This study was undertaken at the suggestion of the Superintendent of the Reformatory for Women, Miss Lena C. Ross, who has found that repeaters or recidivists were becoming an increasing problem in that institution. It was strongly suspected that many of these women were subnormal mentally and that the delinquencies which brought them to the institution time after time were at least partly due to this low mentality. It seemed that they should be treated more as hospital cases than as criminals, and that it would be desirable to make a series of mental tests as a basis for any appropriate recommendations.

What should the State do about these women if they were found to be low grade mentally ? This is a question which belongs to others than the Eugenics Survey to answer. One suggestion is that the ample space and accommodations at the Rutland Reformatory make it possible to care for a number of these women as permanent patients, if some arrangement could be made for their commitment under indeterminate sentence so that they might be kept at the Reformatory until it should seem safe and wise to release them on parole or by discharge.

The purpose of this study was primarily to ascertain the mental levels of the group of women at the Reformatory. Though for many good reasons it was decided not to go into the social history of each individual at this time, sufficient material of interest was secured to make it seem worth while to include it in the report.

The study was extended over a period of several months so that a representative cross-section of the group coming to the Reformatory was gained. One or more interviews were held with each woman and a psychological test given each. The Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon scale was used.

Afterwards the material was treated as mass data. Though the value of detailed case studies was fully recognized, it was considered that mass treatment furnished the information which this study primarily sought, namely, what the characteristics common to this group were, particularly as regards mental capacity. It was of interest to note also whether the group differed in any aspect outside of present criminality from the general run of the female population.

The group at Rutland Reformatory is a small one, numbering fifty-three in all. The women are of all ages from 16 to 51 years. With the older ones it is a question to what extent their well-established habits can be changed, so that they may be trusted to assume the responsibilities expected of them by any community. But half the group is under 30 years of age, 21 percent even under 20 years. For these there is still a long future to make or to mar. Careful diagnosis and treatment may do much to undo years of unfavorable early environment, and to prepare them to adjust harmoniously to the social group.

Only a very small percentage of the women have been committed for a major offense. The following table shows the nature of the present offense for which they have been committed.

Sex offenses stand out as constituting the largest percentage. Of offenses of any group. A study that was available, made at Bedford Hills, the New York State Reformatory for Women, showed this same large percentage of sex offenses there, 62.5 percent of the offenses being those against chastity. Offenses against property rights constitute the next largest group, and again the two Reformatories show similar results, 18.8 percent at Rutland compared to 16.7 percent at Bedford Hills.

Sixteen of the women, or 30.2 percent, have been committed before, sometimes two and three times. Ten of these are now back serving their full sentence because of breach of parole. Ten of the sixteen are sex offenders. To those in charge at the institution it sometimes seems as if these sex offenders are released only to return in a short time, either pregnant or having borne illegitimate children during their short period of freedom.

These recidivists are the women-concerning whom particularly the question has been raised whether the sentences given are long enough for the treatment needed to prepare them for reassuming the responsibilities and social standards demanded of its members by any community.

The greatest percentage of sentences are for less than three years. In some instances, at least, it would seem that a longer time might be needed to reestablish acceptable social habits. It may be a question whether it is any more humane to grant a woman liberty before she is "socially well" than it would be to dismiss a patient from a hospital before he is physically able.

It would have been of considerable interest to learn in detail the early environment of the members of the group. But it was not expedient to do so. Enough, however, was learned to judge that many of the women had come from homes which in one or more respects were below the average. On the other hand, several had come from good homes.

The school histories of these women throw some light on educational standards. Two of the women received no formal education. One completed high school. The largest number reached either grades five or seven.

The law in Vermont states that every child shall attend school till he has completed the eighth grade, or is sixteen years of age. Only 17 percent of the Reformatory group actually completed the eighth grade or more. Granted that a number lacked the mental capacity to go so far, only 32 percent continued to attend school till they were 16 years of age. As a matter of fact, 21.2 percent left school between the ages of 10 and 12. The median age, however was barely 15 years. A few received full advantages of schooling, but did not have the ability to make much advancement. Criminologists disagree as to whether or not there is any particular correlation between criminality and educational attainment. Be that as it may, it is apparent that the schooling received by most of our group does not measure up to the standards which we now consider as the barest minimum of school training necessary as a preparation for meeting the demands of later life.

The bearing of our whole economic order on the cause of crime is a matter of great importance, and of considerable contention. Some hold that it is the most outstanding cause of crime, others, that it is of but little real significance. The economic system is undoubtedly responsible‐‐but just to what extent is difficult to determine. Our study was too limited to contribute in any way, but it seemed of interest to note the prevailing type of work done by the members of the Reformatory group.

By far the greatest number of women are found in domestic and hotel work. As a matter of fact, domestic work seemed basic for practically all the women. According to the U. S. Census, only 6.9 percent of the women gainfully employed in the State of Vermont are engaged in domestic work; only 17.8 percent are in restaurant and hotel work. But 51 percent of the Reformatory group are in these occupations. The second largest number are in factory work, but here the proportion to the general population is better balanced, 24.5 percent of the delinquents being in this work compared to 23.1 percent of the gainfully employed females in the State.

Extensive studies made of the occupations of delinquent women have shown that the largest number are to be found in domestic and hotel work. It seems to draw the mass of unskilled women of which the Reformatory group is a part, and it presents more opportunities for petty thieving and for meeting men than do many other occupations where supervision is greater. We seem to demand of those among this unskilled group, who are undeveloped mentally or emotionally, the ability to resist the temptations which this work presents.

One of the matters of serious concern related to the commitment of these women is the question of what becomes of the families of the mothers in the group. Forty of the women, or 75.5 percent, are married; five, or 9.4 percent, are divorced; while only eight, or 15.1 percent, are single. There are 154 children belonging to these women, an average of 2.9 children to each woman. But as seven of the married women are childless, and seven of the eight single have had no children, the 154 children are the offspring of 39 of the women, an average of 3.9 children to each. The families range in size from one to eleven children. The average size of these families is probably not any larger than that usual to this class of the general population. But since we must guard the future as well as care for the present, our deepest concern is to help these children who are deprived of the most important social influence in life, a good home. It is left so much to chance what will become of them. Table IV shows how these children are being cared for at present.

All of these children are either in broken homes or cared for by others than their own family. When we consider the number of maladjustments of adult life that can be traced back to unfavorable early environment and broken homes, it would seem that most of these children are handicapped from the start in being well trained to meet some of the difficult situations of later life. Looked at solely from the point of view of cost‐‐the fact that 29.3 percent of these children are cared for by public and private organizations, suggests something of the cost that these delinquent women are to the State above that of their mere upkeep at the Reformatory.

The relation between mental capacity and criminality is of much importance. Some authorities consider it the important factor in determining crime; others, that it is only one of many. After many careful studies, the prevailing conception now seems to be that variation in mental capacity is found among criminals in about the same ratio as among the general population. Among certain crimes only, does mental capacity tend to be lower than the average, and these are crimes such as petty thieving and sex delinquency which require but little forethought and into which individuals easily influenced are led. It is well to bear in mind that one factor in lowering the average of mental capacity of a reformatory group is that only the less clever ones "get caught."

Only fifty-one of the women at Rutland were given satisfactory psychological tests. Two showed such psychopathic tendencies that it was not considered fair to judge their ratings on an intelligence test.

If we accept Terman's estimate that the average adult age in the general population is 14 years, possibly 16, we find that the Reformatory women do not measure up very favorably to this standard.

Their mental ages range from 7 to 16 years as follows:

Only 5.9 percent measure up to the average adult age of 14 to 16 years. Comparing their intelligence quotients with Terman's classification the results are as Table V shows.

The women measure somewhat lower in intelligence than did a group of 447 delinquent women in institutions in New York State, of whom an extensive study was made. Our group is too small for making any fair comparison with such a large one‐‐ and it may represent a more selected body of the general population. The difficulty is in making any comparison with the intelligence of the general adult population. The best sampling available of this is that of Binet-Simon tests given to random groups of the army during the war. Even here, however, the groups were somewhat selective. In the New York study a comparison between the army group and the delinquent women of the State was made. It seemed of interest to compare with this the group of delinquent women of Vermont. Table VI shows how the mental ages of the two groups of delinquent women compare. It also shows how these two groups compare with the army group which represents best the mental capacity of the general population.

Table VII shows the relation found among the group between mental capacity and nature of offense. Though sex offenders and offenders against the person show lower mental ability than do the offenders against property, family, and government regulations, yet the number of women tested is too small to make any point about such comparisons.

There is no striking difference either between the intelligence quotient of recidivists and first offenders‐‐the average intelligence of the recidivists being 67.1 compared with 69.2 for the first offenders.

A closer relationship is found between the intelligence quotient and grades attained at school, though the grades attained by some would denote that the degree of mental inefficiency could not have been fully realized in school.

It is of interest to know the relations between the mental capacity of the Reformatory women and the kind of work at which they were most usually employed, to see if those of marked difference in intelligence gravitated to different types of work. From Table VIII it is plain that those women usually found in domestic, hotel and restaurant work are of lower mental capacity than the others. They are, then, not only the most unskilled but also the most poorly endowed mentally, and they represent the largest group in the Reformatory.

When we note the low intelligence quotient of those at home and in schools and institutions, it would seem that there is one very good reason for their being unemployed.

There is practically no relation between the kind of work done and the grade attained at school. The mean in domestic, hotel and factory work is between the fifth and sixth grade. The store clerk completed grade 8, the two dressmakers completed two years of high school, the practical nurse and the farm worker, first year high school.

When one thinks of the mental capacity of some of these women, one wonders whether their children may not be somewhat handicapped at the start in mental endowment as well as in early environing influences. If they inherit to some degree the mental capacity of their mothers, they may find it a little difficult in later life to compete on equal terms with some of their fellows who are better endowed mentally. Table IX shows the number of children born to women of varying degrees of intelligence. Though the average number of children born to women of each grade of intelligence is about the same, the largest number is certainly in the group of subnormal intelligence.