You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Throughout this informative study of the juvenile, who is becoming more and more delinquent, the stress is on who he is, what he is being and becoming, and what we are doing for him. In recent years voices have been raised more and more clearly and persistently demanding that something be done about juvenile delinquency. Legal groups, civic bodies, and psychiatric teams have all been studying and writing about the problems. There have been so many approaches and points of view that it is important to clarify some of the similarities and differences. Generally, workers in the field agree that children are not born delinquent, but that the delinquent way of life is an acquired, unhealthy attempt to resolve severe interpersonal and intrapsychic conflicts.
In The Juvenile Offender, Professor Vedder has carefully selected a series of articles by specialists and arranged them according to the main divisions of the field of juvenile delinquency. He has prefaced every group with introductory remarks pertinent to the material. In addition, at the beginning of each group of articles he has presented, in a few sentences, the essence of each paper and has ended the group with selected references and comments on each. The articles have been written by psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, jurists, educators, penologists and interested laymen. Each contribution is a complete unit. As a result, there is at times excessive repetition of material. Most of the writers view the problems from a broad base. A few, however, are dogmatic and arbitrary in defining terms and presenting their ideas. There is great stress on interpersonal relationships. Many of the authors indicate not only the difficulties in working with delinquents, but also suggest practical ways for alleviating these problems.
Early chapters dwell on the environmental factors contributing to delinquency and the effect of special groups, such as the school and the church, in assisting and curbing delinquency. Later