no. 3.] PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. 807 



Table 363. — Percentage distribution of intelligence ratings of all Leavenworth prisoners in each recedivist group. 



There are two important conclusions which may be made on the basis of the foregoing 

 figures. First, probably not more than 50 per cent of the military prisoners were men who 

 got into trouble in civil life; second, men of very high and very low intelligence seem less 

 likely to get into difficulties, at least in civil life, than other men. 



A question which psychologists were frequently called upon to decide hi connection with 

 disciplinary cases was, "Is this man of such mentality that he can be held responsible for his 

 misdemeanors?" On the basis of mental age, leaving out pathological nervous conditions, 

 heredity, training, and like effects, it may be possible to answer yes or no, though it is hard to 

 fix an exact limit below which a man is to be considered irresponsible and above which he is 

 to be held strictly accountable. Rather should we have a series of degrees of responsibility 

 correlated with a series of degrees of intelligence. Probably men rated E should not be held 

 responsible in a court-martial; the frequency with which they get into trouble and their failure 

 to profit by discipline are presumably the result of mental limitations. Such a conclusion 

 is supported by the nature of their offenses, which are for the most part of the minor sort that 

 are conditioned more upon lack of judgment than upon malicious intent. The frequency of 

 delinquency among men of average intelligence indicates that defective intelligence is only 

 one of many factors that lead to military offenses. In a large number of cases military offenses 

 among men of average intelligence must be due to military conditions, for the percentage of 

 recidivism is not high. Political causes and unjust operations of the military system itself 

 undoubtedly account for most of the intelligent novices in offense. With such cases the 

 psychologist in the Army can do nothing. His activities can not go farther than a designation 

 of those few low-grade men who can not be held responsible in any practical degree under 

 military regime. 



Section 4. — Intelligence of prostitutes. 



Psychological examination of female prostitutes was conducted in the neighborhood of 

 several camps by Army psychologists through the cooperation of military authorities and 

 various local or national agencies, such as the United States Public Health Service, the War 

 Training Camp Activities, civilian police officials, and law and order societies. 



The most complete data available are for the Port of Embarkation, Newport News, Va. 1 

 Here prostitutes were examined regularly upon admission to the city detention home. The 

 Goddard revision of the Binet-Simon scale was used in order to secure uniformity with the 

 work of a previous examiner. The women came from almost every part of the United States 

 east of the Mississippi River and some from beyond. The outstanding result of then examina- 

 tion is that 53 per cent (44 per cent white and 68 per cent colored) showed a mental age of 

 10 years or under (see table 364), and that 35 per cent of the group showed themselves to be 

 in year 10. While in all probability a part of this group is concentrated at year 10 solely 

 because of the nature of the scale used, yet other investigations also show in general that the 

 prostitute is usually not an institutionally deficient woman but a high-grade moron."' 

 psychiatric examination of this group of women showed that 15 per cent were abnorm&/ ^ 

 some other respect, as alcoholics, drug addicts, epileptics, or as having dementia prsecox. 



' For a more extensive treatment of this wort, see Mertz, P. A., Mental Deficiency of Prostitutes, Jour. Amer. Med. Asso., vol. 72, May 31, 1919, 

 pp. 1597-1599. 



