376 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE is progressive self-immolation. This is the most pretentious metaphysics that suicide has ever had.
One of the most common psychological motives to suicide among young children is to punish others who will be grieved at their death. Anger in bodies too puny to inflict physical harm upon those who have injured or insulted them can thus wound and punish those who love more acutely than in any other way. In many cases a scolding, a slight punishment, an affront to the sense of honor or self-feeling, which may be hypersensitive and act from causes purely imaginary, may be the only provocative. A youth flies to suicide as a mode of re- venge where resentment is strong and intellectual realization of what life and death mean is inadequate. These young suicides now think, say, or perhaps write, that a friend or relative who has done him harm will be sorry for it, and life is sacrificed be- cause revenge seems in the passionate state sweeter yet. This motivation is both more common and persists later in life with the female than with the male sex.
The next cause of juvenile suicide, more common at ado- lescence than in childhood, is due to disillusion. Early youth is always and necessarily more or less under the influence of great expectations. Life is mainly in the future. Its high achievements and successes are more apparent than the tedious means by which they are attained. The world is ideal, and possibilities are vast. Imagination is never so nearly an in- toxication. All this is greatly increased in a country where the dominant educational ideals and methods require that every boy and girl should be trained so as to be ready to fill the high stations, and where the latter seem so accessible. Never have so many been educated above their sphere or above any destiny which their capacities enabled them to fill. Youth has never been so inebriated with lofty dreams and visions. Schooling has never so incapacitated youth for the humdrum of daily bread-winning work. Civilization at its best stimulates none to such fever of hope as it does youth. Thus when the protected and hyperstimulated stage of schooling is ended and the sterner riealities of life are faced, there is always a critical period. Girls virho return to" plain homes with high school diplomas, youth who must begin at the bottom of the ladder of business along with few who have had their advantages and perhaps where JUVENILE FAULTS, IMMORALITIES, AND CRIMES 377 their precious education is disparaged and seems of little avail, find themselves tempted and their mettle tested. Many feel that they are inadequate to the duties of life; some are more- over worried by an evil conscience; weakened in fact or fancy by dissipation; strained, it may be, by having to pass through the stages of religious readjustment of the creed of childhood; find life tedious, monotonous, and disappointing, and are thus inclined to ennui and even melancholy. In almost all lives this change comes as a critical stage, and to weak natures it seems tragic and may be nursed into a sense of misery and a desire to give up the fight and die. Occasionally there is recourse to stimulants or sometimes life is abandoned to pleasure for the sake of its distraction, and not infrequently there is real heredi- tary or induced insufficiency of health or positive defect which can justify only gloomy forebodings. The mind has been cul- tivated and the will weakened by inaction, so that when every- thing depends upon energy it collapses in despair. As the demands of life become complex and severe with advancing culture and civilization, the need of specialization and drud- gery, this breaking in to the harness of business, profession, and the conventions of society seems unreal or cruel fate, against which the soul rebels. All these conditions are co- piously illustrated in the lives of adolescent suicides, and rare is the earnest soul who has not at this stage at least coquetted with thoughts of self-inflicted death.
One of the ablest professors of philosophy I know told me how in the teens the burden and the mystery of life led him to purchase a pistol, go into the woods, load it, place its cold muzzle against his temple, and then meditate on what would happen if he pulled the trigger, which he never really intended to do. Another friend told me how he had devised a scheme of going to an obscure pond in Germany that he had seen as a boy, and weighting his body and leaping in, after every possible precaution that no clue whatever should be left behind. I have before me the printed, but not yet published, record of a bril- liant youth who hung himself in his closet just before he was nineteen, and left behind an elaborate journal of his states of mind — his thrilling sensitiveness to everything in nature, of which" Ire was passionately fond; his sense of inadequacy to meet the denjands of life; his failure to find what he was born 37^ THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE for; his alternations of dreamy sloth and energy; " the un- utterable loneliness of the universe/' Of thirty-seven seniors in a New England college, ten had toyed with suicide at some previous period of their lives, and all but one seemed to belong to this class.
Later yet comes the love motive in suicide. Love seems more closely associated with thoughts of death in youth than in maturer years. It involves the far-off anticipation of the life of another generation for the sake of which the individual is developed, while the actual culmination is rare. While the thanatic sentiments rarely issue in violence to self, wounded anger that another is preferred, mortification aggravated by suddenness of refusal or bereavement, breeds chagrin in which sometimes the first motive of punishing the loved one appears, but more often the utter wretchedness of loss, the bitter pang of jealousy that another and perhaps hated rival is to possess what he had hoped for, breeds an impulse to escape life be- cause it is full of psychalgia.
Youth very rarely commit what may be called philo- sophic suicides, which may be noble and in every way justifiable if there is no escape from a lingering and painful death for self or others, and where it is certain for both friends and self to bring real relief. Thus, like every other crime, circumstances may justify this and even turn it into a virtue, where refusal is craven cowardice. This Stoic philosophy has been the re- source of many of the greatest souls of the world, but rarely occurs at this stage of life.^ Taking all countries together, the greatest number of sui- cides usually occurs between the ages of forty and fifty. The prevalence of male suicides over those of females is least in youth. In England women who commit suicide between fifteen and twenty exceed by more than one-tenth the men. This is ascribed to the more sudden and energetic development of pu- berty, the youth of man lasting longer than that of woman. In the great cities, the curve of youthful suicides rises to a great height. From twenty-three or twenty-four criminality gradu- ally diminishes, and suicides increase for twenty years.
In France ^ we have the following table: ' Suicide in France, 1889. Rev. Ser., 1893, p. 636.
JUVENILE FAULTS, IMMORALITIES, AND CRIMES 379 Male.
Female.
Under 6 yrs.
suicides, or 5 per cent.
21 suicides, or 10 per cent.
32 27 For twelve years — 1885-'96 — the age of suicides for all Italy foots up as follows: Males.
Females.
Age All ages Age 80 All Ages Proal ^ states that for many years the number of suicides of the young has steadily increased. For instance, in 1880 there were 55 cases under sixteen and 267 under twenty-one years of age, whereas in 1892 these numbers had risen to 87 and 475 respectively. This he assigns to the precocity of contempo- rary youth in love and libertinage. Jealousy, which plays a very important role in youthful love, is also a prominent cause.
Corre ^ computes from three authors the following sad table, showing the age of child suicides: Age.
Moren, i87i-'75.
Bataile, i876-'8o.
Mac^, i88i.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE De Sanctos and B. Vespa have gathered the age statistics of suicides in different countries for the quinquennium 1889 - '93 to show its relation to adolescence, as follows: France Switzerland. Belgium...Holland...Prussia Bavaria Wiirtemberg England Scotland Ireland Sweden Norway Denmark Spain Japan Under..i6 yrs.
44 13 33 12 86 85 5 3 18 4 4 II 13 Leffiingwell ^ shows that in England and Wales for the ten years ending 1887, suicides were most frequent in the quarter July to September, least so in January to March; that for the eight years ending in 1887, May, June, and July led all months in the number of lunatics admitted to the asylums of Scotland, while least were in the winter months. Murders, too, are most frequent in the hottest season and least so in the coolest, with more in the spring than in the fall. The same was true of crimes against person and also of those against chas- tity. He found illegitimacy in the United Kingdom most prevalent where thrift and prosperity were most general, and least where poverty prevailed. It was most common where ele- mentary education was most diffused, and least among illiterate communities. Religion seemed one of the most potent agents against unchastity.
There is one stage of life, and only one, where the rate of suicide among females exceeds that of males, viz., from fifteen to twenty years of age. This is probably due to the evolution of sex life, which \s more trying than the analogous change in boys. From this point on, the excess of male suicides over female increases steadily, with a slight remission from forty- five to fifty-five, during the climacteric. During the second five yearsrof life, suicide has always been rare, but of late seems steadily ihcreasing. At the dawn of puberty it has an increase * Illegitimacy and the Influence of Seasons upon Conduct. London, 1892.
JUVENILE FAULTS, IMMORALITIES, AND CRIMES 3^* more marked than at any other quinquennium, although it generally reaches its maximum at about fifty. Most adults who take their own lives resist the impulse for some time, but with adolescents it is more apt to be sudden and unpremeditated.^ Suicide may be committed for trivial causes, and often by blind and sudden impulse. A girl of fourteen killed herself because reproved; a boy of the same age because he was pun- ished; another because a far older actress did not return his love; a girl of twelve because she quarreled with her friend; one of fourteen killed her playmate to spite the mother of the latter; and another, so as not to be parted from a companion who had just died. Several German children of from thirteen to sixteen have slain themselves after becoming slightly infected with pessimism from disgust of life. Some- times these young persons commit suicide because inspired by imitation to slay themselves in the ways they have read of in the journals, or because they have to go to work regularly, although the mitigation of the apprentice system is thought by some to have lessened this tendency.
In his history of the statistics of child suicide, Baer ^ has shown conclusively that during the last few decades this has increased in Great Britain, Italy, France, and Germany. Al- though still much less for girls under sixteen than for boys, the increase of the former has been greater than with the latter, although youth suicides have not increased as rapidly as those of adults. The effect of puberty, Baer shows to be a very marked increase, and he believes that an increased number of youthful suicides escapes the official statistician because of the strong tendency of parents and friends to assign and even to believe that cases which admit of doubt are due to accident or other causes. Mental disorders, although often the cause of child suicides, are more difficult to detect than with adults, and this is probably true both where the act is planned and where it is sudden and instinctive. Most surely morbid, perhaps, are those cases where the method of suicide is exceptional. Ab- normal degeneration is a frequent cause, constitutional and in- fective diseases, psychopathic weakness of the brain manifesting itself in violent, stormy, obstinate, and peculiar conduct.
1 Suicide and Insanity, by S. A. K. Strahan. London, 1893, chap. ii. " Der Selbstmord im kindlichen Lebensalter. Leipzig, 1901.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE No better statistics of cause can be found than those of Prussia from 1884-98, when 963 children from ten to fifteen committed suicide, as follows: Cause.
Regret, shame, and conscience Vexation and strife Mental disease Passion Satiety of life Bodily suffering Grief Vice Cause unknown Boys.
75 72 23 55 21 19 3 13 3 14 4 II 2 6 3 62 Girls, If we look to the larger environment, the absence of calm, slow, and natural development is especially seen in industrial and city life. In the narrower environment of the home, we find in the lowest classes poverty, mistreatment, hunger, and especially child labor, enforced in the German empire for more than half a million children out of eight and one-third million under fourteen years of age. Next to this comes the precocity favored by the environment of wealthy children and the luxury and superfluity of physical enjoyment, early habituation to the theater, dance, and society, which leaves them indifferent to more innocent pleasures, so that the seeds of religion, philan- thropy, justice, truth, beauty, patience, and good-will to others are not implanted, and selfishness is overgrown.
The school is thought to be largely responsible for child suicides with its overpleasure, anxieties, and strain upon the memory. This is natural because this is the school age. For the five years ending 1888 there were 289 suicides of school children, of whom 49 were girls. Of the 210 in the lower schools, 45 boys and 23 girls committed suicide from fear of punishment. Of the 76 boys in the higher schools, the causes in order were: Fear of examinations and unknown, 15 each.
Wounded honor and insanity, 11 each.
Other school causes and satiety with life, 5 each.
Unhappy love, 4.
While suicide in youth bears a very small proportion to suicide of adults, and while few inferences can be drawn from JUVENILE FAULTS, IMMORALITIES, AND CRIMES 38 J such meager statistics, there is a growing belief that the school's share of responsibility is much less than has been thought. In 1883, seventeen heads of institutions for the insane reported to the Prussian Minister of Education that insanity was no more common among the pupils of the middle schools than among others of their age, and that perhaps mental training was a pro- duction rather than a cause of insanity, while very rarely indeed was the school a cause of suicide. Even if unknown causes be charged up against the school, the absolute number is very small. On the other hand, we know that examinations are a great strain. Dr. Ignatieff ^ found that seventy-nine per cent of pupils lost weight and hence concluded that '* examinations in their effect upon the youthful organism were like a grave disease which resulted in serious disturbances of nutrition and the tissues," especially the brain. Dr. Kosinzoff ^ from more data found that three-fourths of the children lost weight during ex- aminations, and that this was most marked in the higher classes.
Unrequited love already plays its role here, often with ex- treme sentimentality. A typical case is that of a fourteen-year- old girl whose sister seemed more attractive to the boy of her choice than she. A letter was left behind wishing her sister and her lover long-married happiness, bequeathing them her skates and directing that she be buried in a white dress, with hair combed smooth, and her Bible and hymn-book in her hand upon her breast. A girl of twelve decided to freeze to death for love, because Edouard loved a richer girl than she, and wished to be buried where ultimately he would lie.
The power of imitation as a suggestive motive in ado- lescent suicides is often seen; so is vanity which can not be gratified; so is experimentation with nooses and pistols to see how the approach to death feels.
In the literature, child suicide has almost always been de- scribed as something not only pathetic but anomalous and monstrous, because occurring at an age when the love of life is supposed to be strongest. A few writers have recognized the fact that for very young children it may be favored by * Der Einfluss der Examina auf das Korpergewicht. Zeits. f. Schulgesund* heitspflege, 1898, p, 240.
3^4 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE ignorance of what death really means, or the vivid imagery of the attractiveness of another life. While superstition more often makes it dreaded, it may cause it to seem attractive. The fact is, however, that more or less dwelling upon death and suicide is probably the rule rather than the exception with chil- dren in the early teens. Anger, love, and religion especially predispose to reveries of death. Children often have spells of musing upon how they would feel or look to others as corpses or during the act of death. They imagine themselves lying in the coffin and fancy the remarks that their relatives and friends would make about them. Often heroic sacrifices of life are planned, generally without great emotional depth. In one census sixty per cent confessed to these experiences.^ In an- other where eleven children, and in another where fifty an- swered, all confessed these fancies which culminate in early adolescence. The cause is found in the fact that up to this period life has been more or less self -centered and served by others, but now begin premonitions of the subordinations of the ego to a Hfe of service. Love, specifically, and altruism, generally, favor it. Plato defined philosophy as dwelling upon death, meaning that familiarity with ideas lessens the hold of the soul upon indi- vidual and personal objects and is a kind of diffusion motive.
If this can be assumed as a normal stage of development, the problem of suicide in youth in seen in a new aspect, for it is only a rarely culminating expression of a very general tend- ency which can hardly in itself be called pathological. Pre- cocity, whether of feeling, will, or intellect, aggravates it be- cause it brings the motives which limit individuation before the latter is complete. To assume the responsibilities, ideas, amusements, and passions of adults, when character is plastic and unformed, gives an unconscious sense of having been robbed of the just rights and immunities due to childhood, and makes demands upon its feeble powers which can not be met. From these prematurities, childhood should be protected. Reflection should not come too soon lest the heart be poisoned by negations. Passion must not be roused before the powers which control it are developed. " Other-worldness " should not be too intense. Care, partizanship, sensibility, vanity, and every specialization which interferes with harmony and symmetry * Scott: Old Age and Death. Am. Jour, of Psy., vol. viii, p. 98 et seq.
JUVENILE FAULTS, IMMORALITIES, AND CRIMES 3^5 of all-sided development predispose to morbid states which tend to renunciation. A committee of Swiss physicians lately petitioned for a law to prohibit the printing of suicides to avoid suggestion. A school system, which intensifies rather than shelters the young from the intense desires, ambitions, worries, and mortifications of life, is a forcing machine and a perversion of the purposes and etymology of the very word school.
Bartley^ in his chapter on youth, or the third age of a pauper, or the period of life between the school age and that of matrimony, thinks it especially marked by a desire for inde- pendence, and that a good, strong, average lad has no wants beyond his mere food and dress. He is generally let alone by the church and his employer takes no care of him, and unless he is very exceptional he will follow the well-beaten track of spending every penny he earns, dressing like a swell, resenting advice, and in a reckless way passing the heyday of youth, dur- ing which he might with proper guidance lay the foundations of future independence and comfort. Young' persons of this class never look ahead; rarely or at least reluctantly contribute to the support of their parents, almost never to their grand- parents; and are often gotten up extravagantly when their par- ents are on the parish. Utterly reckless carelessness of youth in money matters, this writer thinks especially characteristic of those who will join the million paupers on the parish rolls of England. Adolescents of both sexes, if able-bodied, rarely re- ceive either outdoor or indoor relief, but their life is a prepara- tion for pauperism in that they carefully avoid learning any habits which will prevent it, and systematically live from hand to mouth and for present and immediate enjoyment, with no forethought. They perhaps justify the folly of doing nothing to provide for a rainy day by the argument that only thus are they sure of receiving the benefit of what they earn. Thrift, on the other hand, at this age is one of the greatest antidotes to drink, and the duty of inculcating it should be brought home to parents and teachers. Crime indicates in general more vigor and vitality than does pauperism, although the latter is more fixed and hereditary. Crime is misdirection and amenable to * The Seven Ages of a Village Pauper. London, 1874, p. 81.
386 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE discipline, while pauperism is hopeless and often diseased, more persistent among men than among women, most common with the youngest child of a family, etc.^ Corre ^ holds that the more pronounced is civilization, the more critical the epoch of puberty becomes when heredity and predispositions appear, and when prostitution is enormously augmented. The adolescent, he seems to think, has always at the bottom of his nature the dross of villainy; is prone to idle- ness, and has a weak side for low pleasures; is jealous, vindic- tive, liable to drink and debauchery; and if criminal is sometimes very grossly so, and his cruelty is restrained by no sentiment of pity or shame. He describes the bands of precocious male- factors that often pillage gardens and furnished but unoccupied houses, and do not scruple to commit crimes of violence, if necessary for their safety or even for their pleasure. After giving a long list of flagrant crimes, he declares that " such facts repeated every day in the newspapers give us but a feeble idea of the criminality of minors " or those who are debutantes in adolescence and have the wit to escape police vigilance. The motives of their crimes seem usually very inadequate, and ado- lescents at present have a singular incapacity to endure the least effort or restraint. Corre enumerates youthful murders and tortures inflicted for no other reason than that the victim was displeasing, troublesome, that the young criminal felt romantic and wished to do something signal, or to imitate some outrage which had been read of.
Bon jean ^ thinks that in this age children strongly tend to revolt against their parents and that the latter are culpable for the consequent progressive disorganization of the family and its social results. His elaborate tables show that with some slight exceptions vagabondage, mendacity, theft, destruction of property and rebellion have steadily increased in the depart- ment of the Seine during recent decades, although for the few later years of his review the number of arrests had slightly de- creased. This he believes to be chiefly due to the laxity of justice, and he holds that impunity and impenitence go together, 1 A. H. Bradford: Heredity and Christian Problems, p. 142 et seq.
• Crime et Suicide. Paris, 1891, p. 309.
* Enfants r^volt^s et Parents coupables. Paris, 1895.
JUVENILE FAULTS, IMMORALITIES, AND CRIMES 3^7 especially with minors. We can not '' sterilize the bouillon of culture of the microbes of vice and crime " except by whole- some parental correction, and our problem he conceives to be how to transform youth with dangerous tendencies, which if un- corrected will make them parasites of society, into useful mem- bers of it. This he deems the gravest aspect of the decay of the family and its cult in France.