CAUSES OF PROSTITUTION 



261 



plete information about their families, either because they have never 

 known any of them or because they have little or no intercourse with them. 



From 39 of the examined no information about their fathers could be 

 obtained, in 50 cases no information was available as to the paternal family, 

 in 9 cases the mother was unknown; 18 cases lacked all information about 

 their maternal families and 5 knew nothing about their brothers and sisters. 



As for the rest, the figures in table 2 were obtained (the figures in the 

 columns represent the number of the examined, in whose families one of the 

 affections or abnormalities occurred). 



TABLE 2 



Insanity 



Feeble-mindedness 



Psychopathy 



Epilepsy 



Alcoholism 



Immorality 



Punishment 



Suicide 



Hereditary deformities or diseases 



IN THE 

 FATHER 



3 



7 



49 



7 

 6 

 1 



IN THE 



PATERNAL 



FAMILY 



5 

 1 



1 



13 



6 



4 



IN THE 

 MOTHER 



IN THE 



MATERNAL 



FAMILY 



13 

 2 



AMONGST 

 SIBLINGS 



6 

 4 

 2 

 3 

 3 

 30 

 17 

 5 

 3 



One or several of the affections or abnormalities quoted above occurred 

 in the examined, in the cases where information was obtained about the 

 father, mother and collaterals, respectively, i.e. : 



per cent 



In the father or collaterals 28 



In the mother or collaterals 18 



In siblings 21 



In the collaterals of both parents 7 



In the collaterals of both parents and amongst siblings 3 



In the paternal family and amongst siblings 7 



In the maternal family and amongst siblings 3 



In 44 per cent of the 300 women, on whom this investigation bears, one or 

 several of the diseases or abnormalities cited in the table occur in their families; 

 it is difficult to say how much importance can be attached to this number, 

 as comparative data on nondelinquents are missing, but there is no doubt 

 that the figures are higher than normally, for instance according to the list, 

 49 of the fathers of the examined were alcoholists and 30 of the examined 



