Archiwum Kryminologii (Archives of Criminology)

7-100

Authors: Jerzy Jasiński

THE SURVEYS Two consecutive alcohol consumption surveys were carried out in Poland in 1980 and 1985. In both of them quota samples of population 16 years of age and over were used, and the sizes of the samples were 1972 and 1808 respectively. The surveys were sponsored by the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology which is responsible for funding research on a broad range of topics related to alcohol, its effects, use and misuse. The fieldwork was carried our by specially trained interviewers of the Centre for Public Opinion Survey and Programme studies of the state Committee for Radio and TV in Warsaw, a well established public opinion poll institute working already for more than 30 years. The majority of items included in the questionnaires used in each survey were identical, only some were altered, dropped entirely, or substituted for by other formulations. The preliminary part of both questionnaires concerned the relations of the respondents with other people. This was followed by a group of several questions related to the last drinking occasion: place and company of drinking, kind and amount of alcohol consumed, and the reason for drinking. In the 1985 survey more detailed information on the last occasion of drinking was collected, viz. separate questions were asked in relation to the last occasion of consumption of spirits and that of the consumption of wine, as well as on the duration of these occasions. The persons who had not consumed alcohol during the twelve months preceding the interview were asked whether they had ever drunk before, and what the reasons were for their being teetotallers. All the respondents were requested to tell about their pleasant and unpleasant experiences with alcohol, and whether alcohol helped them or caused trouble in some situations listed in the questionnaire, and pertaining to their social and professional life. Apart from that, the respondents were asked to express their approval or disapproval of several statements concerning good and bad consequences of drinking. In this part of the questionnaire, in the 1985 survey several alterations were introduced in comparison with the former survey. What remained unchanged in the questions were those on being victimized during the last twelve months while drunk, or by a drunk person. The questions on drinking in excess or more often than desired, or binge drinking-asked in the 1980 survey - were replaced in the 1985 survey by questions forming the CAGE questionnaire. Other questions asked in both surveys concerned the consumption of moonshine alcohol and drinking at work. The concluding part of the questionnaires was designed to obtain information on the respondents age, sex, education, place of residence, kind of work, etc. In the above surveys, the-last-occasion approach was applied in order to estimate the size and the pattern of alcohol intake by the respondents. This approach is adopted in the majority of Polish alcohol consumption surveys, following the example of a Finnish researcher P. Kuusi. Both surveys were carried out in mid-September, i.e. after-summer holidays, during a normal working month, without any important religious or national festivities, which would have changed to some extent the ordinary drinking practices. THE BEVERAGES During the years 1980-1985, the size of the apparent consumption of alcoholic beverages changed considerably. According to the official data derived from the statistics on sales of commodities, in 1980 the per capita consumption amounted to 8.4 litres of pure alcohol, of which 71 per cent was drunk in spirits,15 per cent- in wine, and 14 per cent -in beer. The 1985 figures were: 6,8 litres, 67, 15 and 18 per cent respectively. It looks as if the total consumption decreased substantially (by 19 per cent), but the structure of beverages consumed remained fairly stable. However , according to the opinion shared by the majority of specialists on the subject, the drop in the officially recorded consumption was associated with a marked increase in moonshine alcohol, which resulted in raising the total consumption to at least the 1980 level. The results of the survey seem to support this assertion. The per capita self-reported consumption of alt alcoholic beverages amounted to 5.6 and 5,9 litres of pure alcohol in 1980, and 1985 respectively. Thus, instead of the 1985 drop, a slight increase occurred (by 5 per cent). Moreover, while. the self-reported consumption of the majority of the beverages remained stable a large increase was noted in the home-made beverages: the illegally distilled moonshine alcohol (spirits) and the legally made fruit wine. The consumption of moonshine spirits was in 1985 higher than that in 1980 by 130 per cent and the consumption of fruit wine was higher by 60 per cent. In1985,one-scventh of all alcoholic beverages consumed were home-made, while in 1980 - only one-thirteenth. As a result, the share of spirits in the total amount of alcohol consumed – whether legally or illegally distilled in 1985 exceeded the 71 per cent level of 1980. Between the years 1980 and 1985 the proportion of consumers of fruit wine and spirits within the population remained stable, and that of other beverages increased. In particular, the number of those who drank moonshine spirits doubled. With the exception of fruit wine drunk in 1985 by nearly one-third of men as well as women 16 years of age and over, other beverages were consumed by far more men than women. This was particularly the case as regards beer which was drunk by 70 per cent of men and only 20 per cent of women, and moonshine spirits which were drunk by 30 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women. Spirits, which in Poland means mostly vodka, were consumed by 85 per cent of men and 62 per cent of women, and wine by 46 and 39 per cent respectively. FREQUENCY AND AMOUNT The-last-occasion approach adopted in the surveys consists not only in asking the respondents of how much and of how long ago they had drunk for the last time each of, the alcoholic beverages enumerated in the questionnaire, but also in assuming that the occasions reported were typical for the ways the respondents drank. Frequency of drinking depends heavily, among other things, on the kind of' beverage. In the Polish culture, wine is the less frequently drunk alcoholic beverage. Two-thirds of its consumers drink it at most once a month, and half of all its consumers - at most once every three months. Home-made fruit wine is being drunk even less often. Only one in five or six wine consumers drink it once a week or more often. The consumers of spirits seem to be divided into two distinct groups, one formed by occasional drinkers (at most once a month) and the other by frequent drinkers (several times a month or even several times a week). The first group consists of one-third, and the other one of more than half of all spirits drinkers. One in five of them drinks spirits several times a week. Most evenly distrributed on the frequency scale of drinking were the consumers of beer. Nearly as many drank it every day, every week, every month or every three months. Similar picture emerges in respect of the amount drunk on one occasion. Regardless of the beverage, most consumers drink small quantities only. But there are also heavy drinkers who consume on one occasion at least a quarter of a litre of spirits, one litre of wine or more than one litre of beer. Those drinkers constituted one in five of spirits' consumers, even one in two of moonshine spirits consumers, and one in five of wine or beer consumers, less heavy drinkers are only among home-made fruit wine drinkers (one in ten). The information concerning the frequency of drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed makes it possible to separate four patterns of drinking: heavy and frequent, heavy and infrequent, moderate and frequent, moderate and infrequent. Among consumers of different beverages, the group of persons drinking moderately and infrequently was the most numerous particularly as regards the consumers of wine, and smaller degree the consumers of spirits and moonshine spirits, and to the smallest degree-the consumers of beer. Also the group of persons drinking heavily and infrequently were relatively numerous, apart from consumers of beer, among whom the second most numerous group was that of persons drinking moderately and frequently. Every fourth or fifth consumer of beer, every seventh consumer of home-made frit wine drank much and frequently. As regards persons, who drank any two of the above-mentioned beverages, a convergence of their drinking parents could be noticed which consisted in the following regularity: if one of the beverages was consumed according to one of the patterns, the other beverage was generally also consumed according to the same pattern. The above results were very similar in both surveys. However, in the 1985survey, a slight shift towards greater concentration of consumption could be noticed. One of the effects of drinking alcohol, and for some consumers probably also one of the aims of drinking, is to get drunk. Using the information from the 1985 survey on such factors as the kind and amount of beverages consumed, the duration of the drinking occasion, and the sex and weight of the respondent, the blood alcohol concentration was estimated for every drinking occasion reported. In about one quarter of drinking occasion this estimate could not be done due to the lack of some of the necessary data, most often that of the weight of the respondents. Only one in every five events of drinking spirits and one in three events of drinking wine have not caused a rise in blood alcohol concentration above the physiological level of 0,2 per mille. Getting drunk, i. e. overstepping the blood alcohol concentration of 1.5 per mille, occurred in 13 per cent of incidents of drinking spirits, 7 per cent of drinking wine, and 5 per cent of drinking home-made fruit wine. If related to the total number of drinking occasion of the above beverages this means that in Poland every day about 600 thousand persons would get drunk. Persons getting drunk were significantly more numerous among men than women, and as far as men are concerned among young (up to 40 years of age), less educated, blue-collar workers describing themselves as non-believers or non-worshiping believers. Among women only those who felt to be better off than average would drink significantly more often than others. DRINKING OCCASION One of the characteristic features of drinking alcohol in Poland is using the existing occasions or inventing them. Alcohol happens to be drunk in order to celebrate such events as family festivities (like name-days or birthdays), religious ceremonies (like baptism, confirmation or - in particular - wedding), national holidays, government ceremonies (like opening a factory, a museum'' new railway station or a bridge), other happy events (tike winning a match by a favourite soccer team, passing important examinati.ons by the son or daughter, their entrance to the high school or the university). Drinking occasion may be called for while looking for some comfort caused by losing a march by a favourite soccer team a set-back at work, or misfortune in personal matters. Alcohol is served and drunk in order to show hospitality, to emphasize the importance of a guest or an unusual, lofty, or particular character of the meeting, etc. This list could be easily extended, but it does not seen necessary as its aim is only to show that drinking alcoholic beverages - probably with the exception of beer only – is perceived as an event calling for special justification. This justification should not be equated with causes of drinking, deeply rooted and often not understood and realized clearly by the person in question. Therefore, the justification for drinking provides an insight not so much into the reasons of drinking as into its cultural context. Using the information on the kind and amount of alcohol drunk, on the place of drinking, character of the occasion, and, in the 1985 survey, also on the duration of the drinking incidence, three main types of spirits and wine consumption occasions were distinguished: a family celebration, a friendly social meeting, and a drinking-for-purpose event. The family celebration comprised nearly half of all drinking occasions described in the replies of the respondents. These occasions lasted longer than others, namely about 4 to 5 hours, with many persons taking part, the amount of alcohol drunk was smaller by half than the average amount and in more than 90 per cent of cases they took place in private quarters. The friends-meeting social type of drinking occasions were less numerous, they comprised about one-third of the total number of the last occasions reported. Half of them occurred in friends appartments, one-fourth on the respondents flats, and one in seven in a bar or restaurant. The meeting lasted about 2-3 hours, and the amount of spirits or wine drunk was somewhat larger than the average. Most often 4 to 5 persons took part in these encounters. One in five of the last occasions described by the respondents was of the drinking-for-purpose type. The most often stated justification for such a drinking occasion was that ,,it just happened this way" or ,,without any special reason, and the second in the row was that the drinking tock place in order to handle some business which made it necessary to have a drink’’. These occasions lasted usually l-2 hours and the company consisted of about 3-4 persons. Most often the meeting took place in a bar or a restaurant at work; relatively rarely in private appartments, and occasionally in a park or another commonly frequented place. Persons drinking on these type of occasions consumed twice as much alcohol as the average. The types and characteristics of drinking occasions did not change between 1980 and 1985; only few exceptions were noted, such as those with more alcohol drunk in private apartments and less in bars and restaurants. The same types of drinking occasions were fund in respect of consumption of spirits and wine, only home-made fruit wine did not seem to be drunk ,,for purpose’’ DRINKING AT WORK One of the special features of drinking practices in Poland is the consumption of alcohol at work. It takes place against the provisions of the labour law and in some circumstances also against criminal law. Every few years the authorities launch a campaign against drinking at work only to learn that it brings about temporary results. In order to understand the reasons for limited effects of such endeavours a closer look at a socialist enterprise is necessary' fn a state-controlled economy, a socialist enterprise is not. only a place where employees provide work in order to produce some commodities or services. One of the Polish leading sociologists described such an enterprise as a combination of an industrial plant, an office, and charity. Its peculiar social life stems from all the above factors, and it is only against this background that an appraisal of the data on drinking at work can be made. The 1980 survey revealed that two of every three respondents employed in the state-owned enterprises and offices had in the course of the last year prior to the interview drunk alcohol while at work. The results of the 1985 survey were markedly different since the affirmative answers to the question of drinking at work was given by one in every two such respondents. On the assumption of the last occasion approach an attempt was made at amount of drinking events at work. The numbers of such events in1980 and 1985 were 14.6 and 7.3 per one employee respectively. It seems to be a marked decrease, but is has to be seen whether it will be a lasting one. Drinking at work seems to be very common also in another respect. When looping at the characteristics of the consumer of alcohol at work they correspond closely to the characteristics of all drinking persons. The justification for drinking at work is very similar to that described above, only the family celebration and friends-meeting social types seen to merge into one. In 1980 nearly half, and in 1985 one-third the persons who drank at work did it while celebrating name-days or birthdays. One in five of those who drank at work did it ,,with no special reason" or because alcohol was offered by somebody, which corresponds to the drinking-for-purpose type. ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE Alcohol dependence is a very complex concept and it is debatable whether tackling it in a survey research can produce conclusive results. In the 1985 survey it was approached by means of one of the questionnaires used by medical practitioners. After reviewing several of such questionnaires, like MAST, SMAST, CAGE, MALT, Reich, the CAGE questionnaire was selected as the most suitable, among other things, because of its brevity. A common feature of all the above instruments is that they are in fact screening tests, and their aim is to spot out in a pool of patients those who might have an alcohol problem. These patients are referred afterwards to a qualified specialist for a proper examination and diagnosis. The use of such a questionnaire in a survey conducted in a general population is an extention of its application far beyond the limits of its original design, because in such a situation it is expected to provide a final ,,diagnosis" instead of pointing to persons suspected of being addicted to alcohol. In the circumstances both the sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire become of utmost importance. The low specificity of the CAGE questionnaire makes it impossible to estimate- within the known limits of errors - the size of the group of alcohol dependent persons in the general population because a number of persons likely to be classified on its basis as being alcohol dependent in fact are not dependent. The size of the latter (i. e. those incorrectly classified as alcohol dependent) is partly a function of the size of the group of the alcohol dependent in the general population. The percentage of respondents who in the 1985 survey said ,,yes" to al1 the four questions of the CAGE questionnaire was 4.4, to three questions - 11.8, to two questions - I2.1, and to one question - 15.1. The results of the previous applications of the CAGE test show that four ,,yes" answers to the questionnaire questions were given only by alcohol dependent persons, and no such answers were given by persons not dependent. Hence it can be assumed that in the cases of all four ,,yes" answers one deals with alcohol dependent persons, without fear of making a serious error. As to the persons who gave three ,,yes" answers) one can assume among them a higher cumulation of alcohol dependent persons, and as regards those who said ,ryes" to two questions it can be hypothesised that there are few such persons among them. On the basis of the results obtained, the probable number of persons in 1985 in Poland in the age group of 16 years and over, who were alcohol dependent, has been estimated as somewhat higher than number of persons who said ,,yes’’ to all the four questions in the CAGE questionnaire, i. e. approximately 1,500 000, the error limits of this estimate, unfortunately, cannot be specified. The persons who gave a higher number of ,,yes’’ answers to the test questions drank largel quantities of alcohol. More answers of this kond were given by men, middle-aged persons and elderly (but not old), living in villages, not well-off, non-worshipping believers and non-believers. THE ABSTAINERS AND TEETOTALLERS Abstainers are referred to here as those who do not drink a particular alcoholic beverage, and teetotalers as those who according to themselves do not drink alcohol at all (1980 survey) or who did not consume alcohol during the last twelve months prior to the interview. Only 25 per cent of the respondents abstained from drinking spirits, about 25 per cent-from wine, 58 per cent (in 1980)and 50 per cent (in 1985)-from beer, 70 per cent (in 1980) and 64 per cent (in1985)-from home-made fruit wine, and 89 per cent (in 1980) and 79 per cent (in 1985)-from moonshine spirits. The were 14.8 per cent teetotalers in 1980 and 16.1 per cent in 1985, however, the difference in those percentages is statistically insignificant. In general population the fraction of teetotalers is probably a few points higher because in both the 1980 and 1985 samples the persons aged 16-19 and 60 and more, namely those among whom the non-drinkers are most numerous, were underrepresented. Less than half of the teetotalers never drank alcohol and the share of those who stopped drinking increased between the years 1980 and 1985. This result would have looked promising were it not for the reasons for not drinking given by the respondents. Most often old age, poor health, lack of money, and similar justification were offered, and only one in seven non-drinking alcohol respondent mentioned that drinking alcohol would interfere with his studies or work, or against his beliefs or cherished values. Also the social characteristics of teetotalers give reason for worry: among these overrepresented are very young and elderly, women, poorly educated, blue-collar workers, poor-in general those who belong to the lower social strata of the population. To be a teetotaler in Poland is unenviable.

141-188

Authors: Zofia Ostrihanska, Dobrochna Wójcik

The paper presents further fates of socially maladjusted children from Warsaw elementary schools in the period from 1976-1978 (when they were examined for the first time) till 1985 (when they were interviewed again and their criminal records were checked). The children to be included in the study had been indicated by their teachers due to intense and cumulated symptoms of social maladjustment (though nor necessarily offences). The following acts were found to be symptoms of maladjustment: regular truancy, loitering, running away from home; contacts with demoralized peers; thefts; drinking of alcohol; sexual depravation; vandalism; aggressive behaviour. Further fates of those examined persons were compared with the fates of their non-maladjusted classmates whose fathers, socio-professional status was the same as in the basic group. Four to six years passed from the initial interview till the catamnesis. Criminal records were checked for a period of about seven years. During the first study, boys from both groups were aged 10-16; accordingly, they were aged 16-24 during the follow-up period. The second study included 243 maladjusted boys, with the control group of 139, while 262 and 151 boys respectively had been examined during the first study. Longitudinal studies of social maladjustment are very important, as they render it possible to appraise the initial symptoms of social maladjustment and to define their prognostic value. Such studies also make a discrimination possible between transitory difficulties which are frequently related to a definite stage of the child’s development, and behavior that requires specialistic treatment . Moreover, basing of such studies, the quality and results of interventions taken towards the socially maladjusted youth can be appraised. The follow-up study was aimed at answering the following questions: a) What - if any were the changes of family situation of boys from both groups ? b)What were the further fates of the socially maladjusted boys as compared with member of the control group? In particular, did they finish elementary school, did they continue their education, what secondary school did they choose and did they finish that school? c) Do those out of school work? What profession are they in? Are they satisfied with that profession and the work they perform? d) What are the leisure habits of the examined boys? e) What are the drinking habits, delinquency, and criminal records of the socially maladjusted boys as compared with their peers from the control group ? In both groups, the examined persons family situation underwent various changes during the catamnesis, and so did the relations between them and their parents. The changes consisted mainly in 42.8 per cent of the maladjusted boys staying temporarily away from which frequently resulted from the court's or educational authorities decisions to send them to educational or correctional institutions. Boys from the control group usually spent the entire follow-up period at home. The two groups differed as regards their family environments, those of the socially maladjusted boys being much less favourable. These differences grew during the follow-up period as regards many factors (broken home, the fathers irregular employment or lack of permanent job, excessive drinking). Also the school situations clearly differentiated the two-groups both in the first study and during the follow-up period. At the moment of the second examination, only one boy from the control group was still going to elementary school, while there were as many as 40 (16.5 per cent) of such boys among those socially maladjusted. This proportion seems very large the fact considered we deal here with young persons whose intellectual development is normal, and with the educational level necessary for the individual’s future professional activities and participation in the country’s social and cultural life . (The fact should also be stressed here that in the first study, nearly half of the socially maladjusted boys were in standard VII at the very least, and thus not far from finishing school). As shown by our study, the chances for learning and finishing elementary school later in life are extremely poor. All members of the control group and two-thirds of the socially maladjusted boys learned on after finishing elementary school. It appeared that those from the basic group not only continued education less frequently (this fact being related to their educational backwardness), but also changed and left schools (35.1 per cent) much more frequently than boys from the control group (21.1 per cent). It seems, however, that changing and leaving school takes place very often in the control group, too. This testifies to learning difficulties of elementary school graduates and to their frequent mistakes in choosing the line and type of education. It is worth mentioning here that, in the light of the examined persons statements, the institutions assigned to render professional guidance to young persons influenced their decisions to a minimal degree only. At the moment of follow-up interviews, as many as 162 socially maladjusted boys and only 35 members of the control group were already out of school. Less than a half (46.9 per cent) of the former finished elementary school, while nearly all (97.6 per cent) of those from the control group who were not learning anymore managed to reach that educational level. The secondary schools which the socially maladjusted boys who were not learning anymore finished were frequently (in 35.5 per cent of case) shortened courses. The examined persons often left elementary school defeated and hostile towards it; they had no professional aspirations and acceptable leisure habits. Our findings seem to demonstrate that elementary school and the associated institutions frequently fail confronted with difficult children from negative families. An appraisal of the examined persons, employment is difficult due to their different life situations and ages. Among those employed from the control group there was a greater number of apprentices as compared with the socially maladjusted group (where apprentices constituted 5-per cent only of those employed). Nearly half of those from the basic group (46.4 per cent) were skilled workers, and 44.3 per cent performed manual work that required no professional qualifications. Thus in nearly half of the cases, when starting on their professional careers, socially maladjusted boys had no chance to train in a profession. The two groups also differ greatly as regards professional aspirations and their fulfillment. The socially maladjusted boys had no particular professional plans in a greater proportion of cases (27 per cent) than members of the control group (7 per cent). Asked whether the professional plans they hand on finishing elementary school ever came true , nearly half (48 per cent) of the socially maladjusted answered in the negative, and just 20 per cent-in the affirmative. The respective proportions were reversed In the control group: 53 per cent of affirmative and 30.7 per cent of negative answers. Generally speaking, those employed are not pleased with their earnings. Asked about the wages which which satisfy them, they frequently mentioned sums several times higher than what they were paid. The fact is worthy of notice that those who finished a secondary school are not at all those who earn most. As shown by the analysis of the examined persons, leisure habits, the socially maladjusted are more passive in this respect, their leisure activities being less diversified and restricted to having fun and social contacts only. The leisure habits they follow create frequent opportunities to drink alcohol, and some of their activities (like a game of billiards or cards) make it necessary for them always to have money which they would spend on such games. The following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of the examined persons drinking habits: during catamnesis, 43.1 per cent of the socially maladjusted and 25.1 per cent of members of the control group drank alcohol (vodka or wine) at least once a week and or drank larger amounts on one occasion (i. e. more than 200 cl. Vodka or 600 cl. wine). the respective proportions of teetotalers (according to their own and their mothers statements) were 15.7 and 19.6 per cent. The boys who had drunk repeatedly in the first study were also found to drink regularly during the follow-up period, while a considerable proportion of those who had abstained from alcohol before drank only seldom and small amounts later on, too. An opinion is thus justified that repeated drinking by children and young persons, if it stars at a young age (and particularly if it accompanied by other symptoms of social maladjustment), is not a transistory phenomenon but develops into a relatively persistent lifestyle and leisure habit with time, those affected following that habit in the company of similarly oriented peers. In the first study, repeated drinking coexisted with other symptoms of social maladjustment, such as truancy, running away from home, stealing etc. As shown by the analysis of such persons further life situation, their attitude towards and extent of drinking does not change with time as a rule, instead, their drinking habits grow more excessive and are related, like before, to disturbed socialization. Moreover, regular drinking is related to other negative factors as well. Excessive drinkers among those socially maladjusted frequently failed to finish school; is they succeeded after all, it was usually a year or more later than their peers. This fact negatively influenced their chances to learn on and to train in a profession. Among such boys there was also a greater proportion of those who neither learned nor worked during the catamnesis (p<0.05). Stealing was also more frequent among them (p<0.001), and so were contacts with peers who committed thefts (p<0.01) and who drank regularly (p<0.02), as well as drug abuse (p<0.05) and self-mutilations (p<0.02), committed more frequently as compared with the remaining socially maladjusted boys. Also in the control group, boys who drank during the fallow-up period stole (p<0.01), belonged to regularly drinking peer groups (p<0.001), and stayed out of school and work (p<0.01) more frequently than others from that group. Therefore, regular drinking renders difficult such examined persons proper start into adult life. As regards criminal records, the group of socially maladjusted proved to be differentiated. This concerns both the initial stage of our study when one-third of those boys had already had cases at family courts, and the follow-up period when the percentage of those with criminal records went up to 55.8. As many as 30 per cent of the examined persons had cases at criminal courts after the age of 17, and every fourth of those who had cases at courts (both family and common courts) had been convicted at least four times. Despite the differentiation, the data concerning criminal records are rather alarming, the extent of delinquency gradually becoming higher during the seven years of catamnesis. If we compare socially maladjusted boys who never had any cases at court with those previously convicted, the number of convictions taken into account, these two groups prove to differ not only as regards their respective careers in this regards. It appears that various negative factors found both in the examined persons themselves and in their families and peer groups are more frequent in those previously convicted and repeatedly convicted as compared with those. who have no criminal record. Fathers of the former have their own criminal records more frequently, and the boys themselves more often have stealing and drinking friends. They also reveal a greater number of various symptoms of social maladjustment; during the follow-up period, more of them neither learned nor worked, and more failed to finish elementary school or only finished it behind time. As follows from our study social maladjustment when going to elementary school does not necessarily determine such young persons' further demoralization. The group of socially maladjusted boys is highly diversified in many respects. At the same time, it also differs greatly from the control group, being much worse: those socially maladjusted reach a lower educational level and wages, are more displeased with their own lives, and more excessive in their drinking habits, and also commit offences and have cases at court more frequently. The extent of maladjustment found in that group seems rather large which manifests among others the small range and poor effectiveness of preventive actions taken towards the examined persons by the competent educational institutions.

211-244

Authors: Janina Błachut

In 1975, two books dealing with female crime appeared. They aroused many controversies and polemics and inspired many empirical studies. They were Freda Adler's Sisters in Crime and Rita James Simon's Women and Crime. Both works attempted to explain the changes their authoresses believed were taking place in female crime with the influence of the women's lib movements. The two approaches, though similar in many points, show different patterns of connections between women's lib and female crime from which the latter's extent and direction of changes result. F. Adler assumes that the women's lib movements of the 1960's and 1970's decidedly influenced changes in women's behaviour - the criminal behavior included. These changes resulted in an increase in the number and weight of offences committed by women. If such social movements continue –according to F. Adler - female crime will keep increasing and becoming similar to its male counterpart. Women will commit a greater number of the traditionally ,,masculine’’offences, i.e.offences against person, the more aggressive among offences against property, and the so-called ,,white-collar crimes’’ Contrary to F. Adler, R. J. Simon focuses not on the ideology of women's lib but mainly on the increasing professional activity of women which no doubt results largely from that movement. According to R. J. Simon, the women's increased professional activity will have twofold consequences: on the one hand women will get better opportunities to commit offences against property, and on the other hand, their greater material independence will lessen their frustration thus limiting the number of violent offences committed by women. Empirical research aimed at explaining the trend and structure of female crime basing on F. Adler’s and R. J. Simon's conceptions tended in-two separate directions. In the first group of studies, the trend and structure of female crime were estimated. The other group included studies in which the interdependences were analysed between the changes that took place in the women's social status as a result of the women’s lib movement on the one hand, and the changes in female crime on the other han. Generally speaking, none of those studies aspired at verifying the whole of either F. Adler’s or R. J. Simon’s conception being limited to verification of some theses only. The present paper includes a discusson of studies carried out by D. J. Steffensmeier, M J. Hindenlang, V. D. Young, P. C. Giordano, S. Kerbel and S. Dudley, N. K. Wilson, J. G. Gory, and M. D .Lynes. Their findings were as follows. No major changes could be observed in female crime after 1970. Instead, such changes had taken place in earlier years. What did change slightly after 1970 was the number of offences against property, and not all of them at that; namely an increase took place. The number of offences against the person was stable or showed a slight upward tendency which was, however, also found in the case of men. The grounds of liking women’s lib with female crime are questioned, as the latter changed prior to the rise of women’s movements. The notion of ,,women’s liberation’’ is not operational; moreover, professional activity is considered insufficient as the index basing on which to estimate the social changes which many have resulted from women’s lib. Female crime should be analysed in the context of the social changes that concerned women-to do it, however, appropriate indices of those changes ought to be chosen. F. Adler’s and R.J. Simon’s conceptions still arouse many controversies today. The following objections can be raised to them: both authoresses estimated female crime basing on statistics of detentions by the police. As is well know, official statistics are the reflection not only crime itself but also of the functioning of administration of justice. Thus a single source is insufficient if the causes of changes in female crime are to be explained. Two of F. Adler’s assumptions arouse certain doubts. The first of them is that women's lib included ail women and had a large effect on all of them: actually the movement only concerned the middle classes. Moreover, there is no evidence of the existence in American society of an actual social equality of men and women resulting from the equality of legally recognized chances. The other disputable assumption is that ,,masculinity" increases the likelihood of delinquency: it is uncertain whether and to what extent the social changes actually influenced women's different behaviour, and if they did, whether women really adopted masculine patterns of behaviour. The conception of R. J. Simon, although more complete and better verified, includes a disputable contention that the increased professional activity of women lessens their frustration thus reducing the resulting violent offences. Admittedly, the new professional roles the women assume may improve their self-image and thus level stress; but on the other hand, the fact that they have to perform several social roles at the same time may give rise to frustration resulting from inability to perform all of those roles equally well. Therefore, if we follow this path of reasoning, the number of violent offences committed by women should remain stable as professional activity may influence the women's minds differently not only lessening but also deepening their frustration. The discussion of female crime, taking place in literature, gave rise to the question whether and to what extent that phenomenon changed in Poland. Basing on court statistics, an analysis was carried out of the extent of female crime in the years 1946-1986 and of its structure in the years 1977-1986. The number of convictions of women and their proportion in the total number of convictions underwent significant changes over the forty years from 1946 till 1986. In the forties and the early fifties, the number of convictions of women went up rapidly at a rate greater than that of convictions of men. In the late fifties, that upwards tendency still persisted but was less marked than was the case with men. In the sixties, the number of convictions of women went down markedly, to remain stable with a slight upward tendency in the seventies. The legislative changes in penal law and the several amnesty acts in the eighties make an appraisal of the extent of crime in that period rather difficult. In the years l980-1983, there was a drop in the number of convictions of women, followed by an increase in the years 1984-1986 which no doubt resulted from the introduction of two acts: on education in sobriety and the fighting of alcoholism, and on the fighting of profiteering. If we consider the above-mentioned conceptions, that of R. J. Simon in particular, in relation to female crime in Poland, the years, 1946-1955 seem especially to confirm the hypothesis as to the connections between professional activity of women and female crime. In those years, a rapid increase of women's employment took place, and their social status changed greatly. Female offences are mainly those against property. Convictions of women for such offences constitute over 70 per cent on the average of all convictions of women the respective percentage being over 50 in the case of men, while the average 11 pet cent of women are convicted for offences against the person (as compared to over 30 per cent of men). The changes in female crime in Poland in the years 1977-1986 differ greatly from what F. Adler and R. J. Simon anticipated. There was a drop in the number of convictions for offences against property in the years l977-1984,while as regards offences against the persons, the number of convictions was stable or showed a slight upward tendency; there was an increase in the respective numbers in that same period as regards convictions of men. A rise in the number of convictions of women in the years 1984-1986 issued mainly from changes in penal legislation and from the resulting practice of prosecution. As shown by the analysis of female crime in Poland based on court statistics, the available data were greatly insufficient to interpret the changes observed. Several different sources of information about crime ale necessary, as well as several standards or estimation (numbers of detected offences, of persons found guilty, of convictions). Professional activity of women, the impact it has on their social situation, and its possible connections with the change in female crime, indicated by R. J. Simon, may also help explain that phenomenon in the Polish conditions but only together with many other factors which may influence the extent and structure of female crime.