198 RELATION OF ORIGINS AND NATIVITY TO CRIME 
— TTT - 
Parentage of the Canadian born in the Penitentiary Population—In the discussion on 
the reformatory population, reference was made to the importance of parentage and in 
particular to the theory that it is the children of foreign born parents who constitute our 
major probleta Jn respect to disregard for law. Table 124 classifies the penitentiary 
population by specified parentage groups, and an examination of the rates in the third 
column yields some interesting information, 
First, the Canadian born children of British born parents show the lowest proportion 
in penitentiaries. It is recalled in this connection that the Canadian born children of 
British born parents showed the highest proportion in reformatories; yet the data for 
penitentiaries show the very reverse. How can this paradox be explained? It was 
suggested that the absence of British born fathers from Canada during the war was a 
major factor in accounting for the large numbers of Canadian born children of British 
born parents in reformatories in 1921. The younger generation of children of such parents 
appear to be exceedingly badly behaved; yet as far as penitentiary population may be 
taken as an index the older children of British born parents have been unusually 
free from crime. Confirmation is thus given to the contention that the situation in respect 
to the Canadian born reformatory population of British parentage was most abnormal, and 
whether the explanation suggested is either correct or adequate, there is no doubt that 
the phenomenon was a temporary one and not likely to be repeated. 
When one parent is Canadian and one British born the proportion in penitentiaries 
was only slightly higher than where both parents were British born. In both these cases 
the chances of a child being found in a penitentiary were only half as great as where both 
parents were Canadian born. That is not surprising, however, for there is a large admixture 
of foreign stocks in Canada which show much greater criminal tendencies than do the basic 
British and French stocks, and the children of Canadian born parents include among their 
aumber many of such foreign origins. ’ 
The chances of going to the penitentiary are greatest for the children of foreign born 
parents. Here again it is recalled that such children were found in reformatories in very 
small numbers in 1921. The abnormal conditions incident on the war were suggested as 
8 possible cause. Yet the penitentiary data seem again to be in closer record with the 
expected result. Disregard for law is hereditary—not so much in a biological, as in a 
social sense. Where the parents are criminal, the children learn disrespect for the law 
from the home environment, and with the foreign born adults showing larger proportions in 
penitentiaries than the Canadian born, the normal expectation is that the children of the 
foreign born as a group would include larger proportions among whom crime is more 
prevalent. The origin of the children of such parents also favours criminality. 
TABLE 124.—~CANADIAN BORN POPULATION OF PENITENTTARIES, BY NATIVITY OF 
PARENTS, 1921. 
Parentage 
Canadian Born Population, 21 years and over..... 
Both parents— 
Canadian born.............. 
Britishborn................. ........ 
Foreign born (including U.S. born)..... 
Mixed parentage— } 
Father Canadian, mother Foreign................. 3 SEVRIER Corian ie + 
Father Foreign, mother Canadian... | [111117 “irises 
One parent Canadian, one British....... .. 1 11 l/r 
One parent British. one Foreign. ............ Boromonn 159 sxviinse son SEIPREREH 
Parentage not stated............ 
Canada 
3,239,531 
2.395,278 
385,063 
66.058 
25,227 
37,790 
84,979 
21.557 
22,679 
u 2 oH) 
Penitentiaries 
1,051 
867 
70 
90 
| 
Rate 
per 
100,000 
29 
36 
18 
a4 
28 
37 
It