JUVENILE CRIME

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 207, 2 September 1939, Page 8 (Supplement)

JUVENILE CRIME

JUVENILE crime is increasing so disturbingly of late years that can no longer afford to ignore it nor treat it indulgently as the mere effervescence of youth. That youth must have its head, work off iLs natural steam ami lie a. general hut rather loveable nuisance has always born recognised, and one is prepared to allow a good deal of latitude in the wav of mad-headed or light-hearted mischief to the younger net. lint when mischief manifests itself in the form of criminal propensities it is time to call a lialt.

By--Isabel M. Cluett

There has heen much debato about this problem, and various psychological experiments have been triccl out. luit t lie problem has not been solved, and reports prove that adolescent crime is increasing. lia I i-* (he root <•; 111 —i • uf this <;ra ve social e\il? Are the young folk of this generation uatur.ill\ more depra\ed than thine oi ding generations and SfoiiiJJ "low n in the moral scale? This is a. srtavp indictment of our social s\steni if true, and a frightening reflection on the future of the rare. We are reluctant to |.c!ie> • that it is true, but thn fact remain ih.it among mere boys of from Iti to Is years of age crimes of violence are becoming more common. Social workers, police. magistrates nnd the general public all acknowledge tho position and deplore it. What has led directly or iridirecth to this state of affairs? It is partly due. in the first, place, to the modern fad of "selfexpression," where, from its earliest years, the child is encouraged to rtiln itself, unchecked and undisciplined, followed by t tie unrestricted liberty of th» youth of to-day, where boys and girls claim the right to "live their own lives. \o doubt, too, the cheapness and abundance of entertainment and the vogue of the motor car contribute to the restless precocity of our young people.

tori unatelv, in tlio majority of cases tho child is normal enough to realise as ho arrows older that reckless self-indul-gence will have to he modified in a world where it is met by rules and regulations at every turn. He learns to adjust himself to life and conform to social laws, and tho unwritten convenot n ynoil home have their restraining influence ami help to shape his new conception of life and the law.

But in homes where there is no particular standard of conduct, and rules are la\, tin? children learn early to make the streets their playground and the more sensational picture houses their rendezvous. These youngsters are possibly no worse than their more fortunate fellows, hut full of animal spirits and potential mischief form their g&ngrs, and out of bravado enjrajro j n the moet sensational forms of mischief.

SANITY V. SENTIMENT

This in its parly singes is exhibitionism. or "show'injr ottY' pure and simple, ami the more spectacular and lawless they hit the more applause thev receive. .1 hus they swagger on from mischief to crime, until their misdemeanours become so nerions as to look like the cunning and daring of adult and experienced criminals. These delinquents are then brought beiore the Children's Courts—Courts

■which should hp the ideal method of check in/ juvenile crime. But the Courts —excellent in intention —are pervaded l>y a mistaken sentimentalism which «i!l not permit a harsh repriur.ind or salutary punishment, and which lias banned the police uniform from the precincts of the Court. The presiding magistrate usually issues only a grave admonition, and puts the offending youth in charge of the welfare officer. Such mild tribunals are all very well for young children who have been guilty only of senseless mischief, though even then it is a mistake that the police uniform should be made to appear as a bogy to children, who should be taught to look upon it as a symbol of security and protection to ail. But when husky great lads of 16 and 18 are brought before these Courts charged with wilful and vicious crimes, to be quite frequently admonished and discharged, or a fine imposed which they themselves will never pay, it is surely time to overhaul the system. These boys go away laughing in their sleeve*, secure in the knowledge that no exemplary punishment will ever be inflicted. and offend again and again. The risk of a Borstal sentence is not very meat. Sane but humanitarian thinkers are disturbed by these conditions, and believe that these youthful offenders should be dealt with much more severely and that it would have a definitely deterrent effect to put them under strict, discipline at the outset of their criminal life.

Well-meaning crime reformers claim that corporal punishment or imprisonment will have a hardening or degrading effect upon young offenders. But it is evident iliat the hardening process has already set in, and it will take more than moral suasion and tender counsel to break down the resistance of young men capable of highly sophisticated crimes. And the logical answer to the claim that indulgent treatment will do more to check or cure wrongdoing is in the fact that the more serious type of crime among juveniles shows a definite increase. Discipline, justly and temperately administered, is not vengeance, and if the more depraved type of offender only practices restraint from fear rather than conviction of sin, at least, it makes the world safer for innocent victims.

The belief, held by many reformers, that a "bad man" is a "sick man," and should be so treated, works out its own answer, for a physically sick man is not consulted as to his treatment, and so m i tli the man sick in his moral sense;

he must submit to the law's code of treatment. We know the code is not yet perfect, but no misplaced sentiment should destroy our sanity of outlook and make us abolish the <nlv forms of restraint we have, or" we shall go back to chaos. Homes of Detention Xo young offender should be confined to tile common gaol as the associate of criminals of riper years and experience, and the Borstal institutions and State farms for delinquent boys seem to have had only a modified success. A better plan would be the establishment in all large centres of homes of detention, where all offenders between 14 and IS, guilty of serious offences, should be detained for certain periods and trained in useful pursuits. Such an establishment should be in the charge of some layman with experience in the t"a : ning of boys, a sympathetic but linn g't't of handling them and their various problems. and an appreciation of the va'ue of leniency in circumstances calling for it. Though segregation of certain types of offender would not be advocated, in the interests of others it might tie necessary, in the ea-e of those guilty of the graver crimes, to take more stringent disciplinary measures, and impose greater restriction of liberties until they had proved themselves trustworthy. All boys should receive payment for work satisfactorily performed, and out of this remuneration be required to pay off any tines or compensations imposed at the time of their offence, thus making it clear that they and they alone are held responsible for their actions. There should be facilities in the home for sport, recreation and study, and certain privileges for good conduct. A special employment bureau for youth labour could be run in connection with the home on the understanding that any boy engaged would carry the personal recommendation of the house master, who would ascertain full details of the position and employer to whom the boy would be going.

Supervision would necessarily he strict, but need never be tyrannous, and with a firm, humane and experienced head a very good understanding could be arrived at between master and boys, and good qualities brought out and fostered.

A voluntary board of control, of both men and women interested in young people, could be set tip to assist in the management of the home, its ffietnbers to be nominated and elected for fixed periods by their fellow citizens. Allowing for a percentage of incorrigible*— and such social misfits are always in the minority—these establishments might go far to meet our difficulties, rescue our young manhood from degradation, and out of human material which looks unpromising now build up decent citizens of the future.