Juvenile Delinquency. By Henry H. Goddard. Published by  Dodd, Mead & Company. New York, 1921. Pp.  120.

This little book seems to be a combination of a popular discussion of the problems of juvenile delinquency and an account of the work of the Ohio Bureau of Juvenile Research, of which the author was for two years the director. It is a little difficult in reading the book to know just what audience the Doctor is talking to, but the reviewer would suppose that it was a popular presentation, which, however, as such, contains some defects. For example, in speaking of association tests, for one who knew nothing about the subject his reference to them would be quite unintelligible. In the way of criticism also one notices a number of statements which strike one as being rather carelessly put. His faith in the endocrine therapy seems to be greater than is warranted, but it falls in line with the fashion of the day in therapy. When he speaks also of there being no possibility of hereditary types of psychopathy because “biologically of course there could not be such a thing because we are dealing with function and not with structure,” the reviewer feels that the author is a little astray in his thinking.

The general note of the book, however, is extremely useful. The plea for the exceptional child is well made, as is also the plea for the recognition of the possible delinquent before he has committed a series of offenses which forces attention through the courts. The present-day methods of dealing with these problems are wasteful to the last degree and the whole argument of the book is directed toward correcting these methods by an early recognition of anti-social material and its proper segregation. This is in line with the best thought upon the