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An investigation of juvenile delinquency was carried out in London and six smaller towns by means of studies of nearly 2,000 delinquent and an equal number of nondelinquent children. The delinquent children were boys who were brought into court beginning Oct. 1, 1938. Sixty social and economic factors were considered for each child including such items as attitude of the parents, income of the family, school record, interests, social activities, working habits and gang affiliations of the boy.
The results indicate that broken homes, abnormal home atmospheres (overlaxity or overstrictness), overcrowding of homes, poor conduct in school and the laxity of parents in allowing adolescent children out at night contribute to delinquency. The author theorizes concerning the "lower immunity" of some children to environmental conditions that lead to delinquency. "We never discover that all delinquents have been subject to one kind of influence or show some distinctive characteristic."
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