Citation

Caldwell MG. Am. J. Sociol. 1931; 37(2): 231-239.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1931, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/215664

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article treats of the economic conditions of the families of 492 delinquent boys who were committed to the Wisconsin Industrial School at Waukesha, Wisconsin. These conditions are analyzed in the following respects: (1) rating of parental occupations; (2) family income; (3) employment of the mother outside the home; and (4) the work contacts of the delinquent boy. Two-third of the occupations of parents are unskilled occupations, according to the Barr Occupational Rating Scale. There is a slight tendency for the intelligence of children to be correlated with the occupational status of parents. Approximately 50 per cent of the families of a selected group of Wisconsin delinquents are receiving family incomes below the health and decency standard of living level of Paul Douglas. Nearly one-fourth of the mothers work outside the home either whole or part time. Slightly over 50 per cent of the boy delinquents are employed in economic enterprises of one sort or another before commitment. An analysis of these conditions show that economic factors exert an important influence in the causation of juvenile delinquency.