Special Community Programs to Prevent Delinquency

These references include some of the most practical and thought-provoking materials which school people should know. Many states issue special pamphlets which can be obtained from such state departments as public welfare, education, corrections, or mental hygiene.

BOOKS

American Youth Commission. Youth and the Future. Washington: American Council on Education, 1942.

Davis Allison , and Dollard John . Children of Bondage: The Personality Development of Negro Youth in the Urban South. Washington: American Council on Education, 1940.

Frazier, E. Franklin. Negro Youth at the Crossway: Their Personality Development in the Middle States. Washington: American Council on Education, 1940.

Johnson, Charles S. Growing Up in the Black Belt: Negro Youth in the Rural South. Washington: American Council on Education, 1941.

Porterfield, Austin L. Youth in Trouble: Studies in Delinquency and Despair. Fort Worth, Texas: Leo Potishman Foundation (% Texas Christian University), 1946.

In this book 1,500 children's cases are analyzed for the purpose of asking: Was it necessary for these children to appear in court? One refreshing conclusion is: “The institutions of the community sometimes show the same characteristics (irresponsibility and peevishness) in dealing with the child offender.” The author's plan calls for co-ordinating councils of youth and parents and agencies. The report is specific and detailed.

Reid Ira deA. In a Minor Key: Negro in Story and Fact. Washington: American Council on Education, 1940.

Sutherland Robert L. Color, Class, and Personality. Washington: American Council on Education, 1942.

Warner W. Lloyd , Junker Buford H. , and Adams Walter A. Color and Human Nature: Negro Personality Development in a Northern City. Washington: Amercian Council on Education, 1941.

PERIODICALS

The Churchman. (425 Fourth Avenue, New York.)

A monthly devoted to ethical and religious problems in a changing world (see especially February 1, 1947). Editorial on Christians and class distinctions (Vol. CLXI, p. 4): Twenty-three Protestant denominations in the United States and Canada present six principles to combat race discrimination.

Federal Probation.

A quarterly journal of correctional philosophy and practice published by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts in co-operation with the Bureau of Prisons of the Department of Justice, Washington. (See especially Vol. X, October-December, 1946.) National Conference for the Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency. Attorney General Tom C. Clark. This periodical sums up the leading thought of administrators, judges, psychiatrists, and probation officers in the field of delinquency.

Journal of Genetic Psychology: Child Behavior, Animal Behavior, and Comparative Psychology. (The Journal Press Provincetown, Massachusetts.)

Psychological survey on child population in Williamson County Tennessee, by William F. Roth, Jr., Frank H. Luton, and Virginia Kirk. (See especially Vol. LXIX, pp. 169–79.)

Social Action. (Published monthly except July and August by the Council for Social Action of the Congregational Christian Churches, 289 Fourth Avenue, New York.)

See especially Vol. XIII, March, 1947, describing church youth in social action, practical suggestions and illustrations of youth participation. Social Service Digest.

A monthly which condenses social-work literature. (See especially, Vol. II, January, 1947, “The Anatomy of Correction,” by Walter Webster Argam.) Survey Midmonthly. (112 East 19th Street, New York.)

The chief source of social workers’ news and philosophy regarding their profession. (See especially Vol. LXXXIII, Special Section, February, 1947.) Youth Leaders’ Digest.

A monthly devoted to youth problems, agencies, and viewpoints with reviews of pertinent literature. [See especially Solomon's “Juvenile Delinquency: Practical Prevention,” in Vol. IX (December, 1946), 97–116.]

PAMPHLETS

Bates Sanford . Delinquency Can Be Prevented. Trenton, New Jersey: Department of Institutions and Agencies, Division of Community Services for Delinquency Prevention, 1946.

A pamphlet issued by the New Jersey State Department of Institutions and Agencies to suggest how the state can co-operate with municipalities in joint efforts to prevent delinquency. Lists systematically the “causes” of delinquency; describes the facilities available in the ordinary community; and shows how a community can focus these facilities on delinquency prevention. An excellent check list or rating scale permits one to evaluate the delinquency-prevention efforts of his own community as well as suggesting the important and practical things which any community can do.

Chicago Association for Child Study and Parent Education. Annual Reports. The Association functions in greater Chicago, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin and joins in a program of adult and youth education for family living. Leadership conferences were held with 122 groups participating in training leaders for adult-education.

Controlling Juvenile Delinquency: A Community Program. U.S. Children's Bureau Publication No. 301. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1943.

This pamphlet describes the goals for community action against delinquency and suggests the crucial places where concerted action must be taken: parental counseling services, school guidance services, planned utilization to the full of community recreational facilities, supervision of youth in employment through U.S. (now state) Employment Service, community housing, social services to needy and handicapped, control of harmful community agencies, institutions, commercial recreation centers, co-operation of social-service agencies, and the like.

Grabower Genevieve . Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts. Reprinted for the Federal Security Agency, U.S. Children's Bureau, 1946, from the Social Work Yearbook by permission of the Russell Sage Foundation.

Klein Philip . Next Steps in Dealing with Delinquency. Bulletin of the New York School of Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press, July, 1945.

An analysis of our postwar problem and nine proposals for a solution in change of administration and viewpoint.

Lesser Edith Karlin . Understanding Juvenile Delinquency. U.S. Children's Bureau Publication No. 300. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1943.

Lundberg Emma O. Our Concern: Every Child. U.S. Children's Bureau Publication No. 303. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1944.

Our Children's Future: A Practical Program for the Prevention and Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency. Indianapolis, Indiana: American Legion, National Headquarters, 1941.

This pamphlet describes the co-ordinating council, how it may be established, and how various community organizations may contribute co-operatively to a prevention program. It gives many concrete suggestions for workers in the coordinating councils, outlines projects to undertake, techniques for publicity and fund-raising, and the like.

State and Community Planning for Children and Youth: Proposals of the National Commission on Children in Wartime. U.S. Children's Bureau Publication No. 312. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1945.

Weitz Alice C. Youth and Your Community. Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 108. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1945.

Describes how to organize a community for a delinquency-prevention program. Suggests projects to carry out and techniques for implementing action. The discussion shows how a number of projects now under way in different communities are adapted to the special needs of the several communities and are carried on by a variety of professional persons.

ARTICLES

American Public Welfare Association. “Study of Services for Children in Dallas County, Texas, with Particular Reference to the Treatment of Juvenile Delinquency. New York: The Association, 1946.

Denny Velma , and Johnson Mart . “Predelinquency and Juvenile Guidance: A Story of the Way in Which Minneapolis Teachers Aroused Their Community to Do Something about Juvenile Delinquency,” Journal of the National Education Association, XXXV (October, 1946), 386–87.

Hanson Harold B. “An Urban Experiment in Child Welfare, as Carried Out in St. Paul, Minnesota,” The Child, VI (February, 1942), 177–92.

Maisel Albert Q. “America's Forgotten Children,” Woman's Home Companion, LXXIV (January, 1947), 36–39+.

A hard-hitting article on the disgraceful conditions under which juvenile detention of child offenders is carried on in some American cities. The National Probation Association co-operated with the author in assembling material for the article. Mr. Maisel will be remembered for his articles exposing conditions in veteran's hospitals and mental institutions.

Moss Beatrice , and Honsberger J. D. “Case Council: A Project in Community Co-operation,” High Points, XXVII (June, 1945), 21–25. Same condensed: “Administration, Equipment, Maintenance,” School Management, XV (November, 1945), 144.

Tajan Elizabeth . “Curing Delinquency at the Source,” Survey Midmonthly, LXXXII (October, 1946), 261–62.

The chairman of a special committee of the Lower West Side District Health Committee, New York City, describes an unusual project to prevent youth's troubles.

Wampler W. Norman . “Experimental Program for Delinquent Boys in Los Angeles County,” Nation's Schools, XXXVI (July, 1945), 22–23.