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44
From this it appears that the delinquents are above the average of the other
defectives, but not to an extent which excludes the possibility of random sampling.
The relationship between the nature of the offence and the intellectual capacity,
emotional status and employability has been ascertained in the case of 234 men
and 81 women charged with definite punishable offences who have been dealt with
under the Mental Deficiency Act.

From this it would appear that the lower mental ages are associated with offences
such as indecency and indecent exposure in which a prominent factor in the causation
may be due to a failure of orientation or a lack of appreciation of surroundings
and ordinary social conventions on the part of the offenders; the higher mental
ages are found in those defectives charged with heterosexual offences, while the
average mental ages of those charged with stealing and common assault correspond
almost exactly with the general average of all defectives, whether delinquents or
otherwise.
An attempt has been made to ascertain the relationship between the nature of
the offence and the emotional stability of mentally defective offenders by grading
them into four classes in accordance with the general evidence of their behaviour
without attempting to consider the respective qualities of specific instincts or
emotions.