Archiwum Kryminologii (Archives of Criminology)

7-24

Authors: Zofia Ostrihanska

The editor-in-chief of „Archiwum Kryminologii”, professor Stanisław Batawia, full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor of Warsaw University and of the Institute of State and Law of the Polish Academy of Sciences, died on April 21, 1980. His personality, publications and activities exerted great influence on criminology and the fight against crime in our country, and were of consequence in our attitudes towards different categories of people exhibiting deviant behavior, particularly offenders and alcoholics. Professor Batawia was born in 1898 in Łódź. He received the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences in 1929, and the degree of Doctor of Law in 1931. From 1929 until the outbreak of the war in 1939 he worked at Warsaw University as senior assistant of the Department of Criminology. At the same time, he worked as a physician, first in the Nervous Diseases Clinic of Warsaw University, then on Psychiatric Ward of the Hospital of the Centre for Sanitary Training, and on the Children’s Neuropsychiatry Ward of the Institute for Mental Hygiene in Warsaw. He also worked as physician-psychologist in the Stefan Batory Grammar School in Warsaw. From 1935 he was an expert in forensic psychiatry. He took part in the military operations in 1939 as a doctor; during the German occupation of Poland, in the years 1940-44, he worked in a health service centre in a village near Warsaw. In August 1945 he was qualified as assistant professor in criminology on the basis of his thesis Niepoprawność przestępców w świetle badań nad bliźniętami kryminalnymi (Incorrigibility of Offenders in the Light of Studies of Delinquent Twins), which he had presented to the Board of the Faculty of Law, Warsaw University, as early as in 1939. In 1946 he was made associate professor at Lódź University where he was also the Head of the newly-organized Department of Criminology. At the same time he lectured on criminology and forensic psychiatry at Warsaw University. In 1949 he was transferred to the Department of Criminology of Warsaw University. In 1958 he received the degree of Professor. From 1953 he also conducted (apart from his activities at the University) criminological studies in the Department of Criminology of the Institute of Legal Sciences at the Polish Academy of Sciences. He was also closely connected with the Department and its works after his retirement in 1969, acting as consultant of its proceedings up until the last days of his life. In 1965 he was appointed correspondent member, and in 1969 full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Apart from his work in the field of criminology, Professor Batawia was also active in the field of psychiatry and studies on alcoholism. In the years 1951-54 he was national specialist of the Ministry of Health in the field of forensic psychiatry, and in the years 1954-62 a consultant of the Forensic Psychiatry Ward at the Psychoneurological Institute; he also collaborated with the Scientific Research Centre of Social Anti-alcoholism Committee from the beginning of its existence. He was a member of the Team of Specialists of the Permanent Commission of the Council of Ministers for Fighting Alcoholism. He participated as an expert in the work of Parliamentary Commissions on the Law against Alcoholism and the draft of the law on the prevention and combating of juvenile delinquency, and in other legislative works connected with the subject of criminology and psychiatry. The International Criminological Society appointed Stanisław Batawia its representative in Poland. He was also the Polish correspondent of the Committee in Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders of the United Nations Secretariate. The entire scientific activity of Professor Batawia was influenced by his medical and legal education. His research work was closely connected with his educational and medical practice, and also his extensive social work. Professor Batawia was the founder of Polish criminology. His ideas and methods exerted a great influence on the present shape of criminology in our country. He tended to practise empirical criminology where generalized statements were supported by profound evidence and hypotheses were always subject to empirical verification. He was of the opinion that the results of criminological research, enabling a thorough understanding of criminological problems in Poland, should be the basis for legislative work. He tried to make the range of empirical studies undertaken by the Department of Criminology broad enough to include systematic gathering of statistical data on crime in Poland, macrosocial determinants of crime, prediction studies, and sociological analyses of the ecology of crime. He himself, however, concentrated his interest mostly on the problems of clinical criminology, on the etiology of crime as seen in individual cases. He thus concentrated on individual case studies, on the problems of the careers, environment and biopsychic attributes of individual offenders and persons manifesting grave behavior disturbances. However, while tackling the problems from the, point of view of clinical criminology, he by no means lost .sight of their broad social background. He emphasized even in his pre-war works the importance of the fact that offenders were mainly recruited from the least priviledged social classes. In his book Wstęp do nauki o przestępcy (An Introduction to the Study of the Offender), he carried out a keen analysis of the process of demoralization of children from such classes. „The typical theft perpetrated by a poor child is the result of all the circumstances of his upbringing and of the environmental influences which affected him from his earliest days of childhood. The divergence between the status of a young manual worker and the living conditions of these socially priviledged, of which the poor child is acutely conscious, constitutes a serious factor in the etiology of juvenile delinquency. The children are also frequently led into delinquency by peers who have repeatedly managed to steal without being apprehended and who thanks to this can afford various entertainments. The youth learn how to acquire money by illegal means from newspapers and the cinema which show offenders with a great deal of tolerance, even sympathetically, and where the victims of criminal activities are often significantly morally inferior to the offenders (...). The fact of theft alone does not in the least indicate an antisocial attitude. Had the needs of the child been adequately understood at home, had the society enabled him to enjoy the values which is almost impossible to do without at a certain stage of development, we would not have witnessed a significant majority of the thefts committed by children (...). It is only in prison and in a typical corrective institution where the individual who has infringed certain rules of the law develops criminal attitudes through remaining in a criminal environment”. Professor Batawia declared himself against those criminologists who concentrated on sociological or psychological problems only, as this could lead to one-sided conclusions. Although he was a psychiatrist himself, he criticized the one-sidedness of research work caused before the war by the monopolization of criminological studies by psychiatrists. Criminology is an interdisciplinary science; what is therefore necessary is a comprehensive approach to the studies of crime and offenders. A research group engaged in such studies should include a lawyer as well as a sociologist, psychiatrist and psychologist; (this view is well illustrated by the choice of staff at the Department of Criminology, amongst which representatives of all the branches mentioned above are to be found). The notion of interdisciplinary character of criminology is also evident in the themes and concepts of Professor Batawia’s researches, in the methods applied by him, in the elaboration of the results and in the consequent conclusions which take into account the entire complexity of the problems discussed. In his book published in 1939, Professor Batawia severly criticised the one-sidedness of theoretical approach. He radically disposed of the arguments of the anthropological school in criminology. The book ended with, the following words: „The problem of chronic criminality can only be solved by means of social reform and reforms of criminal policy. Don’t let us make biology responsible for sociological phenomena”. He also stated before that crime was a social phenomenon par excellence, and thus an offender could not be considered apart from his social background. He expressed his „criticism towards the authors who wanted to reduce various attributes of an offender to the common denominator of pathology”. He particularly criticised the notion of psychopathy as vague and very unprecise, falsely identified in certain works with social harmfulness and asocial or antisocial behavior. At the same time he attached great importance to the problems of psychopathology, which allow to understand deviant behavior of offenders with personality disorders. He considered it necessary to take into account the psychiatric perspective to assume a proper attitude towards a number of essential criminological problems, in particular to that of recidivism. Professor Batawia considered it inappropriate to base criminological studies on very general concept of „offender”, which denotes different individuals „who were given the common name only because ' they had been united by the most general qualification of the Penal Code”. The offenders are by no means an homogenous category of persons whose behavior could be explained by one adequate theory. Criminology should seek etiological explanations concerning different categories of offenders. This principle was strictly observed in his studies. It resulted not only from his scientific experience and opinions, but also from his entire attitude towards man, in particular towards the offender: he assumed the need for an individual approach and treatment, for considering various individual problems of the examined persons, as those problems never repeated themselves „in the whole of their pattern in other cases, even in the most similar ones”. In clinical research, according to Professor Batawia, the problems under examinations should be approached genetically and not statically; one should go back in one’s studies, not confining oneself to the facts revealed during the investigation, „Only a genetic point of view can reveal a real face of an offender and show the actual background of thousand of common offences, committed most frequently by people whose life conditions have led them to crime and then connected them with it strongly, and who, offenders as they were, did not cease to be individuals similar to others from the same social environment”. The studies conducted by Professor Batawia tended not only to reveal the determinants of antisocial attitudes of the examined persons which had occured since their childhood. Also their subsequent social development and further fate were followed covering the period of many years (10 and more). Such longitudinal studies, introduced by Professor Batawia into Polish criminology, enabled the proper estimation of the persistence of criminal careers and of the efficiency of the measures taken against the offenders. The methodological attitude of Professor Batawia was characterized by great criticism. He himself formulated the conclusions of his studies with extreme caution, criticising severly inconsiderate generalizations in some criminological studies as well as improper methods employed in others. He was of the opinion that „when beginning an investigation, one should forget in a way that it is an offender who is to be examined, and try to study him quite apart from the delinquent act itself, and thus to prevent the crime from influencing one’s judgment”. He considered it wrong to restrict the studies to offenders in prisons and corrective institutions only (as it was often the case in the early criminological studies), and postulated the examination of an offender in his own natural environment; in the case of prisoners, he advised particular prudence in generalization of the results on other categories of offenders. In criminological research, Professor Batawia attached great importance to the method of obtaining information and to its critical appraisal. He pointed out the great - and often underestimated - importance of the reliability and validity of information from which the results are to be obtained. It is of particular importance in the case of information gathered through the interviews. Professor Batawia considered it advisable to verify the data as far as possible by the means of information obtained from various sources. The studies he conducted were never restricted to interviewing the offenders alone: also interviews with their families were carried on, as well as the use was made of data from their criminal records, from court and prison files, and, if necessary, opinions were obtained from schools and employers, as well as data from sobering-up stations and medical and psychological records. In the case of any discrepancies of information from various sources, it rested with the researcher to decide which to consider valid, as it was he who took care of the whole of the study and was in personal contact with the examined person. In criminological studies, according, to Professor Batawia, the data should be gathered by persons properly prepared to the task, that is those who know the problem to be investigated, have been instructed as to the actual study (that is, as to its object, methods and the notional apparatus), who have the easiness of coming into contact with the examined persons and of interviewing them. He himself gave an example of such skills, experience and infallible intuition which allow one to perceive the problems most vital for the given individual; he also gave an example of an attitude of kindness and confidence in man which induces even social outcasts and rebels to frank statements. The scientific worker who is to conduct an empirical research study in the field of criminology, should - according to Professor Batawia - not only be the author of the project of the study, its manager and organizer, but should also participate in it personally. It is only an active personal participation that lets one perceive the whole of the vital problems connected with the given issue. He himself acted in this way, taking part personally in the majority of the studies conducted by the Department of Criminology, going, sometimes in spite of his bad state of health, to juvenile delinquent institutions or to prisons and carrying on personally the psychiatric examination of offenders. Besides, personal participation, the contact with the person under observation, and interest in his problems were indispensable to the Professor himself, too, as his outlook on life was first of all that of a clinician. The research was for him never the collecting of scientific data alone: he induced in it the elements of psychotherapy and, if necessary, of actual assistance. One could learn a great deal assisting the psychiatric examination conducted by him. Personal participation in the study served still another purpose: that of training of scientific researchers in the field of criminology. The conception of training of scientific staff, as realized by Professor Batawia, assumed the teaching of methods of research through active participation in the study, through attendance to examinations carried out by the Professor himself, through group discussions on the results of individual investigations and on the theoretical problems related to them. In instructing his personnel, Professor Batawia was exacting, conscientious as to the reliability, precision and detailed recording of the data they gathered, as well as to the exact formulation of results. It was a hard school, and yet the students were always cheered up by the Professor’s great kindness towards them, his warm interest in their problems, and his readiness to assist them. Professor Batawia was connected with „Archiwum Kryminologii” in a singular way: as the editor, back in the pre-war period (since 1933) of „Archiwum Kryminologiczne”, a publication of the Department of Criminology of Warsaw University, and as the founder and editor-in-chief of „Archiwum Kryminologii” from the very beginning of its existence after the war (the first volume was published in 1960) until the present volume, appearing after his death, and yet prepared by him personally. Professor Batawia created the editorial of „Archiwum Kryminologii”, a publication to present the results of empirical studies initiated by the Department of Criminology. He also prompted the subject matter of works published in „Archiwum Kryminologii”. In the volumes published so far, the total of 41 works have been inserted. The subject matter of the research studies conducted by Professor Batawia was broad. It included the problems of juvenile and young adult delinquency as well as that of socially maladjusted children. It also included the problem of recidivism which had not been previously much studied in Poland, the problem of mentally abnormal offenders and the question of alcoholism, as well as the phenomenon of hooligan offences which is closely related to that of alcoholism. Professor Batawia dealt also with drug addiction and toxicomania among the youth, and with the problems of forensic-psychiatric expertise. In the years 1946-48 he examined in prisons the German war criminals convicted in Poland for crimes committed during the Nazi occupation, among them he examined Rudolf Hoess, the commandant of the concentration camp in Auschwitz. The results of these studies supplied sociological and psychological material of great importance, which enabled to understand how a socially harmless individual became one of the major war criminals under the influence of historical events, social environment and the ideology of national socialism. The discussed results are an important document, a serious warning against the dangers of the Fascist ideology. Until 1951 Professor Batawia was member of the Praesidium of the Main Commission for Studies of Nazi Crimes in Poland and the editor of 7 volumes of „Bulletin” published by the Commission, which contained records on the crimes committed by the Nazi occupants. Many of his studies - both conducted before and after the war - were devoted to social maladjustment and delinquency of juveniles, which is a serious social problem, playing often an important part in the genesis of adult delinquency and recidivism. The social destructiveness of juvenile delinquency does not lie in the damage caused by the offences commited by the juveniles but in their social maladjustment and demoralization often accompanying their offences. A lot of children steal because their various needs have not been satisfied. When considering their thefts, one should also take into account the phase of their mental development. As it is the case with many juveniles brought before the court, they are in the period of puberty when the child’s mental balance is upset, and the lack of experience and critical judgement accompanied by openness to various influences, exuberance of impulses and birth of new needs can together - in a particular complex of social relations - contribute to the child’s committing of an offence. It is the period of entering new wider social circles: peer groups, school and even professional circles, the period of confrontation of the hitherto existing outlook on life with what one sees around. It is thus the period of arising conflicts which are usually met without understanding by the closest environment. All of this points to the importance of the keen analysis of the situation and features of a juvenile delinquent and of the educational and not penal character of the measures adopted towards him. „One must not attach any particular importance to the mere fact of occasional theft committed by a child (...). The essential problem is if and how is that theft accompanied by other symptoms of disorders in the entire behavior of that juvenile”. Those disturbances in the whole of the juvenile’s behavior (also defined as social maladjustment) require as early as possible a social interference of a protective, educational and also - if necessary – therapeutical nature. The need for early interference in the case of the category of socially deprived children, and also in the case of children brought up in the conditions which endanger their normal development, was an important conclusion of the studies of juvenile delinquency conducted by Professor Batawia. The studies pointed to the fact that juvenile delinquents were frequently brought up in socially deprived families, and that the process of their demoralization, going on for a long time before the action in court, had not met with any sensible counteraction. Particularly grave is the problem of delinquency of younger juveniles, as it has repercussions on recidivism, and as such calls for a keen investigation. In the prevention of the process of demoralization, the school should play an important role, with the methods of work so modified that „the care of this category of children were regarded not only as a particular duty, but also as a matter of special social importance”. The school should co-operate in this field with the sufficiently extended net of psychological and educational centres which would make inquiries into the conditions of life and the personality of the child before the proper measures were adopted towards it. It is also essential to organize a large enough number of part-time boarding; schools. In the discussion on the draft of the act on fighting juvenile delinquency which was to supplement the regulations of the new Penal Code, Professor Batawia took a strong line in the question: since in our conditions juvenile courts should be the authorities having jurisdiction over juvenile delinquents, they would be protective and educational of character, and they had already gained a large output and a qualified staff in our country. He argued that the matters of so important social effects must not be transferred to social commissions, institutions yet to be organized, lacking any tradition whatever in our country, the members of which - willing as they might be - would have limited power and authority. According to Professor Batawia, the demand for adopting educational measures and correctional treatment only should be valid regarding young adult offenders. Young adults are not as yet mature and are in the period of settling out of an outlook on life and a moral sense, as well as that of a large susceptibility to environmental influences. The sanctions adjudicated towards young adults should not be connected with the deprivation of liberty; a small category of young adults, socially demoralized to a large extent and revealing tendencies to rapid recidivism, should be treated in special institutions of rehabilitative and correctional character only. When Professor Batawia stipulated for such treatment of young adults, the Polish Penal Code did not provide for any separate measures for this category of offenders. „Until we change thoroughly our system of sanctions towards young adult offenders, our struggle against the chronic delinquency will be fated to fail” – he wrote as early as in 1937. Professor Batawia also pointed to the fact that the work of approved schools, a weak point in the whole of the problem of juvenile delinquency, should be based on the idea that „delinquent acts should be regarded as symptoms of inability to social adaptation and deficiencies of character, and these very features should constitute the matter of interest of the tutor”. The problems caused by the youth in an approved corrective school shoul not be regarded as a mere lack of discipline or mischievous insubordination and treated as such by means of frequent punishment as the only remedial measure. From the pre-war period, the problem of recidivism was also the subject of the Professor’s studies: juvenile, adolescent and young adult recidivists, those revealing pathological mental characteristics, and the so-called incorrigible criminals, which was a notion included in the Penal Code of 1932. Professor Batawia criticised it in his pre-war works, considering no one entitled to use the term „incorrigible offender”. In spite of the appearances of incorrigibility, the chronic offenders can - as the studies prove - cease to commit offences. Also, independently of the genesis of their first thefts and of the process of demoralization, „the subsequent delinquency and incorrigibility of such an offender is closely related to our attiude towards the phenomenon and to the faults of the criminal and penal policy. Professor pointed also to the fact that from the criminological point of view the notions „recidivism” and „recidivists” had a very broad denotation: an individual qualified as recidivist on the grounds of the law may prove a casual offender, and even among multiple recidivists a variety of criminal types are to be found whose tendencies are asocial rather than antisocial. Most recidivists have been socially maladjusted to a considerable degree since their childhood, have been regularly drinking excessively from their early age, often with symptoms of alcoholism already, and many of them reveal personality disorders. Thus the problem of juvenile and young adult delinquency and recidivism and an early proper intervention are essential, if still underestimated. As a prolonged isolation of recidivists proves ineffective, freedom or semi-freedom measures should be more often applied, as well as release on probation with the subsequent aftercare which would make the later readaptation easier. On account of personality of some young adult recidivists, and of their alcoholism, one should be prepared for the fact that the sanctions adjudicated may often not produce an entire change of their social attitude. An obligatory automatic increase of penalty for committing a new offence is groundless. The Code should provide for the possibility of substantial and not only formal estimation of the recidivist’s improvement. Those postulates were reflected by the introduction of Art. 61 into the new Penal Code. Professor Batawia also gave attention in his works to the problem of alcoholism and regular excessive drinking, and their relation to delinquency. The relation is twofold: on the one hand, it consists in the negative role of the alcoholic’s family and the psychological problems it creates in the genesis of the process of his social maladjustment; on the other hand, it lies in the significance of excessive drinking in the etiology of some kinds of offences and in the increase of the proces of demoralization. At the same time, the most important effects of regular excessive drinking lie not in delinquency but in all the problems caused by alcoholism in everyday life and in the life of families. Studies of juvenile delinquency, often revealing alcoholism in the families of the examined juveniles, tended to put foreward the demands metioned above. They called for an early intervention in the case of such children and their families and of extension of the protective and educational possibilities hitherto existing in our country. The work by Professor Batawia Społeczne skutki nałogowego alkoholizmu (Social Effects of Alcoholism), published in 1951, initiated this kind of research in Polish alcohology, revealing the social aspects of alcoholics’ personality. It also exhibited the tragic situation of the families of those alkoholics who had not yet been put in hospital, though they should have been sent there long before, and who still had a clean record in spite of the fact that they kept ill-treating their wives and children and depriving their families of various goods and money in order to buy themselves alcohol. The postulate enclosed in this work aimed in two directions. One was the fight against the „common phenomenon of regular excessive drinking among hundreds of thousand of citizens, many of whom gradually turn into alcoholics”. This fight should assume the range of a broad social action, well-planned, energetic and supported by the law. It was the Professor’s persistent reasoning and his art of gaining over others to this cause, that led to the involvement of various people in social organizations and institutions, and subsequently to the resolution by the Seym of one of the best laws on combating alcoholism in the world. The second line of the Professor’s postulates (also reflected in the purview of the law) concerned alcoholics who should be treated therapeutically, and the diagnosis of alcoholism should result in compulsory treatment; thus the development of specialists health service is necessary, in particular, the establishment of a proper- number of clinics for alcoholics. In his later works, Professor Batawia fixed his attention on the problem of particular social importance, that of excessive drinking among the youth and the need for early recognition of the outset of alcoholism which now occurs much earlier than it was the case years ago; what is more, among a certain category of young adults who early became heavy drinkers, the course of alcoholism is often rapid and severe. Professor Batawia devoted his last study to the problem of young adult alcoholics subjected to compulsory treatment, whose intensity of drinking and deviant behavior had been particularly high, both processes having begun in their early youth. The study is unique of character, as it concerns the age (up to 25) when alcoholism is extremely rarely revealed. The treatment of this category of alcoholics should also be therapeutical. Also prevention is of a special importance here, the activation of teachers and tutors of all schools in the field of identification, protection and proper guidance of the large category of children with initial symptoms of social maladjustment and those from alcoholic families. Even if regular excessive drinking is first of all determined by the social cultural factors, therapeutic medical intervention should be undertaken towards the young people who drink repeatedly and often get intoxicated (that is those who repeatedly visit detoxification centres, are apprehended as drunk by the police, have been several times convicted by the Penal Administrative Commission for offences committed in the state of intoxication). It is important to increase the number of detoxification centres where drunk people would be treated as patients in hospital; such centres would also diagnose their patients. It is also important to enlarge the number of institutions for withdrawal treatment and guidance centres for the youth, as well as to introduce the industrial health service into the system of withdrawal treatment and to synchronize the activities of various institutions dealing with alcoholics in their everyday practice. When planning such a system, one should, however, take into account the entire complexity of problems connected with alcoholism and regular excessive drinking as well as the fact that the phenomenon of regular excessive drinking, causing negative effects in those drinking themselves and in their environment, is not in the least irreversible. It is, a complicated problem, requiring prolonged research, the results of which may allow a proper evaluation of this phenomenon. It was first of all the social consequences, and the practical importance of the problems, that constituted the criterion for the choice of the subjects in the studies conducted by Professor Batawia. Among them there was also the problem of „social parasitism”, much absorbing the social opinion, and the draft of the possible act to control it. Professor Batawia confronted the motion of „social parasitism”, vague and susceptible of various interpretations as it is, with the empirical data which indicate that the majority of those „shirking work” are heavy drinkers or alcoholics. Young adults less than 21 years of age shirking work but not drinking excessively often lack elementary education and professional training and are socially maladjusted; however, they must not be identified with those demoralized and committing offences. The change of their social attitudes cannot be achieved by repressive measures only. „It is indispensable to separate distinctly the tasks of socialization of such individuals from the functions of the common penalties inflicted on them for committing offences or contraventions”. The yet another problem studied by Professor Batawia was that of drug addiction among the youth, which he considered – refering to the results of various Polish studies - a minor problem in our country. In a very heterogenous population of young people taking drugs, two categories can be distinguished: that of young adults who take drugs only once or twice, which is a majority, and that of those taking drugs regularly, who are very few. Regarding this last category of individuals who narcotize themselves regularly and thus become drug addicts, the priority of medical treatment should be obligatory. The Professor’s works are also of great importance to forensic psychiatry. Among other things, he called attention to the necessity of including into medico-legal certification, apart from the normal state of inebriation and the state of pathological inebriation, also the motion of the so-called state of inebriation on pathological grounds, where certain features of the defendant’s personality could have significantly increased the effects of inebriation. He also studied the problem of reactive disorders often wrongly recognized by the prison staff as simulation, which actually require early diagnosis and treatment. He postulated the increase of psychiatrists’ participation in the works connected with the problems of readaptation of offenders, particularly in the diagnosis and treatment in the penitentiaries. The results of studies and their practical conclusions presented above reveal the essential trends of the Professor’s attitude towards the measures that should be adopted to the different categories of offenders and individuals with severe deviant behavior. It resulted from his profound humanism in his attitude towards man. He pointed to the need for individualization and adoption of measures which carry no discrimination nor the isolation from the normal social group, but which tend towards the readaptation (and, if necessary, medical treatment) of the individual exposed to them. He criticised the principle of general prevention. He pointed to the inefficacy and harmfulness of imprisonment which, if possible, should be restricted. He postulated a radical revision of the assumption which constitute the base of criminal and penitentiary policy towards a considerable number of recidivists. Without such a revision, the imprisonment would only contribute to the increase of antisocial attitudes. In the works concerning various criminological problems, Professor Batawia emphasized the importance of prevention and early intervention in the case of children and young people from socially deprived environment or revealing personality disorders. He declared himself against the therapeutical nihilism as regard both alcoholics and those offenders who were recognized as incorrigible. He was of the opinion that „the beliefs about the inefficacy of any treatment of alcoholics are wrong (...), it is groundless to abandon the treatment of young adults after the first therapeutical defeats”. He considered that the negative results of the measures adopted towards the offenders „should induce one to intense activities in the field of criminal policy reform”. He realized the difficulties connected with implementing those demands, as well as the need for the education and training of those who would properly conduct the readapting and therapeutical activities. He also realized that the problems of criminology were very complicated, and that our knowledge of various items, still insufficient, called for further laborious scientific research. And yet, seeing the entire complexity of the problems and the sometimes distant prospects of realization of some demands, Professor Batawia was not deterred from aiming at their introduction into practice with exceptional persistence, commitment and passion; at the same time, he took into account the instructions of practical realism, reckoning with the possibilities created by present circumstances. To the last days of his life, he considered it his duty as an educator to hand down to the others his opinions of the reforms and of practical solutions of criminological problems, which he did on various occasions: at conferences, during discussions on doctors theses and examinations qualifying for associate professor. It was alien to him to remain indifferent to the opinions, demands and activities which he considered wrong. The theoretical views which he enclosed in his works half a century ago now strike with their progressiveness, accuracy and immediate interest. Professor Batawia maintained an astounding unity of his opinions. He announced them with exceptional courage also when he was alone in his views - that is, on the turn of the 40’s and the 50’s, when Polish criminology was to suffer eradication, unjustly attacked from ideological positions. He was distinguished by his inflexibility, intransigence and his moral and civic attitude which constitute the example for all of us.

151-190

Authors: Irena Rzeplińska, Barbara Szamota

The Penal Code of 1969 introduced in Chapter VIII a complex of regulations defining the criminal liability tfor offences committed in the conditions of special recidivism. Two categories of special recidivism were introduced: basic recidivism (Art. 60 § 1 of the Penal Code) and multiple recidivism (Art. 60 § 2 of the Penal Code). To assume the first category, the following criteria are required: 1) commission of an intentional offence similar to the previous one, 2) execution of at least 6 months of imprisonment, 3) commission of a new offence within 5 years after discharge from prison. To impute the offender the commission of an offence coming under the second category of recidivism, the following conditions are necessary: 1) conviction for at least the fourth time, in this twice under the conditions of basic special recidivism, 2) repeated commision of an intentional offence to profit financially or of hooligan character, 3) total imprisonment of at least one year, 4) commission of a new offence within 5 years after the last imprisonment. For each of those two categories of recidivism, the principles of aggravated criminal liability are fixed by the Code, and they refer to less - serious - offences only. Towards persons coming under Art. 60 § 1 and 2, imprisonment within the raised limits is adjudicated. Towards such persons, absolute suppression of suspension of the execution of penalty was formulated. The strictness of these regulations is partly diminished by Art. 61 of the Penal Code, which created the possibility to depart from the aggravation of penalty as expressed in Art. 60, in "particularly justified cases, when even the lowest penalty inflicted on the basis of Art. 60 § 1 and 2 of the Penal Code, would be incommensurably severe". The Code fights special recidivism also by providing special measures against special recidivists coming under Art. 69 § 1 and 2: protective supervision (called "supervision" further on) and social readaptation centre (called "centre" further on). The first of them - supervision - is a non isolating measure, consisting in the control of behavior of the supervised person in the conditions of liberty. It is adjudicated for a period of 3 to 5 years (Art. 63 § 1 of the Penal Code). The second measure - centre - is of isolating character. The duration of stay in the centre is not appointed beforehand in the sentence: it is at least 2 years, at most 5 years long. After 2 years, the recidivist may be discharged by the execution of penalty court if there are good reasons to presume that he will not commit any offence after discharge (Art. 65 of the Penal Code). Special measures are executed after the sentence has been served. The principles of application of the special measures differ as regards both categories of recidivists: those coming under Art. 60 § 1 of the Penal Code (called "common recidivists" further on) and those coming under Art. 60 § 2 (called further "multiple recidivists"). The organs authorized to adjudge these measures are the criminal and execution of penalty courts. Their decision as to adjudgement of them may be taken at various stages of legal and executive proceedings: in the sentence (criminal court), in the latter part of imprisonment (execution of penalty court), and during the supervision (execution of penalty court). The principles of application of the special measures by the court which is to pass judgement in the case are stated in Art. 62 of the Penal Code. According to § 1, the application of supervision is optional towards the offenders coming under Art. 60 § 1. The court is here at liberty to decide as to the possible measures, as no premises to adjudge supervision are specified by the regulation. As to the recidivists coming under Art. 60 § 2, the adjudgement of one of the two special measures is obligatory, that of supervision as a rule. The adjudgement of the centre takes place only if the court recognizes supervision insufficient to prevent recidivism (Art. 62 § 2 of the Penal Code). The second instance when decisions are taken as to the application of the special measures is the close of imprisonment of the recidivists. The rulings of the execution of penalty taken at this stage of the proceedings modify those taken previously - that is, in the sentence - as regards the application of the special measures. In the case of common recidivists, these modifications may consist in adjudgement of supervision if it was not adjudicated in the sentence (Art. 91 of the Code of Execution of Penalties), or - if the recidivist is released on probation - in the specific conditional simulation of the supervision adjudicated in the sentence (Art. 98 § 1 of the Penal Code). If the release on probation is not cancelled by the court, the adjudgement of supervision loses effect (Art. 98 § 2 of the Penal Code). In the case of multiple recidivists, the modifications which may take place in the latter part of imprisonment as regards the adjudication of the special measures always consist in substitution of a strict measure by a milder one: the penitentiary court may replace the adjudgement of the centre with supervision (Art. 103 of the Code of Execution of Penalties) or release multiple recidivists on probation. The third closing stage of proceedings when the decisions on application of special measures are taken is the execution of supervision. In this stage, the position of recidivists coming under Art. 60 § 1 and 2 of the Penal Code is identical: they can both be sent to the centre in consequence of failure of the supervision (Art. 64 of the Penal Code). Thus the adjudgement of the centre in consequence of failure of supervision serves here as a measure to discipline the execution of supervision. The present study was based on the data from criminal records of the Criminal Register and the Central Files of Convicted and Temporarily Arrested Persons. The material from these records enables one to notice the differences, as regards the data they include, between the groups of recidivists distinguished in respect of the special measure adjudicated towards them, and thus, to define initially the criteria for application of these measures. As a conclusion, an attempt was made to define the general range of adjudgement of the special measures towards recidivists regardless of the stage of proceedings in which it took place. The research was of cross-sectional character. The examined population consisted of recidivists (coming under Art. 60) from the entire country and selected to 3 random samples: the first sample included all recidivists whose sentences had become valid within the period from March 1 till April 30, 1979 (1181 persons), the second sample included all recidivists discharged from prison within the period from February 1 till March 31, 1979 (874 persons), and the third one - all recidivists whose supervision had been completed within the period from April 1 till May 31, 1979 (544 persons). There were the total of 2599 cases, from which 72 cases had been excluded because of the lack of complete data in the Criminal Register. The final populations of the separate samples were thus as follows: I - 1146 persons, II - 869 persons, III - 512 persons (the total of 2 527 persons). The collected material was then analysed, that is, the groups of persons were compared, distinguished on the grounds of the type of the special measure adjudicated towards them, for instance the group of multiple recidivists towards whom supervision had been adjudicated was compared with the group sent to the centre. The above comparisons were made for each sample separately, and within the sample - separately as regards the common and multiple recidivists. The method of representing the results reflects , the analysis scheme: each sample has been represented in a separate part of the present paper. The study is summed un by an attempt to estimate the general range of adjudgement of the special measures towards recidivists. The results of the estimation indicate that the application of the special measures towards recidivists is of a very broad range. As many an approximately a half of the common recidivists had been subjected to supervision; failure occurred as regards 40 per cent of the supervised persons, which makes about 1/5 of all common recidivists, and these persons came under the regulation providing the adjudgement of the centre in consequence of the failure of supervision. In 40 per cent of the cases the cause of the unsuccessful termination of supervision was the non-compliance with orders and duties by the supervised person, and in 60 per cent - commission of a new offence. As regards multiple recidivists, there were as few as 14 per cent of them towards whom no special measure whatever had been adjudicated, owing to adjudgements of the execution of penalty courts. Approximately 27 per cent of the multiple recidivists had been sent to the centre immediately from prison, while approximately 59 per cent had been subjected to supervision. In over a half of these cases supervision was unsuccessful, which makes about 1/3 of the multiple recidivists. The cause of the unsuccessful termination of supervision was in 2/3 of the cases commission of a new offence, and in 1/3 of the cases non-compliance with orders and duties.

233-270

Authors: Halina Janowska

The study contains the results of an empirical research carried out in Poland devoted to the macro- and microsocial conditions of family orphanhood. In the first stage (1978), 97% of the population of all children’s homes, inhabited at the time of the study by 24,000 persons, were examined, and in the second stage (1980), 2.1% of this population were examined (520 persons, which made the sample representative of the country). The notion of family orphanhood was introduced in the study to describe the situation of children who are under care of State institutions due to the lack of care in their own families. The notion of social orphanhood is thus limited - in this formulation - to the situation when the State, in spite of negligence of basic parental duties by the parents, has not yet taken over the care of the child. The extent of social orphanhood in Poland is rated at approximately 10% of the population of children and young people aged 0-17. The extent of family orphanhood is rated at approximately 5 promile in the age group 4-18. The growth of family orphanhood shows the triple increase of the phenomenon during the last 20 years. At the time of the study, 58% of family orphans were in State; children's homes. From the point of view of the research tasks, this group of children and young persons was considered the most representative, as the principles of placing children under other forms of care (that is, for instance, foster homes, family children's homes, centres for school education and special educational institutions for socially maladjusted children and young people) are based on particular criteria of selection. Below a summary of the results of the study is presented. The greatest intensity of family orphanhood and crime can be found in the western and northern regions of Poland. As revealed by the statistical analysis, the intensity of these phenomena in various parts of the country is significantly correlated. Their joint source are the by-products of social changes. In the social conditions promoting the phenomenon of anomy, the group patterns of deviant behavior may reach broader social circles; the tendency to perceive that behavior as contradictory to the norms diminishes then. This tendency concerns criminal behavior to a much greater extent than the behavior from which the family orphanhood results. Thus the growth of social orphanhood measured indirectly (for instance, by the rate of care and protection cases in courts), seems to be more diagnostic as a ratio of increase of pathogenic social phenomena than as an index of reported crime. The growth of pathogenic social phenomena can be studied indirectly by means of a structure analysis of attributes of the population selected in a particular way. The structure of particular attributes of the population of institutions for children and juveniles varies significantly according to the intensity of the pathogenic social phenomena in different parts of the country. In the voivodships where this intensity is greater, a higher percentage of children under psychiatric care or those whose parents have been deprived of their parental rights, is to be found significantly more frequently; the distributions of frequency in the separate age groups are random in the examined population. In the voivodships where the ratio of pathogenic social phenomena is lower, the most numerous age group is that of 13-15, which means that - more often than in the remaining voivodships - the important reason for sending children to institutions are their educational problems connected with puberty, and not a generally worse situation of the families which would cause sending children to institutions regardless of their age. On the microsocial scale, the main cause of family orphanhood is the disorganization of the family related to the individual and social characteristics of the parents. Taking into account the level of disorders in the social behavior and that of disturbances in emotional relations between the members of the family, 4 categories of families were distinguished in the population examined. The majority are the families disturbed both in their social functions and in emotional relations; there were as many as 78.2% of them among 5200 families. The families which, however undisturbed, were educationally inefficient for other objective reasons (financial problems, housing problems, illness, disability, death of one parent were 7.1% of the cases. There were also 8.5% of the families with only emotional relations disturbed, and 6.3% of those with only social behavior disturbed. Thus the majority, that is, as much as 84.5% of the children were brought up in criminogenic environment. 75.3% of fathers and 55% of mothers were regularly drinking excessively; alcoholism was found in 55.6% of fathers and 19.6% of mothers; 66.6% of the mothers’ friends who lived together with the family were heavy drinkers. The high percentage of drinking mothers in those families should be noted. Lack of a permanent employment was found among 27.6% of fathers and 41% of mothers. Due to their alcoholism and poor professional training, a considerable part of the children's guardians found it difficult to obtain and keep a job. Until the time of the study, 15% of fathers and 6% of mothers had already been imprisioned; no reliable information was gathered as to their previous criminal records. Professional prostitution was found among 12% of mothers, while sexual promiscuity among as many as 40%. The instability of emotional bonds is a striking feature of the families examined. Only 1/3 of the parents are married. In 53% of the cases, the parents admittedly live together, but one of them is temporarily absent due to imprisonment or stay in a mental hospital, which are the most frequent reasons. 73% of the families live in very difficult financial conditions, 61% have serious housing problems. A very poor state of health (serious chronic diseases) was found in 18% of fathers and 23% of mothers. Health and physical development of children and youths in children’s homes are distinctly worse than the average in the country. Their height in 49,3% of the cases does not reach the age norm, the respective percentage in the case of weight being 42%. A half of the children had suffered from serious diseases, as shown by 48.6% of the cases of hospitalization. In as much as 17% of the children the past or present diseases are connected with damages of the central nervous system or with functional changes which reflect on their mental functions (cerebral concussion, epilepsy, acute neuroses). 17% of the ailments and diseases are immediately related to grave neglect (untreated advanced form of tuberculosis, effects of accidents). Congenital defects are found in 5% of cases. In the group of family orphans, the types of mental deficiency and personality disorders which impede the normal social functions can be found more frequently than in the entire population of children and young people. Only 56% of the children came within the limits of the normal intelligence level. The symptoms of nervousness - more or less intense - were observed among as many as 90% of them. There were only 13% of the children without any disturbances of behavior (that is, inhibition, increased kinetic restlessness, timidity, emotional sensitivity, aggressiveness etc.). Developmental deficiencies were found in as many as 84% of the children; the most frequent were those in the sphere of the development of visual (34.5%) and auditory (22.3%) functions, the least frequent were the disturbances of speech (13.8%). Deviant behavior is more frequent among the concerned population than in the entire population of children and youths in respective age groups. The following three types of behavior proving the threat of demoralization were found: behavior connected with school maladjustment, with environmental maladjustment against the background of defective emotional relations (excluding the one based on emotional disorders of the passive type, like inhibition, timidity, etc.) and delinquent behavior or that pointing to disturbed socialization. The most frequent are the types of behavior revealing school, maladjustment (41.4%), those revealing distrubances of emotional relations (28%), and the least frequent are types of behavior of deliquent character or pointing to disturbed socialization. It is worthy of notice that the intensity of behavior of the first and third types markedly decreases in the children’s homes, while in the case: of the second type, that is of behavior revealing disturbances of the emotional sphere, the decrease is much less visible. In the conditions of the children’s home the emotional compensation, which is an important problem, is difficult to solve.

291-337

Authors: Anna Kossowska

The object of the study initiated in 1975 in the Department of Criminology of the Polish Academy of Sciences was to get acquainted with the extent of social maladjustment in the families known to be characterised by the cumulation of socially negative factors. They were, called multi-problem families. In on study primary criteria for the selection of families were alcoholism and excessive drinking, which was based on the assumption, proved by many criminological studies, that alcoholism causes the most severe disturbances in the functioning of the family. Other symptoms of social maladjustment, such as crime, prostitution, child neglect, were recognized as the derivatives of alcoholism. 222 families living in the Warsaw district Praga-North were examined, in which at least 2 adult membres were known to the police as regular excessive drinkers. Data about the families examined were gathered by means of interviews with the district constables of the police. On the grounds of the interview a questionnaire was filled in, including such data on all members of the family who were living together, as: regular excessive drinking and behavior related to it, delinquency, trouble-making and threat to the safety of their family and neighbours, attitude towards work, performance of parental duties, prostitution and other symptoms of social maladjustment. They were supplemented by the data from other official sources, among other: court records, registers of the detoxication centres, data from the juvenile section of the police regarding the state of care of the children and their social maladjustment. The majority of the multi-problem families examined inhabit poorly planned areas. The houses are mainly old, neglected, assigned for demolition (and thus not repaired). There are no bathrooms nor WCs. Many of the tenements lack running water. The housing conditions of these families as regards the density of their tenements is considerably poorer than the average of the remaining part of the district and of the entire city. The financial standing of the families, according to the police constables, is “poor” or” very poor” in over a half of the examined cases. The social and professional status of the members is low. 70% of men and 90% of women lack any vocational training. At the time of research, the examined population of 222 families consisted of 437 men and 360 women aged over 17 and 233 children aged 0-16 (over a half of them were small children aged up to 10). The extent of social maladjustment of the entire adult population is as follows: As few as 9% of the men and 37% of the women do not drink excessively. The remaining regularly drink excessively or are alcoholics. It is interesting that a substantial intensity of excessive drinking was found even among the youngest group of the examined adult males, that is those aged 17 - 20. Only 15% of the men in this age group do not drink excessively. The excessive drinking of the persons examined is connected with other symptoms of “problem drinking”. Over 57% of the men and 17% of the women were detained at the detoxication centre more than 3 times. The persons under examination also frequently have cases brought against them in the Penal Administrative Commissions because of breaking of peace when intoxicated. Over 40% of the men had such cases brought against them at least 3 times. More than a half of the men in the multi-problem families are the so-called “persons dangerous to other members of the family when drunk”. This stands for behavior such as making rows at home, beating their wives or other members of the family, turning them into the street, demolishing their flats. The population of the men is also characterized by an improper attitude towards work. Approximately 45% of them do not work though they could. On the basis of the obtained information it can be stated that they either are provided for by the others, or they live on illegal business or various odd jobs, or they profit by illegal means. In the light of the data mentioned above as to the drinking habits of the members of the families examined the question arises if any relationship can be found between their excessive drinking and their staying out of work. Approximately 92% of the men who are known to stay out of work without any reasonable cause can be recognized as alcoholics. The extent of crime in the multi-problem families is significant, with 57% of the men having been convicted at least once, and 32% - 4 times or more. There were also 20% of the women with criminal records. Contrary to expectation, in the structure of crime of the examined population violent offences balance those against property. Among the population of the women from the problem families, 1/5 are suspected of prostitution. When discussing the social maladjustment of the women, the problem of performing maternal duties cannot possibly be ignored. 70% of the mothers of small children do not secure the care for them, and in some cases the child neglect becomes more flagrant. Only about 1/5 of the entire population of the adult members of the families examined reveal none of the symptoms mentioned above, the percentage in the case of men being as low as less than 9%. In the second part of the study an attempt is made to characterize the families from the point of view of the intensity of social maladjustment in the entire family. Among the 222 families there were 39, the members of which had no criminal record, that is, in over 80% of the families there occurs the co-existence of alcoholism and crime. In more than half of the families not even one adult member could be recognized as positive - that is, not drinking excessively, with a clear court record and regularly working. There is one such person in 54 families, 2 such persons in 36 families, and in only 15 families 3 persons were recognized as favourably meeting the above criteria. On the basis of the proceedings employed to define the degree of social maladjustment of each of the families, nearly 1/3 of them were found to reveal a very high intensity of cumulated symptoms of social maladjustment. Such families create a serious social problem to the still greater extent than the others. Analysing the educational situation in the families on the basis of their classification as regards their structure, the situation in question is found particularly unfavorable in the families where the mother regularly drinks excessively or is a prostitute. This applies particularly to the situation of small children. In nearly all the families with small children the sometimes flagrant negligence of the children was found. The mothers did not care for their children, left them without any care, did not secure for them any sufficient food nor clothing, the children having in many cases no other source of assistance. As the children grow up, their neglect and the influence of negative social patterns in the family repeatedly lead to the symptoms of social maladjustment, which increase gradually sometimes reaching very grave forms. Multi-problem families require special care and assistance of the qualified social services. This applies particularly to children who are brought up in exceptionally unfavourable conditions. An early intervention in the situation of those children is vital. It should lead to neutralizing the negative influence of family milieu, which in a great part of the cases requires the isolation of the children by placing them in a children's home. The assistance applied towards the family should also consist in financial and medical aid (including the treatment of early stages of alcoholism).

363-388

Authors: Paweł Zakrzewski

In the present study the changes in behavior of young adult drug addicts are described, which occurred as their dependence has developed since the beginning of taking drugs. We regard as scientifically fruitless frequent general statements concerning young adult (as well as adult) drug addicts irrespective of their age and the stage of dependence. The research on which the present study is based was a part of multidisciplinary studies of young adult drug addicts which were conducted by the Department of Mental Health of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Łódź in the years 1974-76. It concerned all patients aged 15-23 registered in the out-patient clinics for young drug addicts and in district out-patient clinics for adults in the city of Łódź because of the repeated taking of narcotic drugs. It is important to note that the discussed population consisted of 102 young adults, of which 23% were girls. Three detailed interviews were carried on in relation to each case: one with the mother of the given boy or girl (in exceptional cases with another adult member of the family), the second one at school with the tutor and the teachers, and the third one with the drug addict himself . The questionnaires on which the interviews were based took into account, to a high degree, the family conditions of the addicts, their behavior at home , from their earliest childhood up to the latest months, their school history, ways of spending their leisure time, the outset and circumstances of taking drugs, the use of alcohol, the peer groups, living problems in the period preceding the taking of drugs and in subsequent years, delinquency etc. Data were also collected concerning the criminal records of the addicts and the history of various diseases treated in different out-patient clinics. The study was conducted by a team of several persons working under supervision of the author of the present paper. Estimation of the degree of dependence was based on medical diagnosis. Among the addicts, the following three stages of dependence were distinguished: the stage of social dependence, that of mental dependence and the stage of physical dependence. The greatest part (50%) of the addicts were in the stage of mental dependence. The addicts were noticed to move to the more advanced stages of dependence in course of time. The mean duration of the period of taking drugs was: with young adults socially dependent 5 months, with those mentally dependent 1 year 5 months, and with those physically dependent 2 years 8 months. There are, however, limitations to this regularity. Some individuals withdrew from talking drugs within the first 12 months of social dependence. Others reached the stage of mental dependence very rapidly, so to say cutting down or even skipping the first stage of dependence. There were also those who remained for a long time in the preliminary stage of the illness, that is, that of mental dependence, revealing no symptoms of physical dependence even after one or two years. It is thus apparent that the progress of dependence and its rapidity are not the derivative of the length of the period of taking drugs only. An important role is also played by the intensity of taking drugs, by their peculiarities and by the individual immunity of the central nervous system of a given person. The notion of the so-called social dependence is controversial to a certain degree and as such used only by some of the authors. However, the results of the present study speak in its favor as the term defining the first, and so to say preliminary stage of dependence, preceding the next stages of dependence in the medical sense. In the present study the notion of social dependence is of a very broad range, i.e., its criteria are not limited to the pressure of the peer group and the boy’s or girl’s eagerness to adjust themselves to this group. On the basis of the collected material, we included in the notion social dependence also the cases in which the addicts communicated with loose society circles, e.g. in cafés, which was accompanied by the predominant trend to adjust themselves to the fashion and customs of such circles, as well as the cases of an influence of individual persons of different sex attracted to each other. The notion of social dependence is worthy of separation, particularly, as the patterns of taking drugs have now become generally accepted among the youth. Taking certain drugs several times, or even once, caused a considerable improvement of mood of the individuals inclined to experience conflicts intensely, who had a low tolerance to frustration and a poor ability to overcome obstacles, if they only happened upon the drug which changed their mental stale favourably from their point of view. Phenmetrazine was good for some of the persons examined to suppress their mental inhibitions, while others used sedatives to suppress states of tension and excitement, still others - morphine and its derivatives to experience something new and to get away from the dullness of the everyday life. The process of social dependence turning into mental dependence among the addicts consisted in the fact that - as they were experimenting with various drugs in the company of others - they soon found that not only the interpersonal ties were hereby fortified, but also their hitherto only poorly tolerated mental state could undergo a favorable change. As this belief grew stronger and proved true in all next instances of taking the drug, they experienced the more and more intense desire to take such drugs whenever the state of tension, discouragement or irritation had reached a considerable degree of intensity. However, after some time the hitherto felt desires were dominated by additional and extremely trying sensations of not only mental but also physical nature which occurred in the periods of the break in drug taking. The addicts tried at any price to get rid of withdrawal symptoms. Most frequent were the complaints about the sensation of irritation, restlessness, inability to concentrate on anything, lack of energy, anxiety, insomnia or nightmares, headache and melalgia, hand tremor and other annoying and exhausting symptoms. The examined persons with these symptoms had already found themselves in the stage of physical dependence. In the diversity and variability of drugs taken by the addicts as their dependence developed, a following essential regularity could be noticed: the comparatively greatest diversity of drugs taken was usually found at the stage of social dependence. In that of mental dependence, morphine and the specimens approximal to it more and more prevailed among the drugs taken by a given individual, thus reducing the role of other drugs. The transition to physical dependence meant further concentration on the opiates (mainly morphine), while other drugs – including alcohol- became substitutes and were taken when the individual did not possess the favorite drug and thus felt withdrawal symptoms. The danger of conversion to morphine and other opiates, with all its consequences, thus grew as the taking of drugs continued. It is a matter of course that, as the individual gradually needed drugs more and more difficult to obtain (that, is, those from the morphine group), which were sold at a higher price, and as he needed more and more of the drug and found it more and more difficult to do without - the ways of obtaining it had to change. A phenomenon occurs which can be called escalation not only of the drugs taken, but also of the means of obtaining them. The means in question become more and more ruthless, one counts less and less both with one’s own hitherto existing line of conduct and ambitions and with the probable reactions of the environment. The means of obtaining drugs grow also more and more absorbing, they engage more and more time and efforts. Simultaneously followed the process of diminution of individual interests and of the disappearance of ambitions in the addicts. It was more and more difficult for them to acquit themselves of the hitherto performed social roles. And thus, for instance, within the range of the role of a pupil, the following symptoms could be found among the addicts beginning from the stage of mental dependence: considerable difficulties of concentration, the slowing down of the run of thought, passiveness and drowsiness during the classes, increasing absence from school, being far away with thought even if physically present at school, regular remiss in doing homework, indifference to school failures, reluctance to undertake efforts to overcome them - that is, greater and greater slackness in the school duties. School, usually quitted in the advanced stages of dependence, gave place to irregular and chance periods of working, which did not in the least lead to any professional promotion of a given individual. All the hitherto existing forms of activity which satisfied their former interests and life plans were - as the dependence developed - replaced by the efforts to obtain every now and again new doses of the longed-for drug. Parallel to this process new specific elements appeared in the life of the addicts: contacts with out-patient clinics, stays in detoxication centres and mental hospitals, which repeated from time to time, and in a considerable number of the cases – court appearances ending more than once with imprisonment. In general, it must be stated that the progress of dependence has led to intense degradation changes in the lives of the addicts. The whole of those changes were composed of the following: increasing problems and failure at school, quitting school, aggravating conflicts at home, participation in youth groups and circles out of control which were characterized by socially negative patterns of behavior, giving up one’s professional ambitions, staying for months in hospitals, undergoing detoxication treatment, gradual limitation of one’s aims and interests to obtaining and taking drugs, court appearances every now and again.

403-445

Authors: Hanna Paszkowska

The new Polish penal legislation of 1969 introduced special rules of criminal liability of young adult offenders' aged 17-20. In 1972 criminological research was undertaken in order to characterize this group of offenders, i.e., its most numerous category - those found guilty of offences against property. The research ended in 1975. In 1980 a follow-up of convictions of the persons, under observation was carried out. The object of the study of young adults found guilty of offences against property was to analyse the psycho-social factors connected with their social maladjustment and demoralization, particularly their family and school environment, personality, extent of drinking and offending. It was also the object of the study to compare two groups of young adult towards whom different measures had been adjudicated. As the most typical offences of young adults are those against property, a group of young adults convicted for this very type of offences was included in the study. There were 100 persons under examination who had been sentenced to immediate imprisonment. This group consisted of all prisoners of two Warsaw prisons in the years 1973-75 (group A). The group of young adults (group B) consisted of 100 persons conviced in 1973 for offences against property and sentenced to fine, limitation of freedom, imprisonment with suspension of execution, or educational-corrective measures. The two groups of convicted persons that were selected for the study, different as regards the adjudicated and executed measures, were compared in many respects in order to ascertain the distinctions between them as regards the degree of intensity of the process of social maladjustment which had been related to the application of various penal measures. Empirical research consisted in gathering detailed information on the persons under scrutiny concerning their previous convictions, their school career and the course of work. Also interviews were carried out with them and separately with their mothers, by means of a detailed questionnaire. Three psychological tests were also employed towards each person, that is Raven’s intelligence test, Eysenck’s questionnaire to measure extroversion and neurotism and Buss-Durkee inventory to measure aggression. 3.1. Offences against property constituted the criterion for selection to the study. The most numerous group were convictions for larceny qualified as “stealing in a particularly audacious manner or by a breaking and entering” (Art. 208 of the Penal Code), though the “audacious theft” was extremely rare as compared with the second choice. 64% of the persons of group A had been convicted for offences described in this article, the percentage as regards group B being 35%. Many persons also committed thefts of social property, while the receiving of stolen goods was the least frequent. Generally, the persons of group A had been active for a longer time than those of group B, and their offences were more frequently qualified as continuous. It should also be emphasized that the mean value of the objects stolen by the persons of group B was considerably lower than it was the case with the young adults of group A. It also happened (16% of cases) that the act of the young adults of group B ended as a mere attempt at committing an offence. To sum up, the offences against property committed by the persons, sentenced to immediate imprisonment were more serious than those committed by the young adults towards whom other measures had been adjudicated. 3.2. 69% of the persons of group A had cases in juvenile courts, while as many as 84% admitted having committed offences, mostly thefts, at that age. On the other hand, 44% of the persons of group B had committed offences for which they were brought to court as juveniles. The difference between both groups is significant (p < 0.00l). The origins of delinquency dating back from before the age of 13 were found in as many as 23 persons of group A and 10 persons of group B. The earlier they started to commit offences and had their first case in juvenile court, the more numerous were their subsequent convictions in that period. The mean number of convictions in juvenile court was 2,2 in group A and 1,6 in group B. The structure of delinquency of the persons under examination is hardly differentiated: they committed first of all offences against property (85.7%), mostly larceny. The juvenile court, had employed such measures as admonition and charge of parents in the case of persons of group B considerably more frequently than towards those of group A (25% and 8.7% respectively). On the other hand, the persons of group A had been much more frequently sent to children’s homes and to corrective schools (44.9%) than those of group B (25%). 3.3. In the period discussed below all the persons were young adults, with the mean age similar in both groups: 19 in group A and 18.9 in group B. The mean number of convictions of the persons of groups A from the age of 17 was 1.7, and in group B 1.2. Each member of group A was responsible for 3.3. offences, while in group B the mean number of offences was 2.2. It should not be forgotten that many persons, particularly those of group A, were repeatedly imprisoned in the discussed period. A considerable majority of the persons of both groups who had committed more than one offence, were convicted for offences against property only. The data quoted above illustrate the whole of delinquency of the persons under examination and recidivism among them. Taking into account both the period of minority and the later period from 17 years of age on, there were as many as 4 per every five persons of group A who had already been convicted before, and in group B nearly every second person had had a conviction previously (the difference is significant, p < 0.01). These data confirm the conclusion as to the more advanced process of demoralization of the young adults of group A as compared with group B. 49% of the persons guilty of offences against property of group A came from unbroken homes; the respective percentage in group B was 71% (difference significant, p < 0.001). Broken homes resulted mostly from the death of one parent (23% of cases in group A and 15% in group B), or from divorce (28% of cases in group A, 14% in group B). A majority of the persons came from workmen’s families (90.5% in group A, 70.7% in group B). The level of professional qualifications and education of parents of the persons examined is significantly lower (p < 0.01) in group A as compared with group B. Approximately 60% of families of the persons of group A and 67% of group B had been living in poor financial conditions, which was connected, among others, with excessive drinking of the fathers. 56.3% of fathers of the persons of group A had regularly been drinking excessively, that is drinking vodka at least twice a week. This percentage was only 26.3% in group B, it was lowered, however, as the examination of young adults of young adults of group B was carried on at home, often with the fathers themselves present. 37% of fathers in group A and 19% of those in group B had been taken to a detoxication centre, including 21% and 14% respectively taken at least three times. As in other criminological studies, in the present one young adults have not been found to live in criminal family environment. It was extremely rare that the fathers of the persons examined had criminal records. To sum up, certain negative phenomena were more frequent in the families of young adults of group A (for instance, broken home, excessive drinking of fathers). However, the cumulation of a number of negative factors could have influenced in a particulary unfarourable way the process of socialization of the persons under examination. 5.1. There were 37% of the persons of group A and 23% of those (p< 0.001) of group B with elementary education, and 18% and 5% respectively with incomplete elementary education. The difference is significant (p < 0.001). School retardation which appears more often among delinquents than among non-delinquents is connected with a lower level of education of young adults. Among the young adults of group A as few as 17% revealed no retardation, the percentage as regards group B being 46.5%. The difference is significant (p < 0.001). The retardation of the persons of group B usually amounts to one year only, while it is often 3 years or more among the persons of group A. School problems are also connected with truancy (group A - 78%, group B – 66% of the examined persons), which begins in the very first grades of elementary school. Early and regular truancy of the persons of group A was one of the symptoms of their maladjustment. Truancy is conducive to running away from home. The persons under scrutiny, particularly those of group A, had been running away from home considerably often and for longer periods. 2. Among those who were employed, every second person in group A and every fifth person in group B worked casually only. They usually took jobs requiring low professional qualifications, as only few of them had any professional training (group A-38%, group B-62%). 6.1. Raven’s test was employed to estimate the level of intelligence of the persons examined. 53.6% of young adults of group A and 31.7% of group B scored low and very low (up to 25 centile). 10.3% of group A and 29.3% of group B scored high and very high (centile 75 and more). The mean score was 35.4 in group A standard deviation: 9.87, and 41.1 in group B (standard deviation 10.09). The difference between both groups is significant (p < 0.01). Low scares on the Raven’s scale were often found among those persons whose level of education had been low, which was accompanied by a considerable school retardation. 2. To measure the level of extroversion and neurotism, Eysenck’s MPI scale was employed. The level of extroversion and neurotism among the young adult perpetrators of offences against property was not found to be higher than that of the average youth. 6.3. The level of aggressiveness was examined by means of the Buss-Durkee questionnaire. None of its scales differentiated significantly the persons of both groups. The mean total score was 61.7 (standard deviation 21.4) in group A and 61.06 (standard deviation 23.6) in group B. The data given below concern the persons of group A only, as the information obtained from those of group B as to the volume and frequency of drinking among them do not seem reliable. The analysis of statements of the subjects reveals that the percentage of teetotallers diminishes with age. The persons examined have been drinking large amounts of alcohol from their earliest years. 36% of them stated that they had drunk such quantities of various spirits at the age of 15, which converted to 40 proof vodka would amount to 2.5 litres a month. From the age of 17 on, 60% of the persons drank over 2.5 litres of 40 proof alcohol a month. They drank vodka as well as wine and beer, which leads relatively quickly to the “treshold of intoxication”. Mean yearly consumption of alcohol per 1 examined person was 34.2 litres at the age of 15, and increased sed from year to year to reach 113.7 litres yearly at the age of 19, which means that approximately 9.5 litres of 40 proof vodka were consumed monthly; this quantity goes far beyond the mean level of drinking by men at this age. 3/4 of the subjects can be recognized as excessive drinkers. A significant correlation was found between the excessive drinking among the persons under scrutiny and their early delinquency and recidivism. The highest percentage (40%) of the persons who did not drink excessively was found among those convicter once only, while the lowest (14.8%) was found among those who had 5 or more convictions. The analysis of the young adults’ information as to their , peer groups revealed that also their closest friends had been drinking excessively and often intoxicated. In February 1980, further convictions of the persons examined, then aged 25 on the average, were checked up again. As revealed by the analysis, the persons of group A (60%) still continued to commit offences and indeed many of them become multiple recidivists. The difference between the persons of groups A and B is significant (p < 0.001). 40% of the persons of group A and 67% of those of group B have not been convicted within the period of the follow-up. The majority of the persons under observation continued to commit offences against property. The courts have mainly adjudged the penalty of immediate imprisonment (group A - 92.3%, group B - 78.2%). Among those sentenced to immediate imprisonment there were in group A 57.1% sentenced to 2 years or less of imprisonment, and in group B - 93%. There was significant correlation (p < 0.01)between the convictions in juvenile courts and further convictions in the period of the follow-up. As the data reveal, group B towards which the sanctions other than immediate imprisonment were adjudicated, differed from the imprisoned group A as to the smaller extent and intensity of their offending - also during the follow-up - and their lower degree of progress in the process of social maladjustment. However, there were quite many persons in group B as well (though less than in group A), who had been convicted as juveniles; they had yet no convictions during the follow-up in a much highter percentage of cases than the subjects of group. A who had been convicted by the juvenile court previously. On the basis of the above information, criminal policy can be discussed as regards young adults found guilty of offences against property. One should not postulate a total abandonment of the penalty of immediate imprisonment, and yet, as shown by the above data, its adjudgement should be considerably limited. The limitation in question should concern first of all young adults convicted for the first time and socially demoralized to a small degree. Within the years 1970 -76 imprisonment was the measure most frequently adjudicated towards young adults. In the years 1970 - 1974 the percentage of young adults sentenced to immediate imprisonment increased regularly. It is only since 1975 that a favourable phenomenon of regular decrease of the percentage of adjudicated penalties of immediate imprisonment can be noticed, with simultaneous increase of the percentage of measures which are not connected with deprivation of liberty. As it seems, the application of immediate imprisonment towards young adults should undergo further limitations. When postulating the re-orientation of the criminal policy of the courts towards a maximum realization of the instructions of Art. 51of the Penal Code, one should also demand changes in the stage of execution of penalty. As indicated , by many studies of readaptive effectiveness of corrective schools and prisons, their influence is minimal and sometimes their resocializing activities are destructive for the convicted persons. Imprisonment causes a state of deprivation of essential physical and mental needs, destroys the ties of those convicted with their family, gives rise to socially negative patterns of prisoners’ subculture. In the present study also the offenders of group A were described, the considerable part of whom had been changing various types of institutions and prisons, first as juveniles, then as young adults, and the effects of these imprisonments were negative as measured by further convictions within the period of the follow-up. The information presented in this study concerning the family background of the persons of group A (particularly the alcoholism or excessive drinking of the fathers, which is frequent in these families), and information concerning the early and large social maladjustment of these persons, indicate a need to consider the problem of young adult perpetrators of offences against property not only in relation to the measures that should be adjudged and their execution. It is also of almost importance to consider the prevention of social maladjustment of this category of youth.