Absconding Girls
Sir, —Escaping is ennobled by prisoner-of-war stories, but Allied officers had both an obligation and a goal. Girls absconding from institutions can hope for no haven, but can expect to be preyed on by the pathetic misfits who offer them dubious shelter. Why, then, should they leave comfortable surroundings, and become so desperate as to swim an icy river to avoid recapture? There is much to be admired in modern institutions ,but on the debit side is the acceptance of the abscondings as being “common to all Child Welfare Division’s institutions.” These girls are almost all retarded or disturbed, yet they receive negligible psychological help, which is urgently needed if they are ever to take their place in society. Behind it all is the false theory that environment is the principal ingredient Ail experience indicates constitutional weakness, requiring repair at the earliest possible age.—Yours, VARIAN J. WILSON. July 15, 1966.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19660716.2.124.4
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31113, 16 July 1966, Page 14
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152Absconding Girls Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31113, 16 July 1966, Page 14
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