DELINQUENCY PROBLEMS

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24022, 10 August 1943, Page 3

DELINQUENCY PROBLEMS

PLEA, FOR SYMPATHY AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL METHODS “In making a plea for the delinquent, the truant, and the incorrigible, 1 would ask you always to remember to take a sympathetic view and treat them as human beings,” said Corporal Guy de Filippas, a graduate in history and education of the University of Chicago, who also had specialised knowledge of the social clinics in that city, when speaking last evening at Canterbury University College before members of the Nev Education Fellowship on delinquency problems in the United States. Dr. M. Bevan Brown presided over a large attendance of educationists. Other speakers were Captain G. C. Ketler, lecturer in accountancy subjects at the University of Indiana; Lieutenant R. M. Graves, a secondary school teacher and a graduate in literature of the University of Texas; and Corporal J. T. Carpenter, a graduate in history from Trinity College, Connecticut, and a primary school teacher. All the American speakers are serving with the forces. With the exception of Lieutenant Graves, they all returned recently from the Solomon Islands. Each speaker took a phase of American education as his subject. Experiments In Chicago Chicago had problems in delinquency, that were peculiar to all great cities, said Corporal de Filippas, and the situation had been aggravated by the settlement of comparatively recent immigiants in tenement areas where housing conditions were particularly bad It was then usual to send delinquents to reformatories. “But ‘reformatory’ is a peculiar word,” he said, “because we found that the boys were not reformed there.” At first there were four popular points of view concerning the problem, and all clashed. One contended that in the delinquent “a criminal was born.” A second group, composed mainly of social workers, claimed that the problem was the result of broken homes or the disorganisation of family life. But those with whom the speaker worked found eventually that those contributory factors. Then, there were the psychologists who contended that delinquent boys had peculiar attitudes, also excess energy which was misdirected. “That view we could not accept wholly,” Corporal de Filippas commented. Finally, others held that environmental conditions were the cause of the trouble. Among the factors discovered were poverty, large families, lack of recreational facilities, the cinema, and the Indifference of legislators to the need for social improvements, particularly housing. Central Control Council The initial object of the new group, he said, was to co-ordinate all agencies —the law and the schools, welfare officers, and the churches —into a central council of control. Vocational guidance was advocated rather than sending boys to reformatories, and, above all, attempts were made to find work for the delinquents. “This was not at all easy,” he continued. “You can well imagine that manufacturers were not particularly anxious to employ young thieves, but in time we won their co-operation.” Clinics were established, and the aid of psychologists called in. Additional recreational facilities were obtained, also more playing areas. Additional boys’ clubs were formed, and the youthful offenders were dealt with in groups for training. “But first of all we had to recognise the problem itself," he added. In Corporal de Filippas’s opinion the only way in which the problem could be successfully tackled was by the elimination of tenements, the raising of the economic standards of poorer families, the education of people with an immigrant background, and the use of young men of ability and character as leaders. Above all, sympathy and understanding were, essential in dealing with delinquent boys. While some of ..the latter were failures (as often they were dealt with too late), others had established themselves as community leaders and as professional men. One boy, who was called “Nick the Greek” (and came from a home where he had been . constantly whipped) had eventually becpme a well-known state attorney. University Life Captain Ketler, who spoke on university life in the United States, stated that fees for students at Indiana were extremely low. As it was a state university a large part of its revenue came from the state, though it also “counted upon a sizeable proportion from its sports.” Scholarships were awarded to likely athletes, who paid for their studies by participating in the university’s games. “This system has its. advantages and disadvantages," he remarked. The trend of modern American university education was definitely practical, he said, and it employed social contacts on the campus between the sexes, not only to provide a sound education, but a real preparation for life. Lieutenant Graves dealt with the problems of the secondary teacher in American schools, and Corporal Carpenter spoke of the primary schools.