RESULTS IN STUDY OF 10,000 CHILD OFFENCES

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28362, 22 August 1957, Page 9

RESULTS IN STUDY OF 10,000 CHILD OFFENCES

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, August 21. Juvenile delinquency is predominantly a boys’ problem says the Director of 'Education, Dr. C. E. Beeby, in the annual report of the Department of Education tabled in the House of Representatives. An analysis of more than 10,000 | r cases dealt with over the last six years had been carried out, says the report. Many lines of inIquiry had not resulted in clearcut, definite answers, but have ■ only indicated the need for more detailed research. (Certain generalisations can, however, be made, says the re- . port. Juvenile delinquency is ■ predominantly a boys’ problem. (For every girl who appears before a Children’s Court, up to ■ 10 boys appear. ’ Among both boys and girls, offences against property predominate and represent about two-thirds of all offences. Among girls, almost one-third of all appearances for delinquency result from sexual misconduct. Among boys, almost one-fifth of all appearances are for “techl nical” offences, for example, ( traffic offences. Age Group r About half of all Children’s ; Court appearances, by boys and . girls combined, for any type of ’ offence, or because of neglect or I parental inadequacy, are accounted for by boys aged 14, 15 or > 16 who are charged with an offence. Study has been accordingly ‘ concentrated on this latter group. I The rate for delinquency in this group has increased, and by far the greatest increase comes from ‘ traffic offences. These have inI creased more than threefold in six years. , The rate for the remaining and ; more serious offences, which con- ’ stitute delinquency proper, has * increased by about a quarter over ■ th ? last six years. Thefts constitute from two- ► thirds to four-fifths of these more serious offences; mischief about one-tenth; and sex and indecency • offences slightly less than a tenth. Maori boys in this age group are very much more likely than , European boys to be charged with an offence, particularly with theft. Nearly three-quarters of • European boys coming before the Court come from towns or cities; only a fifth of Maori boys do. , About half the Maori offenders come from rural areas or Maori settlements. There are no figures i available to show the proportion of all Maori boys of this age ’ living in town and country rer spectively. School Records About one-quarter of the boys ‘ coming before the Court appear . to be lower in intelligence than the broad group which teachers usually classify as “average.” More than half seem to make slow progress at school, and about a quarter attend (or attended) school irregularly. About half of these delinquent boys come from families of five or more children. There are no figures showing what proportion of all 14 to 16-year-olds come from families of this size, but the full

significance of this relationship between delinquency and size Of family is being investigated. Most of the boys had one or more companions in their offence: solitary delinquents form a minority. Week-ends and public and school holidays are “vulnerable” times, as about one-third of delinquent acts appear to, be committed then. About a fifth of all offences are committed at night. Two-fifths of European boys and three-fifths of Maori boys were not living with both parents at the time of their offences. More Officers Dr. Beeby says that during the year 25 additional field officers were appointed to the Child Welfare Division. They were needed, in part, to deal with the greater numbers and to intensify preventive work, but also to meet the growing demands of teachers and private agencies who appear to have become increasingly aware of the help that officers of the division can give in dealing with children’s behaviour problems, he says.