﻿Edmondson : Juvenile Delinquency and Adult Crime 65 



paratively lar^e proportion of the mothers are too young to 

 assume the responsibilities of the necessary home training and 

 discipline of children. 36 



The age of the parent at the time the case comes to the court 

 is also significant. In this study the greatest number of fathers 

 is in the age group 36 to 40 years and of the mothers 31 to 45 

 years. The average age of the fathers is 42.1 years and of the 

 mothers 37 years. A comparatively large proportion of the 

 fathers are from 46 to 60 years of age — too old to sympathize 

 with or appreciate the spirit of youth in their children. 



The number of children in the family, among whom the care 

 and attention of the mother must be distributed, may have some 

 relationship to juvenile delinquency. In this study the New 

 Immigration shows the greatest average number of children to 

 a family, followed in order by the Old Immigration, the American, 

 and the Colored. Of the families of all races or nationalities, 

 the average number of children is 4.35, 37 somewhat higher than 

 the average number of children to a family in the general popu- 

 lation of the United States in 1910. 38 Any unfavorable relation 

 between the large family and juvenile delinquency because of 

 the mother's inability to give more time and attention to the 

 training of each child may, however, be offset by the disciplinary 

 effect of the necessary give and take between the members of the 

 large family. 



Another significant fact is the attitude of the parent to the 

 oldest child, the youngest child, and the only child. In this 

 study, 29.4 per cent of the delinquents are oldest children in 

 the family, 9.8 per cent are youngest children, and 12.7 per 

 cent are only children. The high proportion of oldest born may 

 indicate that at the time of the birth of the child the parents 

 were not mature enough to assume the responsibilities of the 

 necessary home training and discipline. The relatively high pro- 

 portion of the youngest born and only children is largely due to 

 special indulgence on the part of parents in home training and 

 discipline. 39 



In this study, in 22.9 per cent of the families there was no 

 willingness oa the part of the parents to cooperate with the 

 schools or the courts. 40 Of the American families, 31.81 per 

 cent show an unfavorable attitude toward the schools or courts 



■•ssBreckenridge and Abbott, pp. 123, 124. 

 "Breckenridge and Abbott, pp. 115, 116; Rhoades. 

 3S U.S. Census Report, 1910, Vol. I, p. 1285. 

 3 9 Breckenridge and Abbott, p. 117. 

 40 Breckenridge and Abbott, p. 15. 



