ABSTRACT
Of the 939 boys and girls interviewed, 335 were members of a youth organization. In London rather more than a third were members. In Nottingham, where the total adolescent population of a defined geographical area was observed over a period the proportion was much the same, i.e. one in three. The Enquiry showed that a larger proportion of boys than girls belonged. Although the Enquiry was a sociological and not a psychological study, the bearing of personality traits on this question of membership was too important a factor to be dismissed. At a surface level, therefore, the Nottingham interviewers did attempt some assessment. First they noticed family patterns and the impact of family attitudes on a maturing personality. Then they looked for pointers, i.e. whether the boy was at ease with his contemporaries and with people older and younger than himself, or whether he only responded to a selected group.
