REVIEWS
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1946.tb01009.x |
| Date | 01 July 1946 |
| Published date | 01 July 1946 |
194
REVIEWS
WHY
CRIME?
Some Causes and Remedies from the
Psychological Standpoint. By CLAUD
MULLINS.
(London
:
Methuen.
1946.
ix,
180
pp.
6s.
net.)
UNLIKE the same author’s
Crime
and
Psychology,’
this book
can hardly claim to break any fresh ground.
It
provides,
however, a very useful and stimulating confirmetion of what
has already been commonly known about certain causal
factors of crime.
Its
greatest value lies
in
the wealth of
practical experience and the profound understanding of the
human issues involved which are characteristic of whatever
Mr.
Mullins writes. The factors which he discusses
:
Heredity,
Parents, Broken Homes, and Illegitimacy, constitute only
one sector, though
an
important one, of the whole field.
There
is
first
heredity. The author complains of ‘the
almost universal tendency
to
ignore the hereditary factor in
problems of crime
’.
As
far as the theory of crime is
concerned this
is
hardly true. On the contrary, ever since
Lombroso perhaps even too much emphasis has been laid on
hereditary aspects, although of course in this country, in the
U.S.A.
and in Soviet Russia the matter has never been
so
much overdone as in Germany and Italy.
It
would be easier
to agree with
Mr.
Mullins
if
his criticism were intended to
refer not
to
the theorist but to the handling of individual
cases by criminal Courts. Here
it
would be justified to say
that Courts
far
too often decide without adequate informa-
tion on the offender’s heredity, and the same applies to many
of the penal and reformatory institutions which have to deal
with him.
An
illuminating example of this kind is given in
the book (pp.
24-27):
the case of
P.
B.,
a ‘persistent
offender’, twenty-seven years of age, to whom the author
refers as proving the existence of incorrigible criminals.
There
is
not the slightest doubt
in
the reviewer’s mind that
such a type does exist, but
so
far we have hardly reached
the stage where we can claim invariably to be able to distin-
guish between those who would be incorrigible
howcwr
perfect our methods of diagnosis. and treatment may be,
and
those who are incorrigible only according to our present,
very imperfect, methods.
‘P.
B.’s
early years could not be
investigated
(Le.,
by the Juvenile Court before which he first
appeared at the age of fourteen)
’,
writes
Mr.
Mullins,
‘
since
he knew next to nothing about them and the authorities had
1
Reviewed
in
7
MoD.L.REv.
17.2.
JULY,
1946
REVIEWS
195
failed to find out more than the probability that he had been
illegitimate
'.
At the age of fourteen he was placed on pro-
bation and soon afterwards sent to an Approved School.
Surely, it might not have been beyond the
wits
of men at
that stage to obtain some further information
on
his
child-
hood and, even
if
the father should have remained an
unknown entity, at least on his mother. As things are,
it
is, however, difficult to see how
a
case
of
this kind can be used
to prove the significance of heredity. We are
in
no
way
opposed to the principal recommendations which the author
makes on the strength of his views on the effect
of
bad
heredity, such as detention for life for incorrigibles, sterilisa-
tion for the unfit, provided the scientific information required
is available. The lack of adequate information of
a
really
scientific nature has been one of the strongest reasons
for
the
failure of Preventive Detention under the Prevention
of
Crime
Act
of
1WS.
Mr.
Mullins is always at his best when dealing with
marriage problems. More convincing than ever
is
his plea
for
the setting up of some preliminary conciliation procedure
in divorce cases where dependent children are involved, and
it
is certainly true that in the interest of such children nothing
should be left undone
to
prevent ill-considered divorce pro-
ceedings. At a time when the technical aspects of divorce
procedure are
so
much in the public mind, these deeper issues
should not be overlooked. On the other hand,
it
might seem
going
a
little too far when the author regards
it
as
at
least
arguable that there should be no full divorce for those who
have dependent children
'.
The chapter on Illegitimacy, too,
contains many a useful suggestion which would deserve the
careful attention on the part of the legislator.
HE~MANN
MANNHEIM.
SALMOND'S
LAW
OF
TORTS. Tenth edition by
W.
T.
S.
STALLY-
BRASS,
D.c.L.,
Principal
of
Brasenose College, Oxford
;
of
the Inner Temple, Honorary Bencher and Barrister-at-Law.
(London: Sweet
&
Maxwell, Ltd.
1945.
1
and 682 and
(index) 46 pp. 85s. net.)
IN
his latest edition of
Salmond
on
Torts,
Dr.
Stallybrass has
continued his laudable practice of writing a full preface
explaining the policy and scope of the new edition. He says
:
'
The law of torts is perhaps the most rapidly developing branch
of
our
law.
It
is not surprising, therefore, that this volume
should be largely a new book'. The changes in substance
between this and the 9th edition have been brought about
largely by the developments in the law since
1986;
the editor
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