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no action could be taken; 1,055 ascertained not defective, or not to be London cases ;
477 dealt with through the Poor Law; 590 removed from the register (died, discharged,
or removed to mental hospitals), and 335 still under consideration.

In addition to the foregoing, certain cases were examined while still of school
age and are recorded on a later page.
The care of delinquent persons is an important section of the work under the
Mental Deficiency Act.
A further investigation has been carried out by Dr. Shrubsall and Dr. Williams
into the relationship between delinquency and mental deficiency. Habitual
delinquents are among the class of defectives most dangerous to the community, and
experience shows that defectives may commit any class of offence, the circumstances
in each case being regulated by propinquity and opportunity, Even in normal
individuals, delinquencies may arise from several causes.
(i.) The persistence of infantile condition of thought in which the child
does immediately what seems most desirable without consideration of the
rights of others.
(ii.) Suggestions from, or imitation of, others.
(iii.) The unusual predominance of certain specific instincts, such as
pugnacity and acquisition.
(iv.) From motives such as desire for revenge on individuals or on society
at large, as in some cases this feeling arises from a sense of mental inferiority
which is resented by the subject, who therefore, desires to show that in some
ways he can get his own back.
Once delinquencies have proved successful, a habit may be established which
may be stronger than the original impulse. Mental deficiency may assist in the formation
of delinquent habits, in that the subject may not have the intelligence to
appreciate the reasons for social conventions or even for obedience to personal
authority; he may show undue irritability or deficient inhibition or may be unusually
apathetic or suggestible.
The average mental age of the general population of defectives for the age of
16 is 7.9, and of delinquent defectives is 8.5. The percentage distribution of intelligence
quotients is shown in the tables which compare the delinquent with the nondelinquent
groups of defectives, both for those under and over 16 years of age.
Delinquency
in relationship
to
Mental
Deficiency.

10161
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