Juvenile Delinquency and Broken Homes in Spokane, Washington

Abstract

A RE broken homes' a factor in juvenile delinquency? This question the writers attempted to answer in Spokane, Washington, using as a basis of analysis the records of the delinquents who had appeared before the Spokane County Juvenile Court in 1937. It is recognized that broken homes alone do not cause delinquency, as behavior is a product of the total situation. But how close an association is there between delinquency and broken homes when certain other factors are held constant? Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. McKay attempted to find an answer to this question in Chicago on the basis of data gathered from twenty-nine public schools and from the Cook County Court records.2 To many students of juvenile delinquency the lack of association found in Chicago between delinquency rates and broken home rates came as rather a shock.3 It had been generally accepted by laymen as well as by students in the field that broken homes were a causative factor in juvenile delinquency. Practically every study of delinquents or adult criminals had shown a high percentage of cases from broken homes.4 In addition, many case histories point to the broken home as a v'ery important factor in the child's maladjustment because of his lack of security.5 Specialists in child psychology and psychiatrists have also designated the broken home as an important conditioning factor in delinquent behavior.6 In the face of so much emphasis upon broken homes as a factor in case histories and in statistical studies, it seems surprising that Shaw and McKay should find such a low correlation (.I9, with a probable error of ? t. iL) between broken home rates and rates of juvenile delinquency. Moreover, it was found in Chicago that broken homes were unrelated to geographic location in the city. According to this analysis, the differences in broken