RESPONSIBILITY IN CRIME. 



161 



Considered from a medical standpoint, habit may be regarded 

 as a tendency wliicli certain correlated brain cells have to act to- 

 gether from frequent repetition having rendered it easy for an 

 impulse to pass from one to the other, with the production of a 

 more or less uniform result. Thus we are indeed literally crea- 

 tures of habit. 



By the time an individual has reached maturity it is observed 

 that he responds to the influences of his environment with more 

 or less uniformity, and in a way peculiar to himself. The nature 

 of this response constitutes his character. If he has strong im- 

 pulses, which he uniformly inhibits in a manner favorable to the 

 best interests of the society in which he lives, he becomes known 

 as a man of strong character, and finally of established character, 

 and is trusted accordingly. On the other hand, there are individ- 



FiG. 8. 



Fig. 9. 



nals in whom the response to their environment is so variable 

 that they never succeed in establishing a character, and are never 

 trusted. 



At one extreme are found individuals with cerebral tissues of 

 so high a quality that they would establish a high character 

 under the most unfavorable circumstances ; and at the other ex- 

 treme, individuals who would never establish a character under 

 the most favorable conditions ; but the great mass of individuals 

 lies between these extremes, and with them the influences of the 

 environment determine their status. 



The social and legal penalties visited upon transgressors un- 

 doubtedly form a strong and constant stimulus to the inhibitory 

 centers, and the more so in proportion as the individual feels sure 

 that he can not escape from them. A strict and speedy adminis- 

 tration of the penal laws should go hand in hand with an intelli- 

 gent system of training. 



