﻿Edmondson : Juvenile Delinquency and Adult Crime 55 



6. Sex 14 



In juvenile delinquency a direct relation exists between sex 

 and amount of delinquency, sex and kind of offense, and sex and 

 age of offenders. 



In this study of juvenile delinquency in Gary the Americans 

 show the highest relative proportion of girls followed in order 

 by the Colored and the New Immigration — the Old Immigration 

 showing no cases of girls. 



Of the total number of cases of all races or nationalities, 

 81.4 per cent are boys and 18.6 per cent are girls; that is, there 

 are over four times as many boys as girls. Comparing the 

 proportions of the sexes of juvenile delinquents in Gary, in 

 Detroit (two groups), in New York, in Atlanta, in French insti- 

 tutions, in English reformatories, and in the United States (two 

 groups) there is little variation. The significant fact in all the 

 groups is the great preponderance of cases of boys. 



An examination of the relationship between sex and kind of 

 offense in this study shows that of offenses committed by girls 

 by far the greatest proportion, 73 . 68 per cent, are offenses against 

 morals, while of offenses committed by boys only 8 .43 per cent are 

 against morals. This relation between sex and kind of offense 

 in Gary is in generil the same as is fou id in other communities. 15 



It will be noted that the Americans furnish the highest pro- 

 portion of offenses against morals and the highest proportion 

 of girls. 



The average age of girls among juvenile delinquents in Gary 

 is 13.8 years and of boys 11.4 years. This higher average age 

 of the girls is to be explained by the fact that most of the offenses 

 committed by girls are offenses against morals the age for which 

 is high, and the lower average age of the boys by the fact that 

 the chief offenses of boys are larceny, truancy, and incorrigibility, 

 for the two latter of which especially the age is low. 



Comparing the average ages of girls and boys in groups of 

 delinquents in Gary, in Detroit, and in the United States the 

 figures for Gary show both boys and girls younger than in Detroit 

 and in the United States in accordance with the lower average 

 age of both sexes in Gary as given above. The significant fact 

 is that in all these groups the girls are older than the boys. 



14 Original tables, pp. 19-23. See Preface to this study. 



13 George Asbury Stephens; Breckenridge and Abbott, p. 35; Koren, pp. 241, 

 242; Mangold, p. 233. 



