VII. Childhood Influences
The Arena (Sept. 1901) Vol. XXVI: pp. 304-310.
The remainder of the investigation presents the environmental conditions under which Southern negro criminals are reared. The cases already described are typical of the whole class. These results are more trustworthy than similar ones obtained from Northern white criminals. The cooperation of both officers and convicts was most earnest, and the small communities from which the criminals came made it easy to trace the influences in families and among associates.
From data gathered from prison populations aggregating nearly 10,000 and from minute observation of those measured, the evidence is clear that the negro criminal class is not an educated one. The ninety subjects measured were selected from about 300 women. Illiterate subjects were accepted only when others were not obtainable. From 42 offenders against the person, it was necessary to use 11 who were illiterate; of the remainder, 16 had attended country school, the average attendance being 3.7 years of about 3 months each—about one year of Northern training. In quality of education there is no comparison. Out of this number, 15 had attended city schools, the average attendance being 5.6 years. Thus the advantages in the city are greater. The education of the parents shows that in 7 cases both parents were illiterate; the fathers in 13 cases were illiterate, and in 21 cases had received some education, and 8 were unascertainable; of the mothers, 22 were illiterate, 14 had received some education, and 6 were unascertainable. The reasons given for leaving school at an early age included such as—work, 8; marriage, 4; moved away, 3; epilepsy and illness, 4 each. "Ran away from home," "got tired," and "didn't like it" were common reasons. The most favorable ages for attending school were, in order, 7-9, 9-11, and 11-13, only a very small number being in the last class.
The facts for offenders against property are slightly different. It is of interest to consider these separately, for this class is largely from the city districts and shows the superior advantages there. Out of 38, only 7 were illiterate and only 8 had also attended country schools. The average period of attendance was 4.4 years. The education of the parents was better than that of the class previously given. If a prison population possesses no higher average of education than this, and the parents are in a position to bequeath so little knowledge and educational culture to the children, there can be but little foundation for the assertions that the education of the negro does not decrease crime. Certainly the educated negroes are not found in the prisons, unless illiteracy and ability merely to read and write constitute these.
The methods used by parents in teaching right and wrong are of interest because they reveal something of the moral standards. Both persuasion and punishment were used, but the latter exceeded the former by a great majority. A number of the subjects declared they were not taught differences between right and wrong. They were punished for fighting, stealing, dipping snuff, lying, wanting others' things, card playing, dancing, or drinking. There is little or no evidence of the finer moral discriminations, and the method is training through punishment rather than through wise direction which avoids punishment. Restraints are shown in a few instances where parents objected to visits to saloons, dance-houses, etc. As among children who have been sent to Northern reformatories, the presence of stepfathers and stepmothers was often made evident by harsh and unusual punishments and by the children leaving home at an early age. Where the negroes had been brought up by whites, the training was generally lax. The punishments included: whipping with switch or strap, 62; sent to bed without food, 33; dark room, 31; locked up, 9; slapped (frequently), 9; tied up, 4; kneeling, 4. Other punishments were: head tied in a sack, standing on boxes, no food or water, frightened, holding bricks, silence, arms tied up, clothes tied over their heads, and kneeling on cracked bricks or shelled corn. The punishment does not lack in severity but in certainty. It is usually administered spasmodically and during anger. Often the amount of injury caused by the child's act regulates the degree of punishment, as does also the amount of shock to the parents' feelings. To illustrate the latter, if a child falls into a few inches of water and soils its clothes it may receive a moderate punishment, but if the mother is frightened because it has been in danger of drowning it may receive a more severe one. Spasmodic, unsystematic, unsympathetic, and often unprincipled discipline is the practise.
The object in securing the number of books read was to determine to what use the education had been put, and if any educational influences existed outside the schoolroom. The results show: Bible, 37; none, 27; novels, 22; Sunday-school books, 11; juvenile, history, and newspapers, 6 each; biographies, schoolbooks (as readers), and religious papers, 5 each; poems, 2; magazines, 1. One-third of the number had never read anything, and only 1 could describe a magazine clearly. The prominence of the Bible is of course due to the fact that it is often the only book owned, or obtainable. While its value is not questioned, the absence of every other kind of literature must often make it misunderstood, or lead to a narrow application of its precepts. Biographies and history were respectively those of Washington and Lincoln and of the United States. The preferences in reading show that the Bible was in favor with more than one-half. This is inaccurate for two reasons: many had no other literature from which to choose, and others thought, as a matter of duty, they should prefer it. The range of reading was so limited that but little preference could be expressed. In choice, George Washington was a close second to Jesse James, while Diamond Dick and Nick Carter won over all other dime novel heroes. Mrs. Holmes and Augusta Evans were the popular novelists, and "Mother Goose" and "Peck's Bad Boy" represented the juvenile reading. There are no opportunities for obtaining reading matter in the prisons or in the country districts, and only limited ones in the cities.
The number of children in a family throws light upon the problem of crime, because in a crude way it reveals the probable chance of each child for training and care. A farmer with a small section of plantation can do better for one child than for ten. Food, clothing, and individual training and opportunities become more limited as the numbers increase. The number of children in the families from which these criminals came ranges from one to twenty-seven. The average is eight per family. It becomes apparent, then, that some of these children must enter the labor ranks at an early age. The chances for individual training were small because the mother was also a laborer on the plantation. This statement is based upon the supposition that both parents are living, but the results show that before they had reached the age of 15 (the estimated age at which a girl still needs parental care) 30 had lost their fathers and 29 their mothers, and in 6 instances both parents had died. This means that in nearly two-thirds of the cases there had been step-parents, and the girls had married or they had been forced into the world to work for themselves, and often for younger brothers and sisters. In case of death there is rarely any provision made for the family, the benefits of insurance and the millions of small savings in the North being unknown among the mass of negroes.
The greater number of subjects claimed occupations as follows: nurses, 21: servants, 15: cooks, 14: field hands, 12: laundresses, 9: none, 5: factory and dining-room employees, each 2. Sixteen had been taught dressmaking, and 9 followed it. In many cases immorality was preferred to these trades, because of low wages or inability to secure work. The wage rate is lower for negroes than for whites, and upon many plantations there is no regular price paid—exchange and barter still being resorted to. The average age at which they began work was 12.5 years, but there are a few instances where they have begun as nurse girls at ages ranging from 6 to 10 years. With out exception they belonged to the laboring classes.
There is one other interesting factor in the influences in the childhood of these criminals—the nature of their play. This was almost entirely out-of-doors and their games were of a social nature, which means removal from parental restraints. Where numbers of children play together, careful supervision is needed to prevent the acquirement of bad habits and selection of bad associates. The games were: dolls, 66; hide-and-seek, 49; ball, 39; jump-the-rope, 39; see-saw, 39; jack-stones, 21; marbles, 19; ring games, 11; croquet, 10; swing and craps, 9 each; poison, 7; cards, housekeeping, and running games, 6 each. Mumbletepeg, hockey, kites, leap-frog, tops, hoops, etc., had each one or two adherents. There were but few toys used, and the games were simple, involving no complicated elements or apparatus. "Hide switches" is a game peculiarly their own, as is also "poison." Little or no use is made of play to develop such qualities as tolerance, self-control, patience, and unselfishness, except as the children teach one another.
For the childhood of these children, who have become criminals, there are found: defective education, meager moral instruction, little or no reading, unfavorable conditions (as related to home training and opportunities), harsh punishments, restriction to the laboring classes, and unrestrained and undirected recreation. This being true, what influences are found in the adult life of these same criminals that may counteract these early ones?
The recreation in adult life was divided into drama, music, and art. The horizon was so narrowed that it was difficult to secure results, but they represent fairly the conditions. Two preferences were allowed each subject, in order that the results might be more trustworthy, and they are here grouped together. The kinds of recreation preferred were: church festivals, 36; picnics, 18; shows, 13; excursions, 13; fairs, 10; "never went anywhere," 4; concerts and dances, 3 each. Some of the reasons given were: "have fun and enjoyment," "likes church doin's 'cause are better places," and "more quieter." In drama they gave their preferences in the form of "likes sad parts best," or "likes funny parts most." In attempting to secure more definite facts the following resulted: 46 admitted that they had seen no plays, 8 liked minstrels, and 4 had seen circuses. Some of the plays seen were: "Ten Nights in a Bar-room," 3; "Monte Cristo," "Devil's Auction," and "Two Orphans," 2 each; and "White Salve," "Skipped by the Light of the Moon," and a dog-show, 1 each.
The field of music was more familiar to them. The results were: church music, 58; instrumental, 32; band, 20; love-songs, 13; string instruments, 10. Art was dubious ground again, for 28 preferred pictures—like photographs, crayons, etc.; Biblical pictures, 25; paintings, 16; pictures of Nature, 6; decorations, 4. Pictures of people, buildings, in wax and in hair, were also mentioned. Art meant to them "all pretty things," and in this they included a great array of bright colors, varied designs and decorations, and articles used in domestic art. It is seen that the bulk of their social life centers in the church, the incentive being a desire for a "good time." Their music is for pastime, and is not a cultural influence; drama is almost unknown, and their taste in art is similar to that of primitive tribes. The kind of associates is also of importance. It was necessary to explain carefully what was meant by good and bad associates. Forty-seven believed their associates were bad and 32 that they were good. Results were unobtainable for the remainder. Forty-nine were decidedly in favor of "social times," 14 were semi-enthusiastic, and 11 were not sure if it was a "good thing."
The kind of temptations is a question naturally related to the associates. The results are much at variance with the actual facts, for it was difficult to make them understand the nature and scope of the question. They believed, for instance, that temptations were only such when yielded to. Twenty-two of the records were considered unreliable and were set aside. In the remainder, only grave temptations were given, such as immorality, use of alcohol, stealing, dancing, carousals, and fighting. They placed no emphasis upon the smaller temptations. The habits reveal, more clearly than do the temptations, the moral standards. These numbers are undoubtedly too small, as a few of the criminals would not openly admit their bad habits: immoral, 45; swearing, 38; smoking and use of snuff, 32 each; alcohol and chewing tobacco, 23 each; morphine, 5. Some of them had as many as five of these habits—and the average was over two each. Some of the ways in which they were acquired were: in prison, 11; tobacco for toothache, 5; taught by relatives, 4; bad example, through illness, and at school, 3 each. Other answers were: "on the farm," "in bad company," "own desire," and "always had them." Tobacco is furnished all convicts in the South, so there is a constant temptation to use it.
Facts for recidivism were unsatisfactory. Only one-seventh admitted having been previously arrested, and of these two-thirds were offenders against property. For the offenses against person the penalties were so severe that there had been but small opportunity for a repetition of the offense. This throws but little light upon the question of habitual criminality.
The habits of the parents included such as: For the fathers—smoking, 36; chewing tobacco, 35; alcohol, 19; gambling, 7. For the mothers—smoking and snuff, each 22; chewing tobacco, 8; alcohol, 3. The relatives of 20 others used alcohol, and epilepsy was not infrequent. Morphine is rarely used, and only in the cities; while cocaine is unknown.
From these factors in adult life it appears there was little or no improvement in the environment, and that the results were but the logical outcome of the earlier surroundings.