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The Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study was founded in 1935 with the double purpose of preventing delinquency (DEL) & providing res in the area of DEL prevention. 325 boys were selected to receive preventive treatment, & a carefully matched group of 325 boys were provided as a control group. The treatment program utilized many of the practices prevalent in wel= fare work: family guidance, med & academic assistance, coordination of community agencies, & supplementary entertainment for the boys. This article traces into adulthood the lives of 253 of the `treatment' boys & their 253 matched mates in the control group. Though the boys were counseled for a (mean - average) of 5 yrs, whatever benefits they may have received were not reflected in their criminal rates: as many treated boys as control boys had been convicted of crimes; they had committed approximately equal numbers of crimes & did not differ signif'ly in the ages when such crimes were committed. Nevertheless, evidence gleaned from this program suggests that early treatment & intensive contact with the boy may be an effective means toward crime prevention. AA.

A theoretical analysis of the causes of fam conflict & of means of preventing & resolving conflicts is presented. Causes include: (1) 'compulsion'--eg, the inability of hostile fam members to withdraw from the field, (2) 'intimacy' of contact between fam members, (3) the small size of the group which facilitates the polarization of factions, & (4) the rapidity of developmental alterations in whatever equilibria may be established. 'Normative mechanisms' for preventing fam conflict include: (1) avoiding probable sources of conflict by discouraging incompatible marriages & minimizing contact between 'dangerous' fam members, (2) allocating rights & duties to particular roles. according to prescribed cultural patterns which narrow the area open for debate, & (3) culturally prescribed rules for fair treatment of fam members, esp those calling for equal treatment of children when they arrive at the same age. 'Instrumental mechanisms' for resolving fam conflicts include: (1) providing increased facilities for fam living (such as a 2nd car), (2) enacting priority systems for the use of limited facilities (eg, establishing a budget or TV schedule), (3) enlarging areas of autonomous decision-making within the fam as by giving the marriage partners financial allowances to spend as they see fit, & (4) providing opportunities for tension-reduction as by temporary vacations from the fam. Processes of resolving fam conflict include: (1) discussion leading to consensus, compromise, or concession, (2) mediation by a 3rd party, & (3) accommodation. In the event of failure to achieve any of these, more drastic withdrawal from the field may be the only remaining means of ending open conflict. AA.

A content analysis of the cartoon strip Little Orphan Annie covering a period of 110 weeks ending in 7/1950, revealed that Annie's associates tend to be either great captains of industry or poor ne'er-do-wells lacking initiative or unwilling to work for a living. Her poor associates are not coal-miners, steelworkers or punch-press operators, but the poor whose personal disorganization has no connection with the disorganization existing in the econ system, whose poverty is carefully shown to be of a non-social nature. Annie spends more than 33% of her time fighting foreign spies and their domestic agents. The approved symbols are: honesty, brains, going straight, decency and fair dealing, curiosity, love of countrymen, Santa Claus, Providence, school, peace, prosperity, & equal opportunity. Annie condemns: lazy people, stupid radicals, slave labour camps, truth treatments, fake confessions, 5-year plans, Hitler, book-burning, braggarts and fatheads, neglecting parents, & 'bleeding hearts.' L. P. Chall.

Negating false ideas of anxiety-provoking events, by itself, may increase popular fears, but new correct or incorrect information reduces perceived threat & promotes `healthy' att's. 4 messages concerned with explanations of catatonic schizophrenia & 2 with other topics (for control purposes) were administered singly to 192 undergraduate students at the U of Illinois. 2 of the `catatonic' messages (one psychol'al & one physical) gave plausible explanations & treatments. 2 messages (one psychol'al & one physical) gave false information. All messages were equal in length & similar in format. Each S participating in the supposed study of `writing styles' was given 1 of the 6 messages at random to read & then asked to make attitude ratings & answer other questions. Att's concerning mental illness, patients, & clinicians were measured by a special form of the Osgood Semantic Differential Scale including scales of the activity, potency, evaluative, & understandability dimensions. Additionally, S's receiving one of the `catatonic' messages were asked whether or not they thought the suggested patient treatment would work. The findings were that: (1) the 4 explanations were all relatively convincing, (2) the 4 messages (2 plausible & 2 false) produced signif'ly diff att's by `t' test concerning catatonic schizophrenia than did the control messages. Regardless of the plausibility or falsity of the messages, 'S's receiving the `catatonic' messages rated the concept as more `valuable', `less potent,' `less active,' & more `understandable' than those receiving the control messages.' Test & control S's gave diff att's toward `mental illness' on the activity & potency dimensions, & toward the concept of 'psychiatrist' on the 'understandability' factor, & (4) 'analysis of variance showed no signif diff's between `physical' & 'psychol'al' or `plausible' & `false' messages.' These findings can not be explained on the basis that the S's had never before heard of catatonic schizophrenia, but on the basis that it being associated with pain, embarrassment, & danger, people tend to accept any authoritative-sounding information purporting to cure it. C. M. Coughenour.