Augusta Fox Bronner

Augusta Fox Bronner (July 22, 1881 – December 11, 1966) was an American psychologist and criminologist, best known for her work in juvenile psychology. She co-directed the first child guidance clinic, and her research shaped psychological theories about the causes behind child delinquency, emphasizing the need to focus on social and environmental factors over inherited traits.

Early life Bronner was born July 22, 1881, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Gustave Bronner and Hanna Fox Bronner. The family was Jewish, ), a new publicly funded child guidance clinic attached to the Boston juvenile court. She emphasized that the way an individual approaches a task can influence their success or failure. She cited Edward Thorndike and his laws of learning, which include attitude as an influencing factor. Bronner asserted there is no way to study attitude experimentally: rather, it can be studied only through observation. Mental testing, noted Bronner, serves to find a person's potential.

At that time, practical problems in psychology were approached on the basis of mental tests in laboratories. Bronner argued that many real-life factors can influence one's performance on such tests. She also noted that results from a psychological examiner could dictate a person's future care and education. Bronner and others studied people's attitudes within courtrooms. A psychological lab should meet the following factors: a quiet room, free from distraction, with proper lighting and ventilation. Bronner also discussed the influence onlookers can have on both the examiner and examinee, concluding there should be no onlookers. Bronner depicted some common attitudes psychologists had observed while administering adolescents the Binet test, that impacted their evaluation. She also discussed environmental factors that can impact performance.

Collaborations with William Healy As her personal and professional relationship with William Healy grew, Bronner retreated from publishing her individual work, preferring to co-write with Healy. In collaboration with Healy, Bronner published multiple books on juvenile psychology, including Reconstructing behavior in youth: A study of problem children in foster families (1929), Treatment and what happened afterward (1939), and What makes a child delinquent? (1948). They also wrote many articles including "How does the School Produce or Prevent Delinquency? (1933). Their article highlighted delinquent behavior in school aged human as resulting from incorrect adjustments made by the school, such as forcing children to repeat a grade or placing them in grades below their current one. They begin to not trust the education system, lack excitement, and become complacent with their education. They find ways to become excited, such as partaking in criminal behavior.

Personal life and retirement In September 1932, after Healy's wife died, he and Bronner finally married. According to biographer John C. Burnham, marriage changed very little about their professional relationship, its only effects being the easier facilitation of their working together on evenings and weekends and "complicating administration of the clinic" whenever the couple went on vacation together.

A shortage of staff during World War II prolonged Bronner and Healy's work at the Judge Baker Foundation, despite retirement plans. After the couple finally retired in 1946, Bronner destroyed most of her own personal research and unpublished papers, preferring to keep the public's focus on her husband's academic work. Bronner and Healy spent their retirement in Clearwater, Florida.

Death Bronner died in Clearwater on December 11, 1966.