Library Collections: Document: Full Text

In 1918 Doctor Goddard left The Training School to become Director of the new Ohio Bureau of Juvenile Research. He was succeeded by Doctor Stanley D. Porteus.

Under Doctor Porteus, research in the field of mental deficiency was continued and the results freely given to the world, as before and since, through the medium of books, scientific journals, and The Training School Monthly Bulletin.

During his Directorship, he, in collaboration with Mrs. Nash, Director of the Educational Department of the School, made valuable studies of the social and educational correlation of mental age and behavior. The "Porteus Social Rating Scale" was developed at this time and also "Standardized Information Records." In 1925 he retired to accept the Chair of Clinical Psychology at the University of Hawaii.

He was succeeded by Doctor Edgar A. Doll, formerly Assistant Director under Doctor Goddard, 1912-1917. Under his direction the work of the laboratory has maintained its high rank for original and confirmatory research.

While the lines of scientific investigation by the laboratory have changed from time to time as new avenues of approach have opened, the fundamental purpose of the laboratory has been held always in view.

Doctor Doll has contributed much to a fuller understanding of the mental defective by laymen, especially those charged with the administration of public institutions for delinquents and criminals. His articles, "Psychology in the Organization of Prison Industries," "Some Principles of Correctional Treatment," "Classification System of the New Jersey State Prison," "Community Care of the Feeble-Minded," and "The Contribution to Social Work from Research in The Training School," have a practical sociological value.

For more than two years Doctor Doll has directed, in collaboration with Doctor W. M. Phelps of the Yale Medical School, a study of birth injuries in their relationship to feeble-minded-ness. In its possible preventive aspects of mental defect, no research study undertaken by the laboratory has exceeded this in importance. The birth-injured cases make up one of the largest groups of the feeble-minded. Their study by the laboratory is expected to continue without abatement until its possibilities in the field of prevention have been fully explored. Special funds for carrying on this particular research have been provided by private gifts.

The scientific standards set by the laboratory have given it a standing which continues to attract to it both students and experts in the fields of psychology, education and sociology. The laboratory has made generous provision for men and women to pursue their work in the capacity of research assistants or chiefs of divisions. Doctor Doll, who has had the important role of Director of Research since 1925, has summarized some of its achievements with a keen appreciation of their value to human betterment, thus:

The Vineland laboratory has played an important role in the progress of clinical psychology; in the growth of research work in other institutions; in the demand for psychological personnel in courts, school systems, business offices and factories; in the scientific study of gifted children; in the development of the technique of vocational guidance; and in the movement for better child training. These various scientific studies here and elsewhere have promoted methods of child development which have been carried into the schools and homes of the country to an extent which cannot easily be estimated.

The Training School's research work is widely known and has promoted an intense interest in the feeble-minded throughout the country with increased interest in related social problems. This has emphasized the importance of the scientific method of approach to such social problems and has assisted materially in promoting the scientific point of view in sociology.

Not the least of the consequences of this research work has been the training of hundreds of workers, both in the laboratory and in the Vineland summer school, thereby promoting both the principles and methods of the research approach to the problems of education, child welfare and social work.

The Vineland research staff has contributed significantly to the scientific and educational literature in technical journals and in the general magazines. It has published bibliographies on feeble-mindedness and related topics; has translated important works; has addressed important audiences; has published a great many general articles; and has contributed materially to scientific method.

The first recorded question asked by man of his Maker was, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The answer he received should have left no doubt in his mind that it was a plain and unequivocal "Yes."

From the beginning of the race individuals and groups have striven to interpret and obey that "Law of Love" as more clearly exemplified by its Exponent nearly two thousand years ago.

The complexity of human nature has given a wide field for its expression which has been at times grotesque; often sublime. Love for mankind has moved some to isolate themselves from their fellows but it has been to those who worked among and for the multitude that the clearer understanding seems to have been given.