Child guidance

“A spider’s web of complexity ruled these child guidance summaries. Social environment and mental ability were certainly critical elements of ‘direct causation’ . . . Yet family supervision and individual personality modified both the poor environment and the weak intellect. The child guidance message was clear – clients had been right to seek an evaluation, because the conditions that created delinquency, evidenced by the findings in most of the cases, were too complicated for any one worker to diagnose. As child guidance clients were urged to believe, only the combined expertise of a team of professionals [psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker] could supply an accurate representation of the problems, one that would point to the most direct and efficient changes needed to eliminate the delinquency. “These child guidance summaries also conveyed clearly the message that though troublesome, the children were not responsible for their plight” (K. Jones, 88-89).