A History of the South. by Francis Butler SimkinsReview by: Hugh F. RankinSocial Forces, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Mar., 1955), pp. 298-299Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2572905 .

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298 SOCIAL FORCES

University, has indicated the width and depth of this void. At the same time he has gone a long way in filling and spanning it. Our understanding of the rapidly shifting scenes in present day Negro-white relations will be greatly enhanced by an awareness of the larger historical background against which they are pro- jected. The post-Reconstruction era, one of the really crucial periods for the Negro, is examined with objec- tivity and scholarly documentation.

The Negro in American Life and Thought is not the sort of tedious fact-grubbing that frequently passes for legitimate historical exposition. On the contrary, it is a broadly conceived work that exhibits bold imagination and fine craftsmanship in execution. No small asset of the book is the style in which it is written-clear and direct, and minus the tedious footnote digressions which some historians (and sociologists) employ as a substitute for ideas. On occasion Professor Logan comes through with both lively wit and biting, almost bitter, sarcasm. The result, however, is clarity and underscoring, not confusion or distraction. He is aware that at times one can prove more by asking a question than making a speech, and he knows the right questions to ask.

The author conveys the impression that he is thor- oughly at home with his materials and with the problems on which they are brought to bear. He is a man who knows what he is talking about. It hardly need be added that he talks well. It is doubtful that anyone wishing to understand the present race relations scene in its involved origins and many ramifications can do so without careful scrutiny of this volume.

WILSON RECORD Sacramento State College

THE SOCIAL ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE. 3rd ed. By Wilson Gee. New York: The Macmillan Com- pany. 1954. 616 pp. $6.50.

The first edition of this book was published in 1932, and the second edition in 1942. This third edition might have appeared somewhat earlier except for the slow- ness of publication of 1950 census material.

The main differences between the third edition and the second edition are: 1950 census data are liberally used throughout the volume, thus bringing it up to date. Part IV, which dealt with political problems, has been eliminated. The three chapters dropped are The Farmer and Government, The Tariff and Agriculture, and Farm Taxation. The reviewer does not feel that the book has been improved by the deletion of these chapters, all of which are important to the rural social economist. If there was justification for these chapters in the beginning, that justification has increased rather than decreased.

Other than the inclusion of up-to-date data and the deletion of Part IV, the book is about the same as its predecessors. The sentence structure has been changed here and there. Some paragraphs have been shortened or eliminated and others lengthened or revised, but by and large there has been no important change. The format has been changed to some extent.

Dr. Gee wrote the preface to this edition. In one paragraph of the preface he states:

Of course it would be foolish to contend that this one volume is more than comprehensive in its coverage

of essential principles and materials in the fields of agricultural economics and rural sociology, for these fields have now become impressive areas of scientific knowledge. However, although the volume is broad in scope, it is rich in content. The materials included in general are well selected and the treatment of the topics considered is for the most part thorough in approach. It has been hammered out in the classroom on the anvil of teaching experience. (pp. vii-viii)

The reviewer agrees with Dr. Gee that this is an excellent book and predicts that it will continue to be widely used as his previous editions have been. It is a good sound combination of rural economics and rural sociology and differs from other texts in that it is a combination of both in one volume. Part I is especially good; it is different from most books in either agricul- tural economics or rural sociology in that it devotes five chapters to outlining a general historical back- ground of the agricultural problem.

For the general reader who is interested in both rural economics and rural sociology, this is perhaps the best book available.

S. H. HOBBS, JR.

University of North Carolina

A HISTORY OF THE SouTH. By Francis Butler Simkins. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. 678 pp. $5.75.

This is an expanded version of Professor Simkins' volume of 1947, The South Old and New, 1820-1947, with six new chapters added to cover the period before 1820, and the election of 1952 included in the conclud- ing chapters.

In the early chapters on the South before 1820 there is a feeling of overbalance-most of the emphasis is placed on the development of Virginia. Conversely, the initial development of those southern states away from the Atlantic coast is practically ignored. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Ten- nessee suddenly appear as southern political entities.

To the author, the South is more than a geographical region, itis "an attitude of mind and a way of behavior," which is so strongly entrenched that the South will always be considered as a distinctive unit within the nation. Dr. Simkins feels that the South first became aware of its distinctiveness during the controversy surrounding the Missouri Compromise, but suggests that southern institutions have their roots in the colo- nial period. To illustrate the thesis of a South with its peculiar institutions, Dr. Simkins devotes a number of chapters to social customs, literature, and educational developments. In turn, he is no apologist for his native section. Dr. Simkins examines and evaluates the South with a critical eye and does not limit his adjectives in reporting his findings. One of the more challenging hypotheses presented by the author is his analysis of the modern Negro question in the South. To Professor Simkins, despite the many gains and advances made by the race, the Negro has probably lost rather than gained ground in the period since 1890, and it is his conclusion that there is little possibility of total integration.

The style of the author is both brilliant and prosaic. In the more than half of the book which is devoted to the New South, reading becomes somewhat tedious, as the text becomes at times almost a recital of names.

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LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP 299

Sweeping generalizations will sometimes lead to dissent as will other viewpoints expressed in this volume.

Disagreements will always be provoked by a volume of this scope and magnitude, and to quibble over minor points in this review would serve no useful purpose. Dr. Simkins has written an interesting, readable, and provocative study of the South.

HUGH F. RANKIN

University of North Carolina

THE JUVENILE OFFENDER. By Clyde B. Vedder. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1954. 510 pp. $6.00.

In pursuing the current trend toward bringing to- gether under one cover a collection of articleswhich may be difficult for the student to obtain in the library, this book is similar to a previous publication in which the author collaborated (Clyde B. Vedder, Samuel Koenig, and Robert E. Clark, Criminology: A Book of Readings [New York: The Dryden Press, 19531). In this more recent endeavor, certain features are included which may represent improvements upon the design of its excelent predecessor.

The earlier text was primarily a set of readings or- ganized on the basis of content and introduced by a brief statement about the author and the topic. The present volume follows a similar principle of organiza- tion, but introduces each of the 13 chapters with a textual orientation by the author. This introduction provides perspective for the entire unit and briefly summarizes each of the carefully selected articles which follows in that section. An annotated bibliography of selected additional readings accompanies each chapter.

The author's textual material is very sparsely sprinkled with value judgments and unelaborated assumptions. Perhaps these occur just often enough to prevent the development of ennui on the part of the student. To this reviewer, one exception appears to this otherwise healthy scholarship. In discussing the con- tribution of conditions of poverty to juvenile delin- quency the author concludes: "Little wonder that delinquency was prevalent." (p. 52) A more compre- hensive treatment of the textual material might well discuss some of the intervening variables between poverty and delinquent conduct.

The well-rounded assortment of articles which ap- pears in the book together with their careful organiza- tion makes this a welcome companion for any text on juvenile delinquency. The additional advantage offered by the author's textual materials make it quite possible to use this as the basic text for an upper-division course in juvenile delinquency. This latter function is not claimed for the book by its author, nor by Negley Teeters in his Foreword, but it appears to this reviewer that the supplementary data and concepts necessary to make up a satisfactory course offering may be read- ily supplied through classroom presentation.

In conclusion it might be said that those who judge a book by its length will not be disappointed, and those who stress quality and insight will be pleased.

WILLIAm L. CuPP

Syracuse University

THE JUVENILE IN DELINQUENT SOCIETY. By Milton L. Barron. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1954. 349 pp. $5.00. Illustrated.

The unusual title of this book will probably generate quick interest on the part of the reader. We are ac- customed to the ordinary concept of "juvenile delin- quent," but the term "delinquent society" is not so commonplace. This terminology is, of course, not new, nor does Barron make a claim to its originality. His development of this idea follows much the same reason- ing found in the classic article by Frank, "Society as the Patient," in that the society is thought to play a much more significant role in making a juvenile de- linquent than the individual's free will. To substantiate this contention, the author maintains that adults in our society serve as behavior-models for the juvenile. They provide him with delinquency-provoking value patterns in their attitudes toward, for example, laws dealing with intoxication, paying taxes, gambling, and traffic: these laws should be violated if the violation is to one's interest and one can "get away with it." Supplementing such "unofficial" values (values in- formally and unsystematically conveyed to the juve- nile) is the juvenile's membership in peer groups that are often in conflict with the stated or "official" values of the adult society.

These "official" and "unofficial" values in American culture, which when pursued by the juvenile involve delinquent behavior, are designated as success, status and power ascendance, pecuniary and material wealth, resistance to authority, toughness, and dupery. Also of importance are the culture's characteristics of dy- namic change, alternative norms, impersonal social relationships, and the duality of loyalty and ethics due to multi-group membership. Each of these values and cultural characteristics is briefly evaluated in terms of its logical relationship to delinquency. There is little attempt to furnish empirical evidence for such logical relationships, although few would question that these pursued values do have significant connections with delinquent behavior. The problems of intensity and extensiveness of such relationships are not dealt with in any great degree.

In effect, this book is a survey of juvenile delinquency as it exist in this country, rather than an elaborate and intensive treatment of the problem. An interdisciplinary approach is believed to be the most productive method for understanding the juvenile's delinquent behavior. Thus, the author spends several chapters evaluating the various etiological theories in this area. These are dealt with in the order of their appearance as explana- tions of delinquent behavior, moving from "the older, particularistic approaches and theories to the more eclectic, sociological perspectives of contemporary criminology." This extended discussion of etiology constitutes Part II of the book and is preceded by a part described as the "Dimensions of Delinquency." The chapters in Part I deal with a case study, the defini- tion of the problem, the extent and composition of delinquency, and the relationship of delinquency to the fluctuations of the business cycle and to the periods of peace and war. Part III has to do with society's reactions to delinquency. In chapters comprising this

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