the strength for his battle with life; or had a
new environment been provided under scientific direction as in the case
of a hospital patient, society would then take another view and do all
it could to help him. New comrades and associates would surround him to
show him the way, and they would make his burden lighter. Instead of
this, he comes out with his ability to adjust himself to life lessened.
If a crime is committed in his community he is blamed or at least
suspected. He is known to the police and often "rounded-up." This
directly interferes with his employment, places him at a disadvantage
with his associates, and drives him into the company of others who feel
that the world is against them and that a life of crime is all there is
left to follow. It is not hard to see how men come to be "repeaters." It
is hard to understand when they do not.

XXXII

ISOLATION AND STERILIZATION

The growing belief that crime comes largely from the subnormal has
created a more or less definite demand for the isolation of the moron
before the commission of crime and for the sterilization of certain
misfits, especially after conviction. Both of these methods are very
drastic, and while society must and will adopt any way that seems to be
necessary to protect itself, still before accepting such drastic
remedies it should be very clear that the danger is sufficiently great
to justify the means, that the desired result will follow and that no
other means will bring about the end.

In this discussion it should be remembered that the mental
classification of children and grown-ups is only in its infancy, that
much that is freely stated is still in the realm of theory, and that
time and patience in making investigations and classifying facts are
most important in arriving at correct results.

The really intelligent are as abnormal as the defective. The great
masses of men are rather mediocre, and those above and below are
exceptions. This depends on how broad is the class included in the
normal. There are no sharp divisions anywhere; above, the normal shades
imperceptibly into those of unusual intelligence, and below it fades
just as gradually into the sub-normal. While defectives are more apt to
commit crimes, in the main this is because their environment is too hard
for their machine.

The sub-normal are probably more tractable and less disposed to the
emotions that lead to criminal acts than are the more intelligent. Th