Quarante-quatre jeunes voleurs: Leur personnalité et leur vie familiale

Abstract

The characters and psychiatric history of 44 juvenile thieves referred to a Child Guidance Clinic are compared with those of 44 children also referred to a Clinic who did not steal. About half the thieves had indulged in regular and serious stealing, in most cases over a long period of time. In only 12 had the stealing been relatively slight, and one of these later turned out to be a chronic thief. In sex and intelligence there was no significant difference between the groups. Only two thieves were of low intelligence. Economic status was not specially investigated, but was believed not to differ between the two groups. Few in either group were dependent on support from public funds. The thieves are classified according to their characters. Only 2 were regarded as fairly «Normal»emotionally, 9 were Depressed, 2 Circular, 13 Hyperthymic, 14 of a character type which has been christened «Affectionless»and 4 Schizoid or Schizophrenic. There are no Affectionless Characters amongst the controls, a difference which is significant. The Affectionless children are significantly more delinquent than the other thieves. All but one were serious offenders, the majority truanting as well as stealing. They constitute more than half of the more serious and chronic offenders. It is argued that these Affectionless delinquents constitute a true psychiatric syndrome hitherto only partially recognized. Etiological factors are discussed under three main headings: possible genetic factors, early home environment and contemporary environment. The difficulty of isolating the influence of genetic factors from environmental factors is discussed. Five factors are treated statistically: 1 / genetic ; 2 / prolonged separations of child from mother or foster-mother in the early years; 3 / ambivalent and anxious mothers; 4 / fathers who openly hate their children ; 5 / recent traumatic events. Eighteen thieves had a parent or grand-parent who was mentally ill with psychosis, psychopathic character or severe neurosis, and incidence of mental illness which is almost identical to that in the control group. Though comparative figures are not available, this incidence is almost certainly higher in both groups than it would be in a control group of normal children. Both genetic and environmental factors are likely to play a part in producing this association. Seventeen of the thieves had suffered complete and prolonged separation (six months or more) from their mothers or established fostermothers during their first years of life. Only two controls had suffered similar separations, a statistically significant difference. 12 of the 14 thieves who were of the Affectionless Character had suffered a prolonged separation in contrast to only 5 of the remaining 30 thieves, a difference which is again significant. Clinical evidence is presented which shows that a prolonged separation is a principle cause of the Affectionless (and delinquent) Character. Of the 27 thieves who had not suffered an early separation, 17 had mothers who were either extremely anxious, irritable and fussy or else rigid, domineering and oppressive, traits which in all cases mask much unconscious hostility. Five or the 27 had fathers who hated them and expressed their hatred openly. In these respects, however, the thieves do not differ from the controls, although it is extremely probable that both groups would differ substantially from a group of normal children. Five of the thieves had suffered traumatic experiences, four in connection with their mothers' illness or death and one over a brother's death. Six others had been seriously upset by a relatively recent unhappy experience. Evidence is brought to show that stealing is in some cases a symptom of a Depressive State. The incidence of the five factors enumerated does not differ significantly as between the less serious cases of stealing and the controls. The incidence both of ambivalent mothers and recent traumatic events is lower in the case of habitual thieves than it is in the other two groups. The incidence of prolonged separations of the small child from his mother or foster-mother is significantly greater in the case of the habitual offenders than in the other groups. It is concluded that whilst the other four factors may well be of considerable importance for thepathogenesis of unstable and maladapted children in general, including some delinquents, prolonged separations are a specific and very frequent cause of chronic delinquency. The pathological effects of prolonged separations and the psychopathology of the Affectionless thief are discussed very briefly. Attention is drawn (a) to the strong libidinal and agressive components in stealing, and (b) to the failure of super-ego development in these cases following a failure in the development of the capacity for object-love. The latter is traced to lack of opportunity for development and to inhibition resulting from rage and phantasy on the one hand and motives of emotional self-protection on the other. The relationship of stealing to truancy and sexual offences is discussed. Evidence is advanced that the Affectionless Character is prone to both, and that a substantial proportion of prostitutes are probably of this character. A plea is made for a combined research in which both psychoanalytic and socioeconomic factors are investigated. Without such research the relative effect of either group of factors in explaining the total problem of juvenile delinquency will remain unknown. The treatment of delinquent character is difficult. Since it is possible to diagnose an Affectionless Character at the age of three years and possibly earlier, a strong plea is made for early diagnosis and early treatment. Above all, attention should be given to prevention; many prolonged separations could be avoided.