial care. All of these mation could be obtained by the general Homes and Hostels are under the super- public as to how the courts are working." vision of the Home Office Directory. In While most juvenile courts may command the final chapter the author explains the the services of a doctor and a psychologist rapid increase of juvenile delinquency BOOK REVIEWS

from 1921 to 1935 in terms of the "high criminal court, were described in a real- rates of unemployment" and the general istic manner by Justin Miller, Associate social disorganization of the times. Ju- Justice, U. S. Court of Appeals, Wash- venile delinquency "reached its peak in ington, D. C. Another remarkable con- the war years (1914-18) and though it tribution to the problem of probation was fell in the early 'twenties', there was a the lecture of Charles B. Vaughan, Asso- big jump in the figures in the year of the ciate Director of the North Carolina State General Strike." (p. 293) In addition to Probation Department. Statistical means this the increased rates have been due to of recording probation, its success and a "greater awareness on the part of the failure, were discussed in relation to the public that to charge a delinquent child administrative problems in this field. The may be a truer kindness; the other . . . Probation Department of North Carolina is the outcome of the uncertainty of life is known to have carried out exemplary today." (p. 293) In conclusion the author pioneer work in this respect. hopes for the day when England may The section on study and treat juvenile offenders juvenile delinquency accord- was favored by the presence ing to scientific methods. All of a promi- in all, the nent foreign guest, Mr. Alexander Pater- book is well written, shows careful anal- son, ysis, presents H. M. Commissioner of Prisons for valuable information and England and shows sound judgment Wales, who reported on the of conditions Borstal system of dealing with young peculiarly English. offenders. William Healy discussed the WALTER A. LuNDEN. possibility of transferring this type of University of Pittsburgh. treatment to the United States, stressing especially the importance of the personnel PROCEEDINGS OF THE SixTY-NINTH ANNUAL problem involved. CONGRESS OF THE AmERICAN PRISON The "Relation of Classification to Pris- ASSOCIATION. New York: The Amer- oner Employment" was discussed by voca- ican Prison Association, 1939. Pp. tional guidance experts. A symposium on xi-588. $3.00. the "Problem Case in Prison" in the The Sixty-Ninth Congress, under the Medical Section of the Congress seems presidency of Austin MacCormick, Com- to have suffered from the rather vague missioner of the Department of Correction definition of the subject. of the City of New York, made interesting S. RmmFa. contributions in the field of crime preven- University of Minnesota. tion, probation and juvenile delinquency. Clifford R. Shaw and Jesse A. Jacobs NINETY Tnms GUILTY. By Hickman of the Illinois Institute for Juvenile Re- Powell. New York: Harcourt, Brace search in Chicago reported upon the and Co., 1939. Pp. vii-338. $2.50. Chicago Area Project. As known to This is Hickman Powell's narrative con- criminologists, the emphasis is upon a densation of the 7,000 page criminal trial stimulation and coordination of recrea- proceedings of the- Charles Luciano, alias tional facilities available in the commu- Luckey, prosecution by Thomas E. Dewey. nity, the creation of a positive community It is the factual, authentic record of a spirit among the residents and the en- particular racket-organized commercial- couragement of "natural leadership" which ized prostitution. Charles Luciano, one of grows out of church groups and different New York's racketeers, was absolute czar social agencies and organizations. Definite of the prostitution organization. He also results were not reported yet. Of special was ruler of the Unione Siciliana, a group interest is a note on the type of research of killers who delved in general thievery, material that is systematically collected, drug peddling, gambling, etc. They played making possible an investigation into the in New York politics for years. results and the working of this type of A few excerpts of the trial crime prevention. are given. Prefacing, is a parade of the personalities The inadequacies of the probation serv- involved and their placement in the chain ice, available at the present time in the of events which were to follow. The title BOOK REVIEWS of the book is not misleading, signifying JUVENILE COURT LAWS OF THE UNITED the counts named in the indictment. STATEs. Second Edition. By Gilbert When Dewey was appointed Special Cosulich. New York: National Pro- Prosecutor to break rackets, he was not bation Association 1939. Pp. V-175. $1.25. interested in the prostitution question; in fact he ignored it. Later he was informed The increased legislation throughout the of a graft imposed upon the girls thus country has occasioned the revision of their earnings taxed three-fold. this, the second edition of Juvenile Court engaged, Laws in the United States. The present Apparently, gangsters had taken over a volume includes the laws "now in force disreputable and criminal industry-the in all states, territories and dependencies" business of prostitution. Therefore, he of the nation. Part I, as in the earlier consented to further investigation. edition, is a topical summary of all laws As special prosecutor, Dewey's problem in a concise usable form. It includes the was to go after big criminals who had general topics of jurisdiction, proceedings, attained unprecedented power. He made detention, disposition, records, appeals, no attempt to abolish prostitution or drive selection and qualification of judges, ref- it from the city, for that is a social rather erees, probation officers and advisory than criminal problem. Instead, this prose- boards and committees. Much of the cution was the means of putting big gang- material has been presented in tabular sters out of business. form for ready reference. Part II (pp. 111-165) summarizes the juvenile court After an almost endless investigation, laws by states in a compact manner. some 100 girls and others were taken into for This volume indicates two significant custody. Evidence was necessary trends in juvenile legislation, a more specific counts in the indictment as New liberal treatment of juvenile offenders York had no statute making racketeering and advancement in the age jurisdiction as such a crime. Eventually, the indict- of the courts. No probation officer, social ment constituted 90 counts, setting forth worker, attorney or -juvenile court judge definite instances of exploitation of 25 should be without this volume. women. At this time the widely discussed WALTm A. LUNDEN. Dewey Law, a New York Legislative Act University of Pittsburgh. of 1936, was enacted. This procedure per- mitted a number of crimes of similar nature to be joined in one indictment, so JusTIcE mD Tim CimI n NEw JERSEY. that charges could be tried simultaneously. Report of the State of New Jersey The verdict found nine defendants Juvenile Delinquency Commission. guilty. Luciano was convicted of 61 counts, Trenton, New Jersey: Hudson Dis- felonies, with a sentence of 30 to 50 years. patch Printers, 1939. Pp. XII-262. The decision was upheld by two higher This is a joint report of the Juvenile courts, the U. S. Supreme Court refusing Delinquency Commission and the Works to review. Progress Administration in New Jersey. This book may be profitably perused by It is an evaluative and statistical summary those judges, lawyers, law enforcement of the treatment and care of juvenile agents and others, who are interested in offenders in the state covering 52 munici- the repression of vice and the elimination palities in 21 counties from 1930 to 1937. The main part of the report presents the of gangsters. The setting is New York character and function of the juvenile City, but essentially similar conditions court in New Jersey, the school and de- are no doubt prevalent in other commu- linquency, the police system, probation, nities. Though popularly written it is an institutional care and parole and a brief informative volume. account of prevention and control of SMrr delinquency. The remainder of the report, Department of Public Welfare, appendices, gives the detailed statistics Toledo, Ohio. compiled in the survey. BOOK REVIEWS

While "New Jersey can take pride in offenses of the offenders, the nature and the advanced state of its legislation on the extent of their subsequent crimes. Chap- treatment of delinquency" (p. 2) the ter II deals with their "personality," i.e., commission points out that "teachers per- the physical and mental traits of the sist in using traditional pedagogical meth- parents (the incidence of mental disease, ods"; that police departments employ suicide, alcoholism, tuberculosis, crim- "intimidation where understanding and inality), their own psychic characteristics guidance are needed"; that "the court (intelligence, psychopathy, attempts at depends . . . on the emotional reaction suicide, alcoholism) and racial affiliation. of the individual judge to the child," and On p. 54 a table appears giving the per- that probation officers are "handicapped" centage of psychopaths found among ten because the courts and institutions fail to different groups of offenders studied by use proper clinical procedures. different authors. The percentage varies WALTER A. LUNDEN. from 99% psychopaths in a group of 195 Stumpfl to 11% in University of Pittsburgh. recidivists studied by a group of 818 Kinderschdnder studied by Fetscher. Chapter III consists of a description of the environments of the DER GEFXmiacHE SrrTLICHKErITSVE BREcHER, younger and older offenders. (Economic Kriminalistische Abhandlungen Her- status of family, education, trade, and ausgegeben von Franz Exner, No. their tendency to wander from place to XXXIX. By Franz Rattenhuber, place. The military experience of the : Ernst Wiegandt, 1939. Pp. older group is also included). Chapter IV 90. R. M. 2.50. (four pages) comments on the nature of This monograph deals with 114 danger- the sex experiences and perversions of the offenders. and Wurtemberg, who had been sterilized - Five pages, which make up the conclu- in accordance with the provisions of the sion, are taken up with a classification of German penal code. "types" of dangerous sex offenders. Many The author discusses the sections of the case histories are cited. criminal law dealing with dangerous NATHANIEL CANTOR. "moral" offenders. He describes the first University of Buffalo.