What Makes a Child Delinquent?

American Council on Education, Commission on Teacher Education, Division on Child Development and Teacher Personnel. Helping Teachers Understand Children. Washington: The Council, 1945.

The report of a group project in child study whereby teachers and teaching principals deepened their understanding of the causes that lie beneath the surface of the conduct of children. The emotional growth of the teachers themselves and their growth of insight about children were rewards incidental to this project.

Hartshorne Hugh , and Mat Mark A. Studies in Deceit. New York: Macmillan Co., 1928.

Experimental studies in several volumes, the purpose of which is to gain objective data concerning character formation.

Healy William . The Individual Delinquent. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1915.

Now out of print, but probably available in reference libraries. An early analysis of factors found in the study of 823 cases.

Healy William . Mental Conflicts and Misconduct. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1917.

Almost the earliest discussion of conflicts, mainly subconscious, that commonly lead to delinquency. Numerous case illustrations are given.

Healy William , and Bronner Augusta F. New Light on Delinquency and Its Treatment. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1936.

A comparative study of delinquents, their nondelinquent siblings, and their families in three large cities of the United States.

Hymes James L. Jr. A Pound of Prevention: How Teachers Can Meet the Emotional Needs of Young Children. New York: Caroline Zachry Institute, 1947.

A sixty-three page pamphlet discussing the emotional handicaps suffered by children in present-day nursery schools and first grades. Shows how the teacher may understand and help these children.

Klein Emanuel . “Reluctance to Go to School,” The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, Vol. I, pp. 263–49. New York: International Universities Press, 1945.

Though not dealing with delinquents, this article discusses some motivations that lie back of the school attitudes of disturbed children. Clearly presented and of general interest.