Archiwum Kryminologii (Archives of Criminology)

Number XV, 1988

9-32
Dezorganizacja społeczna a przestępczość

Authors: Anna Kossowska

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The notion of social disorganization, rather seldom used in sociology today, used to have a broad application in the American sociology of the 1920-1940s, in particular in the analysis of effects of such social processes as mass migrations, urbanization and industralization. The term of social disorganization was given to the negative effects of social changes related to these processes. Presently, this term is sometimes used in the analysis of the contemporary highly developed societes when discussing the stability of their cultural systems and the functioning of their basic social institutions. There are also in sociology many definitions of social disorganization; generally, it may be defined as the state of a disturbed social balance resulting from a social change first and foremost. What is the value of this term for a criminologist? Irrespective of the type of definition of social disorganization applied, one of its basic determinants is considered to be crime both as a mass phenomenon and as an individual act. Therefore this term is used in sociology since a long time to designate social phenomena that are rather varied for that matter. Traditionally, the term "social disorganization’’ meant in criminology social situation f und in the so-called delinquency areas which emerged in the period of vehement development of American cities as a result of mass migrations in search of livelihood. In traditional handbooks of criminology, a generalization of experimental findings concerning the processes that take place in delinquency areas is usually called the theory of social disorganization. Not long ago, a work by R. Kornhauser was published which is an attempt at a new approach to the development of the sociological theory of crime. In the work, two basic analytic models of investigation of crime conditions are distinguished. One of them is the model of social disorganization interpreted as a relative lack of a formulated system of values in a given culture and as a disturbed relationship between culture and the social structure. Two theoretical approaches can be distinguished here which are derived from the notion of social disorganization. They are: the model of social control and the model of strain. According to the first of them, disorganization results in the weakening of social control which manifests itself in disturbances either of the process of socialization or of the functioning of the basic social institutions, being thus conductive to the emergence of a delinquent or otherwise deviant behaviour. Acording to the second of the above-mantioned approaches, social disorganization brings about the rise of pressure towards delinquent behaviour, the strain resulting from the divergence between the socially formed aspirations and the expectations as to their realization. According to the authors of this classification, the main representatives of the social control trend are Thrasher as well as Shaw and McKay, and of the strain one-Merton, Cohen who derived his theoretical discussion from Merton's conception of anomy, and Cloward and Ohlin. The notion of social disorganization is also referred to in works of other theoreticians of criminology, such as for instance Sutherland and Sellin. They both refer to the results of the societies's cultural differentiation, that of the structure of norms in particular. Cultural diffrentiation, which is one of the effects of social disorganization, may sometimes - in extreme cases – assume the form of a conflict of cultures, i.e. of a state of fundamental conflict between the systems of norms and values of the separate social groups. Social disorganization cannot be treated as an explicitly defined and measurable social phenomenon. Instead, we can measure some situational determinants of disorganization which can be applied in studies of such social processes as migrations, vehement urbanization, rapid industrial development of regions with no industrial traditions, socio-economic crises, etc., on the one hand, and in studies of a disturbed functioning of social institutions that are particularly important for the society (the family in particular) on the other hand. In Poland, there is quite a rich tradition of investigating some aspects of social disorganization, as for instance studies of the effect urbanization and industrialization have on crime, of the symptoms of disorganization in urban environment, and above all of various aspects of family disorganization and their connection with delinquency. The notion of social disorganization, though susceptible of various interpretations, nevertheless seems useful in criminology as it makes it possible to combine into a syndrome the various traits of certain social situations that are conductive to delinquent behaviour.

33-93
Metodologiczne problemy badań typu self-report

Authors: Andrzej Siemaszko

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Self-report studies are gradually becoming the predominating current of empirical research in criminology. This is particularly the case with etiological studies of deviant behaviour in young persons. However, the present popularity of self-report studies is not accompanied by improvement of their methodological aspect. No important development of the methodology of these studies has occured since the pioneer works of Short and Nye. It is the fundamental aim of the present paper to point to these of the methodological questions on which the further development of self-report studies will depend most. In Chapter I, the first works have been discussed in which the self-report methods were applied. The works anaiyzed are those of Murphy at al. Porterfield, as well as Wallerstein and Wy1e. Particular attention has been given to the methodological and substantive aspects of the series of studies carried out by Short and Nye. Chapter II contains the presentation of findings of the Polish self-report studies. The first attempt at a self-report study was made in the early 1960s by Malewska and Muszyński. A national random sample of pupils of the sixth grade of primary school n =2,222) was examined by means of an anonymous questionnaire. The basic aim of the study was to define the children's attitude towards the ownership rights and the situations in which violation of these rights is admissible. Besides, the authors were interested in how children perceived given situations to be thefts. Thus the question whether the respondents ever happened to take another person’s property was but a fragment of the questionnaire which served another purpose in its essence. To the question: "How often do you happen to take another person's property?", 0.8 per cent of the children answered ,,very often," 4.2 pet cent - "often," 26.6 per cent - "sometimes," and. 34.5 per cent-,,seldom’’ Like Malewska and Muszyński, also Szemińska and Gołąb aimed at defining the moral sense of young persons: pupils of primary schools (n=61) and inmates of educational institutions (n= 64), asking also about the extent and structure of deviant behaviour. The respondents answered anonymously in writing. The two compared groups of boys differed from each other considerably as far as both the frequency and the seriousness of thefts commited was concerned. While the majority of "delinquents" admitted a large number of thefts, the "nondelinquents" 'in their vast majority owned up to 1-2 thefts at most, mostly of small objects they stole from their classmates or next of kin with the intention to use these objects themselves." The study of Szemińska and Gołąb raises doubts, both as regards its merits and methodology. Among other things, in spite of the fact that various offences were committed by both of the discussed groups, the authors use a dichotomic pair of notions: delinquent and non-delinquent, failing to put these words in quotation marks which are necessary in this situation. In the years 1976-1977, Ostrihanska and Wójcik conducted a large self-report study of a random sample of pupils of grades 3-8 of Warsaw primary schools. 50 schools were selected at random, in which the study was carried out by means of a questionnaire in 120 classes, also randomly selected (n=3,177, of which there were 1,631 boys and 1,546 girls). The self-report study was part of a broader research programme aimed at estimating the extent of social maladjustment in the youth and defining its causes. Among other things, the questions concerned the following phenomena: school failures, truancy, running away from home, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, free riding, destroying another person’s property, other acts against property (including thefts, frauds, robbery-,,taking something from a younger child by constraint"). The possible answers were as follows: ,,never", ,,once'’, ,,2-3 times’’, ,,4-10 times’’, ,,more frequently’’ . As expected, both the extent and intensity (frequency of perpetration) of deviant behaviour were higher in the group of boys as compared with girls. For instance, as few as 15.3 per cent of the eldest boys (aged 15) stated that they never took another person's property while the percentage of non-stealing girls among the eldest group was over two times higher (38.0 per cent) In this age group 16.3 per cent of boys stole a dozen or more times, while percentage of girls who committed multiple thefts amounted to as few as 1.4 Instead, no greater differences were found between boys and girls who admitted having stolen once. In boys, the most frequent were thefts from allotments and gardens (35.2 per cent), thefts from parents (22.8 per cent) and thefts in self-service shops 18.1 per cent). On the other hand the most seldom were thefts from cellars (5.8 per cent), and thefts of wine in shops (9.7 per cent). Taking another person’s property ranked fourth among the types of deviant acts included IN the study The first position was taken by lies (88.8 per cent of answers in the affirmative). Near1y 90 per cent of boys admitted having chribbed anothe child’s exercise, 25.2 per cent- having destroyed property 2.8 per cent ran away from home, and 2.4 per cent tock drugs. There was an upward tendency with age: elder boys admitted a greater number of deviant acts, and actuallv commited these acts more frequently. The next self-report study was conducted by Ostrowska and Siemaszko in 1979. It included 2,991 pupils of Warsaw secondary schools (1,197 boys and 1,795 girls). Non-random selection was applied. Young persons of the first and last grades were examined by means of anonymous questionnaire. Among other variables, it contained a list of 42 questions about various types of deviant behaviour, acts of infringement of disciplinary regulations, transgressions and offences, from most trivial (like stealing a ride or failing to return change from shopping) to comparatively serious like house-breaking or robbery. All questions had the same set of possible answers: "never," "once of twice," several times," "a dozen or more-times," ,,more frequently." The examined young persons were characterized by rather a high level of deviance. In the group of boys for instance,539 persons (30.9 per cent) admitted having perpetrated a half of the 42 acts included in the questionnaire at least once, 2.8 per cent of them having committed 27 to 31 acts, and 2.3 per cent-32 to 42 acts. Thus together, 6 per cent of the examined boys were highly deviant. Since the study also revealed a close relationship between the number of acts committed and the frequency of their perpetration, the abovementioned 6 per cent of the examined persons (about 300 boys) are "multiple recidivists" in the interpretation used in self-report studies. Considerable differences in the level of deviant behaviour were found in respect of age and sex. For instance, the level of deviance in the group of elder boys was four times higher on average as compared with younger girls. Among the most widespread acts there were free riding (94,6 per cent of girls and 96. 1 per cent of boys), failure to return change from shopping (79.6 and 84.1 per cent respectively), petty frauds in shops (67.6 and 84.0 per cent respectively), and failure to return a found object to its owner (69.9 per cent of girls and 83.8 per cent of boys). Aggressive acts were relatively frequent, particularly among boys. Battery "without an explicit causes” was comitted by 20.2 per cent of boys and 6.5 per cent of girls.11.6 per cent of boys and 2.8 per cent of girls participated in affrays in which dangerous weapons were used. Among thefts, comparatively less serious acts predominated. 16.9 per cent of girls and 31.6 per cent of boys admitted having perpetrated petty thefts. 8.2 per cent of girls and 14.6 per cent of boys stole change from call-boxes. Serious thefts were committed by 1.6 per cent of girls and 4.6 per cent of boys. Ostrowska and Siemaszko repeated their study in 1981 on a random sample of students of secondary schools in five typically agricultural provinces. 2,144 persons (1,702 boys and 420 girls) aged 14-19, students of 29 schools, were examined. They young persons who participated in the study went to :89 classes that were selected at random. The extent and structure of deviant behaviour were examined by means of a questionnaire identical to the one applied in the previous study Also the way in which the study was carried out in the classes was the same. In the group of acts termed insubordination, the most widespread one was smoking at under: 14:78,2 per cent of boys and 44,8 per cent of girls admitted it. Somewhat less than 10per cent of the examined persons admitted having run away from home, 2 per cent of them having run away several times. Over 20 per cent of the respondents admitted having had their identity papers checked by the police (30 per cent of boys) and somewhat less than 7 per cent took drugs. Among various types of dishonest behaviour the most widespread one was free riding- over 80 per cent. Nearly a half of the examined persons admitted having failed to return a borrowed object; 7 per cent of them did it repeatedly Also nearly 50 per cent of the respondents stole money from their parents:15 per cent of them did it several times, and 5.6 per cent-more frequently. In the group of offences, thefts predominated. 24.9 per cent of girls and 32.4 per cent of boys admitted having stolen an object or money to the value of under 100 złotys (the percentage amounting to 38.6 in the group of eldest boys); nearly 20 per cent of them repeatedly stole money from their parents. About 25 per cent of the examined persons committed shop- lifting, the percentage of shop-lifters in the group of eldest boys exceeding 40. The acts of breaking into cellars, recesses, attics etc., were committed by 15 per cent of the respondents 6.1 per cent of girls and 17.2 per cent of boys. The most seldom offences against property were: robbery (2.4 per cent of girls, 10.1 per cent of boys), stealing from call-boxes (6.6 per cent of girls, 7.8 per cent of boys), thefts of money to the amount of 500-1000 złotys (6 .2 per cent of girls, 7.0 per cent of boys), failure to pay the bill in a restaurant (3.3 per cent of girls, 5.6 per cent of boys) and thefts of over 1 000 zlotys (2.8 per cent of girls and 5.6 per cent of boys). Among aggressive behavior, brawls and beatings prevailed (25 per cent of girls and 50 per cent of' boys). In Chapter III the most important methodological problems related to self-report studies are discussed. In self-report studies, both direct (e. g. ,,have you stolen), and indirect and euphemistic questions (e, g. ,,have you ever happened to take and not to give back. ") can be found. The indirect questions undoubtedly less threatening. Yet on the other hand, those asked directly are probably easier to interpret explicitly. There is no proof as to the superiority of any of these ways of asking. However indirect and euphemistic questions prevail in self-report studies. The degree of abstractness of questions varies. The good point of clearcut questions (e.g. ''have you ever taken and failed to give back some article in a supermarket") is that the highly detailed formulation may help the respondent to recall an event which the researcher is interested in. On the other hand, their weak point is that the respondent cannot be relied upon to admit having acted in another, very similar yet not identical way. Unfortunately, the majority of self-report questionnaires contain questions about inseparate classes of phenomena. Hence the danger of one and the same act being counted several times. In self-report studies, the number of questions about deviant behavior is an important problem. One should bean it in mind that the deviant acts taken into account by the researcher are always nothing but a certain sample of the totality of such acts, the parameters of which are usually unknown (e.g. Christie et al.). The greater the number of acts taken into account, the more standard the "sample of acts" seems to be with respect to the "totality of acts." There are great differences as regards the number of acts included: from several (e.g. Hirschi, Dentler and Monroe) up to several dozen (e.g. Gibson). Today time limits are usually introducted as regards the period between the act and the moment of examination one year as a rule), though Short and Nye introducted no limits as regards the period during which the respondents committed the admitted acts. Shorter periods can also be found. (e.g. Simone et al, - 2 months, Lipton and Smith - 18 months). The limits are among the most important problems in self-report studies, since it is on them that the estimation depends on the level of deviance of the entire examined group, as well as the precise estimation of the separate respondents levels of deviance. The views on the optimum time limits are not uniform. Different sets of possible answers to the questions about deviant behaviour can be found: from most precise (e.g. "once," "twice," etc.) to most general and ambigous (e.g. "seldom," ,,frequently"). A strictly enumerative set of answers may be methodologically correct only in the case of a short period (one year or less). In the remaining cases, this set may be misleading as one hardly expects the examined persons to remember past events with such accuracy. The questions about deviant behaviour may constitute a separate block (nay a separate questionnaire), or they may be put among other questions. There are no studies showing the good and weak points of each of these two solutions. It seems more proper however, to "mask" the aim of the study by interlarding the questions about deviant behaviour with those neutral or concerning "acts of kindness." When the level or "depth" of the examined person's deviant involvement is defined, an important problem emerges: acts with different "charges of deviance are taken into account here. Therefore, one can either try and attach different weights to them, or treat all of them as equally serious. Christie et al. ranked acts according to the judges opinion. Morash weighted them with the use of Selling and Wolfgang's scale of seriousness of offences. In Hindelang's study, the weight of acts was defined by specialists by means of a fivepoint scale. Hepburn weighted deviant acts basing on appraisals done by the examined persons themselves. However in the vast majority of self-report studies, no weigh ting procedure is applled. As shown by Farrington, weighting procedures fail to contribute substantially to the increase in accuracy of measurement. An anonymous questionnaire, though most frequentlv applied, is not the only method of gathering information about unrecorded deviant behaviour. E, g. Gold (and other researchers who applied Gold’s scale) employed a questionnaire interview In Belson's study a card sorting procedure was applied. This method of gathering information is particularly popular in England (see also Gibson, Farrington, West, Morash, Shapland). Hirschi examined his respondents with a signed questionnaire. Should the differences in veracity of answeers of a signed and anonymous questionnaire prove to be inessential (and there is much to be said for it, e.g. Krohn, Waldo and Chiracos), it would be advisable to use the signed version (because of the possibility of comparing the separate sociometric choices or comparing the findings with external sources of information). The main objection raised to self-report studies concerns the doubtful veracity of the data gathered this way (Dentler, Liska). A relatively small number of studies concerned the reliability of self-report studies, e.g. the stability of findings in time. This is the most difficult problem in the case of a strictly anonymous questionnaire as the separate respondents cannot be retest. Only global distributions are compared then (e.g the scores of respondents in a given class) Siemaszko finds no valid differences between the distributions answers about deviant acts between a test and a retest which took place there months later. Dentler and Monroe found that 92 per cent of answers to a test and a retest two weeks 1ater were consistent, yet the respondents could still have remembered their previous answers in this case. Belson conducted a retest after a shorter period still: one week. The percentage of consistent answers amounted to 88. Also Farrington’s study revealed rarther a high degree of consistency in spite of the two year's interval. The percentage of mistakes in the test or retest was 3.2 The tendency to inconsistent answers was less explicit if the general scores of the examined persons on the deviance scales were analyzed and not the proportion of their affirmative and negative answers to the separate questions (11.5 per cent of the, examined persons found themselves in another quartile than Before). The results obtained by Shapland were parallel. The results seem to point to a high stability of self-report questionnaires in time. Hardt and Peterson-Hardt distinguish the following methods of defining the validity of self-report questionnaires: comparing with external sources of information, comparing with a known group, lie scales, and defining face validity. The most frequent method of defining the validity of questionnaires used in examination of unrecorded deviant behaviour is the comparison of the respondents' answers with other reliable sources of information. Erickson and Empey found that none of their respondents concealed their contact with the police or an offence with which they were charged. According to Gold, the probability of contacts with the police diminishes monotonically together with decrease of frequency of offences admitted during the examination. Gibson, Morrison and West found a high consistency between offences revealed by means of the self-report method and the contents of the police files. Hindelang found a distinct positive interdependence between high scores in the deviance scale and having a record in the police files. Farrington, as well as Farrington and West, examined the so-called predictive validity of self-report questionnaires. It appeared that those of the examined persons who score highest in deviance scales at the moment. A, have records in the police files much more frequently at the moment B. Gould compared the scores in the Short,/Nye scale with those in the recorded crime scale, finding a high, positive and valid interdependence. Results of self-report tests were also compared with other sources of information (teachers, colleagues, social workers, etc.). As shown by Jessor, Graves, Hanson and Jessor, results of the self-report tests tally with appraisals of the degree of deviant involvement made by teachers and colleagues of the examined persons. Also Gould compared the respondents' statements with appraisals of their behaviour made by their colleagues and teachers. The interdependence proved to be as expected. Hardt and Peterson-Hardt compared statements in which the examined persons admitted having robbed parkometers with the official data concerning the extent of these thefts. The respondents appeared to have answered truthfully. In many studies scores of school children and of institutionalized youth were compared. As demonstrated already by Short and Nye, although the inmates of reformatories scored somewhat higher than students of normal schools, nevertheless the profiles of distributions and their structure were analogous. Voss found the correlates of deviance in groups of school children and institutionalized youth to be parallel. This finding was confirmed in many other studies. The only exception here is the parents socio-economic status. Uniformity of views could not have been reached as yet as to whether the positive interdependence between the socio-economic status and deviant behaviour found in the majority of self-report studies is artificial or real (see i.a. Tribble, Axenroth, Hindelang Hirschi and Waise). Much can be said about the validity of a self-report questionnaire only on the grounds of the distributions of answers to the separate questions, Siemaszko found the percentage of affirmative answers to decrease monotonically with the increase of seriousness of the act and its scarcity in the general population. In the same study the percentage of affirmative answers to the question about being checked by the police was found to be higher than that concerning detention: also the level of deviance of elder as compared with younger and boys as compared with girls proved higher, These results agree with theoretical expectations, Hardt and Peterson-Hardt found the percentage of affirmative answers to the questions about acts commited during the last year to be generally lower than it is the case with questions that concerned also acts commited longer before. Not all of self-report questionnaires contain lie scales. Moreover, the researchers are not in agreeement as to the usefulness of such scales this type of studies (i.a. Farrington, Smart, Hardt, Peterson- Hardt). I seems that lie scales should be employed Questions should however be avoided which might be correlated with deviant behaviour, as in such case there is the danger of the lie scale becoming the reverse of that of deviance. The popularity of self-report studies was determined by the effectiveness of this method (relatively low cost 1ittle time consuming, promptitude and the possibility of examining large samples) Today, self-report studies have become popular in spite of the fact that many important methodological problems have not been solved yet.

95-152
Funkcjonowanie ustawy o postępowaniu wobec osób uchylających się od pracy - wyniki badań

Authors: Zofia Ostrihanska, Irena Rzeplińska

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The Act on the treatment of persons evading work was passed on November 26, 1982 and entered into force on January 1, 1983. The passing of the Act was preceded by a period of heated discussions during which the need for this regulation or objections against it were justified by various social, economic, political legal as well as philosophical reasons. The Act bound all men aged 18-45 (with the exception of some clearly defined categories) who neither work nor learn for a period of at least 3 month and who are not registered in employment agencies as looking for a job to report at the local state administrative agencies and explain the reasons of this state of affairs. Such persons can be recognized as not working for justified reasons (in this case, they should get help if needed) or for unjustified reasons (to such persons the possibilities of taking the job should be pointed out; they should also get help if needed). Man who persistently evade work and whose sources of maintenance cannot be revealed or prove to be contradictory to the principles of social existence, are included in a list of persons who persistently evade work. The law provides for the following legal consequences towards persons who fall under its provisions: a failure in the duty to report is a transgression for which there is a penalty of limitation of liberty of up to three months; the same penalty is provided for the registered person’s failure to appear when summoned by the local administrative agency: a failure of a registered person in the duty to appear when summoned in order to make a statement concerning his sources of maintenances is an offence for which a penalty of limitation of liberty or a fine is provided; the persons who have been included in the list may be obligated to perform the work for public purposes in cases of force majeure or natural calamity that constitutes a serious threat for the normal conditions of the people’s existence; a failure in this duty is an offence for which a statutory penalty is that of limitation of liberty up two years or a fine. The Act deals with only one of the many and varied problems that result from the broad and multifarious issue of work: the situation of not being formally employed. Employment is connected with the actual policy in this respect, the labour market, and with many economic problems. The passing of the Act and the period of its functioning discussed in the present paper fell in Poland on the days of a profound socio-economic crisis which influences the problems related to employment. In our study, however, we have taken no account of the above broader issues, focusing on the functioning of the Act: the nation of ,,evasion of work’’ and ,,a person evading work’’ it introduced, the extent of the population that falls under the Act, characterization of the population mentioned the institutions and persons involved in realization of the Act, ways of dealing with the persons evading work, conformability of the conduct of the Act’s addresses with the model of conduct it includes, appraisal of the degree to which the aims of the Act, as set before it by the legislator have been reached, and the social effects of the law. The study concerned the functioning of the Act in the capital city of Warsaw. The basic source of information were index cards of all man evading work that had been registered in this territory in the period from January 1, 1983, till April 30, 1984. Moreover, district constables of the police were interviewed about these men; data concerning their criminal records were obtained from the Central Criminal Register and information about their detention in the Warsaw sobering-up station was obtained from the station's files. Two years later, additional data were gathered in order to check which of the registered men worked for at least 6 month after having been registered; the course of work for public purposes done by the examined persons was also checked with enterprises that organized such work. In the period included in the study, 2,195 men evading work were registered in Warsaw. The size of this population seems susceptible of various interpretations, depending on the adepted point of view. This number however seems insignificant as compared with that of situations vacant reported at the employment agency which for instance exceeded 18 thousand jobs for men on December 31, 1983. As shown by the analysis of the course of registration in the entire examined period, and of the differences in the sizes of the registered populations in the separate Warsaw districts, the sizes in question vary greatly and depend on administrative steps that influence the revealing of men who answer the statutory definition. The term "person evading work" designates various persons whose various circumstances - whether socially accepted or not – justify their lack of permanent employment, and who find themselves in various situations. They are e.g. persons waiting to be called up, those who help their families with farming, alcoholics who find it impossible to keep any permanent job, men supported by their familes and looking after a family member, those who are preparing for examination to enter the university, those taking a rest after release from prison, and those who actually do work (there were about 1/4 of them): casually, seasonally or in private firms, but fail to settle their situation formally. According to the police data, as few as every tenth of the examined persons had among others, though not exclusively, illegal sources of maintenance such as offences or illicit trade. In general, the men registered as evading work did not differ from the entire population of men aged 18-45 who lived in Warsaw at that time as regards the age structure. There were among them relatively few married men. Their level of education was somewhat lower as compared with men employed at that time in Warsaw in the socialized economy; yet two-thirds of them were trained in some profession. According to the police inquiries, and to the information from index cards and from sobering-up station, three-fourth of the examined persons drank extensively; one-third of them were detained in the station, with the majority being detained repeatedly which arouses suspicion as to their dependence. 79 per cent of the registered persons were known to the police who had to intervene in their cases comparatively often and the company they kept was appraised negatively by the police 45 per cent had criminal records (with offences against property predominating) their effence however did not provide them money enough to replace employee’s wages. The first stage of introduction of the Act was to reveal persons liableto registration. The performance of the duty of registration met with most serious problems. Persons who reported themselves to be registered constituted less than a half of the total of those registered, this situation remaining unchanged even one year after the Act had entered into force. Even after that period, over a half of those newly registered were persons who had not been working for over a year and who thus should have been registered much earlier Some of those who reported themselves did it only because they needed a certificate of registration to settle some important personal matter A rather numerous category nearly one- third of the examined men consisted of those registered after having been punished by a transgresion board for failure in the duty of registration, and those reported by the police or public prosecutor' s office Therefore, the police were explicitly involved in the process of picking out persons evading work. Also the realization of the entire second stage of dealing with the above persons - that of classification - arouses serious doubts. Index cards of a great number of persons lacked information essential for the realization of the Act, i.e. concerning certain facts about the registered person and the history of this previous employment. Among the vital decisions taken in relation to the registered persons is the recognition of the reason of their unemployment as justified or unjustified. A tendency became pronounced in these decisions to treat illness and prolonged formal transactions related to future work as valid excuses for not working and out to excuse working without formal employment. It appeared also that officials deciding in these matters enjoyed a certain degree of discretion when appraising the reasons of unemployment. The actions taken toward the registered persons assumed first of all the character unemploying: they consisted in obligating these persons to report again and inform about employment, or in referring them; therefore these actions failed to bring about any considerable effects; had the persons in question reported directly at the employment agency, the effects would have been identical. One-forth of the registered persons were directed to do work for public purposes. As many as two- thirds of them never even appeared to get the adress of the enterprise which such organized work, and 15 per cent reported at the workplace but failed to fulfil their duties. Thus directing to work for public purposes was of a trifle importance only; out of proportion with the effort put in the organizing of such work. Thoroughout the period included in the study, the names of 152 (7 per cent) of the registered men were entered in the list of persons who persistently evaded work. Punishment for infringement of the disscused Act was moved for in one third of cases. As shown by the picture of realization of the Act, the officials who apply it often face the registered men's most complex life problems, that are difficult to appraise explicitly and to decide upon beyond dispute; besides, methods of successful circumvention or evasion of the provisions of the Act appear to have emerged. The appraisal of the functioning of the discussed Act has been done on two planes: both the realization of the legislator's intentions and the social effects of its introduction other than intended have been analyzed. The legislator's intentions are defined as coming to the assistance of those out of work and out of school who want work, and inducing to work those who fail to express this wish. In the statements of the Minister of Justice and of the deputy reporter during the parliamentary discussion, also such aims were formulated as: drawing up a record of persons evading work and thus getting knowledge as to the extent of this phenomenon; providing hands in cases of their shortage; and soothing the indignant public opinion which demanded radical measures to fight the phenomenon of the so-called social parasitism. The above intentions have been realized but to a slight degree. Cases of getting help from administrative agency were extremely rare, the agency playing but the role of an agent who directs clients on to the employment or medical agencies. After registration 44.5 per cent of the examined persons took a job and 37.6 per cent continued to work incessanuy for 6 months which is the condition of their names being stroken off from the register. The latter group proved to be "better" as regards selected social traits. According to our appraisal, these persons had greater chances and possibilities of and performing a job as compared with the remaining group; what's more "inducing" them to work was frequently absolutely unnecessary. Registration failed to provide knowledge as to the size of the phenomenon of evasion of work, inconstancy being among its characteristics. The examined persons are often temporarily unemployed, this situation far from being permanent. Registration failed to improve the situation in the labour market: not only the number of those who found a job but also the total of those registered was too small as compared with the needs. Whether the public opinion has been soothed and satisfied by the introduction of the Act, we do not know. What we do know, is that among those registered there were hardly any persons whose unemployment particularly irritated the public opinion (e.g. black market and foreign currency dealers). A number of persons "evad.ing work" can always be" found, and the reasons for which some of them fail to take a job would hardly meet with social desapproval. Apart from the intended effects of any legal regulation, there are also those unintended which in the case of the discussed Act can be found in the following spheres: 1) the legal system: in the labour law (limitation of the principle of freedom of work), and in the penal law (the range of penalized acts has been broadened to include transgressions and offences provided in the Act; moreover, a penal law sanction was used as an instrument to solve a problem that belongs to the sphere of social an economic policy exclusively; 2) the sphere of political an social activities: an additional bureaucratic cell in labour exchange has been created in the case of alcoholics, intervention of the Act is but a seeming action, leaving the essence of the problem out of account; in the case of ex-convicts, the Act doubles the activity of other institutions (such person can obtain help in employment agencies or from their probation officers, and they are ,,induced" to take a job by their life situation or by the conditions on which they have been released from prison); 3) the sphere of social attitudes towards the law: failure to collect subpoenas and to appear when summoned could be observed among the registered persons which means that mechanisms of circumventing the Act emerged. In our opinion, the Act on the treatment of persons evading work is unnecessary. A separate and independent problem of persons who evade work does not exist. Instead, there is a number of various, partly overlapping problems: demand for labour, social frustrations of the crisis period, as well as alcoholism, delinquency disturbed socialization of the youth, failure to insure employes without setting the required formalities, problem of employment of the disabled. Also favourable phenomena and traits can be found here such e.g. the energy and initiative of those who want to work more effectively and to be paid better As shown by our study, ,,social parasitism ,, i.e. the actual staying out of work and living at the expense of others, can be found in a tiny percentage of registered persons.

153-202
Analiza bio-psycho-społecznych uwarunkowań zjawiska niepodejmowania pracy

Authors: Regina Rożeńska, Rafał Przybysz, Jolanta Szamburska

Abstract

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Number of views: 39

The paper has been devoted to the discussion of the findings of an interdisciplinary empirical study of the phenomenon of evasion of work. An attempt was made in the study to reach the psycho-social and biological conditions of attitudes towards work. From among the properties that characterize the group of persons evading work, the authors were particularly interessted in: the degree of professional destabilization, committing offences excessive drinking, family destabilization, psychological variables, and state of health. Subjects of the study were men aged 30-31 from the city of Łódź, registered as evading work in the employment agency and in social-administrative divisions of the state administrative agencies. Among all of the persons registered in the above-mentioned age group, most motions concern a group of 103 persons (NP). These 103 persons were submitted to direct medical, psychological and sociological examination, while a number of data concerning the entire group of 843 persons were gathered by means of indirect methods (analysis of documents). The latter made it possible to describe in more detail problems as important as crime, excessive drinking or state of health. As a control group, a group of 204 men (P) working in great industrial plants in Łódź was examined by means of all of the above-mentioned methods. 8 hypotheses have been formula ted that expressed the relations between the separate characteristics of the examined persons. Not all of these hypotheses have been verified acording to our theoretical expectations. To mention the most important conclusions only, it should be stated that about one-fourth of the total of 845 men were fit for being taken off the register of persons evading work. None on these persons were included in the basic 103-person sample; yet this group was examined for pragmatic reasons together with the population in the case of which indirect of examination were applied (analysis of documents). Another finding that might seem interesting is that 13 per cent of the examined persons may be suspected with high probability of having seemingly taken a job in order to circumvent the law. From among other data concerning the entire 845-person population the fact should be taken into consideration that 22.7 per cent of them are treated in mental health and (or in withdrawal clinics, with the majority treated in the former), and that 49,5 per cent of them have committed offences (transgression left out of account), the majority committing the same type of offence repeatedly. As far as the basic group of 103 persons is concerned, one of its most important traits appears to be extensive drinking and crime. The latter shows a somewhat greater intensity as compared with the entire population; as many as 54.5 per cent of persons committed offences, and over 60 per cent of them are recidivists. Crime can be found but in isolated cases in the group of working men (5 per cent). The kind of offences committed in the group of persons evading work seems symptomatic. Their offences are poorly differentiated and practically resolve themselves to three groups: 1 ) against the property; 2) against person; 3) against family with an emphatic prevalence of those of the first group. This structure may be recognized as typical of the population of persons who evade work. The predomination of various kinds of thefts, mostly petty ones, may be treated as the way of securing material resources which for various reasons are not secured in socially accepted ways. A nearly complete absence of serious and most serious offences testifies to a specific type of demoralization which is however not dangerous to the society. One can also speak in earnest of high intensity of alcoholism in this group. About two-thirds of men drink excessively; over a half of those drinking are alcohol dependent. Generally speaking, the basic problem of destabilization of the professional career may be expressed as follows: Near1y 20 per cent (of the 103-persons group) reveal symptoms of complete professional destabilization, and 35 per cent are considerablv destabilized. A slight degree of professional destabilization can be found in 10 per cent, while in the group of working men (P) this category (together with that characterized by full stabilization) is most numerous one, amounting to nearly 90 per cent. It should also be added that in the latter group (P) there is a number of persons (10.5 per cent) who reveal a considerable degree of professional destabilization.(The index of professional stabilization included among other things number of years in work number of practised professions, length of employment in the trained profession, number of workplaces in which the given person was employed, kinds and lengths of intervals employment). State of health undoubtedly plays an important part in professional stabilization. The data from this field point to a considerable decrease of the ability to work. The percentage of persons with disorders of somatic health is high and amounts in the groups NP and P to 91.1 and 88. 8 per cent respectively; these disorders are however of a varying character, with serious ones found in 36 and 21 per cent of groups NP and P respectively. in the unemployed group, the percentage of persons whose diseases are related to their lack of personal hygiene and irrational mode of life (e.g. excessive drinking) is significantly higher. Hence the frequent gastroduodenal troubles, diseases of the urogenital system, and the serious though underrated lesions of dentition. Moreover, in as many as 67 per cent cases in this group, tattooings and self-mutilations characteristic of the delinquent subculture could be found. As far as the examined persons mental condition is concerned, psychopathic personality disorders can be noticed to predominate decidedly in the group NP-41 per cent; in 18 per cent of these persons, organic grounds of the discovered troubles can be suspected (lesions of the central nervous system); in 4 cases, epilepsy was diagnosed. Evident disorders of psychic function which limited the ability to work were found in 15 per cent of persons in the unemployed group; slight disorders- in 28 per cent; and trivial ones - in 47 per cent. In group P, the percentages were 2.3 and as many as 52 respectively. The state of somatic and mental health served as the base for the given person's ability to work. In none of the cases permanent (complete) inability to work was found; 12 per cent had a seriously, 39 per cent significantly, and 33 per cent - slightly limited ability to work (in group P ,5.4;20; and 29 per cent respectively). It may be concluded that significant health troubles (all the more those less serious) do not necessarily constitute a sufficient excuse for renouncing professional activity (not in every case at any rate). The fact should however be taken into consideration that excessive drinking frequently found in the cases of persons evading work and the possible organic background of psychopathic personality disorders many of them are suffering from, may disturb their proper attitude towards work and constitute a relative premise to recognize their ability to work to be lowered, particularly if work is interpreted as a permanent employment. The level of intelligence fails to differentiate the examined groups if their level of education is taken into account. As regards psychological variables, the element which particularly differentiates the two examined groups is a specific type of attitude towards values and ones own development which renders it impossible to define explicitly the probable future course of behaviour. This type of attitude is found most frequently in those who do not work. Favourable attitudes, admittedly characteristic of the working persons (79.6 per cent), can nevertheless also be found in these evading work (47.3 per cent). Also the fact seems worthy of attention that explicitly negative attitudes occur with a similar frequency in both of the examined groups (P-9.7; NP - 14 per cent). Besides the general description of the traits that characterized persons who evade work, also the relations between the separate properties seem even more important as they provide information about the coexistence of various phenomena thus making it possible to draw more or less correct conclusions as to the causality of various kinds of behaviour. In one study, an attempt was made to follow about 40 types of mutual conditions of the analyzed traits. Using statistical measures of dependence between the variables in two cases a very high, in 7 cases-high, and in 15 cases-an average level of the strength of correlation between variables was found. The most strongly correlated phenomena are those of destabilization and crime on the one hand, and of excessive drinking and the state of mental health on the other hand. A high level of correlation can be found first or all between professional destabilization and excessive drinking, and between the state of mental health and professional destabilization. Instead some of the expected interdependences were not confirmed. There are among them the relation between professional destabilization and the state of somatic health, excessive drinking and the state of somatic health, early educational problems and professional destabilization. To sum up the above random data, it may be stated that persons who evade work greatly "outpace" those who are employed as regards all of the negative aspects analyzed in the study, this difference being only too evident regarding the. particularly pathological types of behaviour such as crime and excessive drinking. This concerns first and foremost the central issue of professional destabilization. The group of persons who evade work is greatly differentiated in many respects and one can hardly apply towards these persons identical diagnostic and prognostic criteria. There is no doubt, however, that when intending to shape a proper attitude towards work, one should focus ones attention on four planes of the individual's life situation. They are: the family and school milieu, the individual's own vision of his professional activity, the working environment interpreted as the sum of chances and limitations of human activity, and disfunctional behaviour (crime and excessive drinking). In our opinion, also other reference systems should not be left out of account, which undoubtedly play important part in the individuals shaping of his vision of professional activity.

203-249
Praca kuratora dla nieletnich w opinii sędziów sądów rodzinnych i kuratorów społecznych

Authors: Dobrochna Wójcik

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Number of views: 39

The paper contains the results of a questionnaire study carried out on national representative samples of family courts judges (277 persons) and voluntary probation officers (247 persons). The main aim of the study was to obtain the practicians opinion as to the model of probation service existing in Poland and its ideal vision, as well as the conception of the work of a voluntary probation officer with a juvenile delinquent and his milieu and the: effectiveness of such work. comparing the statements of judges and voluntary probation officers, the author intended to find out what opinion the persons who play various parts in the process of resocialization of juveniles have on the educational work of voluntary probation officers: what this work should be and what it actually is. The picture that emerges from the statements of both groups of respondents is not favourable, the appraisals made by family courts judges being more, critical as a rule than those of voluntary probation officers. Some of the respondents statements are declarations and wishes. Over a half of the family courts judges (58 per cent) and about 80 per cent of voluntary probation officers consider the voluntary-cum-professional model of probation service for juvenile delinquents found in our country to be a good one (although only a part of them approve of it fully, with the remaining ones accepting it conditionally and submitting various proposals for its improvement). On the other hand, as many as 42 per cent of judges and about 20 per cent of voluntary probation officers opt for the performance of supervision -by professional probation officers only. To substantiate their standpoint, these persons argue that voluntary probation officers lack qualifications, are insufficiently engaged in educational work with juveniles, and that in their case difficulties arise in executing the proper performance of supervision. Also the enrollment of voluntary probation officers is disapproved of, the examined persons stating that in the face of a small number of applicants for this work, no requirements can be imposed upon them, and many of them are chance persons with no training whatever. As few as 7.6 per cent of family courts judges and as many as 48.6 per cent of voluntary probation officers are of the opinion that probation officers are well prepared to perform their function of resocialization. In the opinion of most respondents, the number of voluntary probation officers is greatly insufficient. The author was also interested in the respondents vision of the voluntary probation officer's work with a juvenile and his milieu, the elements that should prevail in this work: education, care or supervision, and the actual situation in this respect, as well as the real course of this work. Most respondents (78 per cent of judges and 52.2 per cent of probation officers) stresed the educational elements of a voluntary -probation officer's activity. :What is alarming, however, is the fact a considerable group both of family courts' judges (21.3 per cent) and of voluntary probation officers (30 per cent) believe formal supervision to be the most important aspect. Yet as shown by the findings of the study, the actual work of .a voluntary probation. officers departs greatly from the declared ideal model. Voluntary probation officers are burdened with an excessive number of supervised juveniles, with about 30 per .cent of them supervising over 10 persons which is the number set as the maximum. The majority of respondents demand a reduction of the number of juveniles under supervision, which is however difficult to be fulfilled because of the lack of candidates willing to become probation officers. As appears also from the respondents statements, there is no elaborate conception of the voluntary probation officer's work. Too much weight is attached when appraising this work to its formal criteria (e.g. the number of probation officer's contacts with the juvenile). Instead, the quality of his work is inadequately analyzed. Admittedly, both professional probation officers and most of all family courts judges lack sufficient data to carry out such an analysis: namely, the information about a voluntary probation officer's work come from his reports that are frequently faulty as regards quality, contents and promptness; this appears not only from the judge's but also from the voluntary probation officers' own statements. Co-operation between voluntary probation officers on the one hand, and profesional probation officers and family courts' judges on the other hand, is also faulitly organized. The respondents perceive this co-operation as the opportunity to settle definite legal, educational and organizational matters rather, than as a regular influence of the family court towards an improvement of the voluntary probation officers' qualifications and an increase of their educational impact on the juveniles. In resocializing activities, great weight is attached to the educational methods applied by the voluntary probation officer. His basic method is considered to be that of individual therapy which should be accompanied by group and environmental therapy. As appears from the statements of most voluntary probation officers, the forms of their work, and of influencing the juvenile in particular, were rather modest and poorly differentiated, the probation officers revealing litt1e initiative and being either relucant or unable to make the contacts with juvniles supervised by them more diversified. As few as about 20 per cent of the examined voluntary probation officers were in good contact with some of their probationers at any rate, the contact being of a therapeutical character (which was important in so- far as over 40 per cent of probation officers stated that they supervised- juveniles with personality disorders). In resocializing work, the posibilities of influence in a group of young persons are insufficiently used. Moreover, voluntary probation officers meet with many difficulties in co-operating with their probationers families, their contacts with the institutions engaged in crime prevention, education or social assistance being also unsatisfactory. Voluntary probation officers co-operate rather regularly with schools, the police, the Polish Committee for Social Aid and occupational guidance centres only (though naturally the degree of a voluntary probation officer's co-operation with the abovementioned institutions differs). The respondents of both groups expressed their opinions about the effectiveness of the supervision, its conditions and criteria. In general, views of family courts judges and of volunatry probation officers converged to a high degree, the majority of respondents being of the opinion that nothing but the juvenile's complete and positive participation in the social life and proper performance of due social roles testifies to a successful ending of a supervision. Convergences could also be found. between the judges and the probation officers opinions about the conditions of success vs. failure of supervision. Discussing successful supervisions respondents of both groups stressed the importance of good relations between the probation officer and his probationer, co-operation with the juvenile’s parents, their emotional commitment and readiness to act jointly with the probation officer, the probation officer's competence in getting into emotional contact with the juvenile and his family and to win their confidence. According to the respondents, the most important factors that determine a failure of supervision are: the juvenile's considerable demoralization, influence of the negative peer group, a negative family milieu and a lack of co-operation. with the probation officer on the part of the parents. Therefore, respondents of both groups lay a great emphasis on the importance of emotional relations which should link the three parties involved: the juvenile, his parents, and the voluntary probation officer. The necessity of mutual approval, understanding and respect for each other’s rights, was particularly stressed. Mutual good emotional relations linking the above-mentioned persons seams to be the key issue as far as success or failure of super- vision is concerned. If both the juvenile and his parents have a favourable attitude towards the probation officer and trust him, it will be much easier for him to persuade the juvenile of the necessity of regular learning or changing his conduct, and his parents-of the need for co-operation. Therefore the findings point to the fact that the declared shape of the work of a voluntary probation officer is much better than the actual one. The final part of the questionnaire was devoted to the use of educational measures and obligations of juvenile delinquents and their parents resulting from provisions of the Act of Nov. 26, 1982 on the proceedings in cases concerning minors. The Act introduced new educational measures and obligations of juveniles, as well as the possibility of punishing the juvenile's parents with a fine and notifying their workplaces or social organizations they are members of about their failure in parental obligations whenever this failure is caused by the parents fault. About 60-70 per cent of the judges never applied the newly introduced educational measures nor imposed obligations upon juveniles, although over a half of the judges and 60-70 per cent of the voluntary probation officers are convinced that it was right to introduce these new measures. A part of the respondents however (one-fourth of the judges and one-fifth of the probation officers) express their doubts as to the possibilities of the family court's supervision of performance of the obligation imposed upon juveniles. Very few judges applied disciplinary measures towards the juveniles parents in practice, although about 25 per cent of them express an opinion as to the effectiveness of a fine, and about 18 per cent believe that notifying the parents workplace may bring about satisfactory results. As compared with judges, voluntary probation officers expressed their favourable opinion as to the effectiveness of these measures more frequently (44 and 62 per cent respectively). Because of a relatively short period of binding force of the new provisions (which was about one and a half years at the moment of the study), the problem of application of some of the educational measures and obligations in particular, as well as the judges and probation officers opinion as to their pertinence and the possibilities of supervising their execution should be investigated further.

251-286
Narkomania jako zjawisko społeczne - historia problemu w Polsce

Authors: Antoni Bielewicz

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The phenomenon of drug addiction has been known in Poland for at least several dozen years. In the period of the second Republic, it was not a major social problem. In 1933, the total of 295 addicts were hospitalized in Poland. According to pre-war researchers, the number of drug addicts could be estimated at over 5 thousand persons in the early 1930s. The pre-war addicts took first of all classic drugs: morphine, heroin, and cocaine. Also codeine, Somniphrene and Pantopon were rather frequently taken. Less frequent was the use of hashish, mescaline and peyotl. Headache wafers played the part of substitutes. According to the data of the health service and the Warsaw public prosecutor's office, about three – fourth of drug addicts were men. Most addicts were in their thirties; hardly any could be found among the youth, as far as morphinism is concerned in particular. This type of addiction could be found nearly exclusively among persons aged over 30. The situation shaped ,somewhat differently as regards codeine addicts: also younger persons. could be found in this group. In the socio professional structure of addicts included in the files of the Warsaw public prosecutor's office, clerks prevailed; their percentage amounting to 30. The second most numerous group were craftsmen and tradesmen-,13 per cent, and the third on -representatives of medical professions (chemists, doctors, surgeon, assistants, nurses, midwifes) of whom there were 9 per cent. The percentage of workers was 2, of prostitutes-5, and artists-4. In the opinion of the most of the pre-war researchers, the above socio-professional structure is distorted. According to them, drug-addiction was much more widespread among officers (of the air force and navy in particular), artists, writers and journalists. As regards religion, pre-war addicts constituted as varied a mosaic as the entire society in those days. There were among them representatives of all of the most numerous religious groups then found in Poland. Roman Catholics were most, and members of the orthodox church-least :susceptible to drug addiction. The pre-war researchers of drug addiction devoted a lot of attention to the problem of etiology of this ,,social disease'' Some of them stressed above all the medical-others-the economic and political, and still others - the cultural or those related to civilization causes. There were also conceptions that laid particular emphasis on physiology and biochemistry of the human body. The evolution of drug addiction in the post-war forty years may be divided into four stages. The first of them lasted till about mid-1960s. The extent of the phenomenon was then limited, with the average of about 400 persons treated in out-patient clinics, and about 150 -in psychiatric hospitals. Also the police statistics point to small sizes of this phenomenon. In 1967, as few as 9 offences directly related to drug addiction were recorded in Poland. Drug addicts of those days descended from rather specific circles. They were mostly representatives of medical professions, that is persons with a relatively easy access to drugs. Over 90 per cent of all morphine addicts were employees of the health service. Drugs taken most frequently were the classical ones;(morphine, cocaine), tranquilizers (Glimid, Tardyl) and stimulants (amphetamines). In thest period, one could hardly speak of drug addiction as a subcultural phenomenon. It was mainly a medical problem. The majority of the drug taking persons were those already dependent. The addicts of those days formed no close groups sharing a given ideology, specific symbols or language. The taking of narcotic drugs was not a social but an individual behaviour in most cases. The second stage are the late 1960s and the early 1970s. In that period, a rapid growth in the extent of drug addiction can be noticed. In the years 1969-1973, the number of patients treated because of drug addiction in out-patient psychiatric clinics was quintupled, and in psychiatric hospitals, tripled. In 1972, there were about 3,150 patients treated in psychiatric clinics, and about 600 in psychiatric hospitals. Also the number of offences directly related to drug addiction grew rapidly. While in 1967 there was not a single instance of unauthorized giving of narcotic drug (art. 161 of the Penal Code) or of forging prescriptions (art. 265 § 1 of the Penal Code), 105 and 417 such acts respectively were recorded five years later. In 1971, over 3,000 persons "taking narcotic drugs" were registered in the police files. As found in a sociological study carried out in 1972 among students of all grammar, vocational and elementary vocational schools in Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia, 8.3 per cent of the respondents had contacts with narcotic drugs. In the case of about 45 per cent of this group, these contacts were occasional. According to the authors of the study, this percentage is the "minimum frequency of occurence" of drug taking "in the population of school youth in Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot.'' In this early 1970s, the number of persons in danger of becoming addicts (i.e. those who took drugs regularly) and those already dependent was estimated at about 30 thousand. In the discussed period, also the character of addiction underwent changes: it became a subcultural phenomenon. The base on which it developed were the youth contestation movements which emerged in Poland as well. Addiction was given a cultural dimension by the ideology of the hippie movement. Taking drugs ceased to be an individual behaviour and became a social one which expressed certain attitudes and symbolized the affiliation to a given subculture. The young who took drugs formed smaller or bigger groups with strong internal bonds and a great sense of solidarity. They used specific symbols (way of dressing, recognition signals, rich repertoire of gestures, aliases, etc.) and quite a rich language (characteristic names of drugs and activities related to their taking). The very taking of drugs was acompanied by more or less developed rituals (narcotic coctails, seances, etc.). In that period - and later on as well -the phenomenon of drug addiction was concentrated among the youth and in highly urbanized and industrialized regions. In 1972, nearly 75 per cent of persons hospitalized for the first time were those aged under 25, and over 60 per cent-under 29. In 1970, over 90 per cent of addicts treated in hospitals lived in towns. The limited drug marked. caused the youth to resort to substitutes on the unpracedented scale. In those years, general use of such substances as trichloroethylene, Ixi (washing powder), Butaprene (glus), ether, benzene, solvents and others started. Yet the major typ of addiction still remaind that to opium and its derivates, particularly in men, and to sleeping-draught and tranquilizers in women. The third stage in the evolution of drug addiction are the years 1973-1976. In that period, a nearly 27 per cent decrease in the total of patients of psychiatric clinics, and a 40 per cent one in the case of those treated for the first time could be noticed. The morbidity index went down from 3.5 to 2.0. A similar trend, though less dynamic one, concerned also hospital service. In an attempt at explaining this phenomenon, three factors should be mentioned. Firstly, the early 1970s are the period when youth movements started to die out. Also a relative social peace reigned in those years, which caused drug addiction lose its socio-cultural base. Secondly, the medical authorities introduced a number of limitations in the accessibility of drugs in that period. Thirdly, repressive action of the police also influenced this tendency to a high degree. The prosecution agencies not only increased their efficiency greatly, but also acquired a much better knowledge of the addicts circles. These actions however proved insufficient to fully control addiction. The fourth stage in the evolution of addiction started in the late 1970s. In the years 1977-1984, the number of patients treated in out-patient clinics increased twice over, and that of hospitalized persons - five times over. The indicates of dissemination and morbidity grew rapidly. Beginning from mid-1970s, the number of persons registered in the police files grew nearly two and a half times over. Also the number of deaths due to over dosage went up from year to year. In 1978, 18 such cases were recorded, with the number amounting to as many as 117 in 1986. The number of offences directly related to drug addiction went up from 1,093 in 1978 to 3,014 in 1983. The number of persons taking narcotic drugs was estimated at about 500-800 thousand in 1983; that of persons in danger of becoming addicts - at 99-95 thousand, and of actual addicts - about 40 thousand. Such is the minimum spread of the discussed phenomenon. The unprecedented dissemination of drug addiction may be attributed to the emergence of two factors of which one is technological, and the other one psycho-social. In mid-1970s, the technology of production of a strong drug from poppy was worked out in Poland, which resulted in a great amount of strong narcotics appearing on the market. on the other hand, crisis started to accumulate in Poland in mid-1970s, which resulted in a growing frustration among the youth. The concurrence of these two factors brought about the explosion of drug addiction.