Rebels or Psychopaths? - TIME

Having published “Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath” a decade earlier, Robert Lindner served as one of the nation’s preeminent scholars on juvenile delinquency, a trend that baffled and terrified the nation. Interviewed by Time in 1954, he recounted a laundry list of gory crimes committed by the teenaged, what he termed “a devil's rosary of crimes ranging from rape to murder, and all stamped with an unbelievable degree of sadism." One of the causes of this spike in violence was the advent of a mass youth culture, according to Lindner. While others tried to combat the problem by taking away comic books, turning off the television, separating teenagers from their friends, and spending more time with their children, Lindner notes that these methods are largely futile. More than that, what was required of the older generation was an understanding of their child’s warped psychiatric condition which caused them to act out. The new mass culture, had the effect of weakening one’s conscience, creativity, and sense of self, and replacing it with a cold, and potentially violent member of the mob. As conformity with the mob caused the loss of personal identity, it created a wave of rebels without causes and without restraint. The only answer offered is in Lindner’s advocacy for psychological therapy.

Articles on juvenile delinquency pervaded publications in the 1950s, and Lindner’s interview with Time reflects the extreme crisis of the situation the media aid in creating. Lindner predicted that the conscienceless perpetrators of juvenile crime were part of an epidemic that would become worse before it got better, if it did. While supplying colorful and dramatic descriptions of crime and history, he offers remarkably few solutions or examples of positive progress. The piece is prime example of the hysteria and paranoia that permeated the time.

JSTOR: History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 3, (1997 ), pp. 251-270

Cohen, Ronald. “The Delinquents: Censorship and Youth Culture in Recent U. S. History.” History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 3. (1997)

Ronald Cohen examines the particular causes of heightened censorship during the post-World War II period, focusing especially on the fifties. Society became hyper-aware of the problem of juvenile delinquency in the fifties as newspapers and magazines frequently featured descriptions of this rising and troubling trend. Censorship was a means of social control, to quell the passions of a younger generation that had already proven itself unruly. The particularly strong desire to control the youth of the fifties can be attributed in part to the development of youth culture distinct from that of adults during the period. Cohen examines the Comic sCode, which banned or limited depictions of violence, alleged sexual perversion (homosexuality), sexism, and other affronts to traditional, family values. Similarly problematic but less effectively censored was rock’n’roll music, which was considered to be dangerous because of its sexually suggestive lyrics, ability to incite racial mixing, and overly exciting rhythms. Movies and television did not escape this treatment, although the Production Code became outdated, activists and advocates insisted that the medium remain moral and not serve as a subversive example to the youth. Films, most notably Blackboard Jungle (1955) combined a rock’n’roll soundtrack with violent imagery, earning box office popularity among the teen set and the ire of proponents of family values.

Cohen’s article illuminates the audience for films like Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and of the supposedly dangerous mass culture of the 1950s: white, suburban, middle class teenagers with an increasing amount of disposable income in a prosperous time. The film mirrors its audience in setting, casting, and in content.

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Rebels or Psychopaths? - TIME

JSTOR: History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 3, (1997 ), pp. 251-270