Smoking Habits of Delinquent Boys.

Several studies have indicated the extent of cigarette smoking amongst schoolchildren. (Bothwell, 1959; Cartwright, Thomson, and others, 1960; Jefferys and Westaway, 1961; Public Health Department, London School of Hygiene, 1959). They show that smoking often begins at the age of 10 years or less, and that from that age there is a steady increase with age in the number of children who smoke regularly. The smoking habits of delinquents are noticeably different from those of other children, in that they seem to smoke far more and to establish regular smoking habits at a much earlier age. In view of this observation, that excessive smoking is an important part of the pattern of delinquent behaviour, and of the evidence that several serious diseases affect smokers more often than non-smokers (Royal College of Physicians, 1962), an inquiry was carried out to assess the extent of smoking amongst delinquent boys, with the object of determining how they differ from the normal population, and in the hope that such information will be of use in determining the policy of approved schools towards smoking. This study was made in a classifying school, where routine assessment of the boys is undertaken, so that they are sent to the approved school which will best meet their individual needs. Sixty boys whose ages ranged from 11 to 17 years were asked how many cigarettes they smoked each day. They were representative of the range of delinquent boys in their social background, intelligence, and personality, and none had been to an approved school before.