10 SEPTEMBER 1943, Page 22

Young Offenders. By A. M. Carr-Saunders, Hermann Mannheim, E. C.

Rhodes. (Cambridge University Press. 7s. 6d.)

THIS book is for the sociologist rather than for the social worker. It contains a mass of statistical information which is of the utmost interest to the scientist who is studying the social and environ- mental conditions of juvenile delinquency. It does not, however, deal with the psychological aspect of the problem, and the enquiry is confined to male offenders only. Two thousand cases brought before the juvenile courts have been minutely analysed and then compared with a similar analysis of 2,000 non-delinquent boys of the same age and coming from a similar- environment. The Home Office has already issued a circular to magistrates which gives a brief account of the results of the enquiry. This full report of the research will be welcomed by all who are interested in the behaviour of children, both good arid " bad."