Institute for Juvenile Research

Last updated

The Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR) is a research, demonstration and training center housed in the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago. The institute has more than 40 faculty members and 65 professional staff members. IJR programs address pressing issues such as HIV risk, access to effective school services, the epidemiology of drug abuse, services for families in the child welfare system and the training of child mental health providers. The institute also offers child psychiatry clinical services and training programs in child and adolescent psychiatry, psychology and social work.

Contents

History

Before and after the Great Chicago Fire

Before 1871, the year of the Great Chicago Fire, Chicago's population was 300,000 people. Twenty years after the Great Chicago Fire in 1891, Chicago’s population was a little over a million people. By the 1910s Chicago's population had risen to over two million, and by the mid-1920s the population was three million. This growth was driven by European immigration resulting in over 70% of Chicago’s population being either foreign-born or first-generation immigrant. [1] Because times were hard, parents were working overtime to scrape out a living, and children, who had to work to contribute to the family’s livelihood, were “ill-fed, ill-housed, ill-clothed, illiterate, and wholly untrained and unfitted for any occupation." [2] The results were that many families were being disrupted by poverty and unfamiliar community circumstances as result of immigration, were not able to properly care for their children. The reality that the new European immigrants were not doing well was also found in the extraordinarily high rates of European immigrant’s domestic violence in Chicago from 1875 to 1920. . [3] Accordingly, in 1889, Nobel Prize–winning social worker, Jane Addams (1860–1935) founded Hull House on Chicago’s Near West Side as a social settlement house “to aid in the solution of the social and industrial problems which are engendered by the modern conditions of life in a great city.” She observed “Children over ten years of age were arrested, held in the police stations, tried in the police courts. If convicted they were usually fined and if the fine was not paid sent to the city prison. However, often they were let off because justices could neither tolerate sending children to Bridewell nor bear in themselves guilty of the harsh folly of compelling poverty-stricken parents to pay fines. No exchange of court records existed and the same children could be in and out of various police stations an indefinite number of times, more hardened and more skillful with each experience.” [4] In an effort to distinguish between criminality and juvenile delinquency, in 1899, Jane Addams and her female colleagues helped to start the world's first Juvenile Court in Chicago, Illinois, [1] the Juvenile Protective Association.

1909 - Establishment of the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute

Ten years later, in 1909, these foresighted women established the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute (JPI) in Chicago, the world's first child guidance clinic, and Mrs. Ethel Dummer provided funding for five years. [1] Neurologist William Healy, M.D., its first director, is charged with not only studying the delinquent’s biological aspects of brain functioning and IQ, but also the delinquent’s social factors, attitudes, and motivations, thus it was the birthplace of American child and adolescent psychiatry. [5] These studies determined that there was no relationship between biological heredity and criminality.

1917 - The State of Illinois takes over funding of the JPI

In 1917, these women convinced the State of Illinois to take over the funding for the Institute (JPI, and in 1920, Illinois createds the Department of Public Welfare and changed the name of JPI to the Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR). [1] IJR's goal was to develop an understanding of the causes of behavioral disturbances in youth by doing research and providing service to delinquent youth while also developing prevention strategies to prevent delinquency. IJR researchers Shaw and McKay [9] noted delinquency was less due to biological, ethnic, or cultural factors and more due to social disruption eroding formal and informal social control in specific transitional neighborhoods ("delinquency areas") in a city. In an effort to prevent delinquency the Chicago Area Project was born, designed to create social fabric in "delinquency areas."

Directors

Notable directors of IJR were Drs. Franz Alexander known for his work on Psychosomatic Medicine, short-term psychotherapy, and the corrective emotional experience Julius B. Richmond, M.D. a pediatrician who would later develop Head Start and served as Surgeon General of the United States under President Jimmy Carter, and Dr. Carl Bell (physician) who worked with President William Clinton cabinet members Janet Reno, Donna Shalala and David Satcher on issues of the violence against women act and youth violence. [1]

Multidisciplinary approach

During its early years, the institute was one of the first organizations to integrate the fields of medicine, psychiatry, psychology and social work into the study of child development, an approach that continues to this day. “Primary emphasis,” noted pioneering IJR sociologist Clifford Shaw, “must be placed upon the task of revitalizing the life of the whole community so that the welfare of every child becomes the conscious and deliberate concern of all the citizens.”

Innovations

IJR psychologist, Marion Monroe who investigated the relations of reading difficulties and delinquency was credited with developing methods for early childhood reading programs, which led to the Dick and Jane readers. [1] In addition, Chester Darrow, Ph.D., set up IJR's psychophysiology laboratory, where he worked from 1926 to 1967, publishing over 150 scientific papers. [1] He developed dozens of machines that measured the relationship of behavior to physiologic changes in the body, and, from these innovations, came early modifications of the Polygraphy machine (also known as the lie detector). [1] Dr. Darrow's efforts also led to the development of the electroencephalograms, EEG, that records the deep electrical functioning of the brain. [1]

1990 - IJR becomes a part of the University of Illinois

In 1990, under the guidance of Dr. Boris Astracan, the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry during that period, the Institute for Juvenile Research became a part of the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago. [1]

Related Research Articles

Jane Addams American activist, sociologist and writer

Jane Addams was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage in the United States and advocated for world peace. She co-founded Chicago's Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses. In 1910, Addams was awarded an honorary master of arts degree from Yale University, becoming the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the school. In 1920, she was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Hull House 19th and 20th-century settlement house in the United States

Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of the city, Hull House opened to serve recently arrived European immigrants. By 1911, Hull House had expanded to 13 buildings. In 1912 the Hull House complex was completed with the addition of a summer camp, the Bowen Country Club. With its innovative social, educational, and artistic programs, Hull House became the standard bearer for the movement that had grown nationally, by 1920, to almost 500 settlement houses.

Juvenile delinquency Illegal behavior by minors

Juvenile delinquency, also known as "juvenile offending", is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. For example, in the United States of America a juvenile delinquent is a person who is typically below 18 years of age and commits an act that otherwise would have been charged as a crime if they were an adult. Juvenile crimes can range from status offenses, to property crimes and violent crimes.

Edith Abbott American economist

Edith Abbott was an American economist, statistician, social worker, educator, and author. Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. Abbott was a pioneer in the profession of social work with an educational background in economics. She was a leading activist in social reform with the ideals that humanitarianism needed to be embedded in education. Abbott was also in charge of implementing social work studies to the graduate level. Though she was met with resistance on her work with social reform at the University of Chicago, she ultimately was successful and was elected as the school's dean in 1924, making her the first female dean in the United States. Abbott was foremost an educator and saw her work as a combination of legal studies and humanitarian work which shows in her social security legislation. She is known as an economist who pursued implementing social work at the graduate level. Her younger sister was Grace Abbott.

Social work will never become a profession—except through the professional schools

Julia Lathrop

Julia Clifford Lathrop was an American social reformer in the area of education, social policy, and children's welfare. As director of the United States Children's Bureau from 1912 to 1922, she was the first woman ever to head a United States federal bureau.

Sophonisba Breckinridge American lawyer, social reformer, social scientist and civil rights activist (1866-1948)

Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge was an American activist, Progressive Era social reformer, social scientist and innovator in higher education. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in political science and economics then the J.D. at the University of Chicago, and she was the first woman to pass the Kentucky bar. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent her as a delegate to the 7th Pan-American Conference in Uruguay, making her the first woman to represent the U.S. government at an international conference. She led the process of creating the academic professional discipline and degree for social work.

American juvenile justice system

The American juvenile justice system is the primary system used to handle minors who are convicted of criminal offenses. The system is composed of a federal and many separate state, territorial, and local jurisdictions, with states and the federal government sharing sovereign police power under the common authority of the United States Constitution. The juvenile justice system intervenes in delinquent behavior through police, court, and correctional involvement, with the goal of rehabilitation. Youth and their guardians can face a variety of consequences including probation, community service, youth court, youth incarceration and alternative schooling. The juvenile justice system, similar to the adult system, operates from a belief that intervening early in delinquent behavior will deter adolescents from engaging in criminal behavior as adults.

The child-saving movement emerged in the United States during the nineteenth century and influenced the development of the juvenile justice system. Child savers stressed the value of redemption and prevention through early identification of deviance and intervention in the form of education and training.

Chicago Area Project is a Juvenile delinquency prevention association based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The association has been acting since early 20th century. The project was founded by Clifford R. Shaw. As of 2009, its current Executive Director is David E. Whittaker.

Child and adolescent psychiatry is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial factors that influence the development and course of psychiatric disorders and treatment responses to various interventions. Child and adolescent psychiatrists primarily use psychotherapy and/or medication to treat mental disorders in the pediatric population.

Juvenile Protective Association

Juvenile Protective Association (JPA) is a private non-profit agency devoted to protecting children from abuse and neglect by providing intervention and treatment services to families in Chicago.

This page is primarily concerned with juvenile delinquency in the United States. For information on juvenile delinquency in general, see juvenile delinquency. In addition, although the term juvenile delinquency often refers to juvenile as both the victims and the aggressors, this page only refers to juveniles as the actual delinquents. The information and statistics for juveniles as victims rather than offenders is much different. For information about juveniles as the victims of violent attacks, see trafficking of children, child abuse, child sexual abuse, or prostitution of children.

Richard Leos Jenkins was an American psychiatrist known for his work in child psychiatry and juvenile delinquency.

Mary Bartelme

Mary Margaret Bartelme was a pioneering American judge and lawyer, particularly in the area of juvenile justice. She was the first woman appointed Cook County Public Guardian in Illinois in 1897, and the first woman elected judge in a court of high jurisdiction in the state in 1923. Earlier, appointed a judge assistant in 1913, she began hearing court cases involving juveniles and was referred to at that time as, "America's only woman judge", by The New York Times.

Lee Robins

Lee Nelken Robins was an American professor of social science in psychiatry and a leader in psychiatric epidemiology research. She was affiliated with the Washington University in St. Louis for more than 50 years from 1954 until 2007.

Daniel Offer

Daniel Offer was a psychiatrist and scholar who challenged prevailing beliefs that adolescence is inherently a time of storm and stress. His Offer Longitudinal Study was one of the first studies of typical youth over time and demonstrated that most pass through adolescence adequately happy and connected to families and others. This contribution shifted fundamentally how adolescent development was understood scientifically and provoked recognition that theory from patient populations was inadequate. He is also remembered for his scholarship on normality, the viability of memory, the Offer Self Image Questionnaire and for fostering the field of adolescent developmental studies.

Jeanne Marybeth Spurlock was an American psychiatrist, professor and author. She served as the deputy medical director of the American Psychiatric Association for seventeen years. She chaired the Department of Psychiatry at Meharry Medical College starting in 1968, and she taught at George Washington University and Howard University. She also operated her own private psychiatry practice, and she published several works.

Child Guidance was both an evolving 20th-century social construct, sometimes called the Child Guidance Movement, and an influential network of multidisciplinary clinics set up to address the problems of childhood and adolescence. It began in the United States and after World War I spread rapidly to Europe, especially to England, though not to Scotland. It was the first child-centred institutional response to meet perceived child and youth behavioural and mental disorders. It therefore predated the advent of child psychiatry as a medical specialism and of distinct child psychiatric departments as part of modern hospital settings.

George J. Mohr

George Joseph Mohr was an American psychologist and psychoanalyst, specializing in pediatric psychiatry.

Donald Ernest Faulkner was a British colonial officer who the first Social Welfare Officer in a British colony in Africa. He was active in penal reforms for juvenile offenders and his office was involved in administering new legislation dealing with juvenile delinquency.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Beuttler, Fred and Bell, Carl (2010). For the Welfare of Every Child – A Brief History of the Institute for Juvenile Research, 1909 – 2010. University of Illinois: Chicago
  2. Kelley, Florence and Stevens, Alzina P. (1895). Wage-Earning Children. In Jane Addams, Hull House Maps and Papers. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., pp. 49-76
  3. Addler, Jeffery S. (2003) "We’ve got a right to fight: We’re married”: Domestic homicide in Chicago, 1975 – 1920. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 34 (1): 27 – 48
  4. Addams, Jane. (2004). My Friend, Julia Lathrop. University of Illinois Press: Champlain, IL, p. 133
  5. Schowalter, John E. (2000). Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Comes of Age, 1944-1994. In Menninger RW and Nemiah JC (Eds). American Psychiatry After World War II – 1944 – 1994. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press, p. 461 – 480