ACT CONDEMNED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 689, 14 June 1929, Page 9

ACT CONDEMNED

MENTAL DEFECTIVES LEGISLATION PROFESSOR CRITICAL A strong condemnation of the Mental Defectives Act was made last evening at the University College by Professor A. B. Fitt. 11 E was addressing Auckland branch of the Association for Psychology and Philosophy in Now Zealand and Australia. Professor Fitt mentioned modifier tions which had been made to the original Bill as a result of the objections of psychologists and critics. “In. its essentials, the measure is hunsound as ever.” the speaker said “It assumes that legislation can do what science cannot Th© omens for its operation are bad. and the whole position is becoming somewhat farcical. The Act gives a predominant lnfluera . to psychiatrists whose training in psychology Is not adequate. Thenmedical bias prevents them from effectively carrying out the work which thoroughly trained psychologists should do.” IMPORTANT REGISTER The speaker said that the regiM r of mental defectives, authorised bv ;1 ; Act. was a symbol of complete c»-t tainty in a field where no oeruiiiu \ existed. Dr. T. G. Gray, rh© Inspec-tor-general, had rejected Intelligence tests as a gauge of deficiency. lie had adopted nothfng to replace them It was hard to see that the Mental Defectives Board could reach the certainty demanded by such a register. Lately, the Government had offered only ,£225 a year as a salary for a social worker in the psychology clinic in Wellington. On Dr. Grays own statement. a highly-trained worker was needed at a salary of at least £ 600. “The new definition of a social defective is even less satisfactory than the °ld>” concluded Professor Fitt.