Deficiency and Delinquency: An Interpretation of Mental TestingMiner, James Burt
Science
Deficiency and Delinquency: An Interpretation of Mental Testing
Miner, James Burt
Children with mental disabilities; Juvenile delinquents; Mentally ill offenders; Psychological tests
The entire population of the Illinois State Training School for Girls at
Geneva was tested by Louise E. and George Ordahl.[18] The Kuhlmann
revision of the Binet Scale, supplemented by the Stanford Scale, for the
older ages, was used. Among the 432 tested 13 per cent. tested below our
borderline for the presumably deficient and 22 per cent. more in the
doubtful group.
Dr. Otis, resident psychologist at the New Jersey State Home for Girls
at Trenton, examined 172 girls between 10 and 20 years of age inclusive
(_43_). Since she said it was “a preliminary testing” and “not many of
the smaller girls were included,” we conclude that it was a somewhat
selected group. She regarded those who stand between eleven and twelve
as practically normal and those who stand below ten as without doubt
defective. She then publishes three groups: “Defectives,” 45% (77 cases)
high grade; “Morons,” 30% (52 cases); and “Presumably Normal,” 25% (43
cases). Since she does not give the distribution of the cases it is not
possible to tell how many of her group were less than four years
retarded. Her statement of the ages, however, shows that not more than 7
of the defectives could have been less than four years retarded and not
more than 12 of the combined group of defectives and morons tested X or
over. We may be sure, therefore, that at least 68% of these girls are of
questionable intellectual ability according to the conservative standard
adopted in this discussion.
Dr. Bridgman has reported the examination of 118 girls, 10 to 21 years
of age, successively admitted to the State Training School for Girls at
Geneva, Ill. She states that 89% (105 cases) “showed a retardation of
three years or more.” The distribution of cases is not given so that it
is not possible to tell how many testing X, XI, and XII were classed as
feeble-minded or how many tested only three years retarded. The
published estimate is undoubtedly extreme, but I have no means of making
a more conservative estimate on this group. It is interesting, however,
to note that only 14 of the cases were not sexually immoral. These were
all cases which were either dependent or sent because uncontrollable at
home and all tested as passable intellectually. She states that
“according to the Binet tests, 97% of the children (_5_) sent to this
institution because of sexual immorality are feeble-minded as well.”
This percentage also would be decidedly discounted on a conservative
test standard. In another place Dr. Bridgman makes the important
statement that of 400 girls admitted to Geneva 60% were suffering from
venereal disease (_4_).
Mr. Bluemel (_2_) found that 24 out of 50 girls sent from Judge
Lindsay's Juvenile Court in Denver to the State Industrial School or the
Florence Crittenden Home tested XI or under and four or more years
retarded. This is less conservative than our standard, which would
exclude those who tested XI as above even the uncertain group in
intellect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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