If you are interested in how people have historically viewed the causes of “delinquency” among American youth, then I have just the film for you. I came across "That Boy Joe" a couple of years ago when I was looking for information about the history of juvenile justice in the U.S. The film is basically an infomercial that was produced by the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1944. It is unintentionally hilarious but also very instructive about some of the reasons that were advanced in the mid-twentieth century to explain youth crime.

Joe is a teenager who is facing criminal charges for stealing cigarettes while intoxicated. He is arrested while running away from the scene of the crime. He is transferred to juvenile court where he appears in front of a grandfatherly judge. Judge Dunn asks Joe to explain his actions and then proceeds to moralize about the young man’s misbehavior. Judge Dunn offers several possible reasons for Joe’s delinquency including permissive parents, lack of religious instruction, failure to be involved in the Boy Scouts but most importantly the use of alcohol. You will not soon forget that this was a film produced by the temperance movement because the viewer is bludgeoned with the “scientific” evidence about the evils of alcohol.

As I mentioned earlier, this film is unintentionally funny in 2011. I wonder if youth who were made to watch it in the 1940s had a same reaction. Some of the gems in the film include the following quotes by Judge Dunn:

“In all of my experience, I have had no boy scouts or girl scouts in my court.”

“I agree with J. Edgar Hoover that all children need to learn the golden rule.” Any sentence that starts with I agree with J. Edgar Hoover is pure comedy gold…

“Do you know that J. Edgar Hoover says that there will be practically no crime among youth if young people attended Sunday school regularly during their formative years?”

In the end, the Judge presents Joe with the conditions of his probation and also talks to his parents about their critical role in his life. The scene with the parents is painful to watch because the acting is scary bad and the dialogue is a train-wreck. Nevertheless, the film is a specific historical document that sheds some light about how the juvenile court was initially envisioned for white juvenile delinquents. The following quote from the Judge is illustrative:

“Young people don’t want to get into trouble. They want fun and companionship. A boy like Joe isn’t really underneath a bad youth. Often he’s very good. He has courage, imagination, sensitivity.”

I guess that we would call this view of youth in trouble with the law an asset-based or strength-based one. Judge Dunn focuses on the resilience of youth. It would be the rare juvenile court judge today who might utter these same words about youth in conflict with the law.

The film is 20 minutes long. If you are interested in juvenile justice issues, I recommend it (if only for the end when Joe returns after a few weeks to visit the judge as a changed man…). Pure comedy gold with historical significance…

That Boy Joe (1944) on Vimeo.