UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES SCHOOL OF LAW LIBRARY CRIMINOLOGY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO DALLAS ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO CRIMINOLOGY MAURICE PARMELEE, PH.D. N) AUTHOR OF "THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR," "POVERTY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS," "THE PRINCIPLES OF AN- THROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY IN THEIR RELA- TIONS TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE," ETC. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1918 All rights reserved COPYRIGHT, 1918 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1918 5 -(,. 0,3 PREFACE A DECADE has passed since my book on the applications of criminology to criminal law and procedure was published. It grew out of several years of experience with criminals in courts and prisons in this country, and criminological research in Europe. At that tune it was my intention to follow that book with a similar one on the applications of criminology to penal treatment. Since then the biological, psychological, and social sciences upon which criminology is based have advanced rapidly, and much work has been done within the criminological field itself. Hence much of the criminology of a decade or more ago is already obsolete. I have, therefore, abandoned my original plan, and, having commenced at the beginning of the subject, have attempted a comprehensive survey of the whole field of criminology. Much of the criminological writing heretofore has been more or less unilateral in its character. This has been due almost always to one-sided knowledge, sometimes also to prejudices and preconceived notions. For example, some writers have claimed that crime is due entirely to social causes, others have asserted that it is due entirely or almost entirely to the traits of the criminal himself. There is now available a much larger fund of knowledge from which to construct a criminological theory and to devize a prac- tical program. Consequently there is no longer any excuse for unilateral theories of crime. It is obvious that crime cannot be attributed to any one group of causes. Furthermore, it is manifestly impossible to measure precisely the extent to which any one factor gives rise to crime. Criminological theory today is more cautious and catholic, and does less violence to the facts. It is, therefore, more accurate though less pretentious than some of the older criminology. The present work is a companion volume to my Poverty and Social Progress. In these two books I have attempted to describe VI PREFACE the two greatest of social evils, namely, poverty and crime. The present work will, I hope, prove to be useful to many of those interested in and working with the problem of crime, and as a textbook for college and university courses in criminology. I wish to thank my brother, Dr. J. H. Parmelee of the Bureau of Railway Economics, Washington, for reading all of the manu- script and making many helpful suggestions. I wish also to thank Dr. Joseph A. Hill, Chief of the Division of Revision and Results of the United States Bureau of the Census, Wash- ington, for enabling me to inspect some of the proof sheets of the Bureau's report on Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents. MAURICE PARMELEE. NEW YORK CITY, January, 1918. CONTENTS PART I. NATURE AND EVOLUTION OF CRIME CHAPTER I THE STUDY OF CRIMINOLOGY PAGE Application of science to the study of crime Criminology a hybrid science The sciences used in criminological research The prin- cipal branches of criminology Sociological significance of the study of crime 3 CHAPTER II THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME Equivalents of crime and punishment among animals The limits of the analogy between man and the animal world Alleged equivalents of crime among plants Juridical punishment of animals by men The beginnings of crime among men Origin of crime in violations of custom Influence of magic and religion upon the evolution of crime Influence of moral ideas upon the evolution of crime The earliest crimes: treason; witchcraft; sacrilege; incest; poisoning; violations of the hunting rules 7 CHAPTER IH CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL The struggle for existence The conflict between individual and social interests Forms of social control: habit; custom; public opinion; religion; magic; the state, government, and law Social utility the criterion for social control The limits of social control The char- acteristic features of crime The definition of crime Crimes created by religious, despotic, and class legislation Vicious acts stigmatized as criminal : acts penalized in order to stimulate public opinion against them The distinctive traits of the criminal class . . 25 V1U CONTENTS PART II. CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS IN THE ENVIRONMENT CHAPTER IV PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE, SEASON, AND THE WEATHER PAGE Influence of the physical environment in general Influence of topog- raphy and the nature of the soil Influence of climate, the seasons, and the weather Meteorological factors mingled with cultural forces 43 CHAPTER V URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS Influence of demographic conditions Apparent preponderance of urban over rural criminality Forces which accentuate urban criminality: the concentration of population increases human desires, causes greater conflict of individual interests, intensifies the struggle for existence, and creates more opportunities for crime The organiza- tion of vice in cities Unorganized vice in the country Influence of the growth of population upon crime 54 CHAPTER VI THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME The economic struggle for existence Economic changes and crime: seasonal fluctuations; the trade cycle; prices; wages The economic crimes: crimes against property The economic status of the crim- inal Economic classification of criminals Occupational distribu- tion of criminals Professional criminality Influence of economic organization upon crime Poverty and crime The standard of living and crime Wealth and crime and vice 67 CHAPTER VII THE POLITICAL BASIS OF CRIME Political organization and crime Theories of government Govern- mental responsibility for crime: inefficient and corrupt government Influence of war and militarism upon crime 92 CHAPTER VIII THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME Religion and crime Science and crime Art and crime The press and crime The advance of civilization and the increase of crime 106 CONTENTS IX PART III. CRIMINAL TRAITS AND TYPES CHAPTER IX THE ORGANIC BASIS OF CRIMINALITY PAGE Anatomical and physiological basis of criminality The theory of the born criminal: Lombroso The organic basis of the mental factors in criminality: instinct; feeling; intelligence Abnormalities in the neural basis of mind The organic causes of amentia The organic causes of dementia, the neuroses, and abnormal appetites Race and criminality 127 CHAPTER X THE MENTAL BASIS OF CRIMINALITY Instinct Habit Feeling Intelligence Types of mental abnormality: amentia; dementia; insanity; the neuroses; abnormal habits The mental inadaptability of the criminal Mental defect and moral de- ficiency: moral imbecility and insanity The social maladjustment of the criminal 142 CHAPTER XI CRIMINAL AMENTS Characteristic traits of criminal aments The measurement of mental ability The extent of criminal amentia 156 CHAPTER XII PSYCHOPATHIC CRIMINALS The borderline between amentia and normal mentality The borderline between amentia and. dementia and insanity Demented and in- sane criminals The influence of physiological crises Influence of bad habits, the neuroses, traumatic injuries, abnormal suggestibil- ity, mental conflicts, etc. Summary of mental traits prevalent among criminals 171 CHAPTER XIII THE TYPES OF CRIMINALS Simple classifications of criminals Lombroso's classification Ferri's classification Classifications derived from Lombroso and Ferri Garofalo's classification Criticism of classifications of criminals A new classification of criminal types Description of the principal criminal types Distribution of criminals among the criminal types 186 X CONTENTS CHAPTER XIV JUVENILE CRIMINALITY PAGE Differences between childhood and adulthood Extent and character of juvenile crimes Poverty and juvenile criminality Parentage and home life: broken homes; illegitimacy Education and crime: in- tellectual education; moral education; vocational training; illiteracy and criminality Recreation and crime Immigration and crime Effect of imprisonment upon young criminals 207 CHAPTER XV FEMALE CRIMINALITY Apparent preponderance of male over female criminality Extent and character of female crimes Conjugal condition of criminals Dif- ferences between men and women: physical inferiority and sym- pathetic nature of woman; greater variability and katabolism of man Lenient treatment of female criminals Woman shielded from criminality by her secluded life Extra-judicial female crimes Prostitution and crime 231 PART IV. CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE CHAPTER XVI THE EVOLUTION OF CRIMINAL LAW AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES The origin of criminal law: private vengeance; the lex lalionis; composi- tion Influence of despotic, class, and priestly rule Penal codes The Roman law The English common law The king's peace Crimes classified as acts Functional classifications of crimes A subjective classification of crimes Relation between the criminal and the civil law 251 CHAPTER XVH THE FUNCTIONS OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE The procedure of accusation The procedure of investigation English and French criminal procedure Combination of the procedures of accusation and investigation: public prosecution The reform of criminal procedure. - 272 CHAPTER XVIII THE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES OF EVIDENCE Superstitious methods of securing proof: the wager; the ordeal; torture The English law of evidence Medical jurisprudence: the evils of CONTENTS XI PAGE contradictory medical testimony; the training of medico-legal ex- perts Expert testimony Abolition of the coroner's office The oath The psychological examination of witnesses: the causes of erroneous testimony; the psychological expert The scientific stage of evidence 285 CHAPTER XIX PUBLIC DEFENSE IN CRIMINAL TRIALS The injustice of private defense Public defense and the reform of criminal procedure Abolition of the plea of guilty Significance of public defense for a scientific criminal procedure : the individualiza- tion of punishment; the education and selection of prosecutors, de- fenders, and judges Public defense and the contradictory debate Free civil justice 301 CHAPTER XX THE JUDICIAL FUNCTION The English jury The characteristics of jurors Criticisms of the jury The functions of the judge The training and appointment of judges The control of the judiciary 316 CHAPTER XXI THE POLICE FUNCTION The police and the army Police organization and administration: na- tional and local police control; the rural police The functions of the police The training and selection of the police force The integrity of the police Evil influence of unenforceable laws against vice Homicide in the United States Arrest Preliminary detention Provisional liberation Indemnification for mistaken detention and prosecution 335 PART V. PENOLOGY The objects of punishment:vengeance;elimination; restraint; deterrence; restitution; reformation; etc. The varieties of penalties Imprison- ment Transportation Poetic penalties The scope of punish- ment The severity of punishment: influence of despotism, war, magic, and religion The Inquisition The modern humanitarian movement: the Renaissance; the industrial revolution; the division of labor; modern science 357 Xll CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIII THE MORAL BASIS OF PENAL RESPONSIBILITY PAGE The sanctions of punishment The nature of moral phenemena Moral concepts and social control The theory of penal responsibility Free will and determinism The psychological basis of the penal function: anger; vindictiveness; fear The doctrine of partial re- sponsibility Penal responsibility and the individualization of punishment 373 CHAPTER XXIV THE SENTENCE AND THE INDrVIDUALIZATION OF PUNISHMENT The fundamental principle of modern criminal law The types of in- dividualization: legal; judicial; administrative The criteria of individualization: the crime; the criminal; social conditions; the origin, type, and intensity of the criminality Limitations upon individualization The indefinite sentence Suspension of sentence and probation The penal treatment of the young: the juvenile court Judicial and administrative individualization: rehabilita- tion; periodical revision of sentences 389 CHAPTER XXV THE DEATH PENALTY Arguments for and against capital punishment The abolition of the death penalty Humanitarian sentiment and the death penalty The death penalty and political crime Methods of capital punish- ment 410 CHAPTER XXVI THE PRISON SYSTEM The types of prisons The cellular prison Development of the person- ality of the prisoner Prison administrators Solitary and social prison life Classification of prisoners Prison labor: prison main- tenance; wage labor for prisoners Evils of contract labor Educa- tional, religious, and recreational facilities Prison discipline: causes of misconduct in prison; malingering; prison penalties; the marking system Self government in prisons Sex problems in prisons The prison psychosis The prison type 421 CHAPTER XXVH A SCHEME OF PENAL TREATMENT Prison evils Houses of detention Local jails Reception and ob- servation prisons Types of penal institutions: reformatories; col- CONTENTS Xlli PAGE onies; asylums; penitentiaries Release and after-care Substitutes for imprisonment Corporal punishment Restitution Steriliza- tion 441 PART VI. CRIME AND SOCIAL PROGRESS CHAPTER XXVIII POLITICAL AND EVOLUTIVE CRIMES AND CRIMINALS The distinction between common crimes and political and evolutive crimes Evolutive and involutive vice Freedom of thought and of action Political freedom Freedom of speech Treason and sedition The types of evolutive and political criminals: radicals and conservatives; the pathological type; the emotional type; the rational type The instigation of political and evolutive crimes The treatment of evolutive crime 453 CHAPTER XXLX EVOLUTIVE CRIME AND SOCIAL READJUSTMENT The significance of evolutive crime Religious restrictions upon free- dom Christianity as the national religion The laws against blas- phemy and profanity Sabbatarian legislation Religious discrim- ination in military conscription Sumptuary and economic legis- lation The law against suicide Repression in matters of sex and reproduction The conservatism of the human mind The prevention of evolutive crime: flexibility in the organization of so- ciety Evolutive crime and democracy 469 CHAPTER XXX THE PREVENTION OF CRIME Changes in the nature and extent of crime The prevention of crime dependent upon the prevention of other social evils Individual and social criminogenic factors The normal life as a preventive of crime 489 APPENDIX A. PRICES OF CEREALS AND CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY. ... 493 APPENDIX B. A BIOMETRIC STUDY OF THE ENGLISH CONVICT 495 PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 503 INDEX 515 PART I NATURE AND EVOLUTION OF CRIME CRIMINOLOGY CHAPTER I THE STUDY OF CRIMINOLOGY Application of science to the study of crime Criminology a hybrid science The sciences used in criminological research The principal branches of criminology Sociological significance of the study of crime. FEW subjects arouse so universal or so deep an interest as the study of crime. This interest is due in the main to the adventurous and romantic traits in human nature. Criminal conduct appeals to these human traits because it is regarded as being a spontaneous response to impulse, and even the most prosaic and conventional individual chafes to a certain extent under the restrictions of law and morality. If this interest is not so great as to become morbid, it may have great utility, because crime is both a serious practical problem and an im- portant subject for scientific study. During the past century the extent to which scientific methods have been applied to the study of human and social phenomena has increased greatly. To be sure, there still is much opposi- tion to the scientific study of these phenomena. Some of this opposition arises from anthropocentric notions with regard to the exalted position of man in the universe. Some of it arises from anti-scientific theological dogmas. Some of it is due to propagandists who are eager to push through certain social reforms, and are therefore unwilling to await the results of careful and cautious scientific investigation. All of this opposi- tion creates a prejudice against attributing human conduct to natural causes. But slowly this opposition is being over- come, and crime will before long be regarded as a purely natural phenomenon. 4 CRIMINOLOGY Special attention has been devoted to the study of crime and the criminal since the remote past. The early pseudo- sciences of physiognomy and phrenology attempted to describe the traits of the criminal. At the present time many sciences are contributing to this study. From the laboratories of these sciences, from the researches of scientific workers, from statis- tical investigations of various kinds are to be derived the facts for the study of crime and the criminal. These facts are not adequate as yet for a final synthesis, but they nevertheless have great scientific and practical value. Criminology is not one of the fundamental sciences, but is a hybrid product of several sciences. Zoology, anthropology, history, and sociology contribute to the description of the na- ture, origin, and evolution of crime. Meteorology, demography, and the special social sciences, such as economics, politics, etc., contribute to the analysis of the environmental causes of crime. Anatomy, physiology, psychology, and psychiatry furnish the facts and methods for the study of the traits and types of crim- inals. Comparative jurisprudence and law contribute to the study of the penal treatment of crime and the criminal. Consequently, many scientific methods are applied in crim- inological research. Zoological, anthropological, and historical methods are used in tracing the evolution of crime from its prototypes among animals to the forms it takes in civilized society. Meteorological methods are utilized in studying the influence of the weather, climate, season, topography, and other telluric forces upon criminal conduct. These factors of the external physical environment are of fundamental importance in any study of conduct. Demographic methods are used in studying the influence of the density and distribution of the population, of the increase or decrease of population, and of migrations of population. The sociological method involves a study of the numerous social factors which cause criminal conduct and play a part in making criminals and criminal types. Among these factors are the economic, political, religious, moral, and artistic factors. Closely connected with the sociological method is the statistical method, because it is frequently used in sociological investiga- tion. But the statistical method may be used to aid any of the THE STUDY OF CRIMINOLOGY 5 other methods, so that it must be regarded as ancillary to all of these methods. The anatomical method brings to light abnormalities and malformations of the external structure of the organism which in some cases are of significance with respect to criminal conduct. It reveals defects and derangements of the internal organs which frequently have a far-reaching influence for evil upon conduct. It describes the structure of the nervous system, a knowledge of which is absolutely necessary for the study of mental traits. The physiological method studies the organic processes in the viscera and elsewhere in the body, and brings to light functional derangements which frequently have an injurious effect upon conduct. The clinico-pathological method makes possible an intensive study of the defective, abnormal, and deranged condi- tions revealed by the anatomical and physiological methods. The psychological method, supported by the anatomical, physiological, and clinico-pathological methods, studies the mental traits and processes in order to ascertain in what mental states, whether normal or abnormal, criminal acts are com- mitted. This method is very helpful in devizing a classification of criminal types, because criminal conduct, like all forms of conduct, is determined primarily by these mental states. Inas- much as many of the mental states which give rise to criminal conduct are abnormal, psychiatry plays an important part in the application of the psychological method. In this book we are to make a more or less comprehensive survey of criminology. The topics to be treated in the succeed- ing chapters may be classified under the following heads, which indicate the principal branches of criminological science: 1. Theory of the nature and evolution of crime. 2. Criminal sociology. 3. Criminal anthropology. 4. Criminal psychology. 5. Criminal jurisprudence. 6. Penology. The study of crime has great sociological significance. It furnishes one of the most striking illustrations of the relation between the individual and society, and the conflict between individual and social interests. The penal treatment of the criminal is the most drastic form of social repression, and 6 CRIMINOLOGY criminology is fundamentally a study of social control. Hence it is that criminology and ethics are closely related, and the study of crime involves the discussion of numerous ethical problems of great social importance and scientific interest. Crime is ordinarily regarded as a pathological and abnormal form of conduct. The study of the abnormal is always of significance not only for its own sake, but also because of the light it throws upon the normal as well. It is impossible to recognize and understand fully the normal until the abnormal variations have been studied. So that the study of criminal conduct is instructive with respect to normal human conduct. It is frequently difficult to ascertain what is normal conduct, and in dealing with this problem I shall apply biological, psycho- logical, social, and ethical norms. CHAPTER II THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME Equivalents of crime and punishment among animals The limits of the analogy between man and the animal world Alleged equivalents of crime among plants Juridical punishment of animals by men The beginnings of crime among men Origin of crime in violations of cus- tom Influence of magic and religion upon the evolution of crime Influence of moral ideas upon the evolution of crime The earliest crimes: treason, witchcraft, sacrilege, incest, poisoning, violations of the hunting rules. THE equivalents or analogues of crime are to be found among animals other than man. Some criminologists, indeed, have sought for these equivalents in the plant world as well. The search for equivalents of crime outside of the human world is justified. Crime is a natural phenomenon, and is, therefore, closely related to other natural phenomena. In accordance with the theory of evolution we are constrained to believe that it has evolved out of other phenomena, and must seek its origin in these other phenomena. EQUIVALENTS or CRIME AND PUNISHMENT AMONG ANIMALS The mammals and birds share many of the instincts and feel- ings possessed by man. The same is true to a less degree of the remainder of the vertebrates; while some of the invertebrates, such as the insects, probably possess at least a few of these in- stincts, and possibly a few of these feelings, though the last surmise is doubtful. Just as in man the social instincts and feelings, partly under the direction of the intellect, have given rise to human society, in similar fashion the corresponding in- stincts and feelings have given rise to a social manner of life among many of these animal species. In each of these animal societies habits and customs arise which in the long run aid the survival of the species. Consequently, acts which are contrary to these habits and customs will usually be injurious to the 8 CRIMINOLOGY species, and will be reacted against by the members of the species. Many such acts and the reactions against them have been observed among animals. Animals have been known to kill, to steal, to maltreat each other, and in many other ways to injure their congeners and their species. Furthermore, such acts have been traced to abnormal traits of the offenders which have apparently caused them. Just as in man aberrations of the instinctive, affective, and intellectual traits and the physical abnormalities which underlie these aberrations frequently lead to anti-social conduct; in similar fashion like aberrations and abnormalities lead to corresponding conduct on the part of animals. Many cases have been described where malformation of the brain, abnormalities of the viscera, nervous disorders, etc., have given rise to aberrant conduct. 1 Equivalents of punishment also are found among animals. When acts contrary to the habits and customs of the species are committed, members of the species have in many cases been observed to display anger and the desire to revenge which have led them to inflict pain upon the offending individual, and to drive the offender away from the group, or even to kill the offender. I have not the space to describe in detail these equivalents or analogues of crime and of punishment among animals. But while this analogy is very significant, and should therefore be 1 Lacassagne has classified the causes of aberrant conduct among animals according to the traits whose aberrations give rise to such conduct. He says that they are due to aberrations of (i) the nutritive instinct, (2) the sexual instinct, (3) maternal love, (4) the destructive instinct, (5) the in- stinct of vanity, (6) the social instincts. (A. Lacassagne, De la criminality chez les animaux, in the Revue scientifique, Vol. Ill, No. 2, Jan. 14, 1882, pp. 34-42.) To quote his own words, aberrant conduct among animals is due to "the exaggeration of these instincts, exaggerations which are harmful to other animals of the same species, which manifest themselves by special kinds of acts which are called offenses or crimes in human societies." Such" con- duct is due sometimes to exaggerations of some of these traits, but in other cases is due to the excessive weakness of the same or of other traits. It may be questioned whether some of the instincts mentioned by Lacassagne actually exist, as, for example, the destructive instinct and the instinct of vanity. However, his classification gives some idea of the kinds of aberra- tions which give rise to these equivalents of crime among animals. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME 9 pointed out in any study of crime, it is important that the analogy should not be carried too far, as has been done by some writers. There are differences between man and the animal world which place limitations upon the analogy. To begin with, public opinion and moral ideas are not to be found among animals, or if found at all only in a most rudimen- tary form; whereas these phenomena are fully developed among men, and play an important part in determining the character of crime. Neither public opinion nor moral ideas can exist without a well-developed means of communication such as speech, and man is the only animal which possesses the faculty of speech. In the second place, no animal other than man possesses religious beliefs or magical ideas, and both of these have had much in- fluence upon crime in human social evolution. In the third place, no animal other than man has developed the state, government, and law, and these political institutions largely de- termine the nature of crime in the higher stages of social evo- lution. Because of these differences there can be no strict analogy between "crime" among animals and crime among men. And yet some writers have tried to draw such a strict analogy. For example, one writer asserts that courts of justice and criminal procedure are to be found among animals: "The instances recorded of animals holding courts of justice and laying penalties upon offenders are too numerous and well authenticated to admit of any doubt. This kind of criminal procedure has been observed particularly among rooks, ravens, storks, flamingoes, martins, sparrows, and occasionally among some gregarious quadrupeds. It is as clearly established as human testimony can establish anything that these creatures have a lively sense of what is lawful or allowable in the conduct of the individual, so far as it may affect the character of the flock or herd, and are quick to resent and punish any act of a single member that may disgrace or injure the community to which he belongs." 1 This writer is interpreting in altogether too anthropomorphic a fashion the assemblies of gregarious birds at some of which offenders are punished spontaneously, but without the formal action of law and justice. 1 E. P. Evans, Ewlutioi^fJ, Ethics and Animal Psychology, New York, 1898, p. 230. 10 CRIMINOLOGY Some writers have gone so far as to extend the concept of crime even to the plant world. For example, Lombroso con- sidered the habits of insectivorous plants as equivalents of crime in the plant world. 1 But this is manifestly an erroneous inter- pretation. In the first place, the differences between the traits of plants and of animals are so great as to stretch the analogy altogether too far. There is little if any reason to think that plants have either instincts, or feelings, or intelligence. Such being the case we can hardly speak of the "behavior" of plants in any sense which is at all comparable with the behavior of animals. In the second place, it is hardly possible to introduce the idea of crime with respect to the actions of one species upon another species, especially when the two species belong to en- tirely different realms of the organic world. So that the so- called "murders" of insects by insectivorous plants mentioned by Lombroso are "crimes" much less than the killing of animals by man for food or for amusement. JURIDICAL PUNISHMENT OF ANIMALS BY MEN I have now stated the only scientific sense in which crime or the analogue of crime can be said to exist outside of mankind. But a popular notion of the criminality of animals has been prevalent in the past and still exists today, which should be noted in passing. This belief is that animals are morally re- sponsible for their acts, and that consequently when an animal does injury to human beings it should be punished in much the same way as if it were a human being. As a result of this belief, during the Middle Ages and earlier many animals were tried and convicted for alleged crimes against human beings. 2 Various penalties were inflicted, the most frequent one perhaps being capital punishment. Curiously enough, this notion was some- times extended to the plant world as well, so that plants also were held morally responsible for their alleged acts towards man. For example, Jesus Christ was apparently laboring under this 1 C. Lombroso, L'homme criminel, Paris, 1895, Vol. I, Chap. i. 2 For an account of many such cases see, E. P. Evans, The Criminal Pros- ecution and Capital Punishment of Animals, London, 1906. See also, E. Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, London, 1906, Vol. I, Chap. 10. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME II delusion when he cursed the fruitless fig tree of Bethany for not furnishing food to mankind. 1 Several things should be noted with respect to this notion. In the first place, it is evident that this belief arises out of an anthropomorphic interpretation of the animal and plant worlds. Man has assumed that animals and even plants think, and feel, and will like himself, and that therefore their acts should be treated like the acts of human beings. In the second place, in most if not all of these cases the animals were punished for their offenses against men. In fact, I do not know of a single case where an animal was punished by judicial process for an offense committed against a congener or a member of any other non-human species. While this may have been desirable from the human point of view, it was hardly fair to these animals. Man does not hesitate to kill animals in order to secure food, and for other human purposes. Furthermore, the great major- ity of human crimes are offenses committed against human beings, and the number of offenses against animals recognized by the law are very few. So that the scales of human justice have been heavily overweighted in the interest of human welfare in man's attempts to hold animals morally and penally respon- sible for their acts. In the last place, a distinction should be noted .between two kinds of judicial processes against animals. The first kind of process is the one I have so far been describing, namely, the trial and condemnation of individual animals for offenses which 1 Some of the Christian apologists have interpreted this tale as indicating that Jesus regarded the tree as morally responsible, and therefore guilty of a delinquency. The accounts given of this alleged occurrence in the gospels of Matthew and of Mark suggest that Jesus uttered his curse in an access of pettish rage because he was deprived of his breakfast when hungry. " Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away." (S. Matthew, XXI, 18, 19.) "And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever." (S. Mark, XI, 12-14.) This is like the child or savage who trips over a stone, and then strikes it in anger because it has hurt him. 12 CRIMINOLOGY they have committed against human beings. In these cases the guilty animals are apprehended and the penalties are in- flicted directly upon them. In the second kind of process a whole species which is doing injury to mankind, such as preda- tory carnivores, thieving birds, noxious insects, etc., is tried, and if condemned measures are taken against it which may be regarded either as protective or as punitive, or .possibly as both. At first these measures were probably magical practises directed towards destroying or driving away the offending species. Later these measures became religious in their character in the form of anathemas and curses uttered against the offending animals. In this kind of judicial process it is possible to inflict the penal- ties prescribed directly upon the culprits in very few if any of the cases, so that the efficacy of the magical and religious meas- ures have to be relied upon to attain this end. 1 1 Cf. Karl von Amira, Thierstrafen und Thierprocesse, Innsbruck, 1891. The following statement by Evans is of interest in this connection: "Von Amira draws a sharp line of technical distinction between Thier- strafen and Thierprocesse; the former were capital punishments inflicted by secular tribunals upon pigs, cows, horses, and other domestic animals as a penalty for homicide; the latter were judicial proceedings instituted by ecclesiastical courts against rats, mice, locusts, weevils, and other vermin in order to prevent them from devouring the crops, and to expel them from orchards, vineyards, and cultivated fields by means of exorcism and excom- munication. Animals, which were in the service of man, could be arrested, tried, convicted and executed, like any other members of his household; it was, therefore, not necessary to summon them to appear in court at a speci- fied time to answer for their conduct, and thus make them, in the strict sense of the term, a party to the prosecution, for the sheriff had already taken them in charge and consigned them to the custody of the jailer. In- sects and rodents, on the other hand, which were not subject to human con- trol and could not be seized and imprisoned by the civil authorities, de- manded the intervention of the Church and the exercise of its supernatural functions for the purpose of compelling them to desist from their devasta- tions and to retire from all places devoted to the production of human sus- tenance. The only feasible method of staying the ravages of these swarms of noxious creatures was to restort to 'metaphysical aid' and to expel or to exterminate them by sacerdotal conjuring and cursing. The fact that it was customary to catch several specimens of the culprits and bring them before the seat of justice, and there solemnly put them to death while the anathema was being pronounced, proves that this summary manner of dealing would have been applied to the whole of them, had it been possible to do so." (E. P. Evans, The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals, London, 1906, pp. 2-3.) THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME 13 THE BEGINNINGS OF CRIME AMONG MEN There is no historical account of the beginnings of crime among men, since they took place in the dim prehistoric past. Nevertheless there are sources of information from which we can derive facts of great significance with respect to this subject. In the first place, the first men, like the men of today, be- longed to the order of primates and the class of mammals. Consequently they shared the characteristic traits of the mam- malian world. In other words, they had much the same in- stincts and emotions as the remainder of the mammalian world, and especially as the mammals most closely related to them, such as the other primates. These men probably differed from other mammals mainly with respect to intelligence, the superior excellence of the human intellect being man's most distinctive trait. Possessing these mammalian traits, these first men experi- enced anger, sympathy, sexual passion, parental love, and all the other instinctive impulses and feelings which play an im- portant part in determining human conduct. Their social tendencies led them to form social groups. As individuals they formed habits. As social groups they evolved customs, and violations of these customs doubtless aroused the character- istic reactions from the group which among animals I have called the equivalents or analogues of crime. When speech developed, it became more feasible to have public opinion and then moral ideas with respect to conduct. Furthermore, prob- ably as a result of the stimulus to thinking from the interchange of ideas made possible by speech, magical and religious ideas began to develop which have also had a vast influence upon human conduct. In the second place, numerous studies have been made of communities of a low order of culture, and there is reason to believe that the conditions found in these communities repro- duce in a measure, or, should we say, perpetuate, the conditions which obtained in the early stages of human social evolution. Consequently, the crimes, or nearest equivalents to crimes, found in these primitive human groups probably indicate fairly well what were the first crimes, or analogues of crimes, among men. 14 CRIMINOLOGY ORIGIN OF CRIME IN VIOLATIONS OF CUSTOM All of these studies show that violations of the customs of the community constituted some if not all of the primitive I crimes. "In primitive society custom stands for law, and even where social organisation has made some progress it may still remain the sole rule for conduct." 1 In most cases the laws of the higher stages of social evolution have developed out of the customs of the community, and even down to the present day in the most cultured communities changes in the laws are determined mainly by changes in the customs. 2 Indeed, many 1 E. Westermarck, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 161. 2 "The laws themselves, in fact, command obedience more as customs than as laws. A rule of conduct which, from one point of view, is a law, is in most cases, from another point of view, a custom; for, as Hegel remarks, 'the valid laws of a nation, when written and collected, do not cease to be customs.' There are instances of laws that were never published, the knowl- edge and administration of which belonged to a privileged class, and which were nevertheless respected and obeyed. And among ourselves the ordinary citizen stands in no need of studying the laws under which he lives, custom being generally the safe guiding star of his conduct. Custom, as Bacon said, is 'the principal magistrate of man's life,' or, as the ancients put it, 'the king of all men.' " Many laws were customs before they became laws. Ancient customs lie at the foundation of all Aryan lawbooks. Mr. Mayne is of opinion that Hindu law is based upon customs which existed even prior to and independ- ent of Brahmanism. The Greek word v6fj.os means both custom and law, and this combination of meanings was not owing to poverty of language, but to the deep-rooted idea of the Greek people that law is, and ought to be, nothing more and nothing less than the outcome of national custom. A great part of the Roman law was founded on the mores majorum; in the Institutes of Justinian, it is expressly said that 'long prevailing customs, being sanctioned by the consent of those who use them, assume the nature of Laws.' The case was similar with the ancient laws of the Teutons and Irish." (E. Westermarck, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 164-5.) Chapter VII in Westermarck, entitled "Customs and Laws as Expres- sions of Moral Ideas," gives an excellent discussion of this subject. It should, however, be noted that this title suggests that moral ideas always precede customs. Obviously this could not be so, and many customs must have existed long before man was capable of possessing moral ideas. The explanation of the title of this chapter probably is that inasmuch as Wester- marck believes that morality can be traced back to certain so-called "moral emotions," morality in this affective form is to be found back of most if not all customs. If this is a correct explanation of this title, the use of the term "moral ideas" in this title is in part incorrect. I shall criticize Wester- marck's theory of the "moral emotions'' in Chapter XXIII. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME 15 customs will always exist in every human group, and there will always be some tendency on the part of the community to react in a hostile fashion to violations of these customs. However, there has already been a good deal of variation as to the number of customs which come to be sanctioned by moral ideas, re- ligious beliefs, and magical practises, violations of which are punished by the group as a whole. It is possible that in the future a smaller number of customs will receive this sanction, and that consequently only personal and not social reactions will be possible against them. The primary causes of the customs of any group are to be found in the innate traits of human beings and in the features of the environment. The customary relations between the sexes, between parents and offspring, etc., are determined in large part by instincts and feelings. The food customs are determined to a large extent by the environment. If the avail- able food is in the form of wild beasts, various hunting customs arise. If the environment causes frugivorous habits, customs with respect to the gathering and the apportioning of the fruit arise. INFLUENCE OF MAGIC AND RELIGION UPON THE EVOLUTION OF CRIME But secondary factors make their appearance when, largely as a result of the evolution of speech, religious and magical ideas and practises and moral ideas develop. Probably rather early in his career upon this planet man began to think about the nature and causes of his environment and of himself. His thinking was not necessarily for purposes of philosophic specu- lation, but probably for a pragmatic reason, namely, because he wanted to influence the forces of nature for his own benefit. As a result of this thinking he eventually evolved the animistic ideas which underlie all religious and magical beliefs and prac- tises. Briefly stated, these ideas are to the effect that the events which take place in nature, and the occurrences which happen to or in man, are caused and governed by beings which are conceived to be more or less like the beings of the animate world, and sometimes like man himself. It is, therefore, to the interest of man to influence these so-called spiritual beings to regulate the affairs of the universe, or at least of that part of 1 6 CRIMINOLOGY the universe which concerns him, in such a manner as to pro- mote the safety and happiness of man. On the basis of these animistic ideas have developed a vast number of methods of influencing these alleged spiritual beings. These methods may be roughly classified into two main groups, though the distinction between the two is not absolute, and they tend to shade into each other. These are the magical and the religious methods. The magical methods are those by means of which it is attempted to coerce these spiritual beings to do the will of man. The religious methods are those by means of which it is attempted to persuade these hypothetical beings to do what is desired by man. These differences in methods have probably arisen in part out of differences of opinion as to the nature of these spiritual beings. Magical methods postulate the existence of spiritual beings which can be coerced. Religious methods postulate the existence of spiritual beings which may or may not be coerced, but which may possibly be persuaded. In many cases the co-existence of both of these orders of animis- tic beings has been postulated. For these reasons magical and religious methods have frequently accompanied each other, and have been practised at the same time and place. Magical methods may be classified roughly into the methods of contagious magic and those of imitative magic. 1 The con- tagious methods are those which attempt to influence some- thing through something else which has at one time been in contact with the first thing. For example, an attempt may be made to injure an enemy by doing injury to something which was at one time a part of him, as, for example, nail parings, hair, etc. The imitative methods are those which attempt to bring about desired events by causing other events which re- semble in certain respects the desired events. For example, an attempt may be made to stimulate the fertilizing of the soil in order to secure a good harvest by going through the process of sexual fertilization. It is obvious to civilized man that both of these kinds of magical methods are based upon false analogies. But this was not apparent to primitive men, and has not been clear to many human beings even to the present day. The gradual disap- 1 Cf. J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, especially The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, Vol. I, London, 1911. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME 17 pearance of magic has come about, in the first place, as a result of the repeated failure of magical methods to attain the ends desired, and, in the second place, as a result of the spread of scientific knowledge with regard to the true causes of the events which take place in nature. Furthermore, it is obvious that magic has to a large extent grown out of a process of mental association. In fact, many of those who have practised magic have lost sight of or have never been conscious of the animistic basis of magic, and have been governed entirely by the apparent similarities. It has been the weakness of magic that these mental associations have been with respect to superficial resemblances which have not necessarily involved any causal relations. Religious methods have been and are of such a nature as to persuade the alleged spiritual beings; that is to say, they are propitiatory methods. These methods have included prayer, oblations and sacrifices of all sorts, and adulation in various forms of ceremonial worship. Like magic religion also has grown in large part out of mental associations with respect to superficial resemblances. Man has assumed, because of ex- ternal resemblances between occurrences caused by man or by other animate beings and the other events which take place in nature, that these natural events are caused by spiritual beings similar to animate beings. But religion has one great ad- vantage over magic which has enabled it to survive magic, and which may enable it to persist as long as mankind survives. This advantage is that the repeated failure of religious methods does not in itself discredit religion, for it is always possible to assume that the god or gods are unwilling to grant the re- quests of man. The above paragraphs give a brief and categorical statement of the nature of magic and religion. It is obviously impossible to discuss here all of the complicated questions involved in the study of magic and religion. But it is necessary to have at least a general notion of their nature in order to be able to understand the important part they have played in social control in general and in penal treatment in particular. 1 This is especially true 1 Cf. J. G. Frazer, Psyche's Task, A discourse concerning the influence of superstition on the growth of institutions, 2d ed., London, 1913. In this book Frazer gives numerous examples of the ways in which reli- 1 8 CRIMINOLOGY with respect to primitive peoples, for we shall see that magic and religion have played a very important part', perhaps 1 a pre- dominant part, in determining the character oi the first crimes. INFLUENCE OF MORAL IDEAS UPON THE Evo CJTION OF CRIME With regard to the influence of moral ideas in determining the character of the first crimes, it is impossible to speak with as much certainty. This is due partly to the fact that it is difficult to define moral ideas and morality. This is a question which I shall discuss in Chapter XXIII. Furthermore, it is difficult fre- quently to disentangle moral from religious and magical ideas, as, for example, to determine whether an act is forbidden because it is wrong in itself or because it is displeasing to a spiritual being. 1 Some writers have believed that the earliest crimes were deter- mined only by religious and magical ideas, and that moral ideas, in the strict sense of the term, had no influence until later. 2 gious and magical ideas have served as means of social control. He sum- marizes his study in the following words: "To sum up this brief review of the influence which superstition has exer- cised on the growth of institutions, I think I have shown, or at least made probable: "I. That among certain races and at certain times superstition has strengthened the respect for government, especially monarchical govern- ment, and has thereby contributed to the security of its enjoyment: "II. That among certain races and at certain times superstition has strengthened the respect for private property and has thereby contributed to the security of its enjoyment : "III. That among certain races and at certain times superstition has strengthened the respect for marriage and has thereby contributed to a stricter observance of the rules of sexual morality both among the married and the unmarried: "IV. That among certain races and at certain times superstition has strengthened the respect for human life and has thereby contributed to the security of its enjoyment." (P. 154). I think that Frazer exaggerates the value of this kind of social control and underestimates the harm which has been caused by superstition. 1 Cf. C. S. Wake, The Evolution of Morality, London, 1878, Vol. I, pp. 293-4. Speaking of various acts which are punished among primitive peo- ples, Wake says: "It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that actions which such peoples declare to be punishable as crimes, are so treated be- cause they are thought to be 'immoral,' as we understand the term." This author, however, does not seem to realize that many of these acts are pun- ished as offenses against magical and religious ideas. "Cf. H. Oppenheimer, The Rationale of Punishment, London, 1913, p. 91. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME 19 These, then, apparently are the factors which determined the first crimes. Cvstqrn doubtless was the earliest and the most important facto 1 : Later appeared magic and religion to give their sanction to certain customs, and thus to strengthen these customs, to modify other customs, perhaps to suppress some customs, and to found some entirely new customs. Moral ideas also may have^played a part as early as magic and religion. THE EARLIEST CRIMES Steinmetz, as a result of an extensive survey of crimes and punishments among primitive peoples, has prepared the follow- ing catalogue of "crimes first punished by the community": 1 1. Witchcraft. 2. Incest. 3. Treason. 4. Sacrilege. 5. Miscellaneous offenses, most of which are offenses against sexual morality, but including also poisoning, breaches of the hunting rules, etc. Oppenheimer has rearranged this catalogue as follows: 2 1. Treason. 2. Witchcraft. 3. Sacrilege and other offenses against religion. 4. Incest and other sexual offenses. 5. Poisoning and allied offenses. 6. Breaches of the hunting rules. N In studying these crimes among primitive peoples it must be constantly borne in mind that since these peoples do not possess the art of writing, and since the state has not as yet evolved for them, a penal code, a code of criminal procedure, courts of public justice, in other words, law and its mechanism in the formal sense of those terms, cannot exist amongst them. Many acts which in civilized communities are punished by the law are in "It was under the aegis of religion that the criminal code was born. In a subordinate way other factors may have helped its seeds to sprout; it remains nevertheless true that it is religious thought, religious fears and feelings which public punishment has to be fathered upon." 1 S. R. Steinmetz, Ethnologische Studien zur ersten Enlwicklung der Strafe, Leiden, 1894, 2 vols. 2 H. Oppenheimer, op. cit., p. 71. 20 CRIMINOLOGY primitive communities subject to private revenge. For exam- ple, killing is usually reacted against by retaliation on the part of the family of the victim. In a sense these acts also are crimes in the primitive community, for private retaliation is sanctioned by the public opinion of the community and is even expected by it, so that failure to exercize such retaliation would be regarded as indicating, to say the least, cowardice, if not graver culpabil- ity. On the other hand, these acts are not reacted against by the community as a whole, so that in this sense they cannot be regarded as crimes. The offenses catalogued above are crimes in the sense that they are punished by the community as a whole. While there is no written law on the subject, it is clearly understood in the community that such acts are to be publicly punished. When- ever a member of the group has committed or is suspected of having committed such an act, an investigation or ceremony is held to determine the facts, which is a sort of rude prototype of a trial by a court of public justice. This primitive judicial process may be the gathering of evidence from witnesses by the elders of the group, or it may be an ordeal inflicted upon the suspected person, or it may be an incantation performed by a magician which is supposed to reveal the truth. When the accused person has been found guilty by one or more of these methods, appro- priate punishment is imposed upon the culprit by the group as a whole or by its authorized agents. I shall describe primitive punishments later in connection with the study of penal treat- ment. Treason is most likely to occur in connection with war. If the group, whether it be a horde, a clan, or a tribe, is at war with another group, and one of its members aids and abets the enemy, or even merely refuses to fight, he is punished for this crime which menaces the integrity and survival of the group. The nature of treasonable acts varies according to the organization of the group and the character of the environment. Oppenheimer says that "witchcraft is probably the first in point of time, and certainly the most universal, of all primitive crimes." 1 It is doubtful if witchcraft as a crime is any earlier or any more universal than treason. However, it is certain that since a very early time, and almost if not quite universally, the 1 H. Oppenheimer, op. cit., p. 73. THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME 21 practise of magic has been punished. But this does not mean that all magical practises have been punished. Magic may be divided into the so-called "white" and " black" magic. The white or good magic is the kind which benefits the group, by bringing needed rain, by destroying the enemy, etc. The black or bad magic does injury to the group, by blighting the crops, by bringing illness, etc. It is this bad magic which is punished by the group. Thus it comes about that to be a good magician is to merit great rewards from the group, while to be a bad one is to suffer severe punishments. Furthermore, to be a magician at all is likely to arouse suspicion, for it is impossible for the lay public to be certain that the magician is not using his power surreptitiously against the public. Hence the persistent sus- picion against witchcraft which, as is well known, has lasted down to comparatively recent times, even in civilized com- munities. Sacrilege is the religious correlative of witchcraft as a crime. If instead of or in addition to the somewhat impersonal powers postulated by magic, spiritual beings of a more personal char- acter, such as gods, are assumed to exist, which cannot be coerced but can be pleased or offended, then it is greatly to the public interest that these beings should be pleased and not offended, for otherwise they may wreak divine vengeance upon the group. 1 Hence it is that those who have committed acts which are sup- posed to offend these sensitive deities must be punished, in order, if possible, to avert this divine vengeance. Incest as a primitive crime may have originated as a violation of the rules of exogamy. This explanation is suggested by the fact that the scope ot forbidden relationships is frequently much greater than among civilized peoples. I have not the space to discuss the origin of exogamy, whether it is due to an inborn aversion to sexual intercourse between near of kin, or to an acquired aversion to sexual intercourse between persons who have been closely associated with each other during early youth, or to some other cause. 2 1 Thus speaks the Hebrew Yahveh in the Mosaic law to those who offend him: "For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." (Exodus, XX, 5.) 2 See the discussions in E. Westermarck, op. cit., Vol. II, Chap. 40; His' 22 CRIMINOLOGY The regulation of sexual relations varies greatly among primi- tive peoples, as is clearly indicated by numerous facts which have been accumulated by the anthropologists. There is variation from a high degree of freedom approaching promiscuity to strict regulation. However, on the whole it seems to be true that there is little sexual morality in the civilized sense of the term; that is to say, very little regulating of sexual relations be- cause they are right or wrong in themselves, as is frequently the case in civilization. Adultery, seduction, and rape are more likely to be regarded as private than as public wrongs, because they are violations of the proprietary interests of husbands and fathers. And even when these and other sexual offenses are treated as public wrongs, it is likely to be for religious and magical reasons. It is frequently believed that there is a causal relationship between sexual acts and the success of the group in warfare, hunting, etc. In fact, a great deal of magic and religion has centered about sex not only among primitive peoples but in civilization as well. This is doubtless due to the myste- rious character of sex to those who have no scientific knowledge of its nature, because of the strange and powerful feelings it arouses, and because of the inexplicable physiological processes with which it is connected, especially in the female sex in con- nection with menstruation and reproduction. 1 tory of Human Marriage, London, 1894, Chaps. XIV, XV; and in J. G. Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, London, IQIO, 4 vols. 1 Cf. H. Oppenheimer, op. cit., p. 85. "The close association which exists between our sexual life and the religious side of our nature is so well known to the student of the history of religious worship, to the psychologist and to the alienist that it cannot cause surprise if offence against sexual morality bear from the beginning a religious aspect. Indeed not until comparatively recent times in Christian countries have they ceased to fall within the special province of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Again, the sensations and emotions to which the reproductive instinct gives rise, and the phenomena connected with its satisfaction are full of mystery to the civilized no less than to the savage, and at primitive stages of human thought magic properties are attributed to what is otherwise unaccountable in the experiences of the inner life, no less than to strange phenomena in the outside world. No wonder then that the rules relating to marriage are regarded as particularly sacred and that sexual relations between persons not allowed to intermarry are treated as offences of a particularly heinous type." The mysterious character of the sexual processes, especially in woman, for most human beings is well illustrated in the Hebrew religion by the magical notion of the uncleanness of sex which was incorporated in that THE ORIGIN AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF CRIME 23 The action of poisons and of curative drugs naturally is mysterious to primitive man. Consequently, he is prone to attribute their effects to supernatural properties. And if he has reason to believe that these properties have been imparted to them by magicians, and if their effect is bad as in the case of poisoning, then he will regard poisoning and similar offenses as black magic and will punish them as such. Hence it is that, as Oppenheimer says, ''primitive toxicology is a branch of magic," 1 and that the public punishment of poisoning is due not so much to regard for human life as to fear of black magic. It is of the utmost importance to the group to maintain the hunting rules, because hunting is frequently the main source of food. Some of these rules have obvious utility. Other rules are manifestly absurd to civilized man, as when incest is pro- hibited because it is supposed to interfere with success in hunt- ing. Here again magical and religious ideas are having their influence. Totemic regulations probably in many cases origi- nated as primitive game laws, but later acquired a magical or religious character which obscured their original purpose and frequently destroyed their utility. 2 The preceding brief survey of some if not all of the principal primitive crimes indicates the origin and early evolution of crime. Back of these punitive reactions, both private and public, can be discerned fundamental human traits of mind and of character, such as the powerful emotion of fear and vari- ous instinctive reactions to remove the causes of fear, the power- ful emotion of anger and various instinctive reactions to injure the object of anger. In the category of public punishments can be discerned both errors of commission and errors of omis- sion. The errors of commission are due to the persistence of customs which are no longer useful, and to the influence of magic and religion. The errors of omission are illustrated in the com- paratively little protection afforded by primitive public justice religion. (See the extraordinary purificatory rites, especially for women, prescribed in Leviticus, XII and XV.) In the Christian religion, which was derived from Judaism, the magical notion of the uncleanness of sex has been combined with and has reenforced the ascetic ideal of propitiating the deity by expiation and purification through chastity. (See the Pauline epistle / Corinthians, VII.) 1 H. Oppenheimer, op. cit., p. 88. 2 Cf. J. G. Frazer, Tolemism and Exogamy, London, 1910, 4 vols. 24 CRIMINOLOGY to human life and limb and to property rights. This lack of protection is doubtless due in part to a low regard for human life and to a rudimentary development of property rights. But I have already stated that offenses against human life and some- times also against property are frequently reacted against pri- vately with the sanction of the community. These offenses which were privately punished later developed either into crimes or into torts, thus giving rise to the distinc- tion between the criminal and the civil law. Furthermore, magical and religious ideas had a considerable influence, as they still have, to act as a restraint upon these offenses spon- taneously without regard to private or public punishment, because of the automatic consequences feared from the viola- tion of these ideas. In this fashion the taboo system has been a powerful restraining force because of the dire consequences feared from any breach of the taboo. l 1 See, J. G. Frazer, Psyche's Task, also The Golden Bough, especially the volume entitled Taboo and the Perils of the Soul, London, 1911; Hutton Webster, Influence of Superstition on the Evolution of Property Rights, in the Am. Jour, of Sociology, Vol. XV, No. 6, May, 1910, pp. 794-805. CHAPTER III CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL The struggle for existence The conflict between individual and social in- terests Forms of social control: habit, custom, public opinion, reli- gion, magic, the state, government, and law Social utility the cri- terion for social control The limits of social control The charac- teristic features of crime The definition of crime Crimes created by religious, despotic, and class legislation Vicious acts stigmatized as criminal: acts penalized in order to stimulate public opinion against them The distinctive traits of the criminal class. ALL forms of behavior come into being, in the first instance, in the course of the struggle of the individual for existence. Each individual must overcome the difficulties in the way of its existence if it is to survive. It must secure the food it needs, it must not succumb to the climate, it must defend itself against , its enemies. .KThe individuals which act in such a way as to attain these'ends^will survive, while those who fail to do so will ,/ be eliminated. ; So that there takes place a selective process in the course of* which some individuals survive and are perpet- uated, while other individuals are eliminated. In this fashion the struggle for existence determines what forms of behavior are to persist. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL INTERESTS In every social group conflict arises between the interests of the individual and the welfare of the group. Every person experiences impulses and desires which if gratified would injure other persons, and would give rise to continual warfare which would prevent social organization. These impulses and desires arise out of the instincts and emotions, which are the principal factors in the determination of human behavior. These instincts and emotions lead sometimes to social and sometimes to anti-social behavior. For example, the instinct of pugnacity and the emotion of anger are continually giving 26 CRIMINOLOGY rise to acts of violence. These acts are usually injurious to society, though sometimes they are committed in the defense of society. Sexual impulses also sometimes give rise to acts of violence which are anti-social in their character. But the sexual impulses usually arouse a tender emotion which stimulates sympathetic feelings and frequently leads to acts of kindness. The parental instincts and emotions cause numerous altruistic acts of self-sacrifice, and are therefore powerful social forces. But, on the other hand, these instincts and emotions sometimes lead to anti-social acts, as when a parent does injury to many persons in behalf of his or her offspring. In similar fashion many other instincts and emotions under certain conditions lead to social behavior, and under other conditions lead to anti- social behavior. Some of these dynamic forces lead more fre- quently to social behavior, and other forces lead more frequently to anti-social behavior. But every human trait may be mani- fested either in a social or in an anti-social manner. Social groups like individuals are engaged in a struggle for existence. It goes without saying that the survival of individ- uals is of primary importance, for without individuals there could be no groups. But in every social or partially social species the survival of the individual depends in part upon the survival of the group to which it belongs. Consequently, the behavior of the members of the group must in the long run promote the survival of the group. Thus it is that social in- stincts, sympathetic feelings, and intellectual activities which are socially directed tend to be preserved and encouraged in the social struggle for existence. On the other hand, anti- social instincts and feelings, and intellectual activities which are anti-socially directed, tend either to be eliminated, or, when too deeply rooted in human nature to be eliminated, to be re- strained. FORMS or SOCIAL CONTROL This control of anti-social tendencies in most individuals comes in part from within. Some of the traits in human nature exercize a restraining influence over the anti-social tendencies, of the other traits. For example, the sympathetic feelings may ameliorate somewhat the tendency to do injury to others which is encouraged by the pugnacious instinct. But this internal CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL 27 control frequently is not sufficient, giving rise to the need for an external control. Consequently, many forms of social con- trol have developed in human society. 1 Habit is a very important form of control in society. It is true that habit is apparently an internal and not an external form of control. But even though each habit belongs to an individual and is formed by him, nevertheless habit is a form of social control, because the character of the habits formed depends largely upon social influences. In organized society many habits are drilled into individuals, so that the formation of habits is an important means of social control. Custom is another important means of social control. 2 Cer- tain customs are also the habits of many individuals. Thus in our own society the customary ways of eating food with knives and forks are also the habitual ways of the great major- ity of persons, because the acts involved are repeated so fre- quently as to become habitual. But other customs do not in- volve habits, because the customary acts involved are not repeated so frequently as to become habits. For example, in our society it is customary to marry. But it can hardly be said to be habitual, because the great majority of individuals do not marry more than a very few times at most, Custom brings about uniformity of behavior in matters in which uni- formity is essential or, to say the least, desirable. Thus it is well to have a custom on the public highway that vehicles shall always pass to the right or always to the left, for otherwise there would be a good deal of disorder. But, as we shall see, custom also does injury to society by causing an excessive de- gree of uniformity, and by obstructing desirable changes. Public opinion exists when the majority of a group have the same definitely formulated opinion about a certain matter, or, at any rate, when the majority of those who have a definite opinion agree. When public opinion concerns matters of con- duct it frequently has a powerful coercive influence. In many cases an individual will suffer bodily injury when he acts con- trary to the public opinion of the group to which he belongs. 1 Some of these forms of social control are graphically described in E. A. Ross, Social Control, New York, 1901. 2 Cf. W. G. Sumner, Folkways, A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals, Boston, 1907. 28 CRIMINOLOGY But even when bodily injury is not inflicted, he will usually experience mental discomfort which will deter him from acting contrary to public opinion. Public opinion is closely related to custom. Some customs are due to public opinion as to how certain things should be done. On the other hand, many customs become established first, and then give rise to public opinion. It is impossible to ascertain which comes first in the majority of cases. However, it is probable that usually the custom becomes established without any conscious forethought, and then public opinion follows as an attempt to rationalize the customary mode of conduct. When public opinion with regard to matters of conduct be- comes strong, and involves the belief that certain forms of con- duct are right and other forms are wrong, there arise moral ideas. These ideas have a powerful restraining force, because violations of them usually bring in their train penalties of various sorts. I shall describe the nature of moral ideas in Chap- ter XXIII, and a considerable portion of this book is devoted to describing penalties imposed upon violations of these moral ideas. Religion frequently plays an influential part in regulating human conduct. Its representatives teach and preach the existence of powerful spiritual beings which desire and com- mand men to act in specified ways, and assert that if men do not act accordingly they are liable to suffer severe penalties. To the extent that religious doctrines are believed they will in- fluence the conduct of men. Furthermore, religious organiza- tions such as the churches have been formed which have in many cases acquired a vast amount of power over the actions of men. The rules of conduct specified by religion frequently are the same as those which have already been developed by public opinion and have become moral ideas. When moral ideas and religious beliefs are identical religion gives support to the ac- cepted standard of morality. Sometimes, however, the religious rules of conduct come from other sources. Magical ideas also have played a part similar to that of religion in the earlier stages of social evolution, and still have much influence among primitive peoples and among the igno- rant classes in civilized countries. Magic resembles religion in its belief in the existence of spiritual beings, but differs some- CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL 2Q what from religion in the measures it uses to influence these powers. In either case human conduct is regulated with refer- ence to the alleged nature and desires of these spiritual beings. 1 All of the means of social control so far mentioned existed in the earlier stages of social evolution. But there was usually no highly organized mechanism for putting them into effect. Fre- quently they were manifested through individuals who were wreaking personal vengeance for injuries done to themselves or to their relatives, but who were at the same time giving expression to the public opinion, customs, moral ideas, religious beliefs, and magical ideas of their group. The earlier forms of social or- ganization, such as the tribe, had a rude mechanism for ad- ministering these means of social control. 2 A highly organized mechanism came into being with the evolution of the state and government. Government usually operates through law. Law is based in large part upon custom, public opinion, moral ideas, religion, etc. But the state through its government has special means for enforcing its laws. As a matter of fact, all forms of social control are eventually expressed to a considerable extent through the law and its enforcement. The most drastic and coercive part of the law is the criminal or penal law, and the acts prohibited by this branch of the law are crimes. THE LIMITS or SOCIAL CONTROL The forms of social control briefly described above and others which might be mentioned furnish the restraint upon the anti- social tendencies of the individual which is essential for the preservation of society. Utility for the survival of society is in the long run the determining factor with respect to these forms of social control, just as it is the ultimate determining factor throughout the struggle for existence. But the conditions which determine the criterion of social utility change continually, so that the forms of social control must change accordingly. Forms of social control which are suitable for one type of social grouping may not be suitable for another type, and may even lead to its 1 Cf. J. G. Frazer, Psyche's Task, A discourse concerning the influence oj superstition on the growth of institutions, 2d ed., London, 1913. 8 See G. C. Wheeler, The Tribe and Intertribal Relations in Australia, London, 1910. 30 CRIMINOLOGY destruction. So that forms of social control change greatly from time to time and from one group to another. It happens frequently, however, that forms of social control which no longer have social utility, sometimes indeed which have never had social utility, will persist for a time, even though they are doing injury to society. But this can happen only when they are not fatal in their effects, for otherwise they would destroy the social group. And we have reason to believe that many social groups have been destroyed by injurious forms of social control. Religion and despotism, sometimes each by itself, but frequently in unison, have at many times and places developed excessively drastic forms of social control which have been very injurious to a large part of the membership of the group. When this has been due to despotism, it has been in the interest of a few at the expense of the many. When it has been due to religion, it has resulted from the influence of beliefs to the effect that the spiritual beings feared by man demanded these drastic measures. When the two have worked in unison, the despot has usually been regarded as representing in some man- ner the spiritual beings, and therefore delegated to enforce the wishes of these beings. Despots have frequently found it useful to reenforce their own secular authority with this supernatural sanction. Examples of excessive forms of social control will be mentioned presently. Hence it is that there are two aspects to the problem of social control and regulation. On the one hand, there must be enough control to preserve society against the anti-social tendencies of its individual members. On the other hand, for two reasons there should not be too much control. In the first place, an excessive amount of social control may lead to the destruction of the group itself, because of the injury it does to its members. But even when it does not destroy the group, more control than is essential for social survival is bad, because it limits the liberty of individuals unnecessarily. The restriction of individual liberty is a necessary evil so far as it is essential for social sur- vival. It becomes an unnecessary evil when it is carried beyond this point. Individual liberty and social control always have been and always will be in conflict with each other to a certain extent, and it is one of the greatest of human and social problems to harmonize them. CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL 31 THE CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES AND DEFINITION OF CRIME The most obvious feature of crime is that it is created by the law and is penalized by the law. The great majority of criminal acts are sins of commission. They are acts forbidden by the law on pain of punishment. Some crimes, however, are sins of omis- sion. Such a crime is the failure to perform an act required by the law. However, the legal definition of crime is hardly broad enough for our purpose, because the crimes which the law has desig- nated have varied greatly from time to time and from place to place. We must distinguish features which have been more or less characteristic of crimes in general at all times and places. It has generally been true that criminal acts have also been' immoral acts. There are, however, occasional exceptions to this rule. Furthermore, the great majority of immoral acts are not criminal, so that it would be impossible to identify a crime by its immorality alone. Since they are immoral acts, crimes are almost universally recognized as wrong and as harmful to society. They usually include a considerable portion of the more serious immoral acts. Hence crimes are, generally speak- ing, the more serious of the anti-social acts, and are sometimes called the major anti-social acts. 1 It is also true of crimes that usually they are acts of such a nature that it is more or less practicable to repress them. They are ordinarily acts which affect other persons directly. Conse- quently, it is usually known when they have been committed, and the injured persons are as a rule anxious to have the crim- inals punished. These persons are therefore ready to help the agents of the law to apprehend the criminal and to convict him of crime. Furthermore, a crime usually is an anti-social act of such a nature that its repression is necessary or is supposed to be neces- sary to the preservation of the existing system of society. In other words, crimes are supposed to include the anti-social acts which are of life-or-death importance to the existing society, but may not include many acts which, while they are harmful socially, are not of such grave importance. As we have already seen, forms of behavior which might be fatal to one type of 1 Cf. Havelock Ellis, The Task of Social Hygiene, London, 1912, Chap. IX. 32 CRIMINOLOGY society would not necessarily be fatal to another type of society, and might even be beneficial to it. This fact explains in part the differences between one society and another in the kinds of acts which are stigmatized as criminal. Crime may, therefore, be defined as follows: A crime is an act forbidden and punished by the law, which is almost always im- moral according to the prevailing ethical standard, which is usually harmful to society, which it is ordinarily feasible to repress by penal measures, and whose repression is necessary or is supposed to be necessary to the preservation of the existing social order. CRIMES CREATED BY RELIGIOUS, DESPOTIC, AND CLASS LEGISLATION I have already indicated that acts have frequently been stigmatized as criminal for religious or magical reasons. The prototype of this kind of social repression exists among savage peoples in the form of taboo. If a savage believes that it will be displeasing to a spiritual power for him to commit a certain act, he will refrain from doing it in order to avoid the vengeance which the spiritual power would otherwise wreak upon him and the group to which he belongs. Or the savage may not per- sonify the spiritual power to this extent, but may believe that its automatic reaction to his act will be of such a nature as to do him injury. But if he does commit this act, his group is very likely to wreak vengeance upon him for thus endangering the welfare of the group, and this vengeance constitutes a primitive form of punishment. To an outsider it will frequently be obvious that the observance of the taboo is doing the individ- ual and his group far more harm than its violation. But to the believer in a spiritual power of such a nature it will be perfectly reasonable to regard the violation of the taboo as immoral and criminal. The same principle holds throughout every religion. No religion which has acquired a considerable following has failed to make criminal at law some at least of the acts which its tenets forbade. The history of our own occidental civilization is par- ticularly rich in these instances, owing to our inheritance from the Hebrew theocracy. The Hebrew Yahveh was a stern and vengeful god. Consequently, the Hebrew religion and law regarded it as man's duty to punish offenses against God in CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL 33 order to avert divine vengeance inflicted by the Hebrew deity. The Christian religion borrowed this idea along with much of the Hebrew religion. Consequently, the severity of the penal law among many Christian nations is to be explained in part by the fact that crimes have been punished not only as anti-social acts, but also as violations of divine law. Many examples of this may be found near at hand. During the Colo- nial days the Blue Laws of Connecticut furnished good examples. Much of the Sabbatarian legislation of the present day is of the same origin. Religion has frequently condemned on religious grounds an act which was already regarded as immoral, thus adding a super- natural sanction to the prohibition already existing against the act. In this manner religion has been a force for morality and the maintenance of society. But in other cases religion has condemned and has succeeded in making criminal many acts which could on no other ground be regarded as harmful. In our own recent history the puritanical nature of much of the religious teaching condemned and made criminal many forms of amusement which are now generally regarded as innocent and beneficial. Whenever religion succeeds in stigmatizing as criminal acts which are not regarded as objectionable in any other way, most of the general characteristics of crime mentioned above do not apply. These acts usually do no harm to individuals or to society, they are not generally regarded as immoral unless the professional religionists succeed in educating public opinion to the point of thinking so, and their repression is not needed for the preservation of the existing system of society. Fre- quently also they are acts which it is not feasible to repress by penal measures. As I have already indicated, there has been a good deal of penal legislation in the interests of despots. Much of the legis- lation concerning monarchs and royal families has been of this nature. For example, in the ancient English law many of the. acts made treasonable by the law were acts directed against the royal family, but which would not necessarily have done any injury to society at large. Such legislation still exists in certain countries in the form of laws penalizing acts of lese majeste. As the power of the kingship has declined, the extent 34 CRIMINOLOGY of such legislation has lessened. It has been encouraged in the past by the divine traits which have been attributed to kings, and which have not yet been entirely forgotten. This belief in a relationship between kings and divinity has arisen out of the fact that the kingship and godhood have in part the same origin in the minds of men. l But there has probably been even more penal legislation in the interests of classes. Whenever a class has succeeded in gaining the ascendancy politically, economically, or otherwise, it -has invariably enacted more or less penal legislation in its own interest. At various times and places the military class, the landholding class, the capitalist class, has passed legislation in its own favor. When the feudal barons in Europe attained the supremacy, they created laws penalizing the peasants who tried to leave their land, thus making the workers on their land practically their slaves. Up to the last century in England poaching was severely punished, because this was a violation of the vested rights of the landowning aristocracy. Today noth- ing is more jealously safeguarded by the law than the prop- erty rights of capital. It is evident that crimes created by despotic and class legis- lation do not conform in the main to the characteristics of crime described above. The acts penalized by such legislation usually do not injure society outside of the small group in whose interest the legislation has been passed, they are frequently not re- garded as immoral by the public at large, and their repression may not be necessary for the preservation of the existing so- ciety. In the past there has been a vast amount of sumptuary legislation regulating sometimes in great detail the life of the public at large at the will of the despot or of the ruling class. Religion has also played an important part in determining the character of sumptuary legislation. Vicious ACTS STIGMATIZED AS CRIMINAL An act is sometimes stigmatized as criminal on the ground that it is vicious, even though it does not conform in the main 1 For numerous examples of religious and despotic penal legislation see E. Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, London, 1906, Vol. I, Chap. 7. CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL 35 to the general characteristics of crime mentioned above. It is an act which is or is supposed to be harmful to society, but which does no harm to any one directly, and which can fre- quently be carried on in secret with little fear of detection. In this country at present there is a strong tendency to penalize acts which are regarded by the public at large as vicious, as, for example, gambling, drunkenness, extra-marital sexual rela- tions, etc. This situation raises the practical question as to whether it is feasible to repress vicious acts by penal means, and, if these laws are certain to become dead letters, whether it would not be preferable to use indirect means to attain this end. I shall discuss this problem in Chapter XXI. Still another ground upon which acts are sometimes penalized is in order to stimulate public opinion against these acts. This has been done in the past for various reasons, as, for example, for religious reasons. It is often done nowadays in the interests of public sanitation, public safety, etc. There are many acts which do not injure any one directly and apparently have no evil results, and yet which cause much harm. On account of their apparent innocuousness there is no public sentiment against these acts. They may not even be regarded as vicious, much less as deserving penal treatment. But when their dan- gerousness is discovered the government may prohibit these acts, in the first place, to call attention to their harmful char- acter, and, in the second place, to discourage people from com- mitting them. An example of this sort of legislation is the law against spitting on the sidewalk. Until scientific research had revealed the fact that tuberculosis and other diseases are spread by germs in the sputum the dangerousness of such a practise was not recognized. Since this discovery was made this act has been forbidden by the law in many places. The complicated life of our modern civilization, especially under the urban con- ditions of a large city has made many kinds of conduct socially harmful which otherwise would not be harmful, and has led to much legislation of this sort. Here again the practical ques- tion may be raised as to the advisability of dealing with these acts by means of penal methods, or as to whether indirect methods would not be preferable. We can now see that there have been and still are many instances of social control in the form of penal repression which 36 CRIMINOLOGY are not beneficial, and frequently are positively harmful. But obviously there is a limit to these instances, because an excessive number of them would lead to the destruction of society. In the course of social evolution there has taken place a process of the selection and survival of the desirable methods of con- trol, so that social control has become more and more effective. Consequently, penal repression is now inspired not so much by blind vengeance as by the desire to secure the deterrence from and the prevention of anti-social acts. THE DISTINCTIVE TRAITS OF THE CRIMINAL CLASS In the light of the preceding discussion we may expect to find at any time and place those persons criminal who are most likely to commit the acts stigmatized as crimes at that time and place. For this reason it may appear as if every social sys- tem should have its own criminal types which would be entirely or in the main different from the corresponding types of every other social system. But while it is doubtless true that these types vary somewhat from one social system to another, yet it would be an error to carry this idea too far for the following reasons. In the first place, certain acts are stigmatized as criminal under almost every social system. For example, murder is a crime in every civilized community. So that the persons who are prone to commit these acts are likely to become criminals in almost every community. Furthermore, as communities increase in similarity owing to the internationalization of cul- ture, their legal and moral codes become more and more alike, and consequently their criminal types become more and more alike. In the second place, inasmuch as the category of acts stig- matized as -criminal is in most places rather extensive, it is difficult for any human being to live for any great length of tune without committing some of these acts. Consequently, in every community there is some criminality diffused through- out the public at large, so that the line of distinction between the criminal and the non-criminal classes is by no means hard and fast. But most persons do not become known and are not punished as criminals, either because they do not commit these CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL 37 acts with sufficient frequency to attract public notice, or be- cause on account of their cleverness or for some other reason they are not caught. In the third place, we have reason to believe that there are certain types of individuals who are very likely to become crim- inals under any social system. Several types of human beings are prone to violate legal and moral conventions, whatever those conventions may be. In every community are to be found in- tractable, rebellious, and unadaptable persons who are sure to react against any form of social control. In this group it may be possible to discern a universal criminal type which is to be found in every community. Consequently, while the personnel of the criminal class at any time and place is determined in part by the kinds of acts which are criminal, it is also determined in part, and perhaps in large part, by the traits of this universal criminal type. We can now discern more clearly several considerations which must never be forgotten when studying the criminal class at any specific time and place. In the first place, it must always be borne in mind that the distinction between the criminal and the non-criminal classes is by no means a hard and fast one. In the second place, it is doubtless true that the kinds of acts which are stigmatized as criminal will determine in part what individuals are to become criminal. For example, at a time when crimes against the person are rigorously pursued by the law, the individuals who are prone to commit acts of violence against their fellow beings are likely to become criminals. But, in the third place, it is probably true, as I have already stated, that certain peculiarities can be distinguished of those who are criminal at all times and places. There are several types of persons who are always peculiarly prone to violate the legal and moral conventions which determine what acts are criminal. It is evident that the last condition limits the preceding one, and that the criminal class at any time is determined in part by what acts are criminal, but perhaps in larger part by traits which are more or less universally characteristic of this class. I have already stated earlier in this chapter that the elemen- tary traits of human nature are the fundamental factors in the determination of criminal conduct, as of every other kind of conduct. No one of these traits alone causes this conduct. For 38 CRIMINOLOGY example, there is no distinct instinct of crime which makes human beings commit crimes. Nor are there any instincts which invariably or almost always lead to crime. On the con- trary, any instinct may under certain conditions lead to crime, while under other conditions it may lead to conduct having great social utility. The instincts are the product of a long process of evolution, and came into existence long before the laws which designate the crimes of today. Furthermore, these laws have not been devized by psychologists who were ac- quainted with the human instincts and wished to restrain some of them. On the contrary, they have been devized by men who usually have known nothing whatever about human psy- chology, but have wanted to prevent certain kinds of conduct which they believed to be socially harmful. Hence it is inac- curate to speak of a criminal instinct, or of an instinctive type of criminal. In similar fashion, there are no specifically criminal feelings, but any feeling may under certain conditions lead to criminal conduct, while under other conditions it may impel towards socially useful conduct. As for the intelligence, when viewed by itself it is entirely unmoral in character. It acquires moral significance only in connection with the sort of conduct it hap- pens to direct. In some circumstances it may direct instincts and emotions towards criminal conduct, and in other circum- stances towards non-criminal conduct. But the influence of the intelligence is probably on the whole against crime, because it enables the individual to understand the need and justification for social control, and thus makes him more prone to heed the law. There are, therefore, no peculiar crime factors in human nature. As a matter of fact, criminal conduct frequently results from the unusual strength of certain normal traits, or from the unusual weakness of certain restraining factors in human na- ture. Every human being has in him the making of a criminal. There are no saints, despite the canonizations of the church. In every one are to be found the emotions of anger and of jealousy which frequently lead to murder, the sexual passion which sometimes leads to sexual crimes, the germ of avarice which leads to various crimes against property, the love of pleasure and the lack of foresight which in their extreme forms CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL 39 lead to various kinds of criminal conduct. In fact, if any human trait is born in a person in unusual strength, or is developed to an unusual degree in the course of the lifetime of the individual, or is stimulated to an excessive degree under unusual circum- stances, it may lead to criminal conduct. In similar fashion, if some of the restraining factors in human nature are congenitally weak, or if they are not fully developed during the lifetime of the individual, or if they are weakened or inhibited under unusual circumstances, some of the normal traits may not be prevented from causing criminal conduct. These facts indicate that no persons are born criminal in the sense that they are criminal at birth, or predestined at the tune of their birth to become criminal. It is, however, convenient frequently to speak of several of these types of persons born with abnormal traits, which are very likely to lead them into criminal conduct, as being congenitally criminal. Criminal conduct is, therefore, like every other kind of conduct, the outcome of the cooperation of these internal factors in the determination of human behavior with the forces of the environment. In order to understand the criminality of criminals it is necessary to study both these internal factors and the external environmental factors. PART II CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS IN THE ENVIRON- MENT CHAPTER IV PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE, SEASON, AND THE WEATHER Influence of the physical environment in general Influence of topography and the nature of the soil Influence of climate, the seasons, and the weather Meteorological factors mingled with cultural forces. THE physical environment has much influence upon criminal conduct, as it has upon all other forms of human behavior. In one sense it is true that in the long run the physical environment is the only factor in the determination of human behavior; for it is this environment which has determined the organic evolu- tion which has made possible the human species, and this en- vironment has also determined the cultural evolution which has characterized mankind. But, while recognizing the omnipotence of the physical environment in this broad sense, it is desirable in an intensive, detailed study of human phenomena to distinguish between the influence of the physical environment and the organic and cultural factors which have been determined by this environment. Some writers have not made this distinction with sufficient clearness, and consequently have failed to give due weight to organic and cultural factors. 1 The influence of the physical environment upon criminal conduct can be studied in some respects more or less directly, in other respects only indirectly. The influence of topographical conditions and the nature of the soil is very great, but can be studied only indirectly. For example, the population cannot be dense in a mountainous or in an arid region. But it is very likely to become dense in a fertile river valley, and to become highly concentrated in a city located upon a good harbor. In similar fashion, the wealth of the population of any region is determined in part by the topography and the soil of that region. The influence of climate, season, and the weather upon crime 1 For example, see the able but one-sided work of H. T. Buckle, History of Civilization in England, New York, 1903, 2 vols. 44 CRIMINOLOGY can be studied somewhat more directly. This involves the study of the temperature, the variations of heat and cold, the relative length of the days and the nights, the humidity of the atmos- phere, and the movements in the atmosphere in the form of winds. Many statistics have been gathered which indicate several definite correlations between these telluric conditions and the extent and character of crime. INFLUENCE or CLIMATE History shows that the peoples of hot climates have usually been less active than the peoples of temperate climates. Civiliza- tion has developed largely in the temperate zones, though it is probably true that some of the earlier stages in social evolution took place in the tropics. In historical times, at any rate, the dominant peoples have been those of the temperate zones. Excessive heat tends to depress human activity, while moderate cold stimulates it. There is, however, one effect of heat which tends to increase one kind of activity. Excessive heat, and especially a change from a moderate to a hot temperature, stimulates the emotions and tends to increase irritability, thus leading to acts of violence. This fact doubtless explains the fact that crimes against the person are almost always more numerous in hot climates than they are in cold climates, and more numerous in the warm sea- sons than they are in the cold seasons. An additional reason for this phenomenon is that with a warm temperature an out-of- door life is led which offers more opportunities for many crimes against the person, such as assault, rape, etc. Crimes against property, on the contrary, tend to decrease with a warmer temperature, and to increase as the temperature falls. This is doubtless due in part to the direct effect of the cold in stimulating the activity needed for many of the crimes against property. But in this case the influence of the tempera- ture probably is more indirect than direct. With a warmer temperature there is usually a more abundant food supply, less need for clothing and shelter, and sometimes more employment, while the long nights of winter offer more opportunities for cer- tain crimes against property, such as burglary and robbery. I shall now cite a few statistics which illustrate these climatic PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 45 differences in crimes against the person and crimes against property and reveal a correlation between climatic variations and the extent and character of crime. The following table indicates the proportions between crimes against the person and crimes against property in the different parts of France: * Crimes against Crimes against the Person Property Northern France 2.7 4.9 Central France 2.8 2 . 34 Southern France 4 . 96 2.32 According to these statistics the proportions between these two kinds of crimes become almost directly inverse from the northern to the southern part of France. While there are for every 100 crimes against the person 181.5 crimes against prop- erty in Northern France, there are in Southern France for every 100 crimes against the person only 48.8 crimes against property. The following table furnishes similar statistics for the different parts of Italy: 2 For each 100,000 inhabitants there occur in Homicides, Indictments Highway Rob- Aggravated for Crime beries with Theft Homicide Northern Italy 746 7. 22 143 .4 Central Italy 862 15-24 174-2 Southern Italy 1094 31 . oo 143 . 3 Insular Italy 1141 3-5o J95-9 This table does not show the inverse correlation between the two kinds of crimes as clearly as the preceding table, probably owing to the intervention of various economic and other social factors. INFLUENCE OF THE SEASONS I shall now cite a few tables which indicate a correlation between seasonal fluctuations and crime. The following ta- 1 R. Mayo-Smith, Statistics and Sociology, New York, 1895, p. 270. These figures are taken from statistics gathered by Guerry for the years 1826-1830. *C. Lombroso, Crime, Its Causes and Remedies, Boston, 1911, p. 13. Lombroso fails to specify what period of time is covered by these statistics. CRIMINOLOGY ble shows the relation between sexual crime and season in France: * SEXUAL CRIMES IN RELATION TO SEASON IN FRANCE. 1827-1869 (After Ferri, percentages reckoned by Aschaffenburg) SEXUAL CRIMES IN FRANCE. 1827-1869. Absolute Numbers January 584 February 563 March 643 April 608 May 904 June 1,043 July 860 August 794 September 653 October 532 November 514 December 534 Unknown 1,421 This table shows clearly that these crimes increased greatly during the warmer months, reaching their maximum in June. This is probably due in part to a periodicity in the sexual life of man which appears to reach its apogee in the spring or early summer, and which was doubtless caused originally by seasonal changes. It is also due in part to the out-of-door life of the warmer months. But it is doubtless due to a certain extent to the erotic stimulation of heat. It is interesting to compare the figures for these crimes with the figures for the days of conception during a period of years which are given in the same table. These figures indicate a slight increase in the number of conceptions during the warmer months which reach their maximum in May. This suggests the possible existence of the sexual periodicity mentioned in the preceding paragraph. 1 Rearranged from G. Aschaffenburg, Crime and Its Repression, Boston, 1913, p. 16. The figures are taken from E. Ferri, Das Verbrechen in seiner Abhangigkeit von dem jahrlichen Temper aturwechsel, p. 38; Studi sutta crim- inalitd ed altri saggi, p. 81. JLTS ON CHILDREN Absolute NUMBER OF CONCEPTIONS. 1863-1871 Absolute % Numbers % Numbers % 7.09 1,106 5-57 2,603 7.84 6.84 1,041 5-24 2,661 8.02 7.82 1,366 6.88 2,608 7-85 7-39 1,700 8.56 2,887 8.69 10.98 2,175 10.95 3,060 () 21 72.^7 2,585 13-03 3,018 9.08 10.45 2,459 12.42 2,911 8.76 9.64 2,208 11.13 2,742 8.25 7-93 i,773 8-93 2,810 8.46 6.46 i,447 7.29 2,625 7.91 6.24 983 4-95 2,620 7.89 6.49 939 5-05 2,665 8.02 16,160 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 47 The following table shows the seasonal distribution of crim- inality in Germany: * THE CRIMINALITY OF GERMANY DISTRIBUTED ACCORDING TO THE YEAR AND MONTH WHEN THE CRIMES ARE COMMITTED If there are 100 offenses per day in the year, there are per day in the month Kind of Crimes and Offenses Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Crimes and offenses against national laws 95 97 90 92 99 103 105 109 105 103 103 98 Resisting officer 89 94 89 94 97 104 109 117 112 104 99 90 Breach of the peace 94 99 96 100 98 101 105 no 106 102 100 89 Rape 64 66 78 103 128 144 149 130 108 90 68 69 Obscene acts, distribution of obscene literature ... 62 74 83 101 130 150 141 133 109 84 69 64 Insult ("Bdeidigung")... 83 89 85 93 108 115 120 122 113 99 93 80 Infanticide 89 127 127 121 118 102 95 80 91 86 82 87 Simple assault and battery 76 80 79 95 108 116 124 134 121 102 88 74 Aggravated assault and battery 75 78 78 95 108 113 118 133 124 106 93 78 Crimes against property. .109 108 96 90 93 93 92 93 93 104 113 117 Petit larceny, also when repeated 113 115 98 85 87 88 88 92 92 106 117 121 Grand larceny, also when repeated 102 107 92 89 94 98 98 94 96 106 112 111 Embezzlement 100 97 94 94 98 100 103 101 98 104 105 108 Fraud, also when repeated. 11 2 108 95 88 92 92 92 93 90 88 102 12 1 Malicious mischief 88 92 98 108 109 106 104 104 103 101 99 88 This table is based upon the criminal statistics for the period from 1883 to 1892. It shows clearly that the maxima for all of the crimes against the person, except infanticide, during this period came during the warmer months, while all of the maxima for the crimes against property came during the colder months. The above tables contain only a small part of the vast mass of statistics which have been gathered with respect to the influence of climate and season upon crime. But there is an important exception to the usual form of this influence. Statistics have been gathered which indicate that in tropical countries crimes against the person do not increase during the warmer seasons, as happens in the countries in the temperate zones. In tropical countries the temperature is high the year around, but becomes excessively high during the warmer seasons, thus tending to depress activity of all kinds, even acts of passion and violence. Furthermore, there is some reason for believing that in tropical countries crimes against property do not increase during the cooler seasons over their number during the hotter seasons to the same extent that they increase in the countries of the tem- 1 G. Aschaffenburg, op. cit., p. 17. Taken from the Statistik des Deulschen Reichs, Neue Folge LXXXIII, II, p. 52. 48 CRIMINOLOGY perate zones. If this is true, it is probably due in large part to the fact that there is not so much variation in human needs between the hotter and the cooler seasons in the tropics as there is in the temperate zones. 1 INFLUENCE or THE WEATHER In addition to the temperature there are other conditions which go to make up what is ordinarily called the weather which doubtless have some influence upon crime. Among these are atmospheric pressure, winds, humidity, sunshine, rain, and cloudiness. Unfortunately the influence of these conditions has not been studied very much as yet. One of the best studies of this sort was made by Dexter 2 of the influence of the weather upon a number of kinds of crime in New York City, the results of which he compared with the results of a similar study which he made in Denver. To the results of these studies he tries to give a physiological and psychological explanation. Dexter compared the record of arrests for assault and battery in New York City, these arrests numbering about forty thousand, during the years 1891-7, with the meteorological conditions during the same period. He found 3 that the number of arrests increased quite regularly with the rise in temperature, which led him to the conclusion 1 Corre has made an intensive study of the relation between temperature and crime in the island of Guadeloupe in the West Indies. He formulates the law of this relation in the following terms: "II existe une connexion plus ou moins etroite entre la marche de la tem- perature et celle du crime, dans les divers milieux; "Dans les pays froids ou temperes, c'est a dire a saisons bien tranches, la chaleur parait agir comme agent stimulant: le crime crolt avec elle en intensite. "Dans les pays chauds ou a saisons peu tranches, la chaleur parait agir inversement, et c'est quand elle presente une diminution, dans ses moyennes, en m6me temps que les plus forts ecarts entre ses extremes, que les crimes augmentent; le maximum de la criminalite coincide avec les minima thermi- ques." (A. Corre, Facteurs generaux de la criminality dans les pays Creoles, in the Arch, d'anth. crim., Vol. IV, 1889, p. 165.) 2 E. G. Dexter, Weather Influences, An empirical study of the mental and physiological effects of definite meteorological conditions, New York, 1904; Conduct and the Weather, Monograph Supplement, No. 10, The Psychological Review, May, 1899. See also several articles by the same author in various scientific journals. 3 Weather Influences, pp. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 49 that "temperature, more than any other condition, affects the emo- tional states which are conducive to fighting." The curve for the females rose more rapidly than the curve for the males with the in- crease in temperature, which he regards as "a suggestion of what most of the curves show where a comparison of the two sexes is made, namely, a greater susceptibility of women to weather in- fluence." Such irregularities as exist in the curves he explains as follows: "The minor fluctuations of the curves may be disregarded, as they are very probably due to accidents, but the general showing is one of marked deficiency for low temperature with a somewhat gradual increase to its maximum excess in the 8o-85 group, at which point a sudden drop takes place. This final decrease is in itself in- teresting. It seems without doubt to be due to the devitalizing effect of the intense heat of 85 and above." In similar fashion he compared these arrests with barometrical con- ditions and found that as the barometer fell the number of arrests rose. He suggests that this was not due to the actual weight of the atmosphere, but because low barometrical conditions frequently immediately precede storms, and that the "feeling" of an approaching storm caused in many persons the emotional state which led to fight- ing. Little difference appeared here between the effects upon the two sexes. With respect to humidity he found "excesses of assaults for low readings and deficiencies for high ones." He explains this on the ground that "days of high humidity are not only emotionally but vitally depressing, and we have the same element entering into our problem that we had in the discussion of excessively high temper- atures. On such days we perhaps feel like fighting, but such a thing is altogether too much exertion, and the police records are none the wiser. For low humidities, energy is at a surplus; and although the emotional state is ordinarily much more positive, it would seem as if, in the long run, with plenty of strength at command, an oppor- tunity to use it is generally to be found." The females seemed to be restrained from fighting by the high humidities more than the males. With respect to wind, his curves showed him that "the mild winds of between 150 and 200 miles per day (40 per cent, of the days of the year have such) are the pugnacious ones." During periods both of calm and of high wind the number of arrests fell. He does not attempt to explain why high wind has this effect. But he thinks that during calm there is an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which lessens the vitality. With respect to the character of the day as to fairness and cloudiness he found that " the cloudy days are the freest from personal encounter 50 CRIMINOLOGY which has attracted the police." He explains this on the ground that "the cloudy days are not the vitalizing ones, but the reverse." This study of assaults in New York he compares with a similar study of 184 murders in Denver during the years 1884-96. With respect to temperature and weight of atmosphere his results were about the same as in New York. But with respect to humidity he found that murders increased during excessively dry periods. This, he thinks, is due to the increased potential of atmospheric electricity in the excessively dry Colorado atmosphere. He found also that mur- ders increased with high winds, and thinks that this also is due to "the super-induced electrical potential of the atmosphere which in- creases with the wind." As to the character of the day, he found that murders were more frequent on cloudy and wet days. He thinks that this is due to the fact that such days are unusual in the Colorado climate, and consequently affect the emotions in such a way as to produce a mental state of great instability in which dangerous im- pulsive acts are liable to be committed. Dexter also studied drunkenness in New York City. 1 His data were the arrests for intoxication, 44,495 in number, in the Borough of Manhattan during the years 1893-5. With respect to temperature he found "a deficiency for the hot summer months, and a correspond- ing excess for the colder ones of winter, there being 47 per cent, less for July than for December, with a somewhat gradual change from one to the other." The results with respect to other meteorological con- ditions were not so significant, and he summarizes the results of his investigation of drunkenness in New York as follows: "Arrests for drunkenness are far more prevalent during the colder months of the year than during the warmer; vary inversely as the temperature, being excessive for low and deficient for high readings of the thermom- eter; are but slightly affected by varying atmospheric pressure, though are somewhat above the normal for conditions of high barom- eter; increase as both the humidity and the wind increase; show slight influences from days of different character, though are somewhat excessive for clear, dry days." Dexter studied a number of other forms of conduct in their relation to the weather, such as the deportment of children in schools, of delinquents in prisons and of the insane in asylums; suicides; clerical errors, etc. I have not the space to summarize all of these investiga- tions, but will quote his summary of his study of suicide. " Suicide is most prevalent in the late spring and summer months; is excessive at both extremes of temperature, and somewhat above the normal for days of moderate heat; is excessive in medium pressure of the air, 1 Op. cit., pp. 2i/F. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 51 and deficient for the extremes of pressure; increases with regularity as humidity and wind increase from a deficiency of low readings of both; is excessive for clear, dry days." 1 Dexter derived a number of conclusions from his investiga- tions which I will quote briefly. 2 ''Varying meteorological con- ditions affect directly, though in different ways, the metabolism of life. . . . Some of them seem to be of such a character as to accelerate the vital processes of oxidation, and others to retard them. For want of better terms, I shall call the former anabolic, the latter katabolic, conditions. High temperature, high winds (better ventilation), fair days with low humidities as an accom- paniment, are anabclic; while low temperatures, high baromet- ric conditions, calms, rainy and cloudy days and high humidities, because of their opposite characteristics, are katabolic." " The 1 reserve energy ' capable of being utilized for intellectual processes and activities other than those of the vital organs is affected most by meteorological changes." l 'The quality of the emotional state is plainly influenced by the weather states. . . . Although meteorologi- cal conditions affect the emotional states, which without doubt have weight in the determination of conduct in its broadest sense, it would seem that their effects upon that portion of the reserve energy which is available for action are of the greatest import." li Those meteorological conditions which are productive of misconduct in a broad sense of the word are also productive of health, and mental alertness: as a corollary, misconduct is the result of an excess of reserve energy, not directed to some useful purpose. . . . On the whole, it would seemingly be safe to say that of the activities (or cessation of activity) possible to human beings some are the re- sult of excessive vitality, and others of a deficiency; and that gen- erally speaking, those misdemeanors which have been classed under our study as those of Conduct are the results of the for- mer, while sickness and death are accompaniments of the lat- ter." METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS MINGLED WITH CULTURAL FORCES It is indeed difficult to disentangle the influence of a single meteorological condition from the influence of other meteoro- logical conditions and cultural forces which affect human con- 1 Op. cit., p. 218. 2 Op. dt., p. 266/. 52 CRIMINOLOGY duct. It is important to bear in mind that while statistical data, such as we have been considering, may indicate a correla- tion between a certain meteorological condition and a certain kind of conduct, this does not necessarily mean that this condi- tion is the direct cause of the conduct. It may determine the cause of the conduct. Or it may be a result of something from which also results the cause of the conduct. In fact, correla- tion may be due to various relations other than a direct causal relation. Dexter apparently believed that criminal conduct results in the main from excessive vitality which is misdirected. It is unfortunate that he did not study a wider range of criminal conduct. The forms of conduct which he studied were mainly acts of disorderliness or of violence, such as crimes against the person. It was perhaps to be expected that meteorological conditions would exhibit much influence upon these forms of conduct. If he had studied crimes against property, for ex- ample, he would perhaps have discovered that these crimes are due rather to a deficiency of vitality which leads certain in- dividuals into dishonest conduct in the place of the more arduous honest methods of securing the things they desire. Furthermore, it is evident in connection with the forms of conduct studied, as Dexter himself points out, that excess of vitality does not lead every person into these forms of conduct, but that on the contrary it leads many individuals into conduct of the highest excellence. It is when this vitality is misdirected that it results in the abnormal and pathological forms of conduct. Hence it is necessary to search for the causes of the misdirecting elsewhere than in the meteorological conditions, and this search will bring us closer to the immediate causes of criminal conduct. We shall find these causes in some cases in abnormal congenital traits, in other cases in abnormal traits which have developed in the individual, in still other cases in environmental conditions of an unusual nature. But climate and weather have effects upon human beings other than those mentioned above, which cannot be measured by statistical methods. For example, in New York City, as over a large part of this country, the climate is characterized by great extremes of temperature, ranging from the extreme heat of summer to the extreme cold of winter. Furthermore, PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 53 great changes in temperature sometimes come very suddenly. These climatic conditions give rise to a certain amount of nerv- ousness and irritability which leads in some cases to crime. But it is impossible to correlate this nervous state directly with the meteorological conditions which give rise to it in large part. Furthermore, climate and weather have much influence upon criminal conduct apart from their direct effect upon human beings, namely, through their influence upon industrial and social conditions in general. For example, to take a specific instance, the activities of a pickpocket depend almost entirely upon the existence of large crowds of people. As I write these words, a heavy thunder shower is pouring down, and has driven almost every one from the usually crowded city street. Ex- treme cold is likely to have the same effect. So that the weather governs to a large extent the activities of pickpockets. To take a much more important instance, there are many occupations which are seasonal in their nature in the sense that there is a great deal of work in these seasonal occupations during certain seasons, and much less or none at all during the rest of the year. A person engaged in one of these occupations will be unemployed during a part of the year, unless he can secure employment temporarily in another occupation. Inasmuch as these seasonal occupations have not as yet been dovetailed with each other to any great extent, much unemployment re- sults from their seasonal character. In Chapter VI will be described the influence of unemployment and various other economic conditions upon crime. CHAPTER V URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS Influence of demographic conditions Apparent preponderance of urban over rural criminality Forces which accentuate urban criminality: the concentration of population increases human desires, causes greater conflict of individual interests, intensifies the struggle for existence, and creates more opportunities for crime The organization of vice in cities Unorganized vice in the country Influence of the growth of population upon crime. ALL social phenomena are influenced by the density and dis- tribution of population. Civilization itself could not have evolved until the human population had attained a relatively high degree of density. In the sparse populations of prehis- toric peoples and of the primitive peoples which have survived down to the present day, conditions with respect to crime have been somewhat as described in the chapter on the origin and evolution of crime. In a region newly settled by civilized men frontier conditions prevail until the population becomes relatively dense. The criminality of these frontier communities is usually of a rough and boisterous sort, such as banditry and brigandage. The corresponding crime on the sea is piracy. But these frontier conditions are ordinarily transitory in their nature. 1 Only in a few backward countries, such as Corsica, 2 Turkey, etc., do these conditions persist for a long time. The concentration of population is of even greater signifi- cance for the study of crime. This concentration takes the form of towns and cities. All of these urban communities will be 1 Speaking of crime in civilized countries (Europe in particular) in rela- tion to density of population, Lombroso says that "theft increases with density, while homicide diminishes." (C. Lombroso, Crime, Us Causes and Remedies, Boston, 1911, pp. 59-60.) 2 Cf. A. Bournet, La criminalite en Corse, in the Arch, d'anlh. crim., Vol. Ill, 1888, pp. 6-31. URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE 55 designated as cities in this chapter. The crime and vice of cities exhibit peculiarities as contrasted with the crime and vice of rural districts. I shall, therefore, devote this chapter mainly to a comparison of urban and rural crime and vice. APPARENT PREPONDERANCE OF URBAN OVER RURAL CRIMINALITY There is a widespread opinion that there is a great preponder- ance of crime and vice in urban as compared with rural com- munities. It is impossible to make an accurate comparison so far as. vice is concerned, owing to the secret nature of a good deal of vice. This opinion so far as it concern's vice is based upon the fact that there appears to be much more prostitution, drunk- enness, gambling, etc., in cities than in the country. With respect to crime also it is difficult to make an accurate comparison, though there are some statistics which may be used for this purpose. These statistics seem to indicate that the city is more criminal than the country. For example, it has been estimated that the proportion of the urban to the rural population in Italy (Annuar. Stat., 1881, p. 112) was 32 to 68, but that in criminality they were more nearly alike, the pro- portion being 43 to 57. In other words, the urban population had a larger percentage of the criminality of the country than of the population. In similar fashion it has been estimated in France (Compte gener., 1880) that while the urban population is only about 30 per cent of the whole population, it has about the same number of crimes as the rural population. 1 It has been estimated in Germany that in cities and districts with more than 20,000 inhabitants there are 134.2 criminals per 100,000 adults in the population, while in the rural districts there are only q6.6. 2 Such statistics are, to be sure, not conclusive. It may be that crimes are not pursued in the rural districts so effectively as they are in the city, so that the record of rural crimes is more incom- plete than that of urban crimes. Owing to inefficient police protection this has usually been true in the rural communities 1 Cf. A. von Oettingen, Die Moralstalistik in ihrer Bedeutung fiir eine Socialethik, Erlangen, 1882, p. 499. 1 G. Aschaffenburg, Crime and Its Repression, Boston, 1913, p. 62. 56 CRIMINOLOGY in this country. In fact, certain statistics are available which seem to indicate that police efficiency in some cities has lowered the urban criminal rate below the rural rate. For example, in 1890-1891 in England there were in the counties, 1.20 criminals per 1000 of the population; in the boroughs, 1.20 criminals per 1000 of population; and in London, 0.41 criminals per 1000 of population. 1 The low rate in London was apparently due to the fact that the police were keeping a careful record of the thieves, receivers of stolen goods, etc. 2 It may also happen that some of the rural criminals and rural crimes are reported in the urban record, because the criminals are caught in the city, or the crimes are tried in the city. But even though these statistics are not conclusive, we are probably justified in assuming that there is more crime in the cities than there is in the country. This, however, does not nec- essarily mean that the urban population is more criminal in character than the rural population. There may be differences between the urban and rural environments which give rise to this difference in the amount of crime. FORCES WHICH ACCENTUATE URBAN CRIMINALITY Social evolution has been characterized on the whole by an increase in the amount of crime and vice. As ideas with regard to right and wrong conduct have developed, legal and social conventions have appeared, violations of which constitute criminal and vicious acts. Furthermore, the progress of civiliza- tion has multiplied human desires and needs, and the effort to satisfy these desires is likely in many cases to lead to criminal or vicious conduct. The increase in the density of population constantly creates new conditions in which more regulations are necessary to harmonize the conduct of individuals with each other. This situation becomes especially acute when the popu- lation is highly concentrated and congested as in a large city. A good deal of crime in a large city is due to violations of or- dinances with respect to tenements, factories, sanitation, etc., which would be absolutely unnecessary in small communities. These features of social evolution and progress which in- 1 England and Wales, Judicial Statistics, 1891, p. x. *R. Mayo-Smith, Statistics and Sociology, New York, 1895, pp. 272-3. URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE 57 crease the amount of crime and vice have more effect in urban than in rural communities. The highest existing stage of civili- zation is to be found usually in the cities, and the scale of desires and needs of the urban dweller is usually more extensive than that of the rural dweller. So that social evolution and progress in general may explain in part the apparent preponderance of crime and vice in cities. This explanation cannot be proved statistically, but the considerations mentioned above suggest it. There are, however, more immediate causes for this difference between urban and rural communities. Owing to the conges- tion of population, imitation probably plays a more important part in causing crime in the city than in the country. The news- paper accounts of crime aid greatly by furnishing suggestions to impressionable minds. Owing to the suggestibility of the crowd, crime waves are more likely to take place in cities than in the country. Society is constantly becoming more complex, so that it is more and more difficult for social groups to function normally. This is particularly true in the city, where the social environment is usually far more complex than in the country. Persons weak in mind or in character find it particularly difficult to adjust themselves to the complexity of the urban environment. In any organized society the idiots and low grade imbeciles cannot function normally, and have to be treated in a special way, either by being exterminated quietly or by means of incarcera- tion in prisons or by internment in asylums and hospitals. But the high grade imbeciles and the high grade feebleminded or morons may succeed in making their way without any special treatment. Let us take the case of a moron, for example. In a rural environment such a person is likely to find simple work, and there are usually persons who exercize a watchful care over him or her. Furthermore, there are no difficult problems to be solved or unusual temptations to be faced. At worst the moron is not likely to become more than a ne'er-do-well or possibly a pauper. But in a city such a person is confronted with a much more complex situation and many more temptations. He or she is not so likely to have relatives or friends to watch over him or her, or at any rate these persons find it more difficult to exercize a watchful care. The result is that the high grade imbecile and 58 CRIMINOLOGY the moron is much more likely in the city than in the country to become a criminal, a drunkard, a prostitute, a mendicant, a vagabond, or a pauper. It is probably true of several other abnormal types as well that they are more likely to become criminal or vicious in the city than in the country. For example, those who are abnormal in their instinctive or affective equipment in such a way as to lessen their resistance against certain kinds of anti-social conduct experience more temptations to such conduct in the city than in the country, and therefore are more likely to become criminal or vicious in the city than in the country. To be sure, the advantage is not always on the side of the rural community. As I shall show presently, there are certain kinds of crime which are more prevalent in the country than in the city, apparently owing to peculiarities of the rural environment. But while we cannot prove the matter statistically, it is highly probable that the urban environment stimulates these abnormal types to crime and vice more than the rural environment. The same difference doubtless exists for normal individuals as well. Normal individuals also are confronted with more difficult problems and more temptations in an urban than in a rural environment, and consequently a larger number of them are likely to succumb to crime and vice. There are many kinds of crime which can be committed only or best in cities. For example, the picking of pockets is a com- mon crime in the city, whereas it would be very difficult to prac- tise this crime in rural communities, partly because there are few crowds in which the pick-pocket can get close to his victim and commit his theft unobserved, and partly because it is usually impossible for the thief to disappear quickly after com- mitting his crime. There is a much wider field for burglary in the city than in the country, because there are many more dwel- ling houses containing valuable articles, and jewelry stores, banks, etc., containing valuable objects which are worth stealing. Furthermore, it is usually more feasible for the burglar to dis- appear quickly after committing his crime in the city than in the country, where he may have to go a long distance before he can cover up his tracks. Blackmail is much more prevalent in the city than in the country, because wealthy victims are more numerous. The field for committing business crimes is much URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE 59 wider in the city than in the country, because commerce and industry are centralized in cities. Consequently, embezzlement, forgery, fraud of various kinds, and many other business crimes are most prevalent in cities. Furthermore, as has already been indicated, there are many so-called crimes with regard to tene- ments, factories, highways, etc., which cannot be committed at all or only to a very slight extent in small communities. On the other hand, there are several crimes which are more frequent in the country than in the city. For example, it has been estimated that there is more infanticide in the country than in the city. The reason for this is obvious. It is more difficult in the country for the woman, unmarried or married, to get rid before birth of a child that is not wanted. There are not the midwives and doctors at hand who are ready to procure an abortion. In the cities, on the other hand, criminal abortion is much more frequent than in the country. It has been estimated that crimes against the person are com- mitted more frequently in the country and crimes against prop- erty in the city. In other words, rural criminality is on the whole more violent than urban criminality. Lombroso expresses this opinion in the following words: "The urban and the rural districts have each their own specific type of criminality. The crimes in the country are more barbarous, having their origin in revenge, avarice, and brutal sensuality. In the city the crimi- nality is characterized by laziness, a more refined sensuality, and by forgery." 1 It has, however, unfortunately been true that there have been many crimes against the person in American cities, owing in part to ineffective police protection. The progress of science has aided the criminal more or less, and scientific methods can usually be applied most feasibly in the city, as, for example, in opening safes, or in making counter- feit money. Furthermore, these methods are used principally by the professional criminal, who is the most intellectual type of criminal, with the exception of the political criminal and the criminal by passion. The professional criminal carries on his operations largely in the city for various reasons, as, for example, because it is more profitable, and because he prefers urban life. The use of scientific methods by the criminal class should be more than counterbalanced by the use of scientific methods 1 Crime, Its Causes and Remedies, Boston, 1911, p. 74. 60 CRIMINOLOGY by the agents of the law. This will probably happen in course of time, but the police have not as yet made extensive use of scientific methods. There are several reasons why criminals gravitate toward the cities for carrying on their operations, and for purposes of resi- dence. As has already been indicated, a wider range of crimes can be committed in the city than in the country, many of them of the more profitable sort. As has also been indicated, it is usually more feasible for a criminal to hide himself in a city than in rural communities. After committing a crime he may elude pursuit more easily in the maze of city streets, crowded during the day and deserted at night, and in the numerous houses in which he may take refuge; whereas in the open highways of rural districts he can usually be pursued more easily with the aid of the telephone and be captured. The city furnishes a more feasible residence for the criminal than the country. In a small community it is impossible for any one to live very long without his occupation becoming known to his neighbors. Any one who refuses to make his occupation known soon becomes a suspicious character, which would be very dangerous for the criminal. In the city, on the contrary, a person may live and work unnoticed by his nearest neighbors, so that it becomes the function of the police alone to watch the criminals and suspicious persons. If the police perform this function well, the city also will become a dangerous place for the criminal. But unfortunately the police have frequently failed to perform this function efficiently. In addition to all the reasons suggested above as to why crim- inals are more likely to live in cities rather than in the country is the fact that a criminal usually finds city life more agreeable than country life. In the city he finds the social life of the under- world, of the "Tenderloin," which cannot possibly exist in the country. As the criminal is more or less social like all other hu- man beings, he craves a social circle in which he can move freely. Furthermore, in the city he can indulge in many vicious practises the enjoyment of which is not possible at all or is very limited in the country. This is due largely to the fact, which I shall discuss presently, that the means for the enjoyment of certain vices can be organized in the city in a way which is almost im- possible in rural communities. In fact, life in a rural district URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE 6 1 would be so dull for most criminals that they would have little incentive to carry on their criminal activities in order to secure the means for the enjoyment of the pleasures which they crave. An additional reason for the preponderance of criminals in cities may be that the city furnishes a better breeding ground for criminals than the country. If the urban environment is of such a nature that persons born in it are more likely to have the ab- normal and pathological traits which lead to criminality and viciousness, and if the rearing they receive in this environment is less likely to keep them from crime and vice than the one they would receive in a rural environment, the city furnishes a better breeding ground for the criminal and the vicious classes than the country. I shall discuss this subject in the chapter on juvenile criminality. Furthermore, the immigration from the country to the city may swell somewhat the criminality of the city. A large part of this immigration is young. It probably represents on the whole the better portion of the rural population, because the more active and the more intelligent are most likely to go to the city. But since urban life is somewhat different from rural life, and involves difficult problems of adjustment, it is necessary for all of these immigrants to adjust themselves to the life of the city. Some of them, mostly of the weaker sort, though also including some of the stronger, will fail, and will join the ranks of the criminal and the vicious. The reverse of this process is not so likely to happen. In the first place, the migration from the city to the country is usually not so great as in the opposite direction. In the second place, the urban immigrants to the country, while they may not prosper greatly, are not likely to become criminal and vicious, since the opportunities for crime and vice are not so numerous in the country. So that this interchange of population between city and coun- try is more likely to swell the criminality and viciousness of the city than that of the country. At any rate, that is more likely to be the immediate result. It is well to bear in mind that in the long run the rural immigration to the city may lessen the criminality and viciousness, since the immigrants who are successful in the city may do a good deal to check the forces for urban criminality and vice. 62 CRIMINOLOGY We have now considered a number of reasons for the assumed preponderance of crime and vice in the city, especially with regard to crime. Let us consider some of the reasons for the apparently larger amount of vice in the city. THE ORGANIZATION OF VICE IN CITIES It is evident that it is more feasible to organize some of the vices in the city than in the country. For example, prostitution becomes highly commercialized in cities with an extensive system for procuring the supply of prostitutes and plenty of capital for the equipment of numerous houses of prostitution. Expensively furnished gambling houses are established with every possible means for gambling. Numerous saloons are established by the breweries to encourage men to drink, while numerous restau- rants encourage both men and women to eat as well as to drink to excess. The organization of vice is possible in the city because there are present, on the one hand, the vice enterprizer with plenty of capital, and, on the other hand, many customers. None of these are equally available in small communities, though it is probable that the enterprizer with his capital would almost always be on hand if there was sufficient demand for him. Furthermore, there are doubtless many small places in which there are enough would-be customers to make it worth while for the enterprizer. But vicious enterprizes are seriously handi- capped in rural communities because secrecy is not so feasible as in the city. Inasmuch as these vicious practises usually labor under social, moral, and sometimes legal condemnation, most individuals do not want it generally known that they indulge in them. In a large city where most of the inhabitants are known each by only a few of his neighbors, it is usually feasible for an individual to carry on vicious practises without having it gen- erally known. But in a small community where each inhabitant is known by most or all of the population, it is difficult for an individual to carry on many kinds of vicious practises, especially in a village or town where it is organized for the public. This is doubtless the principal obstacle in the way of much organized vice which would otherwise exist in small places. This situation, which decreases the amount of organized vice URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE 63 in the country, tends to increase it in the city. Many of those who are debarred by the lack of secrecy from indulging in vicious practises in small places come to the city for this enjoyment. So that in every large city vice is organized to a considerable extent to supply the demand of visitors, and each city is the center for the vicious activities of many of the inhabitants of the surrounding region. Furthermore, the city furnishes special stimuli for vice. It is difficult for many urban inhabitants to secure healthful and normal forms of enjoyment. But all human beings crave a certain amount of pleasure, and the demand for pleasure is imperative in the case of the young. If normal pleasures are not available, both adults and youth are sure to adopt vicious forms of enjoyment. In the case of the young the lack of means of enjoyment is likely to lead to crime as well as to vice, in order to furnish the means of enjoyment. This is not so likely to happen to the adult who is not already a criminal, but the adult under these circumstances is sure to fall into vicious habits. Another feature of the city which gives rise to a certain amount of vice is the nervous strain of urban life. In the city the individual is subjected to many stimuli which are very tiring to the nerves. Some persons will succumb to the temptation to sooth their nerves with drugs or to stimulate them with in- toxicants. I have indicated how poverty may lead to vice through lack of normal means of recreation. But wealth also may lead to vice, though in different ways and for different reasons. The ability to satisfy any desire however vicious belongs to the wealthy, while frequently a surfeit of normal pleasures creates a desire for abnormal and vicious pleasures. As the wealthy live in the large cities much more than in small places, wealth tends to swell vice in cities much more than in rural commun- ities. In connection with the subject of poverty and wealth as causes of vice it may be well to call attention to the fact that the economic struggle for existence is probably more bitter in the city than in the country. Under the present economic organiza- tion of society there emerge from this struggle, on the one hand, those who are successful and acquire great wealth, which leads to a certain amount of vice though not so much to crime, and, 64 CRIMINOLOGY on the other hand, the large number who are unsuccessful, whose poverty leads to much crime and vice. UNORGANIZED VICE IN THE COUNTRY In this chapter I have described some of the factors for crime and vice in cities. In all probability there is more crime in urban than in rural communities. This, however, does not mean necessarily that the urban population is more criminal by nature than the rural population, for, as we have seen, it is due probably to peculiar features of the urban, environment. There are also 'forces for vice in cities which do not exist at all or to the same extent in rural communities. However, it is by no means certain that there is more vice in cities than in the country. There may be, for reasons I have discussed, more organized vice in cities, but there may be as much or even more unor- ganized vice of the same kinds in the country. For example, gambling houses may not be found in rural communities, but there is much betting and petty gambling of various sorts. In fact, gambling may even become somewhat organized, as in connection with horse racing at the country fairs. Saloons may not be so common in the rural communities as in the cities, but there is a good deal of intemperance in rural homes nevertheless. Furthermore, there are many vices which can be carried on in secret and not become publicly known like crime. There are also many vices which frequently pass unnoticed as such. It is obviously impossible to estimate the exact amount of unor- ganized vice in the country as compared with the city, but it is possible that there is as much or more of it in the country. Excessive and malicious gossiping, scandal mongering, back- biting, nagging, bigotry, unscrupulous cunning in commercial transactions, etc., should be rated as vicious, and it is very probable that the rural population with its narrower outlook and range of interests is more vicious in these respects than the urban population. INFLUENCE OF THE GROWTH OF POPULATION UPON CRIME Before closing this chapter I wish to point out the significance of the growth of population with relation to crime. If the pop- ulation increases more rapidly than the production of wealth, URBAN AND RURAL CRIME AND VICE 65 the standard of living falls, and poverty and its attendant evils increase. In other words, the economic welfare of the community diminishes. Inasmuch as the reproductive power of mankind is very great, it is the tendency of population to be pressing con- stantly upon the means of subsistence, and thus to increase economic misery. Consequently, rapid growth of population is likely to accentuate the economic factors for crime. In another work I have discussed at considerable length the influence of the growth of population upon economic welfare, 1 and will, therefore, cite a few of the conclusions in that book : "In our modern civilized world there is needed on the whole, if not restriction of population, at any rate a greater moderation in the rate of increase than has been true during the past cen- tury. It may be possible to justify this upon the ground alone of the danger of reaching the ultimate limit of subsistence. But even if we grant that such a time is a long way off, so that it is not of practical importance now, other reasons for advocating such restrictions still remain. We have seen that it might be more feasible to remedy the distribution of wealth if population was not increasing so rapidly. But a more certain and obvious reason is that if the population were not increasing so rapidly, the general standard of living would be more likely to go up or to go up more rapidly, and while the poor might not benefit by this at once, or at any rate would not reach this standard at once, there would be more reason to hope that most if not all of them would attain it ultimately." (Pp. 177-178.) "So that we should judge the increase of population with relation to two things, namely, the maintenance and progressive rise of the standard of living, and the diminution of poverty and its attendant evils. To do this we must keep constantly in mind the progress of the arts and sciences and the accumulation of capital, as well as the supply of natural resources. The in- crease of population furnishes a larger supply of labor. But if population increases faster than the amount produced can be increased with the aid of science and the use of capital, it is evident that the general standard of living must be depressed, 1 Poverty and Social Progress, New York, 1916. See especially the chap- ters on "The Growth of Population and the Increase of Wealth," "Popula- tion and Poverty," and "The Raising of Wages and the Regulation of the Labor Supply." 66 CRIMINOLOGY and it will become increasingly difficult to lessen poverty while there will be great danger that it will increase. We shall be in a better position to abolish unemployment, sweating, and the other causes of poverty, if the general standard of living can be maintained and constantly raised." (P. 182.) "The tendency of population is to increase more rapidly than it is the tendency of industry to expand, under the existing system of private industrial enterprize. Consequently, there is a large surplus of unemployed labor, and bitter competition among those at work tends to keep down the rate of wages. It is ob- vious, therefore, that, by eliminating this surplus and reducing the supply of labor in proportion to the other factors of produc- tion, unemployment can be prevented in large part, and the rate of wages can be raised. "There are several ways in which this can be accomplished. The fundamental method is by the artificial control of the birth rate, which will prevent the supply of labor from increasing more rapidly than the other factors of production. We have already discussed the stupid and brutal restrictions upon the artificial control of births in this country and elsewhere. We have shown that these restrictions are based upon religious and moral pre- judices and social and economic fallacies, which are probably fostered by those to whose interest it is to exploit the working class. Few changes could be of greater value to society at large and to the poorer classes in particular than the abolition of these restrictions and the widespread dissemination of the necessary knowledge for the artificial control of births. A characteristic feature of social progress and of cultural evolution is the in- creasing control by man of the forces which determine his wel- fare. One of the most important of these forces is the rate of increase of population. It is time for man to acquire control of this factor." (Pp. 372-373-) CHAPTER VI THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME The economic struggle for existence Economic changes and crime : sea- sonal fluctuations; the trade cycle; prices; wages The economic crimes: crimes against property The economic status of the crim- inal Economic classification of criminals Occupational distribu- tion of criminals Professional criminality Influence of economic organization upon crime Poverty and crime The standard of living and crime Wealth and crime and vice. LIKE every other animal species mankind is engaged in a struggle for existence. This is true both of the human species as a whole and also of individual human beings amongst them- selves. But cultural evolution has given the human struggle for existence an unusually specialized and complex form. THE ECONOMIC STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE Owing largely to the invention and use of tools, there has developed a highly differentiated system of division of labor. This in turn has led to a complex system of exchange. As a consequence most human beings do not produce what they consume, but receive their subsistence indirectly from the pro- ducers. Furthermore, the correlated systems of the division of labor and of exchange have resulted in the formation of social groups and classes whose status and traits are determined mainly by their functions in the economic system. The human struggle for existence has therefore become in large part an economic struggle, that is to say, a struggle to obtain the commodities needed and desired within the system of production based upon the division of labor and exchange. This struggle, though it becomes more complex and indirect in its character, is no less bitter than it is among many animal species, and is as all- pervasive. It touches upon and influences every important aspect of the life of mankind. It is of special significance with respect to criminal activity, for some of this activity doubtless 68 CRIMINOLOGY arises directly out of the economic struggle, while most if not all of it is conditioned by the economic environment. There has been much difference of opinion as to the influence of economic forces upon crime. Some have thought that crime is due entirely to economic factors. Others have asserted that economic conditions have little or nothing to do with the causa- tion of crime. As a matter of fact, it is a difficult problem to solve on account of the complexity of the factors involved. These include the forces of the physical environment (climate, season, topography, etc.), the biological factors, and the social factors, such as the economic and the political. To disentangle these different categories of forces and appraize accurately their relative influence in the causation of crime is a difficult if not an impossible task. The criminality of any time and place is conditioned and to a certain extent determined by the existing economic system. Where the methods of production are not highly developed, so that the wealth of the community is limited, the living condi- tions will be of the rude sort which are likely to encourage crimes against the person. As the methods of production be- come more complex and wealth increases, more crimes against property become possible. We are interested in ascertaining the direct and immediate influence of economic forces upon criminality. Several methods may be used in studying this problem. In the first place, we may correlate fluctuations in the amount of crime with eco- nomic changes. In the second place, we may study the eco- nomic crimes, namely, the crimes in which economic motives are obviously or apparently predominant. In the third place, we may study the economic status of the criminal, namely, the economic classes with respect to the distribution of wealth and the occupations to which they belong. In the fourth place, we may study professional criminality, namely, the criminal- ity of those who make the committing of crimes a profession and occupation. In connection with these methods of studying the problem we shall have occasion to study various economic phenomena and conditions, such as the extreme variations in the distribution of wealth, the economic pressure due to poverty as leading to crime in the effort to avoid starvation or to secure a higher standard of living, unemployment, low wages, mendi- THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 69 cancy, vagrancy and other forms of dependency as leading to crime. ECONOMIC CHANGES AND CRIMES In Chapter IV it has been shown that while crimes against the person increase with the seasonal rise in temperature, crimes against property increase with the seasonal fall in temperature. Consequently, the largest number of crimes against property take place during the winter months, while the largest number of crimes against the person take place during the summer months. I have already presented some statistics with re- spect to these seasonal fluctuations, and will now present a few more with respect to the seasonal fluctuations in the number of crimes against property. Lacassagne has prepared a criminal calendar which shows the seasonal distribution of crimes in France: l SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY IN FRANCE, 1827-1870 Number of Crimes Against Property for Each Month, Reduced to an Equal Duration of 31 Days January 16,350 February 15,400 March 14,250 April. . 13,450 May 13,625 June I34SO July i3, 22 S August 13,425 September 13,875 October 14,400 November 16,100 December 16,825 The above table indicates that the number of crimes against property in France is highest in the following order during the months of December, January, November, February, October, and March; and is lower during the remaining months of the year. In other words, crimes against property are more numer- ous during the autumn and winter than they are during the 1 A. Lacassagne, Marche de la criminality en France de 1825 d 1880, in the Revue scienlifique, May 28, 1881, pp. 674-684. 70 CRIMINOLOGY spring and summer. The average for the summer months is 13,367, for the spring months is 13,775, f r the fall months is 14,792, and for the winter months is 16,192, thus showing a steady increase from the hottest to the coldest season. The following table indicates the seasonal distribution of certain crimes against property in Germany: 1 SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY IN GERMANY Daily averages for each month if the daily average for the year were 100 Crimes Years Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Simple theft 188.5-92 113115 98 85 87 88 88 92 92 106 117 121 Aggravated theft ..1883-92 102 107 92 89 94 98 98 96 94 106 112 111 Embezzlement 1886-92 100 97 94 94 98 100 103 101 98 104 105 108 Robbery 1886-92 100 87 78 84 94 98 99 106 84 120 132 116 Receiving stolen goods 1883-92 123122103 82 82 83 80 81 81 100 120 142 Fraud 1888-92 107 111 94 89 90 95 95 91 90 102 116 120 How then is the preponderance of crimes against property during the colder months of the year to be explained? The first explanation which may occur to the reader is that the lower temperature stimulates the propensity to thieving and like crimes. There is probably a slight amount of truth in this explanation. It is very likely that the stimulating effect of cold leads to greater criminal activity, just as it leads to greater non-criminal activity. But this phenomenon is doubtless to be accounted for in the main by the economic conditions which prevail during the colder months. In several of the seasonal occupations there is little activity during the colder months of the year. Among these are agriculture, the building trades, etc. There are, to be sure, some seasonal occupations which are more active during the colder months. But there appears, on the whole, to be more activity and more work available dur- ing the warmer months than there is during the colder months. The statistics with regard to employment indicate that there is more unemployment during the colder months, and especially towards the end of the colder months, than there is during the warmer months. 2 On the other hand, human demands and desires increase 1 Stalistik des Dentschen Reichs, Neue Folge, Band 83, Kriminalstatistik fur das Jahr 1894, Berlin, 1898, II, 53. 2 1 have presented some of these statistics in my Poverty and Social Prog- ress, New York, 1916, Chap. IX. THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 7! considerably during the colder months. More food, clothing, and shelter are needed, while it is probable that the amusements desired in winter are more costly than those desired in summer. So that it is practically certain that the preponderance of crimes against property during the colder months is due mainly to greater destitution, on the one hand, and to a higher degree of economic pressure to expend, on the other hand. But much more extensive than the seasonal economic changes are the changes that take place in connection with the trade cycle, and in connection with industrial evolution which is due to improvements in the methods of production. The correla- tion between these economic changes and criminality is revealed by the statistics of fluctuations in prices and the statistics of the number of crimes committed or of the number of criminals convicted. The accompanying charts indicate direct correlation between the prices of wheat and crimes against property in England and Wales and in France, and the prices of rye and convictions for theft in Russia. 1 These charts indicate that in these countries there is a general tendency for crimes against property to in- crease as the prices of cereals rise, and for these crimes to de- crease as these prices fall. The correlation is not always exact, and there is frequently a noticeable lag, but this is to be ex- pected since it usually requires a little time for the economic changes to influence the criminality. Many more statistics could be cited which show that the same situation exists in other countries, and there is good reason to believe that this correlation exists with a fair degree of regularity all over the world. 2 It would also be possible to show that inverse correlation exists between changes in wages and crimes against property, so that as wages rise these crimes tend to decrease, and as wages fall these crimes tend to increase. But this correlation is not as close or as apparent as the direct correlation between these crimes and prices, because wages change more slowly than prices, and therefore cannot have so much effect at any one time upon the extent of criminality. 1 The tables from which these charts are plotted are given in Appendix A. 2 Many of these figures are cited in W. A. Bonger, Criminality and Eco- nomic Conditions, Boston, 1916. CRIMINOLOGY ENGLAND AND WALES 18 58 18 59 18( YE/ 50 18 iRS 51 18 52 18 S3 18( +55 _i_cn 4_4.<; _i_4.n &L-35 gJWW ^-i-^O 5 K^-t-9 1 ; 5 w "N. / ^ "\ V \ h O 1 c \ / \ ^-^lo M TT on ^ &K 7< 25 o ^n &* S35 (X, JO 4.n A1 sn cr -60 73 Now changes in prices and wages usually cause changes in the economic welfare of the great majority of the people. A rise in prices, especially in the prices of such articles as the staple foods, is almost certain to raise the cost of living for the poorer classes, since wages do not ordinarily rise as fast as prices. In similar fashion a fall in wages may cause a rise in the cost of living, though this happens rarely, since prices fall usually as fast or faster than wages. These facts indicate, therefore, that there is a causal relation between economic welfare and crimes against property. It would, however, be a mistake to assume, as has been as- sumed by some writers, especially among the socialists, that this criminality is determined entirely by these economic factors. Many factors play a part in causing crime. Among these are the telluric factors, the organic factors, and various social factors apart from the economic. We have already studied the influence of several of the telluric factors, such as climate and season. We have noted a correlation between seasonal changes and crimi- nality which, however, does not necessarily mean that crim- inality is determined entirely by these telluric factors. In sim- ilar fashion there exists a correlation between economic changes and criminality which indicates that, while the other factors are relatively constant, changes in the economic factors are bringing about corresponding fluctuations in the criminality. 1 1 Van Kan has stated this idea clearly and precisely in the following words: "La criminalite suit avec une regularite frappante la courbe des fluctua- tions 6conomiques, et ce, non pas parce que le crime est le produit exclusif du facteur economique, mais en raison de ce que, precisement, parmi tous les facteurs criminogSnes, le facteur e'conomique est le plus mobile, le plus variable et le plus expose a des oscillations annuelles et qu'il exerce partout Tinfluence la plus apparente et la plus soudaine sur le mouvement des phenomfenes qui se rattachent a lui. Les autres facteurs qui agissent sur les debits, facteurs d'ordre organique, d'ordre cosmique et tellurique et d'ordre social, non dconomique, .sont, de nature, sujets i des changements annuels restreints et lents, et, partant, peu apparents. Leur courbe est presque rectiligne. Done la courbe correspondante de la criminalite 1 que la premiere courbe tient sous sa ddpendance, ne manifeste non plus que des variations insensibles et demeure presque identique a elle-m&ne, d'annSe en ann6e. Ce sont les oscillations economiques, capricieuses et brusques, qui constituent dans la courbe de la criminalite" l'e'16ment perturbateur et provoquent les diff6rences qu'on y remarque d'une ann6e a 1'autre." (J. van Kan, Les causes economiques de la criminality Paris, 1903, p. u.) 74 CRIMINOLOGY >o oo FRANCE YEARS T}-ir>vOt^OO^O >o in >o i/j >o >o vo oooooooooooooo +60 +55 +50 +45 W+40 O < +35 M W + 30 ^ + 25 W+20 H S + 15 g + 1 +5 2 o H ri c + 60 4-55 + 50 + 45 J + 40 W 35 f w -35 y tf 40 W s 5 45 -50 -55 -60 ft. 1 ? -50 -55 -60 _^s THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 75 These economic changes are due in part to telluric forces which determine the size of the crops, etc., and in part to the economic and political organization of society which leads to the fluctuations, sometimes almost catastrophic in their char- acter, of the trade cycle. They give rise to changes in the extent of crime in various ways. Generally speaking it may be said that these changes are due to variations in the purchasing power of the great majority of the population which modify the eco- nomic pressure to commit criminal acts. THE ECONOMIC CRIMES The second method of studying the influence of economic factors upon criminality is to ascertain which of the crimes are due in the main to economic forces, and may therefore be called the economic crimes. It is generally assumed that crimes against property are due to economic motives, and are therefore eco- nomic crimes. Roughly speaking this is true. But there are some exceptions to this rule, and there are a good many crimes which are due in part to economic forces but also to other forces. It is not easy to measure accurately the influence of economic forces in the causation of any kind of crime. Fornasari di Verce has made a careful study of the influence of economic conditions and changes upon criminality in Italy between the years 1873 and 1890. In the following table he indicates the extent to which he believes the different kinds of crimes to be influenced by the economic welfare of those who commit them: l Tarde has expressed a similar thought from a conservative point of view as follows: "En somme, la criminalite' et la moralit6 d'un pays tiennent bien moins a son etat 6conomique qu'a ses transformations economiques. Ce n'est pas le capitalisme comme tel qui est demoralisateur, c'est la crise morale qui accompagne le passage de la production artisane a la production capitaliste, ou de tel mode de celle-ci a tel autre mode." (G. Tarde, La criminalite el les phenomenes economiques, in the Arch, d'anth. crim., Vol. XVI, 1901, p. 568.) 1 E. Fornasari di Verce, La criminalitd e le vicende economiche d'ltalia, Turin, 1894, p. 138. 7 6 CRIMINOLOGY RUSSIA YEARS o i-H eq f> * ON ON OV CT> ON OO CO 00 CO 00 .4-50 ot + 5 2 o 3L 1-25 1-40 for > -65 THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 77 2. '. tj a rt 3- ' f Much. I 4. 1 J 5- ] j 15! 6. 1 .y *"* E B Moderately. O 'g c 7- G & 60 w J . *o J 9- a Little. D 3 3 10. 43 Crimes over which I the Influence of II 4d Alcohol is 8 ^ Predominant. III C/3 1 IV. S ii. 8 Hardly at All. S w S 12. 2 *0 3 13- w (J 14. " S ? Not at All. ^"cn '6 IS- 3 c O I OJ h-i G 16. Thefts of all kinds. Embezzlement, cheating, and other frauds. Crimes against property coming before the magistrate (except- ing rural thefts, included un- der i). Commercial crimes (excepting fraudulent bankruptcy). Blackmail, extortion, and robbery. 6. Crimes against the order of the family. Crimes against persons coming be- fore the magistrate. Crimes against the public order. Crimes against the public admin- istration (excepting rebellion and violence to public authori- ties). 10. Forgery and counterfeiting. I. Assault and extortion with homicide. II. Rebellion, and violence to the public authorities. III. Homicide of every kind. IV. Assaults and intentional injuries. . Sexual crimes. Attacks upon the safety of the state. Perjury, slander, etc. Fraudulent bankruptcy. 14. Insults, and defamation of char- acter. 15. Crimes against religion. 1 6. Arson and malicious mischief. Fornasari di Verce has made a similar study of the influence of economic conditions and changes upon criminality in Great Britain between the years 1840 and 1890, and in New South Wales between the years 1882 and 1891. In the following table he gives the results of this study for Great Britain: 2 1 1 have translated the word "vicende," which literally means "vicissi- tudes" or "changes," by the word "welfare," because this word seems to express most accurately the author's meaning at this point. 2 Op. cit., p. 202. CRIMINOLOGY B UH "3 o ^_^ Much. ill % Moderately. c cc sS-H 4) ' e a HH t> -^ c a J '$ 1 1 Little'. o "8 ^ ^ bC ^ C !5J ** *s t.a ff '-) S rt . Crimes over which c a D C *> . o f "^ G u the Influence of ga CO 8 .b ' Alcohol is i w Q Predominant. B U 8 .a 2 g s 8 3 O (3 Not at All. *J cc C <" H a fa CxJ 3 Only slightly. C/3 "S *O O Crimes against property without violence. Crimes against property with vio- lence. Crimes against property with pre- meditated destruction. Crimes other than those named above and those against persons and against the currency. Crimes against persons. Misdemeanors and contraventions. Forgery and counterfeiting. These tables indicate that economic pressure tends, generally speaking, to increase crimes against property more than crimes against the person. This merely confirms what we have al- ready learned from the correlation between fluctuations in prices and wages and changes in the extent of criminality. The following table indicates the percentage of economic crimes as compared with other kinds of crimes in several coun- tries : 1 Economic Crimes Germany, 1896-1900 41-89 England, 1881-1900 36.78 France, 1881-1900 60.09 Italy, 1891-1895 46 . 75 Netherlands, 1897-1901. . . 42.12 * In this class are included such crimes as insults, malicious mischief, arson, assaults, homicide, etc. We can see from the above table that the so-called economic crimes in which economic factors predominate constitute from two to three-fifths of the total number of crimes. 2 Furthermore, 1 Summarized and adapted from W. A. Bonger, op. cit., pp. 538-542. 2 According to the U. S. Census of 1910, the offenses for which persons were committed to penal institutions during the year 1910 were distributed as follows: Sexual Crimes of Political Crimes Vengeance * Crimes 1.32 56.67 O. 12 0.63 62.59 o.oo i-59 38.32 o.oo i-S7 51-68 o.oo 0.84 57-04 o.oo THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 79 we have reason to believe that economic factors play at least a small part in the causation of many of the other crimes. Sexual crimes are due in part to economic factors, such as the economic difficulties in the way of marrying in early youth, the economic dependence of woman, intemperance stimulated by poverty, etc. * I have already stated that crimes against the person tend to increase with economic prosperity and vice versa. This fact suggests that economic factors have some influence upon these crimes. It is probably to be explained by the fact that in times of prosperity men come together more frequently for purposes of amusement, and in the present crude state of civili- zation they are prone to amuse themselves by an intemperate use of alcohol and by other riotous forms of conduct which are likely to lead to personal encounters, and thus to crimes against the person. It is impossible to measure accurately the influence of the economic factors in the causation of these crimes against the person. But the above considerations and many others which might be named indicate that they should be given some PRISONERS AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS COMMITTED IN 1910 Offense No. of Offenses All offenses 493,934 Offenses against the person 30,411 Gainful offenses against property 67,557 Other offenses against property 10,641 Offenses against chastity 13,944 Offenses against the administration of government 2,456 Offenses against public health and safety 14,637 Offenses against sobriety and good order 313,406 Offenses against public policy 18,372 Offenses against prisoner's family 3,666 Offenses peculiar to children 7,803 Miscellaneous groups 1 1,041 According to this table, crimes against property constituted less than one-sixth of the offenses for which commitments were made. But it will be noted that more than three-fifths of the total number of offenses were offenses against sobriety and good order, which include drunkenness, dis- orderly conduct, vagrancy, etc. Most if not all of these petty offenses are omitted from the European figures given above. So that if we omit these minor offenses, the crimes against property constitute nearly one-half of the offenses which remain. 80 CRIMINOLOGY weight. 1 The same is true of political crimes which, while they are few in number, are of great significance. Many of these crimes are committed because of existing economic conditions and in an effort to change these conditions. THE ECONOMIC STATUS or THE CRIMINAL The third method of studying the influence of economic forces upon crime is to investigate the economic status of the criminal. This may be accomplished by ascertaining the eco- nomic classes with respect to the distribution of wealth to which criminals belong, and by ascertaining the occupations to which they belong. It is a well known fact that the majority of the criminals belong to the poorer classes. But it is also true that the major- ity of the total population belongs to these classes. So that it is necessary to ascertain whether the percentage of criminals from these classes is larger than the percentage which these classes form of the total population. This is a difficult matter to determine on account of the paucity of accurate data. One of the few computations of this sort has been made by Fornasari di Verce. 2 Taking the statistics from the Italian census of 1881, he grouped together the occupations consisting mainly of the rich, the well-to-do, the moderately well-to-do, and those with enough to live comfortably, and found that they contained 390.66 out of every thousand persons of both sexes over nine years of age in Italy; while the occupations consisting mainly of the poorer classes, having scarcely enough to live on, contained 609.34 out of every thousand persons of both sexes over nine years of age. From the Italian judicial, penal statistics he ascertained that persons convicted of crime during the years 1887, 1888, and 1889, were distributed according to their wealth or poverty as indicated in the following table: 1 Bonger, who as a socialist gives excessive weight to the influence of economic factors, expresses the opinion that the principal causes of crimes against the person are "first, the present structure of society, which brings about innumerable conflicts; second, the lack of civilization and education among the poorer classes; and third, alcoholism, which is in turn a conse- quence of the social environment." (W. A. Bonger, op. cit., p. 643.) 2 E. Fornasari di Verce, op. cit., pp. 3-4. THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 8l ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION OF PERSONS CONVICTED OF CRIME IN ITALY Percentage of Distribution The Economic Classes 1887 1888 i88g Indigent S 6 -34 57-45 56.00 Having only the bare necessities 29 . 99 30 . 77 32.15 Moderately well-to-do n-54 9-Q8 10.13 Well-to-do or rich 2 . 13 i . 80 1.72 The economic classification used in this computation is neces- sarily arbitrary, and doubtless leads to some error. But so far as this computation can be relied upon, it indicates that while about 60 per cent, of the total population belong to the poorer classes in Italy, about 85 to 90 per cent, of the convicted persons belong to these classes. More statistics might be cited all of which indicate that the poorer classes are proportionally much more criminal than the richer classes. 1 This suggests a correlation between poverty and criminality similar to the correlations we have already found between certain other economic forces and conditions and criminality. It suggests that poverty is a cause of crimi- nality. This is contended by some writers, especially the so- cialist writers. On the other hand, it is denied by some writers on the ground that both poverty and criminality are due to weaknesses of character in the individual, so that they are common results of the same cause, but not causes of each other. Some of those who deny this theory of poverty as a cause of crime regard these individual weaknesses as defects of character for which the individual is to blame from a moral or religious point of view. Some of the writers who deny this theory are criminal anthropologists or other scientists who regard these weaknesses as abnormal and pathological traits for which the individual is not to blame in any moral or religious sense. This is a difficult problem which can be solved only by means of a study of the economic organization of society, which I shall discuss later in this chapter. OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIMINALS The occupational distribution of criminals throws a good 1 Some of these statistics are to be found in W. A. Bonger, op. cii,, pp. 436- 439- 82 CRIMINOLOGY deal of light upon their economic status. The following table gives this distribution for Germany during the years 1890 to 1894: - x OCCUPATION AND CRIMINALITY IN GERMANY, 1890-1894 To 100 Adults of the Total Population there were in 1895 (Statistics Of 100 Persons Convicted of Crime there Belonged to the Following Occupations of the German Empire, Vol. Ill) Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting, and Fishing Industries, Mining, and Building Trades Trade and Commerce, including Hotels and Public Houses Public and Court Service, Liberal Professions Domestic Servants Workmen, Trade not given Without Occupation, and Occupation not given The following table gives the occupational distribution in Italy during the years 1891 to 1895: 2 OCCUPATION AND CRIMINALITY IN ITALY, 1891-1895 Convicts Groups of Occupations Annual Average to 100,000 of each Group of Occupations Agriculture 1,009 . 03 Manufacturing, arts and trades 855 . 78 Commerce, transport, navigation and fishing 1,677 .46 Domestic service 410 . 96 Employees, liberal professions, capitalists, pensioners. . 288.58 1 Adapted from a table in G. Aschaffenburg, Crime and Its Repression, Boston, 1913, p. 66. The figures are taken from the Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, Neue Folge, LXXXIX, II, p. 48. 2 Cited in W. A. Bonger, op. cit., p. 446, from the Italian judicial and penal statistics. As the calculations are based upon the census of 1881, the table is rather inaccurate. ( Independent 4-7 7-o < Assistants 18.9 15-6 (_ Relatives 2-3 I . 21 ( Independent 6.4 5-6 -< Assistants 30.4 17.0 ( Relatives 4-4 14-5 ( Independent 5-7 2-3 < Assistants 5-8 4- ! 1 Relatives I . 2 4-6 ( Actively Engaged < Relatives O.I? 2. 2 1.8 f Actively Engaged 1.6 4-3 \ Relatives 0.02 O. 2 5 Actively Engaged IO.4 0.6 ( Relatives 1.8 0.4 ( Independent ( Relatives 4.6 0.27 5-8 1.9 THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 83 The last table seems to indicate that criminality is very prev- alent in the commercial occupations, is moderately prevalent in agriculture, manufacturing and the trades; but is low among domestic workers, and is very low in the liberal professions. But this table is misleading in certain respects, as is indicated by the preceding table which furnishes the facts in greater de- tail. According to that table, in Germany in the agricultural group criminality is high among the employees, but is low among the employers. In other words, the farmer who owns his farm is not likely to become criminal, but the farm laborer who hires out his services is much more likely to become criminal. In similar fashion, in the industrial group the employees are much more criminal than the employers. In the commercial group, on the contrary, the independent commercial workers seem to be far more criminal than the commercial employees. The high figure for the independent commercial workers is probably due to the fact that there are many small merchants and petty tradesmen who are prone to commit certain kinds of crimes. For example, according to the German statistics upon which the table in question is based 59.8 per cent of the usurious of- fenses were committed by this group, despite the fact that this group contained only 2.3 per cent of the total population. Other crimes which are common in this group are fraud, perjury, receiving stolen goods, etc. Both of the above tables indicate that criminality is not prev- alent in domestic service and in the liberal professions. The low percentage of crime among domestic servants is probably due to the fact that they are usually well cared for in the homes of their employers, and are not subjected to as many tempta- tions to commit crimes as persons engaged in most of the other occupations. 1 The low percentage of crime in the liberal pro- fessions is doubtless due to the facts that those engaged in these professions are usually well educated, and are economically at least moderately well-to-do. The occupational distribution of criminals also seems to reveal the pressure of poverty and other forms of economic hardship as causes of crime; though here again it may be true, 1 The above statistics and many others like them show how erroneous is the exaggerated estimate of the extent of crime among female domestic servants in R. de Ryckfire, La servante criminellc, Paris, 1908, p. 2. 84 CRIMINOLOGY as I have mentioned above, that crime and poverty are results of a common cause and are not causes of each other. By means of an intensive study of each occupation it would be possible to show how it gives rise to specific forms of criminality, and how each occupation is more or less characterized by certain kinds of criminality. 1 PROFESSIONAL CRIMINALITY The fourth method of studying the influence of economic factors which I shall use is by means of investigating profes- sional criminality, namely, the criminality of those who make of the committing of crimes a profession and an occupation. It is evident that in professional criminality the economic motive is predominant, since the criminal is making his livelihood entirely or in part illegally in a criminal career, just as other persons gain their livelihoods legally in non-criminal ways. It is impossible to estimate with any degree of accuracy the extent of professional criminality. On account of their greater skill as criminals, in all probability more of the professional criminals escape punishment than of the other types of crimi- nals. For example, mentally defective and insane criminals, and criminals by passion are much more likely to get caught than professional criminals. On account of their lack of experi- ence occasional criminals are more likely to get caught than professionals. Some of these occasional criminals with further experience become professionals. We have, therefore, reason to believe that the number of professionals in prison at any time constitutes only a part, and perhaps only a small part, of the total number of criminals of this type. 2 If we bear in mind that a considerable proportion, 1 "Le crime professional des sages- femmes: c'est 1'avortement; celui des agents de change: la fraude et Pusure; celui des magistrals: la partialite; celui des homines politiques: la corruption; celui des publicistes: la calomnie." (E. Laurent, Le criminel, Paris, 1908, p. 125.) 2 The notorious French professional criminal, Leblanc, testified as follows with regard to the number of professionals in prison: "I know very well that we have risks to run, that the police and the courts are at hand, that the prison is not very far distant; but out of eight thousand thieves in Paris, you never have more than seven or eight hundred in jail; that is not a tenth of the whole. We enjoy, then, on the average, nine years of liberty to one THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 85 perhaps as many as half of those in prison, are professionals, we can readily see that the total number must be very large. Several comments should be made which are of significance in this connection. In the first place, as I have already had occasion to remark, a good many crimes such as petty thefts are committed which never become known, either because the loss is never discovered or because it is not recognized as a theft. In the second place, a good many crimes become known for which no one is tried because no evidence can be found. 1 In the third place, a con- siderable proportion of the cases which come before the criminal courts end in dismissal or acquittal. In many of these cases a crime has unquestionably been committed. In the fourth place, in a few cases in which both the crime and the criminal are known the case never comes into court because the victim re- fuses to make a complaint, either in order to avoid the annoy- ance of having to testify, or out of a kindly feeling towards the offender. In the last type of case mentioned the offender may be a servant or employee whom his master or employer does not want to prosecute. But in all of the other cases the criminal is likely to be a professional who is escaping de- tection and punishment through his skill as a criminal. It is true that some of those who may be called professional criminals are very stupid and are frequently caught. They are usually on the borderline between the professional and the mentally defective criminal. But the higher type of professional criminal w r ho is skillful as a criminal, though he may not be skillful in any other way, is responsible for a considerable proportion of the crimes committed, and yet escapes punishment much of the time. Economic factors are doubtless very powerful in creating the professional criminal. Some of these criminals, perhaps many of them, possess weaknesses and defects of character which have played some part in leading them into criminal careers. Economic and other social forces may have been the sole causes in prison." (M. Girguet, M6moires, Paris, 1840. Q acted in W. A. Bonger, op. cit., p. 586.) 1 See G. Tarde, "Les delils impoursuivis" in his Essais et m&anges so- ciologiques, Lyons, 1895. 86 CRIMINOLOGY of the criminality of other professional criminals. But even in the cases where defects of character are partly responsible, economic forces also are almost invariably at work, and in many of these cases better economic conditions would have restrained the defects of character from giving rise to criminality. To put it still more concretely, it is economic pressure in early youth in the form of a struggle for subsistence or for a higher standard of living, and resulting usually in inadequate intellec- tual and moral training and association with bad companions, which forces or, to say the least, leads many of these professional criminals into their first crimes. Many of these would never pass beyond occasional criminality were it not for the cor- rupting influence of the prisons, most of which are training schools for crime and make many of these beginning criminals into full-fledged professionals. : INFLUENCE OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION UPON CRIME We have now studied the influence of economic forces upon criminality by correlating economic changes as revealed by fluctuations in prices and wages with changes in the extent of criminality, by ascertaining what crimes are apparently im- mediately due to economic motives, by ascertaining the economic class and occupation of the criminals, and by investigating criminality as an occupation and profession. All of these meth- ods of study have shown that the influence of the economic factors is very great, though it is impossible to measure it ac- 1 Bonger characterizes the etiology of the professional criminal as follows: "Except for a few subsidiary circumstances the life of the professional criminal may be summed up as follows. With very rare exceptions he springs from a corrupt environment, perhaps having lost his parents while still very young, or having even been abandoned by them. Being misled by bad company, he commits an 'occasional' theft while still a child, for which he must pay the penalty of an imprisonment; he may at times owe his entrance into prison to a non-economic misdeed. This, however, is a very rare excep- tion. As we have remarked above, prison never improves him, and generally makes him worse. If he is in contact with the other prisoners, among whom there are naturally a number of out and out criminals, he hears the recital of their adventurous life, learns their tricks and all that he still needs to know to be thoroughly informed as to ' the profession.' Nor will the separate cell be any more profitable to him, brutalized as he already is by his earlier environment." (W. A. Bonger, op. cit., p. 581.) As a socialist Bonger fails to give sufficient weight to defects of character. THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 87 curately at any point. It will, nevertheless, be worth while, before closing this chapter, to survey briefly the economic or- ganization and condition of society in order to characterize and estimate in a general way these economic forces for crime. I have discussed this subject at length in another work from which I will reproduce the following passages: " Perhaps the most striking feature of the existing economic organization of society is that under the regime of private busi- ness enterprize the greater part of the means of production is owned by a comparatively small number of individuals, while the immediate control of most economic activities is in the hands" of a still smaller number of individuals. The result is that most of the workers are put at a decided disadvantage in securing their share of the amount produced by society. Since the beginning of the modern industrial organization, and per- haps for a much longer period, the workers have not been able to influence to any great extent their share in the distribution of wealth. This has been determined by such factors as the rich- ness of the natural resources, the density of the population, the accumulation of capital, the form of business enterprize, etc.; all of which are factors over which they have had little or no immediate control. In view of this fact it is not surprizing that there is the great inequality in the distribution of wealth and the enormous concentration of wealth in the hands of a few which we have discussed in an earlier chapter. "Another significant feature of modern economic organiza- tion is the great instability of industry. The principal illustra- tion of this instability is to be found in the alternation between the periods of depression and of prosperity which takes place in the trade cycle. But at all times there is more or less in- stability, since industrial concerns are failing, or are overproduc- ing and thus preparing to fail. The fundamental cause for this instability is the difficulty of obtaining an adjustment between the supply of and the demand for economic goods. Now it goes without saying that this difficulty has always existed, and always will exist to a certain extent. But in the past society was organized in the main in small communities which were more or less self-sufficing economically. Consequently, pro- ducers were in close touch with the consumers of their products, and could adjust their output more or less accurately to the 88 CRIMINOLOGY demand. Under the present large scale, machine system of production it takes a great deal of capital to start most industrial enterprizes, and in many cases takes the producers a long tune to discover the nature and extent of the demand for their goods. Consequently, the chances for overproduction and for business failure are greatly increased. The results are a vast amount of unemployment for the workers, and bankruptcy for many capi- talists and enterprizers. "Another cause of poverty which should be prevented as far as possible is the waste of economic goods. Whether or not there is proportionately more waste now than there has been in the past, it would be difficult to determine. But it is not important for our purpose to decide this question. What is important is to determine the causes of waste, and to discuss how they may be removed. It is evident that the instability of industry men- tioned above causes a great deal of waste, through the loss of labor force and the dissipation of capital. A good deal is wasted through excessive luxury and extravagance in consumption. Advertizing constitutes an enormous waste in modern society, while the middlemen and hangers-on of our industrial system cause still more waste. Many more forms of waste might be enumerated had we the space to do so. "The amount produced by society could be greatly increased if the efficiency of the workers were improved. By means of vocational training, scientific management, etc., workers could be distributed in industry more nearly in accordance with their natural aptitudes, and would be far more efficient because they would do their work by means of scientific methods. But to in- crease the efficiency of the worker is not sufficient if he is not given an opportunity to work. It would also be necessary to increase the opportunities for production, so that all of the hu- man talent available could be used in the industrial system." POVERTY AND CRIME Among the results from this faulty organization of society are poverty and its attendant conditions. "In every large city are to be found the districts of congested population. Here are the dwelling houses and tenements in which many of the poor are crowded and live in conditions which are uncomfortable and 1 Poverty and Social Progress, New York, 1916, pp. 358-9. THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 89 insanitary. The furnishings of these homes usually are in- sufficient for comfort and for health. The food is inadequate and of poor quality. The results from these conditions are to be found in physical weakness and widespread disease. As a con- sequence, the adults are inefficient at their work, and the chil- dren unable to learn with facility in the schools. These are the districts in which the morbidity and mortality rates are high. Frequently also they are the districts in which the rates for crime and intemperance are high. It goes without saying that forces for crime and intemperance are to be found everywhere in human society. But there is no doubt that the conditions of the poor stimulate both of these evil tendencies. This is peculiarly true of intemperance. It is in the main the misery of the poor which impels them to seek the temporary relief furnished by alcoholic beverages, thus inevitably leading them to a far worse state of misery. 1 Thus it is that intemperance, which is to so great an extent a result of poverty, becomes as well a potent force for poverty. "Under these conditions it is hardly possible for the family life to develop to its fullest extent. On account of lack of leisure and of the necessary facilities, both the children and the adults fail to get a sufficient amount of recreation. For similar reasons there is obviously little opportunity for cultural development among the poor. "Nor are these conditions limited to large cities, for they are to be found also in hovels on the outskirts of small towns and villages, and even in the open country. Furthermore, most of these conditions characterize the homeless vagrants and men- dicants who wander from place to place, usually in greater destitution than the poor who have homes. "The results of these conditions to the poor themselves can perhaps be best summed up in the one word misery. But there are several evil results from poverty to the rest of society. Even though there are certain individuals who profit from the misery of the poor, society as a whole suffers from poverty in various ways. As we have already noted, the prevalence of disease, crime and certain kinds of vice is stimulated by poverty, and, as all of these evils are more or less contagious, their prevalence 1 See, for a discussion of this subject, a monograph by the present writer entitled Inebriety in Boston, New York, 1909.' 90 CRIMINOLOGY is by no means limited to the poor themselves. The cost of car- ing for many dependents who might be self-supporting, and of a considerable number of criminals whose crimes are due to poverty, falls upon society as a whole. Looked at from the esthetic point of view, the presence of poverty is a blot and an eyesore upon civilization, and the life of society as a whole will be raised to a higher plane and made more refined if this blot can be removed." l We can now discern how these features of the present eco- nomic organization of society influence crime. The unsettled economic conditions due to the trade cycle are reflected in the correlation between fluctuations in prices and wages and changes in the extent of crime. The great inequality in the distribution of wealth, as indicated by the vast difference in the economic welfare of the poor and the rich, is reflected in the great disparity between the criminality of the poor and of the wealthy classes, as indicated by the economic status of the criminals. These economic conditions bring a good deal of pressure to bear upon many individuals to commit criminal acts. Many of the weaker individuals, and some of the stronger ones as well, are certain to yield to this pressure. In some cases this pressure arises out of a lack even of the means of subsistence, so that the individual faces starvation. In a larger number of cases the pressure arises out of a desire for a higher standard of living, or, at any rate, what the criminal regards as a higher standard. Some writers assert that privation is rarely ever the cause of crime, because the destitute person will not usually steal the food or the clothing which he actually needs. 2 But this fact does not disprove that privation is the cause of many of these crimes, for under many circumstances it would be inconvenient to steal the necessary articles, and much more profitable to steal something else of greater value, and then to secure with the proceeds of the theft the things actually needed. The immediate causes of the condition of poverty or relative 1 Poverty and Social Progress, pp. 225-7. 1 this book I have discussed at length the causes of poverty, such as unemployment, low wages, the pressure of population upon the means of subsistence, etc., and the reme- dial and preventive measures by means of which poverty can be lessened and prevented. 2 For example, H. Joly makes this mistake in his La France criminelle, Paris, 1889, pp. 357-8. THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF CRIME 91 poverty which gives rise to this economic pressure are numerous. Among the principal ones are the large amount of unemployment which is caused mainly by the instability of industry, and the low wages which result largely from the weak position of the worker as compared with the position of his employer. Out of poverty grow pauperism, mendicancy and vagrancy, which are frequently in themselves forms of crime, and still more fre- quently lead to crime. But it is not only the economic pressure upon the poor which leads to crime, but also the pressure upon many individuals who are not poor, or, at any rate, are poor only as compared with the wealthy. In these cases the pressure takes the form of a desire for a higher standard of living. This accounts for most of the numerous crimes committed by the class of small merchants and traders. It also accounts for the crimes involving much larger amounts of money committed by big speculators, fraudulent bankrupts, clever swindlers and exploiters of the public. From these criminals we pass by imperceptible degrees to the profes- sional criminals, whose careers are determined to a large extent by economic considerations. I have already proved that the criminal record of wealthy classes is far below that of the poorer classes. But while great wealth does not encourage criminality, it may lead to a good deal of vice. This is most likely to happen when it is not ac- companied by culture and refinement. It frequently leads to excessive indulgence in alcoholic liquors, though not for the same reasons as in the case of the poor. It leads to various other forms of riotous living which are possible only for the rich, and the desire for which is stimulated by the satiety which arises out of great luxury. Political organization and crime Theories of government Govern- mental responsibility for crime: inefficient and corrupt government Influence of war and militarism upon crime. IN one sense it is true that crime is due entirely to political factors. As I have stated in an earlier chapter, there could be no crime in the strict sense of the term without political organiza- tion. Not until government came into being could certain acts be stigmatized by the law as criminal. Consequently, the na- ture of the acts which are criminal at any time and place will be determined in large part by the nature of the political organiza- tion. Under a monarchical system of government the penal law will jealously safeguard the rights and interests of the reigning dynasty, and the stronger and the more despotic the monarch the larger will be the portion of the penal code which is devoted to offenses against him. In similar fashion under an oligarchy the penal code will be devoted largely to safeguarding the rights and interests of the dominant class. To the extent to which the government is democratic it will be devoted to protecting the interests of society as a whole. Furthermore, the political organization of the world as a whole is of significance in this connection. At present nation- alism reigns supreme, and promotes a vast amount of warfare, the effect of which I shall discuss presently. If the world ever passes from the regime of nationalism to internationalism, and something in the nature of a world state is established, this great change will doubtless influence the penal code. But in addition to prescribing what acts are to be stigmatized as criminal, the government and the political organization in general are among the numerous factors which determine how many crimes are to be committed, and by whom they are to be committed. The government is a direct cause of crime when it is 93 maladministered in such a fashion as to be an immediate factor for criminal conduct. It is an indirect cause of crime to the extent to which it creates conditions which encourage criminal conduct and fails to provide conditions which would prevent such conduct. I shall discuss first the indirect influence of government. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION AND CRIME It is evident that the way in which the government is or- ganized and the nature of the laws promulgated and enforced by it will have some effect upon economic and other social condi- tions. But the opinion of any one as to the extent to which these conditions can and should be influenced by the govern- ment, and consequently the extent to which the government can be held responsible for criminal conduct, will depend upon his theory of the functions of government. There have been many of these theories which may be briefly classified and de- scribed as follows. At one extreme is the individualistic type of theory according to which the only function of government is to regulate the con- duct of the individual to the minimum degree necessary for the maintenance of order, but to undertake no economic or other social functions whatsoever. This type of theory is represented by the laissez faire philosophers. At the other extreme is the socialist theory of government according to which the govern- ment shall own and operate all economic enterprizes, so that all economic activities shall be political as well as economic in their character. Between these two extremes are many theories, some of which are more or less individualistic in character, and others are more or less socialistic. The representatives of these theories usually assume the welfare of society as the criterion of governmental activity, so that these theories may be called social welfare theories of government. Each of these theorists contends that the government shall extend its economic ac- tivities as far as he thinks will be conducive to social welfare. Consequently, according to the different social welfare theories the government should extend its economic activities in varying degrees, and the more socialized theories permit of extensive governmental activity approaching that of the socialist state. 94 CRIMINOLOGY According to the individualistic theory the state is not at all or only to a very slight extent responsible indirectly for criminal conduct. It is directly responsible for such conduct to the extent to which it fails to maintain order. According to the social wel- fare theories the state is responsible indirectly for criminal con- duct to a varying degree. According to the socialist theory it is almost entirely responsible, both directly and indirectly. The theorists of the individualistic school usually assume that crim- inal conduct is inevitable and permanent, because it arises out of immutable human traits which cannot be influenced by polit- ical means. The socialists insist that criminal conduct is largely preventable, and would exist only to a slight extent under the socialist state. It is impossible to discuss these theories at length here, since they involve very complicated and perplexing problems. Polit- ical organization is in large part a reflection of economic and social conditions in the past, but it becomes in turn an important factor in determining these conditions in the present. All of the civilized governments of today are based upon social welfare theories, though they differ considerably amongst themselves as to the extent to which they extend their economic and other social activities. We shall, therefore, assume for the present the general point of view of the social welfare theories and glance briefly at the ways in which the government is indirectly re- sponsible for some of the criminal conduct. GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CRIME Public sanitation and hygiene are necessarily in the hands of the government, and the extent to which and the efficiency with which they are cared for determines in part the health and physical well-being of the populace, which in turn reacts upon criminal conduct. The construction and arrangement of dwelling-houses and other buildings in towns and cities is regulated by the government, and this regulation and planning affects materially the living conditions of the inhabitants. The extent to which and the efficiency with which educational facilities are furnished by the government affects materially the intellectual traits of the people. The manner in which and the extent to which the use of alcoholic liquors, drugs, and other THE POLITICAL BASIS OF CRIME Q5 noxious substances is regulated and restricted by the govern- ment has more or less influence upon criminal conduct. All of the above measures are now performed to a greater or less degree by civilized governments. The state may also be indirectly responsible for some criminal conduct by imposing oppressive restrictions upon its citizens. For example, rigid marriage laws lead to rape and other sexual crimes, while free marriage and divorce encourage satisfactory sexual and domestic conditions. But beyond these measures are measures which reach much further, and which are intended to bring about much greater changes in society. Some of these measures have been adopted by many of the civilized governments of the world. Several of these measures are intended to change the distribution of wealth so as to make it more equal. Among these measures are various forms of taxation, wage legislation, price legislation, etc. Other measures are directed towards stabilizing commerce and in- dustry, so as to eliminate as far as possible the fluctuations and instability described in the last chapter. Among these measures are the organization of the banking system, the regulation and restriction of speculation, the prevention of private monopolistic control, etc. All of these measures are more questionable in their character, in the first place, as to whether they are com- petent to attain the objects towards which they are directed, and, in the second place, as to whether they will lessen the amount of criminal conduct. I have not the space to discuss these problems, but will point out the dangers involved in all such legislation so far as it bears upon criminal conduct. In the first place, it is evident that by creating more laws new opportunities for the violation of laws are brought into existence. In this fashion the total number of criminal acts may be in- creased. However, this is not necessarily an evil in the long run in the case of a specific law, for the law may do more good in other ways than it does evil by increasing the number of crimes. In many cases this is a difficult question to decide. In similar fashion the abolition of restrictive legislation may lessen the number of violations of laws. But the restrictions may be of more value to society than the decrease in the number of the violations of the law. In the second place, much legislation and regulation on the 96 CRIMINOLOGY part of the government may lead to an excessive amount of restriction and social control. This is an evil in itself, for all forms of social control are evil in the sense that they restrict the individual, and should therefore be tolerated only to the extent that they are absolutely necessary for the welfare of society. But it may prove to be an evil also by discouraging individual initiative unduly, and thus decreasing the total amount of human achievement. This may indeed prove to be the greatest evil arising out of too much legislation. At various points in this book I shall have occasion to mention these dangers with respect to certain forms of legislation and governmental regula- tion. 1 There are many ways in which the government is a direct cause of crime. It may give rise to crime because it is a bad form of government, or because, even though a good form of government, it is badly administered. The excellence of the form of the government will depend largely upon the place and tune in which it exists. A form of government which is excellent for a barbarous people may be very undesirable for a highly civilized people. Consequently, it is impossible to generalize 1 Two eminent Italian criminologists, Ferri and Garofalo, represent the opposing points of view with respect to the limitations upon legislation and governmental regulation. Ferri advocates a large number of measures which he calls "substitutes for punishment" (sostitntivi penali), or "equiva- lents of punishment" (equivalents des peines). It would be more correct to call them "preventives of crime." Among these are free trade, freedom to emigrate, taxes upon the rich, public works, drastic regulation of the manufacture and sale of alcohol, freedom of marriage and divorce, etc. (E. Ferri, Criminal Sociology, Boston, 1917, Part II, Chap. 5.) Garofalo opposes most of these measures on the ground that the state is not omnipotent to attain the ends sought. He expresses his opinion with respect to the limitations upon legislation as follows: "In the prevention of crime, legislative measures of general application cannot go beyond the maintenance of a good police system, the wise administration of justice, and the indirect development of a public moral education which will tend to counteract certain vicious habitudes ordinarily the cause of crime. Upon these habitudes it cannot act directly except in some special cases, as in the regulation of liquor-selling, gambling, and the carrying of arms. Aside from such instances, the state should be careful how it interferes with the individual rights of the citizen. For notwithstanding the laudable object which moves it to act, its interference is bound to develop abuses, to de- generate into unendurable violation of personal liberty, and to be produc- tive of new disobediences on the part of the citizen." (R. Garofalo, Crimi- nology, Boston, 1914, pp. 189-190.) THE POLITICAL BASIS OF CRIME 97 with respect to the form of government. In similar fashion, the excellence of the administration will depend in part upon the place and time. Political corruption in the administration of the government is in itself a form of crime. Even when it is not criminal in the technical legal sense, it is at least vicious. But it is far more in- jurious as a cause of crime because of the gross inefficiency it introduces into the administration of the government. It usually arises partly out of the form of the government, which fails to furnish a sufficient number of checks and safeguards against dishonesty, and partly out of the state of public opinion and public morals, which breeds the corrupters and does not sufficiently reprehend their dishonesty. When this corruption becomes extensive, it usually weakens the police by destroying its morale, it may invade the courts of public justice, and is very likely to promote inefficiency in the administration of the penal institutions. In these ways it vitiates largely the efficiency of the law in suppressing crime. In addition to the evil influence of political corruption the administration of the law may be greatly weakened and vitiated by other causes. The police force frequently is weak and in- efficient because it is not properly trained and organized. The so-called "police system" of corruption may grow up within the police department itself because impossible tasks, such as un- enforceable laws against vice, have been laid upon the police by the legislature and the public. Nothing can be more disas- trous to the effective suppression of crime than the weakening and corrupting of the police agency, which is the physical arm of the law for its own enforcement. The law has usually been unscientific inasmuch as it has not been based upon the available scientific knowledge as to the causes of crime and the traits of the criminal. This knowledge can be used so as to render much more effective both the sup- pression and the prevention of crime. The government has failed to gather and make use of statistics which would be of great value in measuring the effects of the different kinds of penal treatment, as well as by throwing much light upon the causes and conditions of crime. The courts have frequently been weak and inefficient. This has been due in part to political influence, whether corrupt or 98 CRIMINOLOGY otherwise. But it has probably been due more to the fact that the judges have usually not been trained and selected in a proper manner. It has also been due in large part to abuses of the jury system, and perhaps to a large extent to fundamental defects in the jury system itself. Methods of penal treatment have usually been inefficient, and frequently have been so bad as to cause more crime than they have suppressed and prevented. Punishment has usually been based upon vengeance, which cannot furnish a rational criterion of the efficacy of penal methods. In recent times it has been based to a considerable extent upon the principle of deterrence. But inasmuch as accurate, scientific methods of measuring the extent to which punishment actually deters have not been ap- plied, it has been impossible to ascertain whether or not any de- terrence has been attained. Capital punishment, torture, im- prisonment of various sorts, transportation, etc., have proved more or less ineffective in various degrees, and have stimulated a good deal of crime in several ways. Certain methods, such as the method of reparation, which may prove to be effective, have been tried very little or not at all. In fact, the whole subject of penal treatment needs a thoroughgoing scientific study on the basis of an extensive knowledge of the causes of crime and of the traits of the criminal. No government has as yet done much towards making such a study. But not only is the administration of penal law of importance for the prevention of crime. If the civil law is not efficiently administered, its maladministration is likely to lead to at least a few crimes, while an efficient administration of the civil law is a more or less powerful preventive of crime. If the civil law is maladministered, dissensions and conflicts are sure to arise between some of the litigants or would-be litigants, and in some cases lead to crimes against the person or against property or both. An efficient administration of justice in the civil courts, on the contrary, obviates most of these differences, and promotes a spirit of harmony and good will in the public at large which is likely to prevent some crimes. For the attain- ment, therefore, both of penal and of civil justice it is important, in the first place, that the civil law be based upon rational, scientific principles, and, in the second place, that the civil courts administer the civil law efficiently. THE POLITICAL BASIS OF CRIME QQ INFLUENCE OF WAR AND MILITARISM UPON CRIME Before finishing this discussion of the political factors for crime I wish to touch briefly upon war and militarism in rela- tion to crime. In the present day war arises largely out of the prevailing national political organization of the world. If the present regime of nationalism is ever superseded by an inter- national political organization, such as a world state, much of this warfare will perforce disappear. However, that time is probably still far distant, so that it is important to consider the influence of war and militarism upon crime. The effects of war are so complicated that it is difficult to analyze and measure them accurately. There is reason to be- lieve that war has both favorable and unfavorable immediate effects upon crime. But there is much difference of opinion as to whether its ultimate effect is favorable or unfavorable. Statistical records indicate that criminality frequently dimin- ishes apparently during time of war. This doubtless is due in large part to the fact that many of those who would otherwise be engaged in criminal activity volunteer for military service or are drafted into the army. Consequently, their criminal tendencies towards murder, theft, etc., are furnished an outlet in the opportunities to kill, to plunder, etc., in the course of warfare. War therefore becomes, in a measure, a substitute for crime for these persons. But this apparent diminution of crimi- nality during time of war is probably due in part to the fact that the repression of crime is usually weakened during time of war, so that many crimes are not pursued and punished. This may explain why the criminality of women and of children as well as of men sometimes appears to diminish during time of war. Some writers, however, contend that war diminishes crime by acting as a moral influence. Their opinion is that war stim- ulates a condition of emotional excitement under which many desires and impulses which would otherwise assume a criminal form are turned into patriotic, national, and social channels, and results in efforts in behalf of the public welfare. 1 War also 1 Tarde expresses a similar idea in the following words: "The truth of the matter is that crime has become an evil without anything to compen- sate for it since it has advantageously been replaced by militarism and warfare. An army is a gigantic means of carrying out, by massacre and 100 CRIMINOLOGY stimulates greatly the virtue of courage and leads to many deeds of valor. There is probably a measure of truth in this idea, especially when the war is for the purpose of carrying out a great popular ideal. But it must be remembered that warfare in- evitably engenders a vast amount of hatred and vengeance towards enemies, which probably more than counterbalances this so-called moral influence of war. Militarism has an influence upon crime during times of peace as well as during wartime. Military service is reputed to have both a moral and an immoral influence upon conscripts and volunteers. It is believed by some persons that military train- ing furnishes an excellent discipline for the character. It doubt- less encourages to a certain extent the virtues of obedience, orderliness, regularity, etc. But, on the other hand, military organization is necessarily of such a nature as to develop servil- ity in the common soldiers and a domineering spirit in the officers. It also tends to develop contempt for and brutality towards the common civilian class. Furthermore, the conditions under which military service is usually performed are bad, especially for the young conscripts. These youths are torn away from their homes at a period of life when they are likely to form bad habits. They are thrown into the garrison life in large cities and elsewhere in which they may easily acquire vices and diseases which will affect their conduct for evil throughout the remainder of their lives. It goes without saying that the extent to which these evils will prevail in military service will depend in part upon the way in which an army is organized and the attention which is paid to conditions of living for the soldiers by those in charge of the pillage on a vast scale, the collective designs of hatred, vengeance, or envy, which one nation stirs up against another. Condemned under their in- dividual form, these odious passions, cruelty and greed, seem to be praise- worthy under their collective form. Why? First of all, because they quell many little internal conflicts though they bring about an external one; also, because they lead to a warlike solution of this very difficulty, and to the increase in territory as a result of the peace which is bound to follow. The effect of militarism is to exhaust the criminal passions scattered through every nation, to purify them in concentrating them, and to justify them by making them serve to destroy one another, under the superior form which they thus assume. After all is said and done, war enlarges the sphere of peace, as crime formerly used to enlarge the sphere of honesty. This is the irony of history." (G. Tarde, Penal Philosophy, Boston, 1912, p. 422.) THE POLITICAL BASIS OF CRIME IOI army. If an army is as democratically organized as is possible for a military body, and if the government provides the best possible living conditions for the soldiers, these evils will be reduced to a minimum. But even if this end is attained, it is doubtful if the benefits derived from military service can coun- terbalance its evils. It has been asserted by some that the criminality of the soldier class is higher than that of the civilian population. But this appears doubtful when the criminality of the soldiers is compared with that of the male civilian population of about the same ages. 1 Wherever it is true, the difference usually is not great, and is probably due in part at least to the fact that the soldier is guilty of various military offenses, such as insubordi- nation and malingering, which the civilian cannot commit. It may indeed be true that in some places the criminality of the soldier class is below that of the civilian population, owing to the strict discipline maintained over the soldiers. This fact, however, does not disprove the evil effects of military service, for these effects may display themselves later in the lives of the soldiers, after their military service is ended. Turning to the indirect but much more far-reaching effects of war and militarism upon crime, we must note first the spirit of lawlessness and violence which is encouraged by a war, and which usually persists for some time after the war ends and may manifest itself in an increase of crime. The history of every nation furnishes more or less evidence of this condition. War arouses the passions of hatred, vengeance, and envy, and re- quires the committing of many deeds of violence. Consequently, it is not surprising that it should lead to this spirit of lawlessness and violence. 2 1 Cf. C. Lombroso, Crime, Its Causes and Remedies, Boston, 1911, pp. 201- 202. . 2 The atrocities committed in the course of the great war which is raging in Europe and elsewhere at the time of the present writing furnish numerous illustrations of the spirit of lawlessness, violence, and cruelty aroused by international warfare. It is only necessary to mention the ravishment of Belgium, Northern France, Poland, and Serbia, and the massacre of Ar- menians in Turkey to realize the truth of this statement. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace appointed an interna- tional commission to inquire into the causes and conduct of the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913. In its report the Commission stated as follows the moral 102 CRIMINOLOGY But the results from war which probably have the greatest indirect influence upon crime are the economic effects of war. These effects may be briefly stated as follows. 1 War is almost certain to reduce the aggregate production of wealth, thus making society poorer at the end than it was at the beginning of a war. This loss is due to the destruction of property by military operations and to the cessation in the production of wealth during wartime. It goes without saying that most of the goods produced for war purposes are worthless at the end of a war. This means that, unless something is done to distribute wealth more evenly, the working class will be poorer at the end of a war. Furthermore, the means of production available at the end of a war are likely to be smaller. Owing to the reduction in the supply of wealth, there is likely to be a shortage of capital. Owing to the destruction of human life, there may be a shortage of labor. The loss of life caused by war is largely of male adult laborers, many of whom are skilled, whose rearing and training are therefore lost to society and diminish the productive labor force. In order to reconstruct what has been destroyed by the war, and to raise the supply of wealth to the normal, production is almost certain to be brisk after a war, within the limits placed by the available capital. Inasmuch as the supply of labor has effect upon the nations involved of the atrocities committed in the course of these wars: "Reference has already been made to the reflex psychological effect of these crimes against justice and humanity. The matter becomes serious when we think of it as something which the nations have absorbed into their very life, a sort of virus which, through the ordinary channels of circulation, has infected the entire body politic. Here we can focus the whole matter, the fearful economic waste, the untimely death of no small part of the population, a volume of terror and pain which can be only par- tially, at least, conceived and estimated, and the collective national con- sciousness of greater crimes than history has recorded. This is a fearful legacy to be left to future generations." (Report of the International Com- mission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars, Washing- ton, 1914, p. 269.) 1 The next few paragraphs are taken in part from my Poverty and Social Progress, New York, 1916, pp. 199-201. In that book I have described at greater length the economic effects of war. For other discussions of the influence of war and militarism upon crime, see, N. Colajanni, La sociologia criminate, Catania, 1889, Vol. II, pp. 572-588; W. Bonger, Criminality and Economic Conditions, Boston, 1916, pp. 516-519. THE POLITICAL BASIS OF CRIME 103 diminished, the surviving laborers are likely to get better wages and to suffer less from unemployment. In other words, there comes a period of prosperity which benefits both the employer and the worker. It is indeed a sad commentary upon the eco- nomic organization of society that the period immediately following a war is frequently much preferable to many a period of depression during times of peace. This fact has led many to think that war is a good thing, because of the stimulus it apparently gives to manufacturing and trade. But it must be remembered that industrial activity after a war is largely due to an effort to get back to the condition which ex- isted before the war, by making good the losses mentioned above. It must also be remembered that the payment of the cost of a war hangs over a people long after the war is ended. No modern government can carry on a war very long without rais- ing special funds. These funds are secured usually by issuing long term bonds, which are purchased in the main by capitalists, and upon which interest must be paid for many years. The question as to who pays in the end for these bonds depends upon the incidence of the taxes by means of which they are paid. Up to the present time it is doubtless true that they have been paid for in the main by the poorer people, upon whom indirect taxes usually fall in the end. So that wars have been paid for mainly by the working classes, and one of the results of modern warfare has been to furnish another means of trans- ferring wealth from the poor to the rich; for these bonds have usually furnished safe investments at fairly good rates of profit for the capitalists, while for many years after a war the poor are contributing heavily to pay the interest to the capitalists, and ultimately to pay back the principal. If wars were paid for by heavy assessments upon the rich at the time of the war, or by the issue of bonds to be paid for by direct taxes upon the rich, such as inheritance and income taxes, a war would no longer be a force for making the poor poorer by making the rich richer; for while the poor would not gain anything through the war, they would not lose as much as they do now, and the rich would not become richer at their expense. It is probable that if such were the case, there would be much less war; because the rich usually have much influence with governments, and 104 CRIMINOLOGY . under those conditions it would no longer be to the interest of the rich to have war. 1 It is hardly necessary to call attention to the heavy expendi- ture between wars caused by military warfare. So long as international relations are based on the theory that the eco- nomic interests of nations conflict, war will continue to be an imminent possibility for every nation. Consequently, every nation must maintain itself in a state of preparedness for war. This means constant expenditure for munitions and other equipments of war, and for the services of fighting men who are being withdrawn from the production of wealth. And as no government can safely, from the military point of view, refuse to give pensions, for a long period after every war of any extent there must be heavy expenditure for the payment of pensions. In most cases these expenditures are paid for by means of taxes whose incidence falls upon the poorer classes. War and militarism are, therefore, factors for creating eco- nomic conditions which, as I have shown in the last chapter, encourage crime. They accentuate the inequality in the dis- tribution of wealth, and thus swell the size of the poorer classes which contribute most heavily proportionately to the criminal class. Furthermore, war increases the instability of commerce and industry by disturbing the normal processes of manufacture and trade. This is well illustrated by the fact that even the smaller wars cause world-wide disturbances in the stock markets and in the prices of many commodities, while a great war is almost certain to bring on a world-wide panic, crisis, and period of depression. This instability in economic conditions, by rendering the economic status of many persons insecure through loss of employment, loss of property, etc., increases the incite- ment and the temptation to acquire criminal habits. Further- more, the great fluctuations in prices in the stock markets and elsewhere furnish shrewd speculators excellent opportunities to amass great fortunes, and thus to enhance the inequality in the distribution of wealth. 2 1 As a result of the great war now in progress (1917) the rich are being heavily taxed in some of the belligerent countries. This may prove to have a deterring influence upon war in the future, provided the rich do not suc- ceed in transferring the incidence of these taxes upon the poor. 2 See my Poverty and Social Progress, pp. 404-405. THE POLITICAL BASIS OF CRIME 105 In the last analysis, war and militarism impede the progress of civilization, and thus delay the coming of a state of society in which crime will in all probability be greatly diminished. Social progress requires the constant extension of cooperation in the form of the division of labor, in order thereby to augment the sum total of human achievement. The principle of the division of labor has already been applied to a far-reaching degree in many fields of human activity, such as economic af- fairs, science, art, etc. But unfortunately it has so far been applied only to a slight extent in political affairs. Nationalism is now the fundamental principle in political organization, and stands as a barrier against the division of labor and coopera- tion, not only in political matters but also frequently in eco- nomic activities. Generally speaking it is a serious hindrance to the diffusion of culture, and therefore an obstacle to the unification and organization of mankind into a single coherent social organism. Not until internationalism supersedes na- tionalism, and something in the nature of a world state comes into being, can civilization attain the highest possible rate of progress. CHAPTER VIII THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME Religion and crime Science and crime Art and crime The press and crime The advance of civilization and the increase of crime. IN the two preceding chapters I have discussed two of the most important, perhaps the most important, aspects of civiliza- tion in their relations to crime, namely, the economic and the political aspects. There are other aspects of civilization and other forces at work in our civilization which must be discussed in similar fashion. Furthermore, it is essential to discuss the in- fluence of the progress of civilization upon crime, in order to ascertain what effect it has upon crime, both with respect to kind and quantity. RELIGION AND CRIME In Chapter II has been described briefly the influence of magic and religion upon the origin and early evolution of crime. Mag- ical ideas and religious beliefs determined in large part what acts were to be included in the early categories of crimes. With the evolution of civilization magical ideas have lost their power almost entirely, because of the obvious failure of magical at- tempts to coerce and control natural processes, and because ef- fective scientific methods have superseded the ineffective mag- ical methods. Religion also has lost much of its power, and has been superseded by science to a large extent, because of the apparent failure of religious attempts to propitiate the alleged spiritual beings which are reputed to control the processes of nature. However, religion has one great advantage for survi- val over magic. When religious attempts fail, it is always possible to fall back upon the hypothesis that the gods have been unwilling to grant the requests of men. Inasmuch as mankind can never hope to attain absolute knowledge by means of the most effect- ive human method of acquiring knowledge, namely, the method of science, it will never be possible to disprove categorically the THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME 107 existence of these hypothetical spiritual beings, however far- fetched and improbable these hypotheses may be, nor the traits attributed to them by religious devotees. Consequently, religion still retains a considerable influence which must be dis- cussed in relation to crime. Representatives of religion frequently assert or imply that irreligion is a potent force for crime. It is difficult to measure accurately the influence of religion upon crime. But so far as reliable statistics are available they disprove this assertion on the part of the religionists. For example, Bonger states that according to the census of 1879 and 1909 in the Netherlands, the percentage of those who were not church members increased from 0.31 to 4.97, an increase of over 1,500 per cent in thirty years; whereas during the same period crime decreased in ex- tent. 1 This indicates that apparently the diminution of religion as measured by the decrease in the church membership was, to say the least, not causing an increase of crime, if indeed it was not lessening the amount of crime. Bonger has also prepared the following table, based upon the criminal statistics of more than 126,000 individuals sentenced during the period from 1901 to 1909 in the Netherlands: 2 RELIGION AND CRIME IN THE NETHERLANDS, 1901-1909 Number Sentenced to 100,000 of the Population over 10 Years Old Protestant Catholic Jew Not Mem- Total bers of A ny Popu- Religion lation All offenses 308.6 416.5 212.7 84.2 337.3 Theft 40.0 54.8 25.5 9.6 43.9 Aggravated theft 19 .9 24.0 12.7 5.2 20.7 Receiving stolen goods 2.6 3.5 g.2 0.7 3.0 Embezzlement 8.6 9.3 JJ.J i 9 8.7 Fraud 2.4 2.5 j.p 0.4 2.4 Offenses against public de- cency 1.9 3.4 2.0 0.5 2.4 Minor sexual offenses 1.2 i.o 0.3 0.2 i.o Rape 1.5 2.2 1.5 0.7 1.8 Sexual crimes with persons under 1 6 0.3 0.3 o.i o.o 0.3 All sexual crimes 5.1 7.7 4.1 1.6 5.7 Rebellion 25.9 37 .o 13.2 12.2 29.0 Assaults 74.4 98.2 43.2 20.1 80. i Serious assaults 8.5 n.o 3.9 1.9 9.1 Homicide and murder 0.4 0.6 0.5 o.i 0.5 1 W. Bonger, Criminality and Economic Conditions, Boston, 1916, p. 208. 2 W. Bonger, op. cit., p. 209. 108 CRIMINOLOGY As Bonger says, the conditions revealed by this table are that "the first place is almost always occupied by the Catholics, the second by the Protestants, and then come the Jews (except in cases of receiving stolen goods, embezzlement, and fraud), and the minimum of criminality (in all crimes without exception) is shown by the irreligious!" l It is, of course, true that church membership is not a perfect criterion of religiosity. But it will serve as a rough measure, because there are irreligious persons in the churches just as there are religious persons who do not belong to any church. In fact, if there is any difference whatever in this respect, the chances are that there are more irreligious persons who belong to churches for family, business, and political reasons, or simply through inertia because they were born into them, than there are religious persons who do not care to join a church. The relative criminality of the adherents of the different religions is also of some importance. In Germany, during the years 1892-1901, the average number of persons convicted per 100,000 civilians of each faith was: 2 1,361 Catholic Christians; 1,122 Evangelical Christians; 1,030 Jews. The German statistics confirm the Dutch statistics given above. The low criminality of the Jews is probably due to the fairly high average prosperity of the Jews in both of these coun- tries, and to the strong family, racial, and religious organization amongst them. As a member of a small and more or less alien racial and religious community, there is probably more or less social pressure upon the individual Jew to refrain from breaking the law in order to avoid bringing hostile criticism upon his community from without the group. The high criminality of the Catholics is sometimes attributed in part to their practise of auricular confession. It doubtless happens that some ignorant persons are emboldened to commit crimes because they depend upon auricular confession and the performance of the penance imposed upon them to absolve them from the consequences of their crimes. But in other cases this form of confession has probably led to the reparation of crimes, 1 Op. dt., p. 209. 2 G. Aschaffenburg, Crime and Its Repression, Boston, 1913, p. 52. THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME 1 09 or to a restraint upon would-be criminals from committing crimes. So that it is impossible to determine whether it has encouraged more crime than it has discouraged. There can be no doubt, however, that the religious doctrine of the forgiveness of sins after repentance has frequently encouraged persons of weak character to commit immoral and criminal acts. Whether or not this has been more true of the Catholic religion than of other religions which hold the same tenet, it is difficult to say. It may have as much influence among some of the Protestant sects. The Christian doctrine of the forgiveness of sins possesses this evil influence because it disseminates the grossly erroneous notion that repentance absolves a person from responsibility for the immorality of his past conduct. It would be difficult to find a more anti-social and immoral religious doctrine. A fact which is probably of much greater significance with regard to the high criminality of the Catholics is that in Germany and in many other countries where both Catholics and Protes- tants are numerous the Catholics are not so affluent as the Prot- estants. Inasmuch as the poorer classes produce more criminals than the wealthier classes, this fact may account entirely for the high criminality of the Catholics. However, this is not neces- sarily the case, and the religious factor may have considerable influence. It may be that Catholicism does not encourage the material well-being of its followers as much as Protestantism and certain other religions. Or it may be that the Catholic religion appeals more strongly to the poor and the ignorant, and then reacts upon them so as to increase their poverty and ignorance. Certainly the subservient attitude required by the Catholic Church of its devotees does not seem calculated to en- courage them to acquire knowledge. The religious traits of many criminals have been described. 1 Among them is to be found nearly every type of religionist. So far as it is possible to generalize about them, it is probably safe to say that their religion is more emotional and more supersti- tious than the average. It is evident that it has failed entirely or in large part from restraining their criminal propensities, and may in some cases even stimulate those propensities. So large a 1 See, for example, the writings of C. Lombroso, Crime, Its Causes and Remedies, pp. 138-144, L'komme criminel, etc.; E. Laurent, Le Criminel, pp. 64-70; C. Perrier, Les Criminels; and many other criminologists. 110 CRIMINOLOGY proportion of the criminals are religious that it is the most egregious folly to regard religion as a panacea for crime, as seems to be the belief of many representatives of religion. The above-mentioned facts suggest conclusions which are highly probable on other grounds as well. It is not surprizing that there is a lower percentage of criminality among those who are accounted as irreligious, for this group includes a larger percentage than the religious group of persons who think for themselves and who, whether religious or irreligious, do not accept the authority and tutelage of any religious organization. This fact implies a high standard of intelligence and education, which is not usually correlated with criminality. This is not because intelligence and education are in themselves neces- sarily preventives of crime, but because they are likely to place an individual in a position in society where the temptations towards criminal conduct are comparatively small. For similar reasons it is not surprizing that the religions whose followers are ignorant and poor display a high percentage of criminality. Furthermore, it is not to be expected that religion in itself is to display a universal and uniform tendency towards discouraging crime, because religions differ greatly amongst themselves, and therefore in their influence upon social phenom- ena. In order to understand the last statement it will be neces- sary to study briefly the broader aspects of religion, and to bring to light its indirect and remote effects upon crime. The religious teachings received by most persons during childhood and early youth usually make a powerful impression upon the emotional nature. This impression is probably due in the main to the mysterious and mystical features of religion, which have this effect through physiological and pyschological processes which there is not the space to describe here. Espe- cially impressionable is the youth at the time of puberty, for at that time there reach maturity the sexual organs and processes which furnish the most powerful affective stimulants in the human organism. If the individual passes through the psy- chological crisis which in religious experience is called conver- sion, with its accompanying phenomena of repentance and re- morse, the impression made by the religious teachings becomes all the more indelible upon the mind of the neophyte. The significance of the above facts for our purpose is clear. THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME III Every religion contains more or less extensive accretions in the way of moral commands and guidance for its adherents. These moral teachings receive a powerful dynamic reenforcement from the emotional factors in religion. Furthermore, these teachings probably receive some reenforcement also from the minatory features of religion, namely, from the intimidation attempted by nearly every religion by means of threats of supernatural pun- ishments. 1 Consequently, it becomes a question of considerable moment as to what are the moral teachings of a religion. It goes without saying that the religions differ greatly amongst themselves in this matter, so that it is difficult if not impossible to generalize with respect to them. Some of these teachings are genuinely moral in the sense that they promote harmony in social relations and the welfare of mankind. Some of these teachings are highly immoral in the sense that they instigate strife and conflict, and cause untold human suffering and un- happiness by enjoining upon the religious devotees militant propagandism, asceticism, penitential pain, minatory terror of supernatural penalties, etc. 2 1 The minatory influence of religion has been questioned. It is doubt- less not so great as is popularly believed, owing to human heedlessness as to the ultimate consequences of their acts. The same trait accounts for the limited intimidatory influence of legal penalties. But it is, I believe, a mistake to deny it practically all efficacy, as is done by some writers, as, for example, J. L. de Lanessan, who says: "En ce qui concerne la crainte de 1'enfer, il est facile de s'assurer qu'elle n'a jamais joue un r61e moralisateur bien considerable." (La lulle conire le crime, Paris, 1910, p. 97.) 2 Lombroso suggests the interesting theory that new religions have a greater moral influence than old religions, because they have not yet fallen into ritualism, symbolism, and other kinds of formalism. (See his Crime, Its Causes and Remedies.) "One thing seems clear to me, namely, that the younger religions are, the greater is their moral power, because the letter has not yet encroached upon the spirit, because the enthusiasm for new ideas occupies the mind and draws it away from crime, and, finally, be- cause, whatever be its origin, the organism is then more free from symbols and formulas that clog its activity." (P. 141.) "On the whole, the contra- diction of the influence of religion, now great and now totally lacking, dis- appears when one grasps the significance of the facts. Religion is useful when it is based absolutely upon morals and abandons all rites and formu- laries. This is a condition that can be realized only in the new religions; because while all in the beginning are moral, afterwards, little by little, they become crystallized, and ritual practices submerge the moral principle, which is less easily conceived and retained by the crowd. All members of new sects are men of one idea, which protects them, like a vaccine, against 112 CRIMINOLOGY We have not the space to appraize the important religions of the world with respect to their moral influence. l But there are a number of general considerations which should be noted. There is much talk now-a-days of "socializing" religion. By this it is meant that a large number of moral teachings which are or are supposed to be of social value are to be incorporated in religion. Thus will arise, it is alleged, what is called "social" religion. 2 Some, indeed, insist that religion should become entirely social, thus eliminating the supernatural element. Now it is evident, on the one hand, that these social teachings are not religious in their origin, but arise out of humanitarian- ism. 3 It is obvious, on the other hand, that there can be no religion in the strict sense of the term without a supernatural element. Consequently, there can be no purely "social" reli- gion, and the phrase "social religion" is a misnomer for one ignoble passions." (P. 142.) His conclusion with regard to the influence of religion upon crime is as follows: "The only religions, then, which can pre- vent crime are those that are fanatical, passionately moral, or just arising. The others are no more effective than atheism, and perhaps less so." (P. 144.) There is doubtless a measure of truth in this theory. But Lombroso is, I believe, mistaken in assuming that all new religions are necessarily moral in their influence. As I have indicated above, it depends upon whether or not their teachings are moral from the outset in the sense that they are social in their influence. Many religions have been highly immoral from their inception, because of the anti-social character of their teachings. Furthermore, it is impossible for religion to become solely a system of morals, as Lombroso suggests, for then would be eliminated the supernatural ele- ment which is essential to every religion. Religion would then become charity, philanthropy, altruism, humanitarianism, etc., but would no longer be religion. Lombroso himself seems to recognize this when he says with regard to charitable activities: "Here, then, it is not religion in general, that deserves the credit, but certain religions only, or, better still, the ideal tendency of certain progressive races. However, we must say of the opera- tion of religion, as we have said of that of charity, that it is always indi- vidual, limited, and less effective than the economic influence, which alone is universally felt by the masses." (P. 300.) 1 A survey of this sort has been made by J. L. de Lanessan, La morale dcs religions, Paris, 1905. 2 See, for example, E. A. Ross, Social Control, New York, 1901, Chap. XVI entitled " Social Religion." 3 1 have described the nature of humanitarianism elsewhere. See my Poverty and Social Progress, New York, 1916, Chap. XVII entitled "The Modern Humanitarian Movement." Also see my article entitled The Rise of Modern Humanitarianism, in the Am. Journal of Sociology, November, THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME 113 phase of human! tarianism. This does not mean that it is not possible for a religion to carry along with it at least a modicum of social teachings, and the dynamic element in religion which arises out of its emotional nature may reenforce those teachings, and thus give them greater power. But the question still re- mains as to the influence of the supernatural content of religion. It will always be impossible for mankind to know everything, or, indeed, to know anything absolutely. Beyond the bounds of human knowledge will always remain the boundless reach of the unknown and the unknowable, furnishing the opportunity for speculative metaphysics and religion. So long as the meta- physician and the religionist do not invade with their specula- tions the field of what has become known through the only source of knowledge, namely, science, they are not likely to do any harm. The metaphysician is usually well enough ac- quainted with science not to commit this mistake. But the representatives and exponents of religion are constantly falling into this egregious error. By so doing they place grave obstacles in the form of superstitious ideas and beliefs in the way of the spread and influence of scientific knowledge. The adherents of the religious cults are induced to accept the hypothetical re- ligious explanations for the proven scientific explanations of natural phenomena, and thus they and through them society at large are led astray in the conduct of life. Consequently, religion and science are irreconcilable not only theoretically, because they are diametrically opposed in method (the specula- tive theological as opposed to the inductive scientific method), and deal with entirely different subject-matter (the known and knowable and the unknown and unknowable), but also prac- tically, because religion is, or, at any rate, its representatives are continually meddling with the results of science by miscon- struing and misrepresenting them and by opposing their ac- ceptance. This is the most important and most far-reaching considera- tion with respect to the influence of religion. In the long run it is doubtless of much greater importance than the immediate effect of religion upon crime, or the moral influence of religion upon the population at large. This is true because religion will probably always continue to oppose science, and thus to impede the progress of civilization, for civilization can be constructed 114 CRIMINOLOGY only upon the basis of knowledge such as can be acquired through science alone. It may, indeed, be said that civilization is in a large measure correlated with irreligion in the sense that civiliza- tion can grow and progress only as religion decreases and loses its influence. 1 Innumerable illustrations can be given of the ways in which religion opposes the spread of scientific knowledge, obfuscates the truth, and thus impedes the progress of civilization. The pray- ers for rain are still read in the Catholic churches and special prayer meetings are still held in many Protestant churches in this country at tunes of drought, despite the fact that meteorological science has explained for us the forces which control the pre- cipitation of rain. The dogma of the forgiveness of sins still gives currency to the notion that the effects of an act can be wiped out by repentance and remorse alone, or by the absolution which follows penitential acts, despite the fact that the biological and psychological sciences have taught us that the effects of any act, whether sinful or otherwise, upon the organism and per- sonality are indelible. 2 The great war in progress in Europe and 1 Leuba has made an investigation which is of great significance in this connection. By means of a questionnaire he ascertained the beliefs with respect to religion of one thousand American scientists. He found that only 41.6 per cent of these scientists believed in a personal god. After di- viding the thousand into two groups of six hundred less eminent scientists and four hundred more eminent scientists, he found that 48.2 per cent of the less eminent believed in a personal god, while only 3 1.7 per cent of the more eminent believed in a personal god. In similar fashion he ascertained the beliefs of these thousand men of science with respect to their belief in personal immortality. He found that 50.5 per cent of the total number believed in personal immortality. Of the six hundred less eminent 59.6 per cent believed in personal immortality, while of the four hundred more eminent only 37 per cent held this belief. Leuba also made a similar investigation of the religious beliefs of several college classes which seemed to indicate that the religious beliefs of these students decreased with the degree of advancement of their studies. (J. H. Leuba, The Belief in Cod and Immortality, Boston, 1916.) This investigation furnishes evidence that religion declines with increase of knowledge and ability, both of which are essential factors for the progress of civilization. 2 The Christian dogma cf the forgiveness of sins is stated at many points in the New Testament. For example, in his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul states the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins through the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus for the persons who accept him as their savior. "In whom we have THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME 115 elsewhere at the time of the present writing has furnished abundant evidence of the belief which is more or less prevalent in each country that the divine sanction somehow or other rests upon that country in preference to other countries, thus in- tensifying the bitter feeling towards hostile countries, in spite of the fact that according to the monotheistic doctrine itself a unitary deity could not very well take sides with every bellig- erent. SCIENCE AND CRIME The preceding discussion of religion has incidentally revealed the supreme importance of the influence of science. We should, in the first place, speak of the immediate effects of science upon crime. The development of technical scientific methods en- courages crime somewhat by furnishing many professional criminals more effective methods of committing certain kinds of crimes. But science has also furnished the police and the courts more effective methods for the detection and the appre- hension of criminals. So that in all probability scientific methods have been more effective for the suppression and prevention of crime than they have been effective for rendering crime more facile. But, as is amply demonstrated in the course of this book, scientific methods are of the utmost value also for ascertaining the causes of crime and the nature of the criminal. With the use of these methods much has already been learned, and much more will doubtless be learned in the future. Only on the basis of this knowledge can an effective program for the treatment of the criminal and the prevention of crime be devized. So that science is of decisive importance in determining how society shall deal with crime in the future. It is, however, sometimes alleged that modern science has a " materialistic" influence which gives rise to a good deal of immorality. This criticism of modern science doubtless orig- inates in the main from the religious opposition to science, but redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." (Ephcsians, I, 7.) While this unscientific and anti-social religious doctrine should be repu- diated, offenders who display regret and remorse for the injury they have done to others should be treated with magnanimity and mercy in order to encourage them to do better in the future. Il6 CRIMINOLOGY a little of it may have a sentimental origin apart from religion. It is claimed that many of those who become imbued with the ideas of modern science discard all of their previous ethical ideas, and are no longer governed by a sense of responsibility in their relations with their fellows. It is doubtless true that this has happened to a few persons, but probably not to many. In most of these cases the individual has been a young person who has had a conventional religious training. In many of these cases the individual has been of an unstable character. It is not surprizing that when the clash between the scientific ideas and the traditional religious beliefs has come in the minds of these persons, it has resulted in a complete overthrowal of the old code of conduct without a substitution for it of a new code. But it is obvious that this is not a necessary result of scientific ideas. On the contrary, a thoroughgoing scientific training makes possible an understanding of the physical conditions under which mankind lives, of human nature, and of the social relations in which men live. This knowledge furnishes the best possible basis for a code of conduct which leads to the most satisfactory life both for the individual and for his fellows. Consequently, it is utterly false to assert that science neces- sarily leads to immoral conduct, and that religion is absolutely necessary as a basis for a successful code of conduct. We now come to the most indirect influence of science upon crime, but which is, nevertheless, of the most far-reaching im- portance. It is obvious that science is essential to the progress of civilization. This progress consists in the main in the ac- quiring control as far as possible by man of the conditions of his existence, thus enabling him to live the happiest and most normal life possible. 1 The highest degree of human control which is possible can come only through an understanding of the natural forces which determine these conditions of human existence, and this knowledge can be obtained only by science. ART AND CRIME Criminal persons and actions play a considerable part in works of art, and art has a slight influence upon crime. The 1 For a theory of social progress, see my Poverty and Social Progress, New York, 1916, Chap. XXX, entitled " Social Progress and the Coming of the Normal Life." THE INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION UPON CRIME II 7 crimes and criminals usually depicted in art are of the most exaggerated types. For example, in literature the criminal by passion is frequently represented, notwithstanding the fact that this type is comparatively infrequent in real life. 1 Detective stories almost invariably describe unusual crimes and criminals and unusual police officers and police methods of detection. In similar fashion the vices are frequently described in a highly colored fashion, the sordid details being carefully omitted. It is easy to explain these features of the artistic and especially the literary representation of crime and vice. The exaggerated types of crime and vice are more dramatic than the common types, and crime and vice in general are more dramatic than virtue. 2 Consequently, it is not surprizing that the artist so frequently takes these exaggerated types as his subjects, and that the public finds them of absorbing interest. But this sort of an artistic treatment of crime and vice is sure to produce some evil results. In the first place, by depicting almost exclusively the exag- gerated types of crime and vice the public is given a false im- pression as to the true nature of the great majority of criminal and vicious acts, and as to the traits of most of the criminal and vicious persons. From literature, the drama, and other forms of art, almost nothing can be learned about the feebleminded and psychopathic types of criminals, and comparatively little about the occasional and professional criminals. Furthermore, what little can be learned is in the main inaccurate and mis- leading, since most of the artists have had little opportunity for firsthand observation, no scientific training, and have an exu- berant and undisciplined imagination which leads them far astray in their ignorance. Since it is important that the public should have a correct understanding of the problem of crime, the influence of art in spreading misinformation is harmful. In the second place, the glorification of crime and the criminal 1 "Dans 1'art, au contraire, le crime n'est represente que par ses incarna- tions les plus typiques et les moins ordinaires. II est rare qu'un tempra- ment tres original ou que les exigences du public a un moment donn6 pous- sent 1'artiste a eviter les sentiers battus, 1'eternelle repetition du crime et du criminel par amour les moins fr6quemment observables d'ailleurs, dans la vie reelle." (E. Ferri, Les crimincls dans I'arl el la littrature, Paris, 3897, p. 2.) ~\ 2 CJ. M. Guyau, L'arl au point de vue sociologique, Paris, 1897, p. 381. Il8 CRIMINOLOGY by the artist gratifies the vanity of criminals, and excites a de- sire for emulation on the part of would-be criminals. Speaking more broadly, such art probably has a certain amount of suggest- ive power, by means of which it influences some of the weaker, more suggestible individuals to imitate the acts of the criminal and vicious characters depicted in these works of art. The exact extent of this influence it is impossible to measure. On the other hand, strange as it may seem, such art sometimes has a cathartic influence which has a slight social value. Ever since Aristotle propounded his theory of catharsis (xd0ap