She Asks New Therapy for Child Delinquents

Reviewed by

Albert A. Woldman UNDERSTANDING JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. By Lee R. Steiner. (Chilton Co. $3.95. 199 pp.)

That juvenile delinquency has become a serious social problem has become apparent to anyone who reads the papers. The problem is very complicated, one replete with hidden causes and far-reaching compli-

cations.

Mrs. Steiner's provocative book strives for an understand ing of the problem. The author is a psychologist, psychoanalyst, consultant in personal problems and a radio and television

broadcaster. She is a three-time winner of the Ohio State award for educational radio and television.

LEE R. STEINER

The author points out that almost every child at one time or another commits some act which would place him in a Juvenile Court or reformatory, if he were prosecuted for it. She presents a number of shocking case histories and explains how average children are apt to become juvenile delinquents. Typical are the case histories of 13-year-old George, a car thief; Franny, at 16, a decoy in a shakedown racket; 10-year-old Morton, a dangerous schizophrenic; Theresa, at 15 a dope addict; Max, the 15year-old homosexual; and Maria, pregnant at 13.

Mrs. Steiner asserts that most delinquent children are creative. They create for themselves what they believe to be a good and exciting life. She charges that the psychological professions fail to reach these youngsters because they cannot offer them something just as exciting.

The eminent jurist, Dean Roscoe Pound, declares that "the establishment of the Juvenile Court is one of the most significant advances in the administration of justice since the Magna Charta." However, Mrs. Steiner has a low opinion of the special children's courts. She believes some of the judges show a lack of skill in dealing with youngsters, and she reports that some judges she knows are sadistic, also that most of the therapy they prescribe is unrealistic.

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Some of the delinquents who have committed offenses of one kind or another have behaved normally, she declares, that is, normally for their respective backgrounds.

She questions whether present day mass media, TV, radio, comics, paper-back books, etc..) are contributing factors to the rise of juvenile delinquency;

and she deplores making parents the scapegoats for the shortcomings of society in general

Mrs. Steiner writes: "The most successful therapy is not labeled as such. It is a relationship through which the child is given a new way of life and out of which he develops some new goals. The outstanding example, which many have attempted to emulate, is Boys' Town, set up by a priest who felt that love and self-respect could create a new self-image. Most of the notable examples have been in the religious field. No one has yet equaled the record of Father Divine. He says to criminals, drug addicts, This is heaven. You are my children-my angels. Live in peace with me.' Much can be learned from his method of rehabilitation."

The book is simply written. It shuns clinical terms and phraseology. Whether or not the reader agrees with the author's conclusions, the material is forthright, thoughtprovoking and worthwhile reading.

Reviewer Albert A. Woldman is presiding judge of Cuyahoga County's Juvenile Court.