Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...
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Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...

Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ... Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...

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438In addition to this, however, there are a significant number ofpeople that have other types of problems; for example, depressionand chronic anxiety. This group, perha])s, constitutes 25 percent ofthe addict population. And there jirobabl}' is another 25 percent ofthe population that we do not understancl very well, but which Dr.Kolb described man}^ years ago as frank hedonists that have a personalitythat makes them like to get intoxicated. We know very littleabout this group.Chairman Pepper. This is a little bit out of the area which weare discussing right now, but it relates to om* ])roblem as a committeeconcerned with crime. 1 have heard that the teachers or the ps\^chiatristswho know something about young peo])le say that it is possible todetermine in the very low grades in the jmblic schools, which studentshave a ])redilection toward the khid of conduct in later life, that wecall criminal conduct.Is there any such discoverable characteristic in children in the firstfew grades of public school?Dr. Brown. There is a serious body of research which has attemi)te(lto do this, to ])redict which students, say, in the first grade would goon in teenage and young adult life to criminal careers, and the evidenceis somewhat equivocal at this time.1 would say, again, we have carefully looked into this and we willbe glad to submit sort of a precis for your committee, but we do notyet have that hard knowledge to predict which child would turn outto be a criminal.(The material referred to above follows:)The develnpment of efficient prediction and prev^ention efforts to cope with theproblems of dehnquency and crime is greatly needed. However, in view of currentscientific and technological limitations, viz., the lack of accurate and economicallyfeasible predictive devices, very serious scientific and pul^lic policy problems haveto be considered. The younger the age at which predictions are made, the greaterthe technological and social policy problems. P>om a scientific standpoint, thereliability and accuracy of the predictions remains questionable, e.g., to say atage six or eight that a particular youngster is definitely headed for serious trouble.From a public policy standpoint, there are serious problems in labelling a child as"delinquency-prone" and then intervening in his life—before he has even displayedany overt problem behaviors.It is a statistical and empirical fact that predictions aimed at events whicli haverelativel}" low frequencies (e.g., serious or violent crimes), invariably have ratherhigh rates of errors. Thus, while devices such as the Glueck Delinquency PredictionScales do pick out high proportions of youngsters who may actually becomedelinquent, the\' do this at the cost of having rather high rates of "false positive"errors, viz., persons who are ])redicted to l)e delinquent but who do not laterdisplay such behavior. In addition, behavioral and social scientists point to variousother problems and complications which result from giving designations and labels(e.g., "delinquency-prone") to children who have not yet disi^layed problem Ix'-haviors. For example, such labels and preventive efforts could lead to "selffulfillingprophecies".In attempting to jjredict and prevent deliTiquency, otlier inii)ort;int fticts needto be considered. The great majority of youngsters engage in acts which couldbring them into official contact with the law, but most such youthful pranks andproblem behaviors do not come to official attention. P'urtliermore, police statisticstend to reflect social class and related l)ias(>s in the Imndling of problem behaviors.Thus, youngsters engaging in delinquent conduct will more likely become apolic(^ statistic if they come from lower social class and economicaUy and sociallydeprived families. Youngsters showing the same behavior but coming from middleand upper class and more stable families, will not as likely receive official adjudication.In other words, officially labelled deliiuiuent behavior does not simplyreflect the i)roblem displayed by the individual, l)ut also reflects the manner inwhich the comnnmity and social agencies have responded to that behavior.

439A large proportion of youngsters adjudicated as delinquent, tend to be involvedin status or minor offenses (e.g., truancy, running away from home, incorrigibility,etc.), rather than in violent crimes. Also, a study which the NationalInstitute of Mental Health has been supporting indicates that nearly half of theyouths connnitting their tirst offense, do not have further contact with the law,while an additional o5% of these subjects appear to have stopped engaging inlaw-violating behavior following their second offense. Thus, it appears that manyyouths go through a phase of adolescent turmoil, engage in disruptive and deviantbehaviors, and then mature into fairly stable and constructive adults.In light of these facts, there are both practical and ])()licy questions regarding theparticular point in a youngster's life when the comnuuiity should formally interveneto prevent further misconduct. Given the present limitations of ourpredictive devices, as well as the lack of clearly demonstrated success of mostdelinquency-prevention programs, it remains questionable whether limited manpower,resources and efforts should be devoted to starting prevention programsat the second or third grad(^ levels. At this early age i^roblems inay not yet bemanifested, and whether particular yovmgsters are in fact headed for seriouscriminal careers cannot be acciu'ately jjredicted.Thu.s, there appear to be a number of difficulties associated with atteniptlng topredict and prevent delinquency at early ages. Until the scientific, techiudogicaland related difficulties have better been addressed, the likelihood of effective andfeasible prevention efforts remains somewhat poor. Given these cou,siderations,the National lu.stitute of :MentaI Health is continuing its re.searcli efforts todevelop more accurate predictive devices, a.s well as to learn-—through longitudinalstudies—about the characteristics of that .small but hard-core group ofyoungsters who display early problem behaviors and wdio do in fact g'o on tomore serious criminal careers. The Institute is also involved in research aimedat improving the intellectual, emotional and interpersonal functioning of suchchildren and youth, e.g., the development of in.structional progi'ammed materialsdesigned to enhance academic performance, study skills, and inteniersonal behavior.The National Institute of Mental Health is also supix>rting research toimprove the effectiveness of tho.se social institutions and agencies, such asparents, families, and school sy.stems, which attempt to socialize children andyouth, and to bring about a more po.sitive reciprocal interaction between parentsand children.Chairman Pepper. Well, slutll we convene at 1:30? Will yon beback, then, gentlemen?Thank you very much.(Whereupon, the committee recessed at 12:35 j).m. to reconveneat 1 :30 ]).m. on the same day.)Afternoon SessionChairman Pepper. The committee will come to order. We willresume with Dr. Brown's testimony.STATEMENT OF DR. BERTRAM BROWN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL IN:STITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH, HEALTH SERVICES AND MENTALHEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCA-TION, AND WELFARE ; ACCOMPANIED BY DR. ROBERT VAN HOEK,ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR OPERATIONS, HEALTH SERV-ICES AND MENTAL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION; KARST BESTE-MAN, ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION OF NARCOTICS ANDDRUG ABUSE; AND DR. WILLIAM MARTIN, CHIEF. ADDICTIONRESEARCH CENTER, LEXINGTON. KY.—ResumedChairman Pepper. Have you any estimate as to the nimiber ofheroin addicts in the country that would be different from the 200,000or 300,000 estimates that we have received?

439A large proportion of youngsters adjudicated as delinquent, tend to be involvedin status or minor offenses (e.g., truancy, running away from home, incorrigibility,etc.), rather than in violent crimes. Also, a study which the NationalInstitute of Mental Health has been supporting indicates that nearly half of theyouths connnitting their tirst offense, do not have further contact with the law,while an additional o5% of these subjects appear to have stopped engaging inlaw-violating behavior following their second offense. Thus, it appears that manyyouths go through a phase of adolescent turmoil, engage in disruptive <strong>and</strong> deviantbehaviors, <strong>and</strong> then mature into fairly stable <strong>and</strong> constructive adults.In light of these facts, there are both practical <strong>and</strong> ])()licy questions regarding theparticular point in a youngster's life when the comnuuiity should formally interveneto prevent further misconduct. Given the present limitations of ourpredictive devices, as well as the lack of clearly demonstrated success of mostdelinquency-prevention programs, it remains questionable whether limited manpower,resources <strong>and</strong> efforts should be devoted to starting prevention programsat the second or third grad(^ levels. At this early age i^roblems inay not yet bemanifested, <strong>and</strong> whether particular yovmgsters are in fact headed for seriouscriminal careers cannot be acciu'ately jjredicted.Thu.s, there appear to be a number of difficulties associated with atteniptlng topredict <strong>and</strong> prevent delinquency at early ages. Until the scientific, techiudogical<strong>and</strong> related difficulties have better been addressed, the likelihood of effective <strong>and</strong>feasible prevention efforts remains somewhat poor. Given these cou,siderations,the National lu.stitute of :MentaI Health is continuing its re.searcli efforts todevelop more accurate predictive devices, a.s well as to learn-—through longitudinalstudies—about the characteristics of that .small but hard-core group ofyoungsters who display early problem behaviors <strong>and</strong> wdio do in fact g'o on tomore serious criminal careers. The Institute is also involved in <strong>research</strong> aimedat improving the intellectual, emotional <strong>and</strong> interpersonal functioning of suchchildren <strong>and</strong> youth, e.g., the development of in.structional progi'ammed materialsdesigned to enhance academic performance, study skills, <strong>and</strong> inteniersonal behavior.The National Institute of Mental Health is also supix>rting <strong>research</strong> toimprove the effectiveness of tho.se social institutions <strong>and</strong> agencies, such asparents, families, <strong>and</strong> school sy.stems, which attempt to socialize children <strong>and</strong>youth, <strong>and</strong> to bring about a more po.sitive reciprocal interaction between parents<strong>and</strong> children.Chairman Pepper. Well, slutll we convene at 1:30? Will yon beback, then, gentlemen?Thank you very much.(Whereupon, the committee recessed at 12:35 j).m. to reconveneat 1 :30 ]).m. on the same day.)Afternoon SessionChairman Pepper. The committee will come to order. We willresume with Dr. Brown's testimony.STATEMENT OF DR. BERTRAM BROWN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL IN:STITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH, HEALTH SERVICES AND MENTALHEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCA-TION, AND WELFARE ; ACCOMPANIED BY DR. ROBERT VAN HOEK,ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR OPERATIONS, HEALTH SERV-ICES AND MENTAL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION; KARST BESTE-MAN, ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION OF NARCOTICS ANDDRUG ABUSE; AND DR. WILLIAM MARTIN, CHIEF. ADDICTIONRESEARCH CENTER, LEXINGTON. KY.—ResumedChairman Pepper. Have you any estimate as to the nimiber ofheroin addicts in the country that would be different from the 200,000or 300,000 estimates that we have received?

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