NCJ Number
60468
Editor(s)
S BATAWIA
Date Published
1969
Length
36 pages
Annotation
SERIES OF ARTICLES EXAMINE THE EXTENT OF CRIME IN POLAND, COMPARE EARLY AND LATE RECIDIVISTS, AND DISCUSS THE RELATION BETWEEN DELINQUENCY AND SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS, INCLUDING INDUSTRIALIZATION.
Abstract
PRISONERS ENTERING WARSAW CENTRAL PRISON DURING 1965 AND 1966 WERE INVESTIGATED TO DISCOVER THE EXTENT OF THEIR SOCIAL MALADJUSTMENT IN CHILDHOOD, AND LATER ALCOHOLISM. THEY HAD AN AVERAGE AGE OF 31 AND WERE IN PRISON FOR THE FOURTH TIME. PROPERTY OFFENSES WERE THE MOST COMMON REASON FOR IMPRISONMENT, OFTEN JOINED BY SUCH OFFENSES AS ASSAULTING PUBLIC OFFICERS, OFFENSES AGAINST PERSONS, AND DRUNKENNESS. MANY WERE IN PRISON MORE OFTEN THAN THEY WERE OUT; MOST WERE NOT SERIOUS-CRIME OFFENDERS. FOR THOSE RECIDIVISTS WHOSE ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR BEGAN IN CHILDHOOD, IMPRISONMENT, IRRESPECTIVE OF LENGTH, WAS INEFFECTIVE. MORE EARLY RECIDIVISTS COMMITTED CRIMES AS JUVENILES THAN DID LATE ONES WHO HAD HAD LESS PROBLEMS WITH SOCIAL MALADJUSTMENT IN CHILDHOOD. TRUANCY, POOR GRADES, BAD BEHAVIOR, AND POOR FAMILY ENVIRONMENTS (WITH ALCOHOLISM AND LACK OF SYSTEMATIC WORK FOR THE FATHER) WERE CHARACTERISTIC OF RECIDIVISTS. THE PERCENTAGE OF THOSE COMING FROM LARGE FAMILIES WAS 36.4 PERCENT, A HIGHER PERCENTAGE THAN THE POLISH NATIONAL AVERAGE WERE BACHELORS, AND MORE THAN HALF OF THE LATE RECIDIVISTS REPORTED DIVORCE AND HAD NO PROFESSION, OR WERE NOT WORKING JUST PRIOR TO THE LAST ARREST. A STUDY MADE BETWEEN 1958 AND 1966 CONCERNED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DELINQUENCY AND INDUSTRIALIZATION AND LOOKED AT MIGRATION, UNSKILLED LABOR, AND THE FORMATION OF WORK CREWS, CONCLUDING THAT INCREASED DELINQUENCY WAS RELATED TO SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC PROCESSES CHARACTERISTIC OF HORIZONTAL SOCIAL MOBILITY. A FINAL ARTICLE ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY LOOKED AT THE NUMBER OF JUVENILES SUSPECTED OF OFFENSES BROUGHT BEFORE THE COURT, PRESENTED STATISTICS ACCORDING TO JUVENILES' AGE AND OFFENSE, AND DISCUSSED THE ACTIONS OF THE JUVENILE COURTS. SEVERAL FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (RFC)