Statement on the Bobby Franks Case, July 28, 1924 (excerpt)

The_Evening_Sun_Mon__Jul_28__1924_.jpg

"Educates Society" -- Jane Addams

And so I came to the wise woman -- Jane Addams.

"The social significance of this case," she said, "may be its contribution to our understanding of the working [of] such brains as these boys." Equipped with such scientific data, society may prevent the recurrence of another murder.

"The whole case is exceptionally weird, and behind it must lie a background of shadows. The scientific explanation of a case such as this may mean that we will have to revise our attitude toward certain abnormalities. It may seem that we will have to consider certain aspects of life, certain deviations from what is called [normal?], from a scientific and historical point of view rather than from the punitive one."

Cites Strange Fact.

"It is a strange fact," she added, "that society itself is so often educated by its abnormal members; directly through its geniuses and idealists; and then sometimes indirectly by those guilty of crime, who through their very act cause a deeper and profounder understanding of this mystery called life."

Item Relations

Comments

Allowed tags: <p>, <a>, <em>, <strong>, <ul>, <ol>, <li>