63. Carrie is a colored girl, 23 years of age at the time of her commitment. She was sentenced to Bedford for possessing heroin. She was born on Long Island—the illegitimate child of a notorious thief and prostitute known only as “Jennie.” She was adopted when fifteen months old and went to public school until she was fifteen, in spite of which at the time of her commitment she could read and spell only with great difficulty. Foster mother was a very poor housekeeper, went out to work, and the rooms she occupied were unspeakably filthy. Carrie had served five previous terms in the New York City Workhouse and 30 days in White Plains jail. She was first sentenced to the House of The Good Shepherd, but returned to the Court on account of her color. She was then sent to Inwood House and returned for the same reason. She had been committed to the Workhouse Hospital for treatment for the drug habit. She had practiced prostitution since she was fifteen years of age, during which time she lived for considerable periods with two consorts, by one of whom she had a child, born in the New York City Workhouse. She had used drugs steadily for eight years, beginning with opium and more recently using cocaine and heroin. Her foster mother states that she was always a difficult child and very stubborn. When she was as young as nine years old the neighbors complained of her immoral conduct with young boys on roofs and cellars. She seemed to have no feeling of shame. Physical examination showed Carrie’s condition to be fair. The mental examination showed her to be a trifle over nine years by the Stanford-Binet tests. Her attitude was that she preferred the life of prostitution and planned to return to it upon her release. It was felt that she would be a bad influence in the Reformatory and that in view of her sociological as well as her mental history she should be given permanent custodial care.[65] I was present in a Juvenile Court when a young girl who showed charm and dignity was brought in for stealing from department stores an astonishing number of pretty things—a mirror, beads, a ring, a powder box, etc.—all on the same afternoon. And she did not forget to include a doll for her baby sister. The inquiry brought out that she worked in a book bindery in a suburb of the city. She had not lost a day for two years, until laid off temporarily. Then she visited the city. She gave all her pay, which was $9.00 a week, to her mother. Of this her mother returned ten cents for the girl’s own use. The girl had no other blemish and her thoughtfulness in stealing the doll for her sister created some consternation. On the advice of the court the mother agreed to increase the girl’s allowance to twenty-five cents a week.