The Sexual Psychopath Laws

Author(s): Edwin H. Sutherland

Source: Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1931-1951) , Jan. - Feb., 1950, Vol.
40, No. 5 (Jan. - Feb., 1950), pp. 543-554
Published by: Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

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JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY
JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1950 VOL. 40, No. 5

THE SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH LAWS

Edwin H. Sutherland

The author of this article has been head of the Department of Sociology
Indiana University since 1935. Formerly he was Professor of Sociology in th
University of Chicago, and still earlier in the University of Minnesota. In 19
he was President of the American Sociological Society, and of the Sociologica
Research Association during 1940 to 1941.
Professor Sutherland is well known as the author of "Principles of Criminolog
"Twenty Thousand Homeless Men," "White Collar Crime," and of chapters in
"Recent Social Trends" and of numerous other important studies. He is a member
of the Advisory Editorial Council of this JOURNAL.-EDITOR.

In recent years several states have made an effort to protect

the public from "sexual psychopaths" (" persons with criminal
propensities to the commission of sex offenses") by authorizing
their commitment to mental institutions.- Implicit in these
laws is an ideology which has been made explicit in an extensive
popular literature.2 This ideology contains the following proposi-
tions:
1. Women and children are in great danger in American
society because serious sex crimes are very prevalent and are
increasing more rapidly than any other type of crime. J. Edgar
Hoover wrote, " The most rapidly increasing type of crime
is that perpetrated by degenerate sex offenders. ... (It) is
taking its toll at the rate of a criminal assault every 43
minutes, day and night, in the United States."
2. Practically all of these serious sex crimes are committed
by "degenerates," "sex fiends," or "sexual psychopaths."
Wittels wrote, "Most of the so-called sex killers are psycho-
pathic personalities. .... No one knows or can even closely
estimate how many such creatures there are, but at least
tens of thousands of them are loose in the country today."
* Acknowledgment is made to the following persons for information as to the
origin and operation of sexual psychopath laws: Richard L. Jenkins, Donald R. Taft,
Paul W. Tappan, Walter J. Urben, and George B. Vold.
1 Among these states are the following: California (Welfare and Inst. Code,
??5500-5516, 1939); Illinois (Rev. Stats. ch. 38, ??820-825, 1938); Massachusetts
(Laws ann., ch. 123A, ??1-6, 1947); Michigan (Stats. ann., ch. 25, ?28.967, 1939);
Minnesota (Stats., ??52609-52611, 1945).
In 1948 the Federal Congress passed a sexual psychopath statute for the District
of Columbia. Act of June 9, 1948, H.R. 6071, 1 U.S. Code. Cong. Serv. (80th cong.,
2nd sess.) 361.
2 J. Edgar Hoover, "How Safe Is Your Daughter?" Amer. Mag., 144: 32-33, July,
1947. David G. Wittels, "What Can We Do About Sex Crimes?" Sat. Eve. Post,
221:30 ff., December 11, 1948. C. J. Dutton, "Can We End Sex Crimes?" Christ.
Cent., 54: 1594-1595, December 22, 1937. F. C. Waldrup, "Murder as a Sex Prac-
tice," Amer. Mercury, 66: 144-158, February, 1948. Charles Harris, "A New
Report on Sex Crimes," Coronet, 22:3-9, October, 1947.
543

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 544 EDWIN H. SUTHE BLAND [Vol. 40

3. These sexual psychopaths c

sex crimes throughout life beca
their sexual impulses; they have
responsible for their behavior.
4. A sexual psychopath can be id
of precision even before he has c
5. A society which punishes sex
penalties, and then releases the
and children is failing in its du
6. Laws should be enacted to segregate such persons,
preferably before but at least after their sex crimes, and to
keep them confined as irresponsible patients until their
malady has been completely and permanently cured.
7. Since sexual psychopathy is a mental malady, the pro-
fessional advice as to the diagnosis, the treatment, and the
release of patients as cured should come exclusively from
psychiatrists.
All of these propositions, which are implicit in the laws and
explicit in the popular literature, are either false or question-
able. Some of the errors in these propositions will be indicated.
How Great Is the Danger?
Sex crimes are generally divided for statistical purposes into
three categories, namely, prostitution, rape, and other sex
offenses. In the discussions of the present problem, prostitution
is disregarded and only rape and other sex crimes are con-
sidered. Other sex crimes include indecencies with children
(generally not involving intercourse), sodomy and other perve
sions, indecent exposure or exhibitionism, and incest.3 T
cases of rape, which are estimated to number about 18,000
year in the United States, are customarily used as an indicat
of the extent of the danger to women and children. This id
needs to be examined.
Rapes are divided into two categories, namely, forcible and
statutory. The latter is sexual intercourse regardless of force
with a female below the age of consent; the age of consent is now
generally sixteen or eighteen. It is impossible to determine at
present what proportion of all rapes are forcible. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation reports that approximately 50 per
3 Certain psychiatrists regard almost all crimes as sex crimes; even theft, through
its connection with the Oedipus Complex, is regarded as symbolic incest. Others
regard crimes which have any unusually horrible features as sex crimes, as illus-
trated by the English murderer who drank the blood of his victims. None of the
sexual psychopath laws makes explicit reference to this broad conception of sex
crime.

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 1950] SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH 545

cent of all rapes known to

forcible rapes. But only 18
in New York City in the de
Because of these and other
are very unreliable. The Co
for the uniform crime repo
Federal Bureau of Investigat
including rape as one of the
tion was due to the convicti
be less reliable than any ot
hand, females frequently
rather than undergo the sham
charges of forcible rape ar
by some females for purpos
have engaged voluntarily in
ered, in order to protect the
fied again and again that fo
unless the female has been
by drugs or injury; many c
certainly involved nothing m
statutory rape is frequently
in fact a prostitute and taki
the higher the age of consent
statutory rape is a legal tec
to include all cases of stat
assaults by degenerates, for t
sey investigation of the sex b
millions of cases of statutory
state.

Since the statistics of rape are useless as an indication of

the extent of the danger of serious sex crimes, another method
has been used. A tabulation has been made of all cases of
murders of females reported in the New York Times for
years 1930, 1935, and 1940, and of the proportions of th
murders which were reported as involving rape. In th
three years 324 females were reported to have been murde
of which 110 were in New York City, 32 elsewhere in New Yo
State, 56 in New Jersey, and 126 in other parts of the Un
States. Only 17 of the 324 murders of females were report
involving rape or suspicion of rape. This is an average
5.7 cases of rape-murder per year in the United States as
reported in this newspaper. Of these 17 cases of rape-murder,
two were reported in 1930, eleven in 1935, and four in 1940.
Only 39 of the total were murders of children, and of these

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 546 EDWIN H. SUTHERLAND [Vol. 40

twelve were reported as rape-murders-two in 1930, six in

1935, and four in 1940.
Of the 324 murders of females, 102 were reported to have
been committed by husbands of the victims, 37 by fathers or
other close relatives, and 49 by lovers or suitors. Thus nearly
60 per cent of the murders of females were committed by rela-
tives or other intimate associates. Only 10 per cent were com-
mitted in connection with other crimes and all the rape-murders
reported were in that group. The danger of murder by a rela-
tive or other intimate associate is very much greater than the
danger of murder by an unknown sex fiend. In fact, in one of the
three years as many females were reported to have been mur-
dered by policemen-two cases, both involving drunkenness of
the policemen-as by the so-called sex fiends. Also, 25 per cent
of the persons who murdered females committed suicide.
While these newspaper reports are certainly not a complete
record of all rape-murders, they probably include a larger
proportion of such crimes than of other murders. The number
of rape-murders per year is certainly greater than 5.7, but it
is doubtful whether it is greater than 100 and it may be no
more than 25. This is certainly a far cry from Wittels'
estimate that tens of thousands of sex killers are abroad in
the nation.4
"Other sex offenses" are generally misdemeanors. Exhibi-
tionism and homosexuality are the most prevalent of these.
Hundreds of homosexuals can be found in any large city. Few
of them are arrested because their perversions are generally
limited to their own kind and constitute little danger to the rest
of society. Many of these perverts have good standing in
society. Nearly four thousand homosexuals were discharged
from the armed forces; they exceeded the average in intelli-
gence and education, and were generally "law-abiding and hard
working."5 The Kinsey investigation indicated that more than
fifty per cent of the males studied, who had arrived at middle
age, had had some homosexual experience in their lifetimes.

Are the Serious Sex Crimes Committed by Degenerates.

The popular literature identifies sex crimes and degeneracy.
Wittels writes regarding sexual psychopaths, "Such creatures,
4 Harris reported that Los Angeles had 24 "4sex murders " in 1946. The Depart-
ment of Police of Los Angeles reports that 17 of these were lovers' quarrels and
only five were rape-murders. Letter from Thad F. Brown, Deputy Chief Commander,
Detective Bureau, October 27, 1949.
5 "Homosexuals in Uniform," Newsweek, 29:54, June 9, 1947. See, also, George
W. Henry, "Psychogenic Factors in Overt Homosexuality," Amer. Jour. Psychiat.,
93: 889-903, January, 1937.

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1950] SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH 547

neither sane nor insane, are

And Hoover uses the word "d
who commit the 18,000 rape
that at least half of these ra
fourths are statutory rape, a
tory rape occur which are no
tification of sex crimes with
absurd. The reasoning is not based on factual evidence but
on the circular and fallacious argument that only degenerates
can commit serious sex crimes and therefore persons who com-
mit serious sex crimes are degenerates. Further evidence on
this point will appear in subsequent paragraphs.

How Persistent Are Sex Off0enders?

The sexual psychopath laws are based on a belief that persons
who commit serious sex crimes have no control over their sexual
impulses and will repeat their crimes again and again regard-
less of punishment or other experiences. A few cases of this kind,
to be sure, are reported. The question is whether sex offenders
differ from other offenders in their rate of recidivism. Three
types of evidence indicate that sex offenders have a low rate
of recidivism compared with other offenders.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports on twenty-five
types of crimes as to the proportion of persons arrested in a
year who had previous criminal records. The drug addicts have
the largest proportion of previous convictions and stand first in
recidivism in the list of twenty-five types of crimes; larceny is
second, vagrancy third, drunkenness fourth, and burglary fifth.
Rape, on the other hand, is nineteenth-almost at the bottom of
the list and "other sex offenses" ties for seventeenth rank."
Moreover, the previous criminal records in the rankings above
include all types of former crimes. If the previous record is
restricted to sex crimes we find, for instance, that of 1447 males
arrested in 1937 for rape only 5.3 per cent had previous con-
victions of rape. This is a much lower rate of recividism in the
same type of crime than the average for all other crimes.
The New York City Committee for the Study of Sex Offenses
concluded from its study that sex offenders tend to be first
offenders as compared with those who commit other crimes. In
a study of all sex offenders in New York City in the decade
1930-1939 this Committee found only six recidivists who had
been convicted twice of sex felonies and none more than twice.

6 These ranks differ slightly from year to year. The ranks reported above are for
the year 1937, which was a typical pre-war year; they refer to the male sex only.

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548 EDWIN H. SUTHERLAND [Vol. 40

It found that of 555 persons con

only 31 or 5.5 per cent, were co
felonies or misdemeanors, durin
were convicted three times each, f
once.7 The sex offenders with the
generally been the exhibitionists
mit violent sex crimes.
The third type of evidence as to the rate of recidivism of sex
offenders is provided in a special study of juvenile delinquents
before the juvenile court of New York City. Of 108 boys
accused of sex offenses only, three had subsequent appearances
for delinquencies and none of these delinquencies was a sex
offense; of 148 boys with miscellaneous offenses (including sex
offenses combined with other offenses) 109 had subsequent crim-
inal records.8

These three types of evidence demonstrate that if special-

ized procedures based on recidivism are to be provided, the sex
offenders should be almost the last group for consideration. The
rebuttal may be made to the preceding argument that even if the
number of serious sex crimes is small and is not increasing and
even if those who commit serious sex crimes are seldom recidi-
vists, yet some sex offenders do persist in sex crimes and these,
who are called sexual psychopaths, constitute a serious danger
to women and children. This raises the fundamental question
of the definition and identification of the sexual psychopath.

Who Is a Sexual Psychopath?

The laws which have been enacted regarding sexual psycho-
paths generally contain two elements in their definitions of
sexual psychopaths. The first of these is an overt act9 and the
second is a particular state of mind. The mental state is vari-
ously defined. The law of the District of Columbia defines it a
"lack of power to control his sexual impulses." The laws of
Minnesota and Wisconsin define it as "emotional instability or
impulsiveness of behavior, or lack of customary standards of
good judgment, or failure to appreciate the consequences of hi
acts, or a combination of such conditions."
The relation of the overt act to the mental state is defined
in the several laws in two different ways. In the first definition
the mental state is to be determined from the overt sex crimes.

7 New York, Report of Mayor's Committee for the Study of Sex Offenses, pp.
92-95.
8 L. J. Doshay, The Boy Sex Offender, New York, 1943, Chs. 9-12.
9 In some laws "Ipropensity to sex crimes" is substituted for the overt act.

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 1950] SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH 549

The law of Massachusetts de

persons who by an habitual c
ters have evidenced an utte
sexual impulses." And the law
"The term 'sexual psychopat
by a course of repeated mis
denced such lack of power
to be dangerous to other pe
plicitly that anyone who co
is a sexual psychopath; a fin
dence needed for diagnosing
the services of psychiatrists
This identification of an habitual sex offender as a sexual
psychopath has no more justification than the identification
any other habitual offender as a psychopath, such as one w
repeatedly steals, violates the antitrust law, or lies about h
golf score. The psychiatrists would almost unanimously obje
to this definition. They do, however, often accept an equal
mechanical definition which is not stated in the laws. This is the
proposition that the human being has a normal course of devel-
opment in sexual behavior, with the following stages appearing
successively from infancy onward: polymorphous perverse,
narcissistic, homosexual, and heterosexual. According to this
proposition a person's sexual behavior, without reference to
anything else, will reveal his general stage of development of
personality, and his personality can be diagnosed from his
sexual behavior. Homosexuality, for instance, is regarded as
evidence of the arrest of personal development in the pre-
adolescent period and exhibitionism as regression to infancy
and both are regarded as pathologies of personality.10 The
absurdity of this theory should be evident to anyone who has
an acquaintance with the variations in sexual behavior and
sexual codes throughout the history of mankind; practically all
of the present sex crimes have been approved behavior for
adults in some society or other. Similarly within our society
deviant cultures with reference to sex behavior prevail in sub-
groups. The manner in which juveniles are inducted into the
cultures of these sub-groups in the toilets of schools, play-
grounds, and dormitories, as well as in other places, has been
shown in many research reports on juvenile sex behavior.1"
10 This idea is stated with few qualification by Beatrice Pollens, The Sexual
Criminal, New York, 1938, Ch. 3.
11 Esther Richards, "Dispensary Contacts with Delinquent Trends in Children:
Twenty-nine Cases of Abnormal Sex Trends in Children," Mental Hygiene, 9: 314-
339, April, 1925. Raymond W. Waggoner and D. A. Boyd, "Juvenile Aberrant
Behavior," Amer. Jour. Orthopsych., 11: 275-291, April, 1941.

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550 EDWIN H. SUTHERLAND [Vol. 40

The second definition of the relation of the overt act to the

mental state makes these two elements coordinate. According
to this conception the sexual psychopath is a person whose
misconduct consists wholly or partially of violations of the
sex code but whose personality can be diagnosed as psycho-
pathic independently of his sexual behavior. However, the
Minnesota statute, which makes these two elements coordinate,
has been upheld in the Supreme Court on the argument that
the psychopathic state is to be revealed by the overt sexual
behavior.'2 This interpretation of the law makes the second
definition identical with the first and the law becomes merely
an habitual sex offenders act.
Wittels makes the unqualified statement, "Psychopathic pe
sonality can easily be detected early in life by any psychia
trist."13 Any person at all familiar with psychiatric literatu
knows that scores of psychiatrists have deplored the use of thi
concept because of its lack of definite criteria. The vaguen
of the term is indicated by the fact that under the administra
tion of one psychiatrist 98 per cent of the inmates admitt
to the state prison of Illinois were diagnosed as psychopath
personalities, while in similar institutions with other psych
trists not more than five per cent were so diagnosed. Of t
sex offenders diagnosed by the Psychiatric Clinic of the Cou
of General Sessions in New York City, 15.8 per cent were
reported to be psychopathic, while of sex offenders diagnosed
by psychiatrists in Bellevue Hospital in New York City 52.9
per cent were diagnosed as psychopathic.'4
The most careful investigations of the concept of the psycho-
path have been made by Cason. He found 202 terms which
have been used as more or less synonymous with the term
"psychopath."15 lHe condensed these into 54 traits which are
generally held to characterize the psychopath. From 101 psycho-
pathic inmates of the Psychopathic Unit in the Federal Medical
Unit at Springfield, Missouri, he selected two groups-the 23
least psychopathic and the 29 most psychopathic-on the
basis of the number of their behaviors which are characterized
as psychopathic. He found that 46 of the 54 traits had no
12 Staite ex rel Pearson v. Prob,afe Coturt of Ramsay County et al., 205 Minn. 545,
287 N.W. 297 (1939), 309 US 270 (1940).
13 The terms "psychopath," "psychopathic personality," and "constitutional
psychopathic inferior" are used somewhat interchangeably, although the last men-
tioned is being abandoned because of its connotation regarding the constitution.
14 Jack Frosch and Walter Bromberg, "IThe Sex Offender-A Psychiatric Study,"
Amer. Jour. Orthopsych., 9: 761-776, October, 1939. B. Apfelberg, C. Sugar, and
A. Z. Pfeffer, "A Psychiatric Study of 250 Sex Offenders," Amer. Jour. Psychiat.,
100: 762-770, May, 1944.
15 Hulsey Cason, "The Psychopath and the Psychopathic," Jour. Crim. Psycho-
path., 4: 522-527, January, 1943.

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 1950] SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH 551

statistical significance in di
from the least psychopathi
six were just barely signif
two traits-intolerance and
are generally regarded as c
not as useful in differenti
the least psychopathic as w
born in the Eastern states,
violated the Dyer Act again
concluded that the saint is
at the other, and that a pe
path "if he has a reasonabl
a fairly pronounced form."1
path and the sinner.
Also, Cason and Pescor ana
in the Medical Center who
and compared them with t
They found that the psych
concentrated in the age gro
prisoners and with the civ
significant, for it indicates e
pathic after they pass the ag
persons cease to commit fe
of those prisoners who had been discharged an average of
19.2 months had no subsequent criminal record with the Federal
Bureau of Investigation; of those who had some supervision
after release 71 per cent had no subsequent criminal records.
Also, 39 per cent of the psychopaths were reported as obedient
and well-behaved as children, and an additional 22 per cent
as obedient but inclined to get into mischief or trouble.17
The conclusion from this analysis of the concept of the sexual
psychopath is that it is too vague for judicial or administrative
use either as to commitment to institutions or as to release as
"completely and permanently cured." According to the laws of
most of the states the court must rely on two psychiatrists
for decisions as to sexual psychopathy. The psychiatrists have
no diagnostic instruments or criteria by which to arrive at
demonstrable conclusions on this question; they are expected
to make expert judgments on questions on which neither they
16 Hulsey Cason, "The Symptoms of the Psychopath," Public Health Reports, 61:
1833-1853, December 20, 1946. See also, "The Characteristics of the Psychopath,"
Amer. Jour. Psychiat., 100: 762-770, May, 1944.
17 Hulsey Cason and M. J. Pescor, "A Statistical Study of 500 Psychopathic
Prisoners," Public Health Reports, 61: 557-574, April 19, 1946. See, also, by the
same authors, "A Comparative Study of Recidivists and Non-Recidivists among
Psychopathic Federal Offenders," Jour. Crim. Law and Criminol., 37: 236-238,
September, 1946.

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 552 EDWIN H. SUTHERLAND [Vol. 40

nor others are qualified to speak as experts. The criterion

of "irresistible impulse" which is implicit in the laws cannot
be applied in practice."8
The inadequacy of the concept of sexual psychopath has
been recognized by leading psychiatrists and others. Dr. Winfred
Overholser, superintendent of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, stated,
"Before the law can be expected to recognize this group (sexual
psychopaths) as calling for specialized treatment, it will be
necessary for psychiatrists to come to a better agreement on
the deliminitations of the group.""' Similarly, Dr. A. Warren
Stearns, a psychiatrist who was at one time director of the
Massachusetts Department of Correction, stated regarding
sexual crimes, "The definition of these crimes and the classifica-
tion of the persons who commit them present very serious admin-
istrative problems. For the present it is perhaps wiser to
administer existing laws carefully.''20 The British Joint Com-
mission on Sex Offenses stated "Owing to the difficulties of
legal and medical definition, it is not practicable to press effec-
tively at this stage for special provisions for the detention and
treatment, as such, of convicted persons suspected of abnormal
mentality who are not certifiable either as insane or as mentally
defective.''21
The lack of precision in the concept of the sexual psychopath
is especially dangerous in view of the emotions which are
aroused by sexual crimes. In the hysteria which results many
crimes are committed in the name of justice. The hysteria
is illustrated by the fact that during a so-called wave of sex
murders in California nearly a dozen men confessed to one
sex murder which had been committed by one and only one
man. The crimes committed in the name of justice are illus-
trated by the case of James Montgomery. He was convicted
of rape in 1924 and held in the state prison of Illinois until
1949, when the decision against him was reversed on the
ground that the evidence in the medical report that no rape
had been committed was suppressed in the original trial.22 The
dangers of this law, moreover, threaten every person. It is
not necessary in many states that a person be convicted of a
sexual crime; it is sufficient to diagnose his personality. Also,
in many states the states attorney or any other person may
18 Jess Spirer, "The Psychology of Irresistible Impulse," Jour. Crim. Law and
Criminol., 33: 457-462, March, 1943.
19"Legal and Administrative Aspects," Mental Hygiene, 22: 20-24, January,
1938.
20 " Sexual Crime," Jour. Maine Med. Assoc., 37: 249 ff., October, 1946.
21 Quoted by I. S. Wile, "Society and the Sex Offender," Survey Graphic, 26:
569-572, November, 1937.
22 Time, August 22, 1949, pp. 14-15.

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1950] SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH 553

ask for an investigation as t

person. According to the law
person who has been investig
psychopath may not bring su
who initiated the investigat
he has suffered.23 Furtherm
sexual psychopath may be co
hospital and may also be pun
ment in a state prison.
Although these sexual psy
principle, they are of little
never used in some states and
16 persons were confined un
ten years after its enactment
Minnesota law decreased from
its enactment to about 10 pe
period; moreover, most of th
charged with homosexualit
months.25 During the firs
law of 1939, 99 persons were
and of these 29 were relea
by the end of that period.
Several reasons have been s
these laws. One is that the
panic and were forgotten afte
action. A second reason is tha
the care and custody of sexu
are already crowded with ps
is that the prosecutor and ju
vigorous and aggressive defe
the most severe penalty av
upon serious sex criminals
psychopath laws only when t
viction under the criminal
reported that defense attor
stop the proceedings under
to refuse to talk to the psy
make no diagnosis if those w
to talk. Threats of contempt
cases and the law of the Distri
that refusal to talk to the p
23 Wis. Stats. (1947) ch. 51.37(7).
24 Newton Minow, "IThe Illinois Propo
Jour. Crim. Law and Criminol., 40: 186
25 Minnesota, Annual Reports of Bure

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554 EDWIN I. SUTHERLAND [Vol. 40

Aside from the fact that a person can

for contempt of court rather than b
minate period as a sexual psychopat
made under threat of punishment ca
medical point of view.
In view of the slight use which has
their effect on sex crimes should not
able. The reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
show that in the four states which enacted sexual psychopath
laws in 1938-1939-California, Illinois, Michigan, and Minne-
sota-the trend in rape rates was the same after the enactment
of the laws as it was in adjoining states which had not enacted
such laws. These statistics have little significance in view of
the slight relation between rape and the crimes for which
persons may be confined under the sexual psychopath laws,
but no other evidence of the effects of these laws is available.
Certain psychiatrists have stated that they are interested
in the sexual psychopath laws principally as a precedent;
they believe that all or practically all criminals are psycho-
pathic, that all should be treated as patients, and that psychia-
trists should have a monopoly on professional advice to the
courts. These laws are dangerous precisely from this point
of view; they could be passed over in silence otherwise, as a
product of hysteria. The question is whether psychiatrists have
a monopoly of knowledge of human personality and human
behavior which warrants their nomination as "the experts"
in the field of diagnosis and treatment of criminals.
Other disciplines, such as psychology, social work, and soci-
ology, have as much training as does psychiatry, and have
points of view, hypotheses, and techniques which should be
used, together with psychiatry, in the diagnosis and treatment
of sex offenders and other offenders. At many points the
theories of one of these disciplines are in conflict with the
theories of the other disciplines and one has as much scientific
validity as the other. Moreover, the question of importance is
not whether an offender has a low I. Q. or unstable emotions,
but how this trait is related to the violation of the law and to
a process of rehabilitation. There is no more reason for turn-
ing over to the psychiatrist the complete supervision of a
criminal who is found to be psychopathic than for turning over
to the dentist the complete supervision of a criminal who is
found to have dental cavities. If the official agencies of the state
are to use professional advice, the advisors should represent
all the branches of knowledge and should be on an equal footing.

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