DEFECTIVE DELINQUENCY MOVEMENT - A HISTORY OF THE BORN CRIMINAL IN NEW YORK STATE

• NCJ Number: 56126
• Author(s): N F HAHN
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 621 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT ALBANY - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

THE DEFECTIVE DELINQUENCY MOVEMENT, CHARACTERIZED BY ITS ATTEMPTS TO EQUATE MENTAL RETARDATION AND CRIMINALITY, IS DESCRIBED IN THREE STAGES: ITS ORIGIN IN THE LATE 1800'S; ITS PEAK PERIOD, 1900 TO 1921; AND AFTER

Abstract

NEW YORK'S DEFECTIVE DELINQUENT LEGISLATION OF 1921 AUTHORIZED INDEFINITE COMMITMENT OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES OVER 16 YEARS OF AGE CHARGED WITH, ARRAIGNED FOR, OR CONVICTED OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES. USING THIS LEGISLATION AS A FOCAL POINT, THIS PAPER IDENTIFIES A VARIETY OF SOCIOHISTORICAL FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONCEPT BEHIND THIS LEGISLATION AND ASSESSES THE EFFECTS OF THE DEFECTIVE DELINQUENCY MOVEMENT IN SYMBOLIC AND INSTRUMENTAL TERMS. THE STUDY BEGINS WITH A HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED; IT IS ARGUED THAT THE FIRST INSTITUTIONS AND SOME OF THEIR FOUNDERS CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONCEPT OF CRIMINALIZATION OF LOW INTELLIGENCE. A PARALLEL ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PRISON SYSTEM INDICATES HOW THE REFORMATORY MOVEMENT FUNCTIONED TO CREATE A BOTTOM CLASS OF 'INCORRIGIBLES' WHO SEEMED TO BE MENTALLY AS WELL AS MORALLY HOPELESS. THIS SECTION CONCLUDES WITH AN EXAMINATION OF SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS WHO BROUGHT TOGETHER THE THEORIES DEVELOPING IN THE MENTAL RETARDATION AND CRIMINAL SYSTEM. THE SECOND SECTION CONTINUES THE EXAMINATION OF INTERPLAYING FACTORS--ECONOMIC INSTABILITY, POLITICAL AND RACIAL ANXIETIES--INFLUENCING THE NOW WIDESPREAD BELIEF THAT MENTAL DEFECTIVES ARE DELINQUENTS. INTELLIGENCE TESTING WAS USED BY REFORMERS TO CONFIRM THE DEFECTIVE DELINQUENT THEORY, AND FURTHER CONFIRMATION WAS FURNISHED BY THE EUGENICS MOVEMENT. A CLINIC MOVEMENT (A CRIME CONTROL PROGRAM WHICH JUSTIFIED INSTITUTIONALIZATION FOR DEFECTIVES BY TRANSLATING INTO PRACTICE THE 'MEDICAL MODEL' OF THE CRIMINAL AS ONE WHO IS SICK) RESULTED IN FINANCED MENTAL TESTING AND OTHER PROGRAMS INSIDE THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND LOBBYING EFFORTS CULMINATING IN THE 1921 NEW YORK LAW. THE THIRD SECTION CONCENTRATES ON THE MOVEMENT'S INSTRUMENTAL EFFECTS--I.E., THOSE MANIFESTED IN INCARCERATION. THESE ARE ASSESSED THROUGH A HISTORY OF NEW YORK'S INSTITUTIONS FOR DEFECTIVE DELINQUENTS; THE MOVEMENTS'S IMPACTS ON OTHER STATES ARE ALSO EXAMINED. A SYNTHESIS OF THE DURKHEIMIAN AND MARXIST THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT IS RECOMMENDED. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)