As indicative of the character of the girl, their statements as to the reasons for their first sexual offense and of what they believe to be the causes leading up to prostitution as a career are illuminating. One hundred and eight out of 279 claim that their first wrong-doing was because they yielded to a man whom they loved; 57 admit that it was for pay; 62 claim to have been forced into the first act; 23 yielded where there was no love and where neither money nor force was used, but succumbed through weakness of will; two only state they did it because they liked it; 27 "could not remember why." See Table XXI. As will be seen when we discuss the mentality of the girls, they are not as a class given to introspection or self-analysis. They are as a rule, incapable of this even if they try. It appeared to us worth while, however, to ask them what they thought were the reasons that led them into an immoral life. It is a very rare thing for a girl to admit that she would be willing to have a younger sister enter the life and this often can be used as a key to secure their willingness to discuss the situation. Two hundred and seventy-nine girls gave 671 reasons. We have grouped them as well as we can. The surprising thing is that very few directly economic reasons are given. It might be supposed that in friendly conversation, a girl would wish to make the greatest possible excuse for herself, and that the one most ready to hand would be the inability to earn a living. But in only 19 cases was this given as an excuse; and by referring to a similar table for street cases, it will be noticed that only 139 out of 1,106 gave a directly economic reason. It will be noted that only 7 out of 671 gave previous use of drink and drugs. As a result of experience, I should say that drink is a consequence rather than a cause of a life of prostitution, although a good many girls have admitted to me that their first wrong-doing occurred after taking an unaccustomed drink. In this connection our medical records at Bedford with regard to the use of alcoholic drinks, drugs and cigarettes, show that at entrance 112 individuals, or 17 percent of the 647 women studied were suffering from one or the other alone, or from combinations, as shown in the following table: EXCESSIVE USE OF ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, DRUGS AND CIGARETTES Alcohol 45 Drugs 23 Cigarettes 7 Alcohol and cigarettes 18 Alcohol and drugs 8 Drugs and cigarettes 5 Alcohol, drugs and cigarettes 6 --- Total 112 17.3%