Sociologist’s Views On Punishment For Crime

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28981, 24 August 1959, Page 10

Sociologist’s Views On Punishment For Crime

(ftsw Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, August 23.

Society had first to establish what it hoped to accomplish in sentencing offenders before it could decide what punishment to inflict, Professor Albert Morris, an internationally-known sociologist, said in Auckland today.

Professor Morris, who is chairman of the sociology and anthropology department at Boston University, arrived in the Mariposa yesterday to spend nine months in New Zealand at the invitation of the departments of Justice, Police and Education. He will study juvenile crime in New Zealand and advise on corrective measures.

“The public has to decide what attitude it is going to take to punishment,” he said. “Are we going to make an example of the offender. Are we going to hurt him because he hurt us. Or are we going to work to restore him to a legitimate place in society?”

Many people failed to realise the “tremendous” cost of putting men in prison who had no need to be there. “It is far cheaper to give a man his liberty under supervision, than to put him in gaol,” said Professor Morris. “Penal reformers have to ask the people to take a reasonable chance with offenders. If a man has been guilty of theft, it may pay to let him free on probation, but the public must take the risk that he will steal again. If he is likely to commit a more serious crime, the risk is one the public should not have to take.” Professor Morris, who for three years was chairman of a committee that set up a demonstration project for the control of juvenile crime in Boston, said people were too apt to think of juvenile delinquency and its cause and treatment as a single, specific problem. “Juvenile delinquency is a

general problem, like sickness. Before you can treat it, you must find out what types of sickness you are faced with, and which are the most dangerous. “There are different types of delinquency, and they must be treated in different ways. I cannot say whdt should be done in New Zealand because, 'as yet, I do not know exactly what problems you face. "However, it might be a good idea to isolate some geographical area and initiate a research programme for this area alone, rather than disperse the work over the whole country.”

Commenting on recent criticism that probation seemed to offer no deterrent to many juveniles, Professor Morris said a properly-run probation system was always a useful weapon for dealing with offenders. However, it must be adequately staffed with trained personnel before it became really effective. It was also important that the right offenders be put on probation. Professor Morris said there was some virtue in the recent suggestion by the Secretary of Justice (Mr S. T. Barnett) that "probation homes” be set up where offenders on probation could be subject to closer supervision. Similar ideas had proved useful in the United States. He rejected the principle of corporal punishment. “It is quits understandable that people should get aroused by acts of vandalism and similar offences, and it may make you feel good to flog somebody. But it doesn’t do him any good. We have had floggings before, and we got rid of them because they did not work."

Professor Morris said any modification of the penal system must have a measure of public support if it were to be effective. Changes must be interpreted to the people or they would not be accepted as helpful. Part of his work in New Zealand, he expected, would be to lecture on modern penal methods.