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than among boys in the general popula- among the delinquent boys, was 45.2 and
tion. The need for such studies in the in the control group of school boys it was
field of criminology is stated clearly by 19.3.6
Morris Ploscowe. He says: Cyril Burt found ,.,5 times as many de-
fective family relationships among two
In order to have significance the findings as rcgards
criminals must be comparcd with similar data in the hundred delinquent children in the Juve-
law-abiding population. But such data have not nile Court in London as among about four
bccn available. The lack of standards of normality hundred children from the same districts.
and data on the gcncral population has causcd causal The percentage of defective family rela-
significancc to be attributcd to many so-callcd 'ab-
tionship among the delinquents (both
normalitics" which, latcr rcscarch showcd, cithcr
wcre not abnormal at all, or if abnormal, wcrc almost boys and girls) was 57.9 and among the
as frcqucntly found among the non-dclinqucnt popula- non-delinquent school children 25.7.7
tion as among dclinqucnts.4 The results of these three studies would
Some students have clearly recognized seem to indicate that there is a very great
this point and have employed control difference between the incidence of broken
groups of varying degrees of comparabil- homes among delinquent and non-delin-
ity in their efforts to evaluate the impor- quent boys. However, certain serious
tance of the broken home as a causal fac- questions may be raised concerning the
tor in delinquency. comparability of the delinquent and con-
In a study of the parental status of 7,598 trol groups used in these studies.
delinquent boys confined in industrial Shideler's comparison was not with an
schools in 3I states, Shideler5 found that identical control group, but rather with arl
50.7 per cent came from broken homes.
estimate of the marital status of parents of
On the basisof the censusof I9IO, he esti- children in the general population made
mated that the percentage of children in from the federal census. Both Slawson
and Burt were concerned with the factor
broken homes in the general population
was 25.3, and that the incidence of broken of economic status, but even in this respect
homes among the delinquents in institu- their groups were not identical.
tutions was, therefore, 2.o times as Since our general studies have indicated
that factors other than economic status
high as in the general population.5
might be significant variables, an explora-
Slawson found that among I,649 de-
tory study was undertaken to ascertain
linquent boys confined in four correctional
the factors that should be taken into ac-
institutions in New York state the average
count in a comparative study of broken
percentage coming from homes with ab-
and non-delin-
normal marital relations was 2.3 times homes among delinquent
quent boys. At the same time it was
greater than the incidence among 3,I98
that such a study would be useful
boys in three public schools in New York hoped
not only in ascertaining these factors, but
City. These three schools were selected
in establishing norms that might be useful
because they representedcommunity situa-
in more accurately interpreting the inci-
tions of different economic and social
dence of broken homes among boys in
status. The incidence of broken homes
Chicagao.
I National Commission on Law Observance and
Enforcement, Reporton The Causes of Crime,I, I6-17. 6John Slawson: The DelinquentBoy, Boston, Bad-
6 E. H. Shideler: "Family Disorganization and the gcr, i916, p- 354-
Delinquent Boy," JournalAmericanInstituteofCriminial 7 Cyril Burt: The YoungDelinquent,London, U. of
exact proportion that they are found in William J. Bogan, Superintendent, Chicago Public
the general population, the selection was Schools, for permission to interview school children
so made that answers to the follow- for this study.
10 These orphans were excluded because they had
ing questions might be secured. (i) To been placed in these institutions from all parts of the
what extent does the percentage of broken city; comparativelyfew of thcm had come from homes
homes vary with economic status? in the vicinity of the school. Furthermore, the
(z) To what extent does the percentage of groups of orphans represented single nationalities,
while in all of the other nationality groups considered
broken homes vary with rates of delin-
in this study most of the orphans had been eliminated
quents? (3) To what extent does the from the schools by placement in orphanages in other
communities or outside of the city.
8 For a more complete discussion of these materials It is evident that the percentage of broken homes
see Social Factors in Juvenile Delinquency, Chap IX, among school boys would be somewhat higher if the
National Commission on Law Observance and En- right proportion of orphans in each national group
forcement, Report on Causes of Crime, Vol. II. could have been included.
The schools that were selected for this This same point is indicated by the fact
study were chosen because they repre- that the rates of broken homes calculated
sented areas of different economic status, for all of. the schools within each group
areas with widely different rates of de- show relatively little variation. In the
linquents, and with different racial and schools in the areas with a low rate of
national groups. delinquents z6.z per cent of the boys were
As a first step the percentage of broken in broken homes; in the medium rate areas
homes was calculated for the boys in each Z9.9 per cent, and in the high rate areas,
of the Z9 public schools. These percent- 3I.I per cent. These figures would indi-
ages showed a surprising variation, rang- cate that there is a slight correlation be-
ing from i6.o in one school to 53.0 in tween percentage of broken homes and
another. The average rate was z9.o. rates of delinquents, but because of the
The fact that about three and one-third range of percentages of broken homes in
times as many broken homes were found in each group, it is evident that this relation-
one school as in another, indicated that ship might be reversed by the addition of
some important differential factors were one school with a high percentage of
operating. brolcen homes in the low rate areas, or by
the subtraction of one such school in the
RATES OF DELINQUENTS AND PERCENTAGE OF
high rate areas.
BROKEN HOMES
The absence of a significant relationship
When the Z9 schools in which the boys between broken homes and rates of de-
were interviewed were divided into three linquency is further indicated by the low
groups on the basis of the rates of delin- coefficient of correlation (O.I9 + o.iL)
quents in the areas in which the schools between the rates of broken homes in each
were located, the range of rates and the of the Z9 schools and the rate of delin-
average percentage of broken homes for quents in the area in which the school is
the three groups were very similar. In located. It will be noted that the prob-
the nine schools located in areas with low able error is more than one-half the size of
rates of delinquents the variation in per- the coefficient.
centages was from i6.o to 45.9; in the nine This absence of a significant relationship
schools from areas with intermediate rates between rates of delinquents and the per-
of delinquents zo.o to 5z.o; and in the centage of broken homes among school
eleven schools located in areas with high boys indicates, also, that there is no signifi-
rates of delinquents the range was from cant relationship between percentage of
zo.z to 53.0. Thus in each of the three broken homes and economic status.
groups of schools thus divided, the school There is a high correlation between rates
with the highest percentage has two and of delinquents and the economic status
one-half times as many broken homes as of the different areas in Chicago, so that
the school with the lowest percentage. when the Z9 schools were divided into
The similarity of the absolute percentages three groups on the basis of rates of
and the similarity of the range of percen- delinquents, the same classification di-
tages in the groutpof schools in areaswith vided the schools quite accurately on the
low, intermediate, and high rates of delin- basis of the economic status of the area.
quents suggests that there is no very con- The absence of correlation between per-
sistent relationship between rates of centage of broken homes and economic
delinquents and rates of broken homes. status is further indicated by the fact that
of the ten schools with the lowest percent- lowest percentage of broken homes was
age of broken homes, five are located in the Jewish, 16.3, and the group with the
areas of very low economic status. highest percentage was the Negro, 46.o.
The absence of a significant variation The rates of broken homes among the
between the percentages of broken homes several groups ranged as follows: Jewish
in the schools in areas with different rates i6.3 per cent; Italian zo.8 per cent; Greek
of delinquents and different economic 21.3 per cent; Polish 28.3 per cent; Ameri-
status, and the wide variation in the per- can 31.0 per cent; others 32.1 per cent;
centage of broken homes in the areas with Mexican 39.8 per cent; and Negro 46.o.
approximately the same rates of delin- Thus the percentage of broken homes in
quents and the same economic status, the Negro group is almost three times as
indicates that there are other important high as in the Jewish group, and more
factors underlying the fluctuation. The than twice as high as in the Italian and
entire series of 7,187 boys will, therefore, be Greek groups.
considered from the standpoint of varia- These percentages are not strictly com-
tion by nationality and by age. parable since the age distribution varies
slightly within each nationality. In
PERCENTAGE OF BROKEN HOMES BY NATION-
order to eliminate this variation and to
ALITY AND BY AGE
secure a more adequate basis for compari-
In the division into nationalities the son between nationalities at different ages,
boys were divided into the seven national the expected percentage of broken homes
and racial groups in which the numberwas for each age and the expected average per-
sufficiently large for statistical treatment. centage of broken homes for each national-
Other groups were placed in an "others" ity, were calculated.
category. The boys were for the most This was accomplished by fitting a
part classified on the basis of the nativity straight line to the actual or observed
of their parents. The term American was percentages of broken homes for each age
used to designate all of the boys whose in each nationality. In fitting these
parents were born in the United States curves the observed values were weighted
excepting the Negroes, the Mexicans, and upon the basis of the number of boys
the Jews who were classified separately in each age in each nationality.
regardless of nativity. The Italians, These computed percentages of broken
Poles, and Greeks were classified on the homes, for each nationality, as calculated
basis of the nativity of their parents. for the midpoint of the age range, are as
The "others" group includes boys of for- follows: Jewish i9.8; Italian 23.o; Greek
eign parentage only. Throughout this 25.2; Polish 28.3; American 33.8; others
study this division will be referredto as a 33.9; Mexican 41.3; Negro 48.7. The
nationality classification, even though percentage for the group as a whole was
one distinction is racial and and another 30.9. Here, as in the uncorrected figures,
religious. the range of percentage of broken homes is
When these boys were divided by very great, the percentages among the
nationality and by,age, and the percentage Negro boys being about two and one-half
of broken homes calculated for each age, times as great as the percentages among the
each nationality, and the ages in each Jewish boys, and more than twice as great
nationality, some interesting variations as among Italian boys.
were revealed. The nationality with the This very wide variation in both the
actual and computed rates of broken group is from I3.7 to -5.9; and the range
homes for the different nationalities in the Italian group is from 17.4 to z8.6 for
suggests tremendous differences in the the same ages. The rates of broken homes
stability of the family life in these va- by ages in the Polish group reveals, for
rious groups. It indicates further that a reasons undetermined, a slight decrease
rate of broken homes for a group of boys with increasing age. With this one ex-
in the general population is of little or no ception, however, the increase in the rates
value if the nationality and racial com- of broken homes by ages for the separate
position of the group is not known. The nationalities and for the series as a whole
fact of nationality must be taken into con- is sufficiently large and sufficiently consist-
sideration in making any comparisons ent to indicate that age variation is a fac-
between the rates of broken homes among tor of major importance in considering the
delinquents and among boys in the general rate of broken homes among the boys in
population if the conclusions are to have the general population. It follows that
scientific validity. in any comparison between delinquents
Another interesting variation revealed and boys in the general population the
by the percentages of broken homes for age factor must be taken into consideration.
each age in each nationality, and for the These variations in the percentage of
group as a whole, is the gradual increase broken homes by age and by nationality
with age. The actual percentages for furnish the explanation for the variation
ages IO to 17 are: 2.6.2., 25.3, 29.9, 28.9, in the percentage of broken homes already
32-.5, 32..6, 38.9, 36.7. These percentages noted in the 79 public schools in which
indicate an irregular but decided increase boys were interviewed. The schools
in the percentage of broken homes with where the percentages of broken homes
age. were high, were schools in which the na-
A curve fitted to these values by the tional groups with high percentages of
method of least squaresindicates the trend broken homes predominated, while
more clearly. The computed rates of schools with low percentages of broken
broken homes secured by this method homes were schools in which national
indicate that the expected percentage of groups with low rates of broken homes
broken homes among boys ten years of age predominated. For example the school
is 275.5, and the expected percentage at with the lowest rate of broken homes was
seventeen years is 36.2.. The increase, almost completely Jewish, while the
tlherefore,in this age range is 42..o per cent. school with the highest percentage of
Presumably this variation represents the broken homes was almost completely
expected natural increase in the rate of Negro. This fact suggests that any corre-
broken homes with increasing age. lation between percentage of broken
For the most part, the rate of increase in homes and economic status or rates of
percentage of broken homes for each na- delinquents might be due to the fact that a
tionality differs but little from the in- disproportionate number of the national
crease in the series as a whole, although group with high percentages of broken
the actual rates are, of course, very differ- homes lived in areas of high rates of
ent. For example, the range of rates of delinquents.
broken homes in the Negro group is from From the foregoing materials it is ob-
41.5 in the aged io group to 56.o in the vious that the rate of broken homes among
aged I7 group; the range in the Jewish these 7,z87 boys (z9.o) applies only to
this series, since it has a particular nation- were established for ages and nationali-
ality composition and a particular distri- ties. It indicates, in the first place, the
bution of cases in the different ages. need for a control group to establish the
Even when the rate of broken homes for incidence of broken homes in the general
this series is correctedfor age and stated in population before any conclusions are
terms of the average computed rate for drawn as to the significance of the broken
the mid-point of the age range, it does not home in juvenile delinquency. The rates
apply to the population of the city as a of broken homes that were found in these
whole, since the nationality composition 29 schools are probably much higher than
of this series does not approach that of those that have been generally assumed for
the total city population. The very wide the general population. Under-estima-
differences between the rates of broken tion of the rate of broken homes in the
homes in the several nationalities indicates general population has probably led to an
that this general rate is subject to great over-emphasis of the broken home as a
fluctuation with any change in the nation- factor in delinquency.
ality constituency of the series. It indi-
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PERCENTAGE OF
cates, furthermore, that it would be im-
BROKEN HOMES AMONG DELINQUENTS AND
possible to establish a rate of broken
BOYS IN THE SCHOOL POPULATION
homes for the "normal" population with-
out having in the sample exactly the same On the basis of these general tables of
nationality constituency as that found in percentages of broken homes by ages and
the total population. nationalities, a comparison was made be-
On the other hand, the rates of broken tween the percentage of broken homes
homes for the separate nationalities are among two series of juvenile delinquents
probably of more general significance, and comparable series of boys in the
since the rates for each nationality did not school population."
vary markedly between schools or between The groups of juvenile delinquents
different areas of the city. These rates selected for this conmparisoninclude a se-
can be used, therefore, as a basis for general ries of I,675 boys who appeared in the
comparison between the incidence of Juvenile Court of Cook County from
broken homes in delinquent and non-delin- Chicago during the year i9Z9 and a series
quent groups within each nationality. of I,596 boys who appeared in the same
Similarly the extent of the tendency of the courtduringthe year1930.
rates of broken homes to increase with Since the data presented in the foregoing
age probably indicates quite accurately pages reveal such wide variations in the
the tendency for the city as a whole. rates of broken homes between different
Additional cases might modify the slopes
11 It should be noted that this comparison is not,
of the curves for the different nationalities
strictly speaking, a comparison between delinquent
somewhat, yet the curve for the entire and non-delinquentboys since there are a certain num-
group probably representsquite accurately ber of boys who have been in the juvenile court in the
the expected increases in rates of broken school population. This number is not large, how-
homes with age. ever, both because the numberof boys in the juvenile
This study of the rate of broken homes court in a year is seldom more than one per cent of the
total numberof boys in the city of juvenile court age,
among boys in the general school popula- and because some of the delinquent boys have been
tion has significance quite apart from the removed from the community through commitment
value of the rates of broken homes that to institutions.
nationalities and racial groups, and be- broken homes for the same age in each
tween the different ages, it is evident that nationality in the school population.
the control group used in this comparison When these calculations were complete,
must be identical with the delinquent it was found that while the percentage of
group as regards both nationality and age brokenhomesin the i9Z9 delinquentgroup
composition. This comparability must was 4Z.5, the expected percentage of
apply not only to age and nationality broken homes in a group of the same
in general, but to the age distribution of age and nationality constituency in the
each national group. school population was 36.I. For conven-
Therefore, the control groups used for ience in making comparisons this rela-
comparison with the delinquents will not tionship may be expressed as a ratio:
be the 7,z78 boys from whom data were -- -= I. I8.
secured in this study, but rather groups 36.I
theoretically identical as regards ages Similarly it was found that the percent-
and nationalities with the delinquent age of broken homes among the juvenile
groupsfor i9Z9 and 1930. The rate of delinquents in the Cook County Juvenilc
broken homes assumedfor each age in each Courtduring 1930 was 4Z.3, and the per-
nationality in this control group will, centage of broken homes in a group of
however, be the rates calculated for each school boys comparable as regards age and
age in each nationality in the entire group nationality was 36.4. Expressed as a
of 7,z78 boys.
ratio we find: 43 = I.I6.
Since it was found that rates of broken 36.4
homes did not vary consistently with It is significant to observe that the per-
rates of delinquents, in the several areas centages of broken homes in the delinquent
in which the Z9 schools were located, it groups, the percentage of broken homes in
was not deemed necessary to make correc- the control group, and the ratios are
tions for areas in order to insure compar- almost identical for the two separate
ability between the delinquent and control years. While the percentages of broken
groups. However, it is probable that the homes are similar to those observed in
delinquent and control groups will be other studies, it is surprising that the
quite comparable in this regard both percentages of broken homes among the
because the 7,z78 boys interviewed in the school boys are so high. These percent-
schools and the I,675 delinquents showed ages of broken homes (36.I and 36.4) are
about the same distribution among the higher than the percentages in the entire
areas of low, intermediate, and high rates school group, both because the average
of delinquents; and because in making cor- age of the delinquents is higher than for
rections for nationalities, corrections for the total school group and because in
areas are made automatically, since most the delinquent group the proportion of
of the national group are quite highly boys in the nationalities with high
localized. percentages of broken homes is greater
The numberof broken homes in the con- than that for the school boys considered
trol group was calculated by multiplying in the preliminary study.
the number of boys in each nationality
in each age by the computed rates12 of actual rather than the computed values had been used
in these calculations. The computed values were
12
The rate of broken lhomesfor the control group as used because by this method the fluctuation due to
a whole would not have been greatly different if the smnallsamples was eliminated.
of Cook County during I929 and the per- boys who present personality problems
centage of broken homes in a compara- and a group of school boys of the same age
ble series of boys in the school popula- and nationality.
tion revealed that, while the percentage This study was limited to an analysis of
of broken homes in the delinquent group the percentage of boys in the school popu-
was 42.5, the percentage in the control lation who came from broken homes,
group was 36.I. In a similar comparison and a comparison of the rate of broken
for the year 1930 the results were almost homes in a delinquent and a control
identical. group, without regard to the importance
In one area on the near west side in of the broken home in individual cases.
Chicago the percentage of broken homes It was found that the difference between
was found to be higher among the school the rates in the delinquent and the control
boys than among the delinquent boys from group furnished a very inadequate basis for
the same area. Similarly it was found the conclusion that the broken home is an
that the incidence of brokeni homes in a important factor in delinquency. This
national group is not an index of the rate should not be interpreted to mean that
of delinquents in that group. family situations are not important fac-
It should be borne in mind that the cases tors in cases of delinquent boys. If these
of delinquents used in this comparison situations are important influences in
were largely serious gang offenders. While cases of delinquency among boys, the
no very significant differencewas found be- foregoing data suggest that we must look
tween the rate of broken homes in this for these influences in the more subtle
series of delinquents and the control group, aspects of family relationships rather than
it is entirely possible that there might be in the formal break in the family
very great differences between a group of organization.
LECTURERS
The following announcement comes from the Institute of International Education, Two
West Forty-fifth Street, New York, regarding two lecturers, Dr. Fritz Rager and Mr.
Alfred W. Flux, whom the Institute is bringing next fall.
DR. FRITZ RAGER, one of the leadersin the labor movement in Austria, and an authority
on unemployment insurance and the problems of re-educating the unemployed who have
been trying to work at unsuitable jobs, will lecture in the United States next fall. He can
give first-hand information about the various social experiments carried on in Europe
during recent years.
MR. ALFRED W. FLUX, Assistant Secretaryof the Statistical Department of the British
Board of Trade, who is at present Chairman of the Committee of Statistical Experts ap-
pointed to carry out the recommendationsof the International Convention of Geneva
(I928) relating to Economic Statistics, will lecture in this country from the middle of
October until the middle of December. He will speak on the present currencyproblems,
both national and international. His subjects include: The Gold Standardand Its Break-
down, the Prospects for Sterling; CurrencyPolicy and Trade Depression; Can the Inter-
national Gold StandardBe Made to Work; and Banking Policy in Relation to Prices and
Exchange. Mr. Flux was a memberof the group of the Royal Institute of International
Affairs in London who recently published "The International Gold Problem."