﻿Edmondson : Juvenile Delinquency and Adult Crime 41 



the individual criminals of that community, and the special 

 environment in which the individual is placed. 



At present there can be no accurate measure of juvenile 

 delinquency or adult crime in any community. In juvenile 

 delinquency neither the number of cases brought to the court, 

 nor the numbers committed to institutions, nor the number of 

 delinquents known and recognized can be taken as an accurate 

 measure, for many escape detection altogether and many are 

 properly dealt with at home or in school who would otherwise 

 come to tha attention of the courts. The amount of adult crime 

 in a community cannot be measured by the number of criminals 

 confined in institutions, because this number leaves out of account 

 those who have been judged guilty of crime but who have escaped 

 the penalty of imprisonment by the payment of a fine, by a 

 suspended sentence, or some other form of leniency. Neither can 

 the number of criminals brought into the courts indicate the 

 amount of crime, for it is a well known fact that in every com- 

 munity much crime exists without detection. 18 Farrer estimates 

 that 77 per cent of the crimes committed are committed with 

 impunity. 19 



Not only is it impossible to determine the exact amount of 

 juvenile delinquency and of adult crime in any community at 

 any given time, but what constitutes juvenile delinquency and 

 adult crime differs in different communities, 20 and in the same 

 community from time to time because of differences in laws, 

 differences in vigilance in enforcing laws, and differences in 

 practices of different courts; especially is this last true of juvenile 

 delinquency where there are such wide variations in the methods 

 of the courts. 



These facts make comparisons of juvenile delinquency and 

 adult crime in different places very difficult and profitable only 

 whsn general principles and not actual figures are compared. 



3. Description of Groups Selected for Study 



Materials for this study of juvenile delinquency and adult 

 crime in the population of Gary were secured from four sources 

 ' in order to cover the field of offenses committed by juvenile 

 delinquents and petty offenses and more serious crimes by adult 

 offenders. 



isRoren, pp. 12, 13. 



i 9 Farrer, p. 100; Boies, pp. 9, 8, 51. 



20 Boies, pp. 18-35; Devon, p. 165; Koren, p. 15; Morrison (Juvenile Offenders), 

 pp. 4, 7, 8, 29; Aschaeffenburg, pp. 7, 31. 



