Communal welfare and character building activities were credited with a percentage decrease of one-third in Jewish juvenile delinquency as compared with the total of such delinquency, in an announcement made Saturday. The decrease was reported by Dr. John Slawson, executive director of the Jewish Board of Guardians, on the basis of an eleven-year survey of children’s court arraignments.
From a peak of 22.67 per cent in 1922, the first year of the survey, delinquency among Jewish minors fell to a low of 14.6 per cent last year, the statistics showed. While the total number of arraignments revealed an increase of 1,392 during the period of the study, Jewish cases were reduced by 437.
Commenting on Dr. Slawson’s figures, Mrs. Sidney C. Borg, chairman of the administrative committee of the Board of Guardians and chairman of the Women’s Division of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies, with which the board is affiliated, said:
“The sharp falling off in delinquency among Jewish youth is an eloquent tribute to the efficacy of our settlement houses, our Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association, our asylums, homes and schools, our camps and resorts, so many of which are included among Federation’s ninety-one affiliated agencies.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
