A survey of male juvenile delinquency in Corpus Christi, 1936-38

1. NEED OF RELIABLE DATA CONCERNING JUVENILE DELINQUENCY This study is based on the assumption that it should be the duty of every community to do its utmost to curb any tendency of youth toward the formation of anti-social habits. In the organization of a plan for crime prevention among juveniles, it is important to have accurate and com­plete information concerning the known delinquents. The experience of the author, as an educational worker in an adult reformatory, showed that inadequate records were a great handicap in the work of reformation. The classification committee was composed of the prison Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Chaplain, and Educational Director. Plans for intelligent action and adjustment by this group were impeded due to the lack of a complete pic­ture of the physical, mental, personal, social, and economic forces which had influenced the life and experiences of the offender, It would seem that this same problem would act as a hindrance to the work of the authorities of the community in their solution of the delinquents' problems