| Show j IM M p S e IJa r J f 11 rJ N i Ct A A Hn I elL d r c r Bachelors rs More Likely tor to toI N r C I k i e A. A LlIn Land Behind Prison Bars i nr 0 o 7 r h Than Benedicts Says Prof f fy I a William i G. G l h ha d tam y V Ogburn N w Sociologist and 2 I F Proves His L 7 L t Y F if PI f r z Case With 4 F 7 t i ros I f C J J. J S. S 4 i e A oi I i r V r A A fi r X i l 6 f r I 1 1 1 A 1 Dr William G G. G Ogburn an autho authority au au- authority au- au tho ty on sociology has made al a l 1 close study of matrimony as a 1 crime crime clime deterrent and arrives at atthe i th the conclusion that a man man manof of has in insured tI family a measure jy I c himself against wrongdoing i. i r t r 1 T JARRIED TARRIED l life e may not b be all walnuts I and wine in fact it is quite apt i t to prove rather a humdrum affair at times but it has just been d demonstrated 4 that it is a a pretty safe craft in which to tov 2 v p s steer eer clear l of ot the courts and r 1 This Is the theory capitalized into t figures by Joab H H. H Banton District Att Attorney At- At f torney y of New York in the yearly report of the cases pre e presented ted by the Voluntary Def Defenders Defenders' Committee for 1923 The Thet t 1 1 marital consensus of the cases presented presented pre- pre rented follows One hundred and five m married rr ed men li living with their wives a I were e ee e bachelors eleven widowers and ninety nine were ere married men living apart from their wives J f Which shows that the benedict living I mor more or less happily with his family has almost a fo one four one to shot of keeping cle clear r of the law 1 1 Nor these unfortunates can blame the I bright li lights of B Broadway Vay f for r cr cremating k th their ir vi virtue ue for along came a lecture in in Washington ton D. D C. C just about the same same r time thue del delivered vered by William aI- aI G. G 9 Ogburn Is A A A. M. M Ph PhD Ph.D. D. D professor of sociology a at Bain Barnard rd College Colleg Columbia University in r wh which ch he hc h stated that the condition is is' is i national It n applies to and J Jersey Shore Shoie Sh re in virtually the same ratio l I Dr Ogburn is a statistician n as well ell fy W as as a famous so sociologist it is th the statis- statis who h here discusses the antisocial effect t of bf separ separation tion from marital ti ties tics Backing his assertions are some twenty twenty- one one pages of involved tables of figures ar end and l facts fact which goes to prove the theold old cliche that it is not good for man manto to live alone It It was not my desire or purpose to tor r present arguments for or against marriage mar- mar ringe nor nor to speculate as to the effects on on society or on the individual of the unmarried or the married state I merely presented certain available facts which J indicate the social effects of marriage s DR T R. OGBURN who comes from Georgia has the merest suspicion of ofa a drawl when he he- speaks But there is is no drawl in his ideas These are as pr precise cise as his figures I Dont you think that jazz and the high cost of entertaining in t theatres and restaurants has a lot to do with the F I I JJ 41 V I 11 r p. p j i V Vl 1 l II 1 I i N Ni Studying the statistics of prisoners committed for various offenses against the law within a year it has has' been found that J per cent of all prisoners all excluding juveniles were single men running all the way from the young unwed man to the bachelor of more mature years Free Freedom dour dom from marriage restraints seems seems to make them more susceptible to crime influences causes of why young men go wrong it was suggested as a starter That is only guesswork It It-is It is only an opinion But the extent extent of crimes among the married and the unmarried should be one cert certain in index of the social desirability of marr marriage age The definition of crime is an offense against the social order and the original is considered as antisocial The systems of punishments are society's recognition of the harmfulness harmful harmful- ness of crime to itself From the latest available figures we wo find that there 2000 were single men committed to penal institutions out of e. e every single males more than fifteen years of age while there were only married men committed to every married males There were also 1037 widowers committed to every widowers and 2300 commitments commitments commitments com com- of divorced persons to every divorced persons This ratio of divorced persons committed may be larger than the actual ratio because itis itis it itis is pos possible posSible- ible that the number of divorced persons in the population is larger than the number reported by census agents and that probably among p prisoners the reporting of divorce is more accurate The same general conclusions are presented presented presented pre pre- in the figures which show the percentage of all male prisoners not including juvenile delinquents committed to penal institutions of the United States during the ye year r who are single married widowed and divorced dh The percentage of prisoners committed committed committed com com- in the United States follows Single married widowed 42 divorced 1 ln ly The United States population population population pop pop- fifteen years ears and over is divided as follows Single per cent married married mar mar- ried per cent widow widowed d 46 per percent percent percent cent divorced 05 per cent We see from this that of prisoners committed to penal institutions institutions' during that year only 26 per cent were m married while of th the general population fifteen years ears and over 56 per cent were married married married mar mar- ried pointing to the conclusion that married men are not so prone to offenses for which society imprisons as are unmarried un un- married men We are not not ready to draw such a conclusion from the data given gh-en in the preceding figures alone however for they tell us nothing about the age ase distribution distribution dis- dis of the prisoners If for illustration illustration illustration illus illus- the prisoners were largely very young persons then there would be fewer married persons in the prison population population pop pop- than in the general population for the reason that there are more mor young persons committed to prisons there being fewer younger persons married than elder persons It might be therefore therefore therefore there there- fore that there are more single men in prison because of a tendency for youth bt b C Company m 1 v S rv r The married man is is' is usually y more of a spectator than a participant participant par par- in wild revels From the side lines he watches the latest dance steps and if has her say she say she generally does he he must restrain his impulse to frivol On the other hand the bachelor has no one but himself himself himself him him- self to consider and he plays with a corresponding abandon At the masked ball he frolics with all who wh are minded like-minded and there is no one to question his acts until which until which they frequently frequently fre fre- frequently do they do-they they carry him into the grip of the law to commit crimes rather than for a tendency of unmarried persons to commit crimes While such a conclusion is a possibility possibility possibility as far as the evidence in the preceding preceding preceding pre pre- ceding table goes further analysis does not produce evidence to support such a c conclusion For the age distribution of I I males committed to prison does not show that crime is only or largely committed by youths BETWEEN the ages of fifteen and nineteen there are arc larger percentages percentages percentages percent percent- ages of persons in the general population than in the prison commitments in the ratio of 78 to 14 so also in the ages after aUer forty-five forty years In other words males committing crimes come m moro more ro largely from young or middle-aged middle adults than from youths and older adults To show and prove this figures showing showing showing show show- ing the score for unmarried soaring away above the married were produced And the cause Why is marriage an insulation against crime There is a psychological reason for it of course Dr Ogburn detoured from his statistics rather grudgingly Possibly the instinct Nature has put in men to rule a home is is diverted into leading a gang Sort of revenge for not Married men men on the other hand tussling with the problems of the family budget the income tax mending the furnace and keeping the domestic establishment establishment establish establish- ment intact are less likely to become entangled in the arms of the law The same figures show that but per cent of prisoners were benedicts thus seemingly stressing the point that while matrimony may have its ups and downs friend husband husband husband hus hus- band is too busy with domestic affairs to get into trouble with the he police authorities following out her rules was offered asa as asa asa a lead No emphatically retorted the pro pro- fessor I dont don't think Nature has anything anything anything any any- thing to do with it or bothers her head about it t. t There is a restlessness undoubtedly undoubtedly undoubtedly un un- un- un a up bottled-up force which which- seeks an outlet and this may lead to to crime But that too is only a theory However one may argue that our analysis analysis sis of this data just presented does not show that marri marriage ge is a social condition that is less conducive to crime than the tha status of not being married I admit for fot forit f it may be that marriage rather select selects c the type that is more obedient tt to t society's edicts and therefore doesn't i commit crimes as much as the group o oI 1 single persons not selected by marriage In other words single men may commit f more crimes not because they have not been een married but rather because they have a tendency to commit crimes and for that or some related reason they are not married to so large an extent The criminologists who have sought to establish the criminal type have ha not it is the general belief succeeded very well though it is realized that mental defect neurosis and psychosis may be ba bathe bethe the causes of crime If there was such a selection then we should not expect a larger percentage r of widowers to be found among the tha prison population than among the general general general gen gen- eral population for the widowers have been selected by marriage There are as a fact a smaller percentage of widowers of the prisoners committed 42 per cent than are found in the gen general gen general general eral population fifteen years ears old and andover andover andover over 46 per per cent AMONG AMONG females there are a much smaller number of prisoners than 1 among males but the same general conclusions conclusions con con- elusions regarding the influence of marriage marriage marriage mar mar- on crime among men hold true for women While we have no data to prove it we may take it for granted that the r normal healthy man or woman gets married married married mar mar- ried and the man or woman who doe does does' v not get married married is lacking in some way This idea is supported in figures from the insane asylum and the almshouses Unmarried men and women are found o nd there in a large majority But doesn't the employment of ot women in business prevent many marriages among perfectly normal persons persons persons per per- sons The new independent attitude of women might be a good reason for perfectly healthy old oid maids It doesn't to any great extent This angle however does not apply to the tha digest of our data Once marriage has been consummated consummated consummated mated its preservation has been a major interest t of society It is strange however however however how how- r ever in view of this fact that so little concern has been given to the encouragement encouragement encouragement of persons to contract mar mar- This lack of interest in encouraging encouraging encouraging aging marriage may be due to the fact that it is not known that the state of marriage and certain desirable social conditions are associated or or to express it differently that certain undesirable i e social conditions are found associated with the absence of marriage as noted not only among the single but also among the widowed and the divorced divorced- |
