REMEDIES

XXXVI REMEDIES   Students of crime and punishment have never differed seriously in their conclusions. All investigations have arrived at the result that crime is due to causes; that man is either not morally responsible, or responsible only to a slight degree. All have doubted the efficacy of punishment and practically no one has accepted … Continue reading →

PARDONS AND PAROLES

XXXV PARDONS AND PAROLES   It has always been the province of the Chief Executive of a state or nation to grant pardons or clemency to those who are confined in prison. This is largely to correct the mistakes of courts and juries and is often indulged in by presidents and governors at Christmas time. … Continue reading →

LUCK AND CHANCE

XXXIV LUCK AND CHANCE   Accident and luck may seem to have no place in a world of law, and yet the fate of lives rests almost entirely on what can be better classified under this head than any other. This is a pluralistic universe. The world is made up of an infinite number of … Continue reading →

CRIME, DISEASE AND ACCIDENT

XXXIII CRIME, DISEASE AND ACCIDENT   The criminologist has always looked for the cause of crime in some other direction than in the inherent wickedness of the criminal. Only those who make and enforce the law believe that men commit crimes because they choose the wrong. Different writers have made their catalogues of causes that … Continue reading →

ISOLATION AND STERILIZATION

XXXII ISOLATION AND STERILIZATION   The growing belief that crime comes largely from the subnormal has created a more or less definite demand for the isolation of the moron before the commission of crime and for the sterilization of certain misfits, especially after conviction. Both of these methods are very drastic, and while society must … Continue reading →

THE CONVICT

XXXI THE CONVICT   Human nature is so weak and imperfect that, at its best, it needs all the encouragement it can get. The comradeship of friends, and the attitude of the public and acquaintances are of the greatest importance in effecting the development of most lives. Sooner or later the convicted man is turned … Continue reading →

CIVILIZATION AND CRIME

XXX CIVILIZATION AND CRIME   As children we have all amused ourselves by looking into a kaleidoscope, turning it around and around and watching the changing patterns formed from the mixing bits of different colored glass in the other end. Each turn makes a different pattern and each bit of glass seems to seek a … Continue reading →

WAR AND CRIME

XXIX WAR AND CRIME   All natural phenomena affect the activities of man. It has been repeatedly observed that the number of crimes of assault and murder increases in the summer months and fluctuates with extreme heat or a cooler temperature. The nervous system of man is responsive to all sorts of physical and psychological … Continue reading →

INDUSTRIALISM AND CRIME

XXVIII INDUSTRIALISM AND CRIME   It was not until about the middle of the eighteenth century that the desire for the creation and accumulation of property began to rule the world. Up to that time such small amounts of property as man needed or coveted had either been produced in a simple manner by himself … Continue reading →

SOCIAL CONTROL

XXVII SOCIAL CONTROL   Organizations and cults are forever coining new expressions that sound “pat” and for this reason seem true. As a rule, these terms and phrases are put in the shape of general statements that may or may not mean something; but their “pat” sound is used to justify all sorts of excesses … Continue reading →