VISION AND THE JUVENILE DELINQUENT

• NCJ Number: 54020
• Journal: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATION Volume: 37 Issue: 5 Dated: (MAY 1966) Pages: 461-468
• Author(s): D DZIK
• Date Published: 1966
• Length: 8 pages
• Corporate Author: American Optometric Assoc
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VISION PROBLEMS AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IS DESCRIBED USING A TENNESSEE STUDY OF JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AND SCHOOL ENROLLMENT; FOUR PERCEPTUAL SKILLS IMPORTANT TO READING ARE DISCUSSED.

Abstract

TWO STUDIES OF CLIENTS PROCESSED THROUGH THE HAMILTON COUNTY, TENN., JUVENILE COURT INDICATE THAT 91 PERCENT OF THE JUVENILES PROCESSED IN 1949 HAD RETARDED SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT; 94 PERCENT OF THE JUVENILES PROCESSED IN 1965 READ BELOW THEIR SCHOOL GRADE LEVEL, AND 72 PERCENT OF THE 1965 SAMPLE FAILED ONE OR MORE OF THE VISION TESTS FOR FAR AND NEAR SEEING AND PERCEPTION. A COMPARISON OF TENNESSEE'S SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FIGURES WITH THE STATE'S BIRTH CENSUS SHOWED THAT THE NUMBER OF PERSONS ENROLLED IN FIRST GRADE IN 1947 FAR EXCEEDED THE EXPECTED LEVEL AS INDICATED BY NUMBER OF BIRTHS IN 1941. WHEN THIS COMPARISON WAS CARRIED OUT FOR THE HIGHER GRADES, RESULTS SHOWED THAT THERE WERE MORE PUPILS IN THE FIRST SIX GRADES THAN THERE WERE IN THE 7TH TO THE 12TH GRADES. THIS DIFFERENCE IS PARTLY DUE TO THE FAILURE OF MANY STUDENTS TO PASS FROM ONE GRADE TO THE NEXT. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS CANNOT LEARN TO READ AND LATER CANNOT READ TO LEARN. THESE LEARNING PROBLEMS PUT A CHILD AT A HIGH RISK FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. FOUR PRESCHOOL PERCEPTUAL SKILLS CAN AID CLASSROOM ACHIEVEMENT: LOCOMOTION, LOCATION (JUDGING WHERE OBJECTS ARE IN SPACE), LABELING (ORGANIZING AND IDENTIFYING VISUAL EXPERIENCES), AND LANGUAGE (INTERPRETING VISUAL EXPERIENCE INTO WORDS). IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT RESEARCH ON DELINQUENCY AND VISION PROBLEMS BE DEVELOPED FURTHER, CONFERENCES ON DELINQUENCY AND ITS FACTORS BE ENCOURAGED AMONG PUBLIC AGENCIES SUCH AS POLICE AND THE VARIOUS HEALTH PROFESSIONS, AND THAT IDENTIFIED POOR LEARNERS IN A SCHOOL SYSTEM BE TESTED BY A VARIETY OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO DETERMINE POSSIBLE BIOLOGICAL CAUSES. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)