JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 15 September 1928, Page 6

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

NEW METHODS OF TREATMENT Speaking at a meeting of the .Wellington branch of the New Zealand Howard League for- Penal Reform' onl- Thursday night on the subject of "Juvenile Delinquency," Professor T. A. Hunter expressed the opinion that much of the inhuman and ineffective treatment, of delinquents in the past arose from the doctrine of original sin, which explained- delinquency in a way that absolved authority and' jusliJied punishment. This was showll in the development of punishment -.•itself in the retributive aspect: the desire .of. the injured for revenge; in tho preventive aspect; the appeal of the community for protection; and in the reformative aspect; the appeal of the offender not to be cut off from social relations. "If we"think we realise that all failure to conform to prevailing social ethics is not delinquency," said the. speaker, "we draw the line differently at different times and under varying circumstances with regard to the relative nature of crime. It is interesting to note that increase of crime runs parallel with the development of the social and industrial system, the newer ideatf of property, and the effect of competitioti and display, and is particularly associated with, the acceleration of life and the need for sudden and radical changes. .In modern society there is a • constant need for a i-e----adaptation of ethical standards, views _of life, methods of work and understanding of emotional reactions, and it will only be a people fully developed on all sides' who can make rapid progress without disaster for many of its. citizens. SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM. The problem of the criminal had become a social and a psychological one, said Professor Hunter, and we were beginning to centre our interest not on the crime, but on the criminal—hist history and make-up. Most authorities would now admit that crime was not a detached, separate fact, self-contained and self-sub-sisting, but a mental symptom with a mental origin. The. lecturer referred to the many causes which influenced the child in- early life—the instability. of the modern environment and of the child itself, his intellectual and emotional temperamcut, physical conditions, suggestiveness and lack of experience, and showed how these conflicts; together with his rapid growth, frequently resulted in repressions • that bore fruit later in delinquency during the stress and storm1 of adolescei.e. Iv this period' oi. unstable emotiqn.il equilibrium' there .were .great possibilities for good or harm,; and it depended very largely on how children were treated in their infancy and during adolescence as to what their future development would be. Mental disorders and delinquenc7 were some of the consequences of wronj- treatment in early life, and many of these difficulties could Save been overcome if the children had met with, sympathetic guidance instead of crifciciem, and had been encouraged to develop their powers o£ self-expression. „ , Professor Hunter quoted several easeshe had dealt with in his psychological clinic at Victoria College,, and ■ gave an interesting account of the work.that was being done at the George. Junior- Republic in the State of New York; U.S.A. The address was illustrated with a number ot fine lantern slides, and the lecturer was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.