UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES YOUNG DELINQUENTS YOUNG DELINQUENTS A STUDY OF REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS BY MARY G. BARNETT WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN GORST > J J 3 i » '> f ^^' ? NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY PUBLISHERS 3 '7 w <^ ^ c c < , < , I « • w t " , • « ci« ••«• 1998 PREFATORY NOTE THE following study of Reformatory and Industrial Schools is the outcome of a thesis written for the Higher Diploma of Social Study of Birmingham University. It was felt that a simple account of the work of the schools might be of some value, not as a manual for experts, but rather as a matter of interest for the general public. The opinions expressed are the result of frequent attendances at Children's Courts, and of visits to some twenty or thirty schools. I should here like to express my gratitude to the magistrates of the Birming- ham and Bristol Children's Courts ; also to the many Superintendents, the benefit of whose active experience has been invaluable. There is evidently an increasing feeling that children are delinquent because they are untrained rather than because they are criminal. Indeed it is sometimes estimated that at least 75 per cent, of the children committed to the schools are vi YOUNG DELINQUENTS victims of neglect rather than wilful wrong- doers. In consequence, the present tendency- is to make the training educative rather than punitive. The publication of this book has been pur- posely delayed in order to include some notice of the Departmental Committee appointed in 191 1 to inquire into the condition of Reforma- tory and Industrial Schools. A rismn^ of the Report, which was published June 191 3, is included in a final chapter. Most of its recommendations are of far-reaching import- ance, and it is satisfactory to find that in many instances they are anticipated in the previous chapters of the book. May I express my gratitude to the many- experts who have helped me in my work. Especially to Miss Newman, formerly Super- intendent of Halstead Industrial School. Also to J. Courtenay Lord, Esq., J. P., C. B. Russell, Esq., now appointed H.M. Chief Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools, T. D. Robertson, I.S.O.,the late Chief Inspector, and the Editor of The Certified Schools Gazette. Mary G. Barnett Clifton, June 191 3 CONTENTS Chapter page -' I. SOME CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY . I II. THE EVOLUTION OF INSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS . . . . l6 III. THE EXISTING SYSTEM OF REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS ..... 28 IV. THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE DELINQUENTS AND THE MEDICAL CARE OF THE SCHOOLS. 49^ V. THE SUPERINTENDENT AND THE STAFF OF REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS . 6 1 VL THE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND THE RE- LIGIOUS INSTRUCTION . . . • T^ Vn. boys' REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 85 VIII. GIRLS' REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 1 26 IX. THE WORK OF DAY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, SHORT- TERM INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, AND SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 15 ^ X. THE RESULTS OF THE TRAINING AND THE FUTURE OF THE SCHOOLS . . . • 163 XI. THE REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENTAL COM- MITTEE OF I9II 179 APPENDIX 203 BIBLIOGRAPHY 219 INDEX .221 vii INTRODUCTION THE care of destitute and necessitous children is in our country supervised by three public departments — the Home Office, the Local Government Board (the Boards of Guardians form part of its system), and the Board of Education and its local authorities. These three departments overlap and interfere with each other ; their principles of administra- tion and their treatment of the young differ fundamentally. Not one of them has proved so conspicuous a success as to admit of its superseding the others and being made uni- versal. The idea of establishing one authority, acting on one theory and one method, is a dream of the future still. Besides these three public departments, there are an infinity of private voluntary associations, which get hold of derelict children, generally with the best intentions and from the most laudable motives, and bring them up upon a system of their own devising, tempered always by the financial necessity of obtaining sufficient support from ix X YOUNG DELINQUENTS the charitable public to make both ends meet. Conspicuous amongst these are those excellent institutions, Dr. Barnardo's Homes and the " Waifs and Strays." If a judicial body were appointed to investigate all these varied methods and decide which was the best, it is difficult to conjecture to which the prize would be awarded ; probably not to one of the three public departments in its collective capacity. There are excellent Industrial Schools ; most efficient schools of some of the Boards of Guardians ; successful schools of the Education Department. But among the works of private enterprise more excellent ways might be dis- covered, at least so far as the interests of the children were concerned. But such an inquiry and adjudication is not the object of Miss Barnett's book. It is a very clear and detailed account of the Home Office System as revealed by the last of many Commissions and countless Committees that have sat upon it. The majority of the Committee do not seem to place their recom- mendations very high ; they appear to be of the opinion that the Home Office Schools are only temporary institutions, to form part hereafter of the general national education of the country, and to be placed as such under the Education Department. Theoretically there is much to be said in favour of this INTRODUCTION xi view. To attribute any sort of criminality to most of the inmates of the Home Office Schools is a mistake and an injustice. In the jurisprudence of many foreign countries, notably in Germany, children are incapable of crime, and are not treated as criminals as a conse- quence of any undesirable acts which they have done. Many of those who in this country are "committed" by the authority of "justices" are as innocent as babes ; they are of tender age, and as irresponsible as infants. It is by their environment only, which they cannot help, that all the mischief of their condition has been produced ; and if that can be changed they will grow up as good as the best. They do not deserve to be exposed to any sort of prison taint. It is not unnatural, therefore, that there should be a general trend of opinion amongst those who take a wide view of national educa- tion in favour of transferrinof the schools of the Home Office to the Education Department. But there is in the world at present an opposite and antagonistic tendency. It is the opinion of many that reliance should be placed upon magistrates, police, and those who administer the criminal law, for the reform of the deserted and abandoned children — "delinquents," as Miss Barnett calls them. This tendency cannot be ignored. It prevails as the established practice throughout the United States of America, and xii YOUNG DELINQUENTS in our self-governing Dominions. It is based, not on sentiment or theory, but upon considera- tions of practical experiment and proved ad- ministrative efficiency. Magistrates and police- men understand derelict children better, and have proved themselves more efficient in reaching and dealing with them than education authorities and attendance officers : so society uses them in spite of theoretical objection. The Home Office administration will evidently last for a long time to come. It is therefore important that social reformers should know accurately what the system is, and that is what Miss Barnett's book tells us. There is also a description of the reforms which the Committee recommend, not with the hope of perpetuating the system, but to make it tolerable enough to last for some time to come. The recommendations of Commissions and Committees generally have the fate of being put in a pigeon-hole in a Government office and there forgotten. If any part of the advice given by this Committee is actually put into force it will so far give the Home Office Schools a new lease of life. The recommenda- tions are not heroic or drastic, and leave the proved weaknesses of the schools mitigated but not extinguished. The performance of this great National Service is still to be based on Voluntary Effort. Managers will be practically INTRODUCTION xiii self-appointed, and financially responsible. How they are still to be induced to undertake such obligations, or how local authorities are to be made, in default of charity, to take up the task, does not appear. As the scheme will cost money, many rural authorities, and some urban, will not take the thing up unless obliged. Flogging boys and girls is to go on as heretofore, subject to some sanctimonious observations of the Committee as to the uselessness of the proceeding ; one solitary member alone, Mr. Howard Whitehouse, objects to this peculiarly British practice. There is to be provision for a further extension of officialism — a special branch of the Home Office, with its own officers, an advisory committee of " experts," and the disposal of a variable " grant " which will keep a hold on managers through their want of money. There is to be a double inspection by Home Office and Education Inspectors which may lead to greater efficiency or to all the evils of double government. There are at the same time excellent and valuable suggestions for better medical care and supervision, for more activity on the part of local authorities, for the improvements of the conditions and the prospects of the teaching staff, for better industrial training and general education, which could at once be xiv YOUNG DELINQUENTS carried into practice to the great advantage of the pupils — all of which are described in Miss Barnett's book, and will interest all readers who desire the welfare of the children under Home Office care. JOHN E. GORST YOUNG DELINQUENTS CHAPTER I SOME CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY A — Environment and Association. 1. Moral and Physical Efifects of a Town Environment. 2. Parental Neglect arising from the Stress of Town Life. 3. Lack of Discipline in the Home. 4. Influence of Cheap Literature and the Cinematograph. 5. Prevalence of Gambling and Betting. B— Changes in Economic and Social Conditions. 1. Effects of the Factory System. 2. Infringement of By-laws. 3. Juvenile Street-trading. C — Heredity. 1. Dependence on Environment and Association. 2. Some Effects of Physical Heredity. A — Environment and Association RECENT investigations have clearly shown that not only does juvenile delinquency increase in direct proportion to population, but it has also shown that the further a growing child is removed from the health-giving in- fluences of the country, the more frequent are his lapses into mischief and crime. One of the most apparent effects of town life upon the character of a child is seen in a lack of rever- 2 YOUNG DELINQUENTS ence. Country dwellers, from an early age, are witnesses of the works of Nature, and therefore their subconscious mind is imbued with a spirit of reverence. But the townsfolk, from babyhood, are far more familiar with the works of man, stamped with a grim uniformity ; their wits may be sharper, but often it is an unhealthy sharpness. If the country dwellers lack in this respect, they gain much from the repose and beauty of their surroundings, which have a lasting influence on their lives. It is largely owing to the fact that there is so little to call forth reverence in the life of a town child that the world is beginning to say " he has no fear of God or man." With many children, from an early age, the strongest temptation is to steal ; but whereas in the country the temptations are practically limited to robbing apple trees, in the towns they are continually increasing. In addition to this, the village child has usually " the restraining eye" of his neighbours upon him, his acts being watched and criticized by every one ; but the town child may commit many offences before he is distinguished from the myriads of his fellows. Hungry and cold, he is attracted by the glare and the warmth of the shops ; idle and listless, he gazes at the brilliant posters of music hall and picture palace ; ragged and unkempt, he sees an incessant procession EFFECTS OF BAD ENVIRONMENT 3 of well-to-do people going past : what wonder that his spirit rebels, and he longs to have some share in the good things of life ? And so he falls imperceptibly into beggary and theft. A high death-rate, a lamentable feature of town life, is another cause of juvenile delin- quency. Large families lose one or both parents at an early age, and where the parents survive they often lose all vitality and sink into a chronic condition of apathy.^ It is needless to say that the children who live in such an environment have a hard struggle for existence ; even if they are weakly the streets are their only playground. Compulsory medical ex- amination in the Elementary Schools, and the supplementary work of the Care Committees, are gradually securing for such children the necessary medical attention. Apart from attending to their physical disabilities, they will tend to lessen the number of delinquents, for it is now recognized that physical and moral ailments are closely allied ; a child, for example, with adenoids, or even with decayed teeth, may have a perverted moral sense which will be corrected by proper medical treatment. In London, no young delinquent appears before ' The family circumstances of 1,897 of the 3,475 children committed to Industrial Schools during 191 1 show that 54 per cent, were orphaned or deserted. 4 YOUNG DELINQUENTS the magistrates until inquiries have been made of the Care Committee as to the child's health and family history. The result of the trial is then included in the Care Committee's records. Tuberculosis Dispensaries are still further assisting in the work of caring for delicate children, by discovering those who have been in contact with consumptives and are already infected. Such children are not permitted to attend school, and they inevitably run wild in the streets. Where this is the case it is urgently necessary to provide Open-air Schools in order to protect them morally as well as physically. Parental neglect, which is the cause of so much delinquency, is largely due to the stress of town life. The father comes home each day tired from his work, and finds the elder children already seeking their evening's amusement elsewhere ; the squalor and close quarters of the single living-room have no attraction for them. The younger children are either put to bed or sent to play in the streets, in order to be out of his way. Thus it comes about that the boys and girls grow up, as a rule, with a very hazy idea of their male parent. The mother is the bulwark of the family ; she fights all its battles and slaves to make both ends meet ; but, because she is so often physically inefficient, and as a result morally weak, the children think PARENTAL NEGLECT 5 her chief function is to supply their bodily needs ; and, unless anyone happens to say anything derogatory of her, they are often extraordinarily indifferent to her true position. An ever- increasing family, which is such a usual feature of the poorest homes, is an additional cause of neglect. The elder boys are especially affected, as it is they who have to leave home to make room for the new-comers. They are usually driven to take refuge in crowded apartments or common lodging houses, where the atmosphere does much to undermine their characters. Children of tramps are some of the most seriously neglected. The " life of the road " may have its attractions for the parents, but it does untold harm to the family who trudge behind, managing to elude the Education Authorities for months at a time. There is little doubt that the moral education suffers as seriously/ Such children grow up with even less discipline than their contemporaries in the towns. But it is only too apparent that those who suffer most severely from neglect come from injtemperate homes ; it is obvious that where the parents are given to drink their consciences are effectually dulled, and they make litde or no effort to provide their family with suitable food and shelter. Apart from wilful neglect, which happens comparatively rarely, much of the evil is due to the parents' 6 YOUNG DELINQUENTS carelessness and ignorance, and their lack of intelligent interest in the moral well-being of their growing children. Many of them fail to realize that child-life to-day is very different from what it was in the past. One of the most marked characteristics of the age is a growing spirit of independence in the children and a corresponding slackening of control in the parents. All classes are per- meated, but it is especially apparent among the less educated. In such homes there is in- cessant nagging, and what is permitted one day is vociferously forbidden the next. Kisses and words of endearment are not infrequently punctuated with curses and blows. But if one of the children is ill, or " gets into trouble," nothing can be too good for that child. The magistrates are led to believe that the young delinquent who stands before them is a paragon of virtue, and they are told repeatedly that " He is always a good boy at home and never gives no trouble." It is inevitable that since there is so litde to call forth their respect, the children will often be ignorant of the most elementary principles of obedience, and will be content to live their own lives in- dependently of any control. Therefore in the Juvenile Courts it is no unusual occurrence for parents to admit that they have no authority over the ir own children. Recently, during an LACK OF PARENTAL v^ONTROL 7 afternoon session, a father told the magistrates that he " could do nothing " with his girl of 1 1 ; and a mother gave evidence against her own little boy of 8, who had stolen four shillings from his father. In both these cases it was only too apparent that the parents were anxious to get rid of all responsibility for their child. Occasionally if the magistrates ask for the parents' co-operation, they are told that " the child has had a good thrashing, and he says he won't do it again." There is seldom any attempt to control him by more reasonable and humane methods. When, in addition to this, it is remembered that a number of the children who are brought before the Courts have undoubtedly been encouraged to steal by their parents, it is not altogether surprising that they should lose any respect they might have had for their natural guardians. Love of adventure, especially an adventure which has the added zest of risk, is the cause of much delinquency amongst the boy population, and it should not be forgotten that in these cases a certain amount of pluck and endurance is implied. Such escapades are often the result of indulging in the thrilling adventures recorded in much of the cheap literature, which foster the boys' innate love of mischief and fire their imagination. There is little doubt that at the present day the cinematograph is sometimes an 8 YOUNG DELINQUENTS additional cause of wrong-doing, for not only are the moving pictures a direct incentive to crime, demonstrating, for instance, how a theft could be perpetrated, but children of all ages are staying away from school in order to attend the performances. Time after time the boys and girls brought before the magistrates for stealing confess that they have spent the greater part of the money on " the pictures." It has been found that children will wait outside the music halls and beg the audience for their programmes in order to sell them again, and when this is accomplished they run off to the nearest picture house with their pennies. A powerful article recently appeared in The Times on " The Abuse of the Cinematograph," and the following e-xtracts show what untold harm it is now doing to the juvenile population. " Films depicting crimes — burglaries, robberies, suicides, and so forth — are more powerful for evil than the worst of the sensational literature which is so often deplored. There is a copious supply of mere horrors — massacres, railway accidents, motor-car smashes, fires on land and sea — all ' faked,' and even more blood-curdling than the realities they are supposed to represent. Children feast upon these exaggerated horrors when they ought to be going to bed ; they get home too tired and excited to sleep, and are unfit for their school-work next day. A census GAMBLING AND BETTING 9 taken one day in Liverpool showed that there were over 13,000 children between the ages of 4 and 14 drinking in these horrors." ^ Gambling and betting are prevalent in many of the large towns, and since boys are always anxious to appear to be men, they sometimes follow their example heedless of consequences; the large number of newspapers which publish sporting news makes it very easy for them. Mr. Alexander Paterson, in his most helpful and suggestive book, writes that there are three clear ways in which betting spoils the life of a working-class boy : " Firstly, it costs him more than he can afford, for on a year's betting every boy loses. Secondly, it produces an unhealthy craving for excitement, which makes him a bad worker. Thirdly, it brings inevitably with it a flashy material order of life, which weakens the hold on moral principle and excludes the spirit of religion." ^ Boys' and Girls' Clubs are doing a great work in affording counter-attractions to the streets, and in providing healthy outlets for the natural energy of the younger members of the population. The Summer Camps are especially helpful in creating healthier minds and bodies. It is now not an uncommon sight in some districts of the great cities to see boys in • Times ^ April 11, 191 3. Across the Bridges," Alexander Paterson. s « 10 YOUNG DELINQUENTS running clothes trying to " keep in condition,"^ or perhaps groups of small boys, carrying staffs, going off to the nearest fields " to scout," all of them having the glimmerings of the responsi- bilities of citizenship in their minds. B — Changes in Economic and Social Conditions Previous to the Industrial Revolution the life of an ordinary working-class family was comparatively simple, but with the rapid growth of the factory system their life became more complex. Children of a tender age had to supplement their parents' earnings, and although the efforts of Lord Shaftesbury and others saved them eventually from many physical and moral evils, it was many years before the State realized that it would have to supply the train- ing the parents were unable to give. By the Education Act of 1870 the life of the working- class child was again revolutionized, but, although this second revolution gave the children education, it could not restore to them the normal home-life of which they had been deprived. As the author of " Across the Bridges " points out, the school teachers are the children's best hope. Upon them falls the 1 « Across the Bridges," Alexander Paterson. INFRINGEMENT OF BY-LAWS 11 main responsibility of building up character and strengthening powers of self-control. But they are expected to have completed this work by the time the boys and girls are 14, at which age they, and their parents, believe education is ended. The parents soon realize that their children's earnings are a necessary item on the family exchequer, and therefore treat them with more consideration. The boys and girls, on their part, revel in the newly acquired sense of independence, and demand still further concessions, gradually throwing off the last remnants of control. A fruitful cause of delinquency, which has recently developed, is seen in the infringement of the increasing number of by-laws. The exuberant spirits of a boy must find some outlet, and what may be entirely justifiable in the country districts is often a constant source of danger in the crowded thoroughfares of the city. Numbers of boys appear before the magistrates week after week for playing foot- ball in the streets ; usually they are cautioned, but if it is a second offence some small fine is exacted. It is to be hoped that local authorities will soon see the wisdom of pro- viding sufficient playgrounds, and open spaces, within easy access of all young citizens in our large towns who need the benefits of strenuous physical exercise. 12 YOUNG DELINQUENTS During 191 1, 605 children were brought before the Birmingham Juvenile Court for non-indictable offences, including : 132 Playing football in the streets. 43 Gambling. 34 Wilful damage. 64 Disorderly conduct. A social change which has been an additional cause of juvenile delinquency is that of the great increase of juvenile street-trading. It is physi- cally harmful inasmuch as it involves running about the streets in all weathers, usually carrying a heavy bundle of papers ; and it is morally harmful because it pays the youthful street-trader to be ragged and to look pathetic. Boys who would scorn to wear ragged clothes at any other time have been known to buy them from some old-clothes shop for this one purpose. A Departmental Committee was appointed in 1909 to inquire into the whole subject, and it came to the conclusion, amongst other things, that "the youthful street-trader was exposed to some of the worst moral risks," and also that " street-trading tends to produce a restless disposition, and a dislike and often a disability for any regular employment." From the evidence laid before the Committee there was nothing to prove that the children take to it because of the economic necessity of the HEREDITY 13 home, but rather because it is an easy and quick way of earning enough to enable them to attend picture palaces and other places of entertainment. The Chief Constable of Edin- burgh, at the Conference of Reformatory and Industrial Schools and Refuge Societies held in June 191 1, said : " One of the greatest con- tributory causes to youthful depravity is the constant association with what can well be described as the street-life of our great cities. Two-thirds of the children passing through the Courts during the last thirty years have been associated with street-trading." C — Heredity Heredity is a vast subject and one upon which there is great variety of opinion ; it is, therefore, not possible here to do more than indicate some of its more obvious effects. There can be little doubt that a certain number of children are born with tendencies to develop into criminals, the development of these ten- dencies depending to a large extent on the conditions under which they live during their early youth. But, inasmuch as there are no adequate means of discovering where heredity ends and imitation begins, it is not possible to form an accurate estimate of their separate effect. Dr. Morrison, in " Juvenile Offenders," 14 YOUNG DELINQUENTS points out that in the majority of cases the mental characteristics of the parents when not inherited by the children are acquired by them. He believes that the criminal calling descends by apprenticeship, and not as a rule by parent- hood. Recent investigations have been able to prove that the children of intemperate or feeble- minded parents often develop very distinct criminal tendencies. The notorious case of the Jukes family is a vivid illustration of this truth. Jukes was born in America in 1720 ; he was a drunkard and too lazy to work, and his direct descendants are said to have cost the general public j^ 2 50,000. The influences of environment have been proved to be the most powerful cause of delin- quency. Heredity is not believed to account for more than one-fifth of the entire number of juvenile delinquents. It is generally admitted that if it were possible to eradicate slum areas, the number of delinquents would be greatly diminished ; the streets would have less attrac- tion if the children had better homes. Better housing, however, is only one of many things which will contribute towards the diminution of delinquency. It must always be remembered that a child seldom breaks the law owing to a single cause. A lack of self-control on its own part coupled with the economic necessity of the nome and the influence of undesirable com- THE USUAL CAUSES OF DELINQUENCY 15 panions are some of the more common causes, but experience shows that "juvenile deHnquents are the focus of a number of influences — malnutrition, parental incompetency, environ- ment, association and criminal tendencies." ^ > "Child Problems" Mangold. CHAPTER II THE EVOLUTION OF INSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS A — The First Organized Attempts to deal with Juvenile Delin- quency otherwise than by Imprisonment. 1. Founding of the Marine Society. 2. Founding of the Philanthropic Society. B — Parliamentary Inquiries and Royal Commissions. C — The work of Individual Men and Women. 1. Lord Shaftesbury. 2. Miss Mary Carpenter. 3. John Pounds. 4. Dr. Guthrie. 5. Sheriff Watson. D — The First Reformatory School Acts. E — Departmental Committee of 1896. F— The Children Act of 1908. A — The First Organized Attempts to Deal with Juvenile Delinquency Otherwise than by Imprisonment LESS than one hundred years ago numbers of little children were thrown into jail with vile adult criminals, and were often sen- tenced to death for offences so petty that to-day they would hardly justify the mildest form of probationary treatment. Society gradually realized that it was creating criminals rather 16 PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRIES 17 than reforming juvenile delinquents, and the way was thus prepared for more enlightened methods. The first organized attempt to deal with juvenile delinquency was made in 1756 with the founding of the Marine Society, " for the purpose of clothing landsmen and boys for the use of the king's ship, and as an expedient to provide. for poor boys who might become a nuisance." The training-ship Warspiie, which still exists, was the outcome of this movement. In 1788 the Philanthropic Society was founded, " for the protection of poor children, and the offsprings of convicted felons ; and for the reformation of those who have themselves been engaged in criminal practices." The same Society opened at Redhill, in 1840, the first Boys' Reformatory School. B — Parliamentary Inquiries and Royal Commissions At intervals from 1811-19 Parliamentary Inquiries were held, and although the imprison- ment of young children was condemned, it was to no purpose. As late as 1833 a boy of 9 was sentenced to death, but not executed, for stealing 2d. worth of paint, and two boys of 15, after fifty-one days in jail before trial. 18 YOUNG DELINQUENTS were transported for seven years for stealing a pair of boots. ^ Public opinion was gradually roused to the disgrace and futility of these methods of dealing with youthful offenders. In 1834 a Royal Commission was appointed, and " the more summary treatment of children was recommended for the safety of the king- dom." Consequently Parkhurst Prison, on the Isle of Wight, was allotted to boys under 18. Whilst at the prison they were kept in chains, and when at work they were guarded by warders with loaded rifles. They were eventually sent to Australia with a " ticket of leave " if their conduct was considered suffi- ciently satisfactory. C — The Work of Individual Men and Women Meanwhile individual men and women, notably Lord Shaftesbury and Miss Mary Carpenter, had done much to draw public attention to the deplorable condition of vast numbers of children, especially in the manu- facturing districts. John Pounds, who died in 1839, was another pioneer. He used to gather round him, in his shoemaker's shop at Ports- mouth, some of the incorrigible children in the neighbourhood, and his singular influence had 1 " The Making of the Criminal," C. B. Russell. RAGGED SCHOOLS 19 a remarkable effect. The first Ragged School was opened by Dr. Guthrie at Edinburgh in 1846. A few years previously a School of Industry had been founded at Dundee by Sheriff Watson. This institution is said to have been the beginning of the whole system of Reformatory and Industrial Schools. In England the Industrial Schools were directly an outcome of the Ragged Schools, and were at first frequently mentioned in the same connexion. The first so-called Industrial School was established by the Middlesex jus- tices at Feltham by a private Act in 1854 ; except in point of age, this school was rather a Reformatory than an Industrial School, only admitting convicted children between the ages of 7 and 14. Till i860 all Schools of Industry received grants from the Education Department, but in that year they were trans- ferred to the charge of the Home Office. A Select Committee of the Lords, largely due to the efforts of Lord Shaftesbury, Miss Mary Carpenter, Mr. Davenport HiH, and Sheriff Watson, had been h^ld in 1847, and conclusive and powerful testimony was then given to the worse than uselessness of prisons for juvenile offenders. Much emphasis was laid on the "need for "good Reformatory Schools, conducted on Christian principles, where there is a wise union of kindness and 20 YOUiNG DELINQUENTS restraint. . . . Such schools must be supported and controlled by the State ; . . . and since juvenile delinquency usually originates in parental neglect, every parent should be charge- able for the maintenance of a child thrown by crime on the care of the State." ^ In 185 1 the first conference on Reformatory and Industrial Schools was held in Birmincrham, and as a result several new voluntary schools were established. The Kingswood Reformatory, Bristol, was founded by Miss Carpenter and Mr. Russell Scott, and the Saltley Reformatory was founded by Mr. Adderley, afterwards Lord Norton. Stoke Farm Reformatory was the outcome of Mr. Joseph Sturge's private effort to deal with sixteen of the worst lads in Birmingham, whom he placed in charge of a working shoemaker. D — The First Reformatory School Acts The following year Mr. Adderley moved for a Committee in the House of Commons, and Miss Carpenter and Mr. Davenport Hill were the first to give evidence. As a result of the Committee, the first Reformatory School Act was passed in 1854, enabling schools to obtain a certificate if reported efficient by the Inspector ' Proposition laid before the Select Committee. (" Life of Mary Carpenter.") ■ THE ACT OF 1861 21 of Prisons, and it also authorized the Courts to send them children under i6, provided they had been sentenced to not less than fourteen days' preliminary imprisonment. The first girls' Reformatory School was opened at Bristol in the same year. By an Act of 1861, the classes of children who might be sent to Industrial Schools were considerably increased, while an Act of 1866 consolidated and amended previous Acts, and was substantially still in force till the passing of the Children Act in [908. The most noticeable changes were that by Section 4, a special Inspector of Reformatories was estab- lished ; by Section 12, rules were required to be made by the Secretary of State for the government of the Reformatory ; and by Sec- tion 14, the important limitation of age was introduced, prohibiting an offender under 10 from being sent to a Reformatory unless under very special conditions. In 1876, as an amendment to this Act, Lord Sandown pro- posed that School Boards should be authorized to establish Day Industrial Feeding Schools " for those children whose education is neg- lected by their parents, or who are found wandering or in bad company." In 1884 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the condition of all Certified Schools, the principal recommendations being : (i) That the 22 YOUNG DELINQUENTS profits of the inmates' labour should be a secondary consideration, and premiums to the governor or staff on the amount of such profits should be discontinued. (2) That the transfer to the Education Department of the edu- cational inspection would be desirable. (3) That greater care was needed in the return of the results. The Act of 1893 introduced considerable changes ; the minimum age for admission to Reformatories was raised to 12, unless the child had been previously con- victed, and the age at which release was obligatory was reduced from 21 to 19. Per- mission was granted to the Courts to send a child to a Reformatory without previous im- prisonment, and by the Act of 1899 this became law. E — The Departmental Committee of 1896 The Departmental Committee of 1896 directed their criticism principally against the industrial training. They found that much of it had litde educational value, and that often it was directed to the moral reform of the children rather than to the essential end of enabling them to earn good wages from the moment of their discharge. With the girls' schools it was felt that there was great need of " a large diminution of drudgery in household work and rough washing." The DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE OF 1896 23 report on the elementary education was not satisfactory. It was found that although the teachers were painstaking and assiduous, the pay and conditions offered were not such as to attract the best teachers. It was recommended that in the future the head teacher of any school with over thirty children should be fully certifi- cated. The Committee also recommended that wherever possible the children in Industrial Schools should attend the Elementary Schools, such a policy having produced excellent results in the Poor Law Schools. In matters of disci- pline it was considered that there was often an excessive dependence on rules and supervision, and therefore the children had little opportunity for cultivating their individuality or self-reliance. The Committee also considered that the exist- ing classification of results was inadequate, and that the results claimed by the Schools were often far more satisfactory than was really the case. F — The Children Act of 1908 The effect of the Children Act has been far- reaching in matters concerning the welfare of the child population. Previous Acts were re- pealed and many important alterations and additions were made, and some of the most important were those dealing with juvenile ) J > ) >> 24 YOUNG DELINQUENTS delinquency. The Act is divided into six parts as follows : Part I. Infant Life Protection. ,, IL The Prevention of Cruelty to Chil- dren. II L Juvenile Smoking. IV. Reformatory and Industrial Schools. V. Juvenile Offenders. VI. Miscellaneous and General. Part V of the Act clearly indicates the pre- ventative rather than the punitive treatment of juvenile crime. No longer is it possible to commit a child under 14 to prison, and only in a very few instances may a " young person " of over 14 and under 16 be so committed, namely, when he is of so unruly a character that he cannot be detained in a place of deten- tion, or that he is of so depraved a character that he is not a fit inmate for any institution. It is interesting to see the result this has had on the juvenile prison population. In 1856 the number of children in prison under 12 was : 1,674 boys and 316 girls. The number of young persons of 14 and under 16 was : boys 10,134, girls 1,857. In 191 1 there were no children under 14 in prison, and the number of young persons of 14 and under 16 was : boys 20, girls i. In 1875, in default of paying a fine, a girl of THE CHILDREN ACT 25 13 was sent to prison for seven days for wheel- ing a perambulator on the pavement in a fashionable thoroughfare. She was found in the local jail by the visiting magistrate, who happily realized the cruel irony of such a punishment and paid her fine. If such children were sent to prison it is not surprising that the juvenile prison population had assumed such alarming proportions, nor is it surprising that there was such a marked increase in juvenile crime. Section I II of the Act directs that a Court of Summary Jurisdiction when hearing a charge against a child or young person (i.e. persons aged under 14 years and aged 14 to 16 years respectively) shall take the case in a Juvenile Court, or in a different room, or at a different time from the ordinary sittings of the Court. The main principle is to keep the child offender separate from the adult criminal, and for the Courts to be regarded as agencies for rescue as well as for the punishment of children. The following are some of the principal statistics for the Juvenile Courts during 1910 and 191 1. In 1910 there were 34,087 youthful offenders (16,953 children and 17,134 young persons) brought before the Courts. Of these 16 per cent, were acquitted, orders without conviction were made against 45 per cent,, and only 39 per cent, were convicted. 26 YOUNG DELINQUENTS In 191 1 there were 33,744 youthful offenders (17,753 children and 15,991 young persons) brought before the Courts. Of these 15 per cent, were acquitted, orders without conviction were made against 45 per cent., and only 40 per cent, were convicted. Those who were found culpable or who were convicted were sentenced as follows : CHILDREN FOUND CULPABLE Dismissed (in some cases parents were fined) Ordered to enter into recognizances Placed under probation Committed to Industrial Schools Placed in the care of relatives, etc. Total 1910. 7,912 2,576 3,568 1,044 35 15,^35 igii. 7,987 2,187 3,454 1,124 13 Total . 14,765 YOUNG PERSONS CONVICTED Imprisonment .... Confinement in Places of Detention Committed to Reformatory Schools Ordered to be whipped (males) Fined Ordered to enter into recognizances Otherwise disposed of Total 90 67 35 45 1,143 1,047 1,562 1,579 10,124 10,226 77 96 47 Total 64 13,078 • 13,124 These statistics include the " young persons " who were tried in other Courts either because they were charged jointly with adults, or be- cause they were supposed to be above 16 but THE CHILDREN ACT 27 under 17. In 191 1 only 20 of the 6"] im- prisoned were under 16 ; whereas in the preceding year, of the 90 who were imprisoned, no less than 51 were under 16. The large number of " Fines " illustrates one of the principal objects of the Act, which aims "in no case to lessen or weaken the sense of responsi- bility of either the child or its parents. With the younger delinquents the parents usually bear the burden of the fine ; in the years under consideration, 13 per cent, of the fines were paid by the parents ; those delinquents who are of working age may be compelled to make restitution for any damage that they have done.^ There can be no better epitome of the work the Children Act is accomplishing than the following words which were spoken in the House of Commons during the debates on the Bill. " We want to say to the child that if the world or the world's law has not been his friend in the past, it shall be now. We say that it is the duty of this Parliament, and that this Parliament is determined to lift if possible and rescue him, to shut the prison door, arid" to open the door of hope." ^ \, ' 186 Hans. Pari. Deb. 4th series, 1262. ' Criminal Statistics (Part I) 1910, 191 1. CHAPTER III THE EXISTING SYSTEM OF INSTITUTIONAL TREAT- MENT FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS A — Definition of" Reformatory" and " Industrial" School. B — Children Liable to be sent to the Schools. C — Authorities Responsible for their Maintenance. D — Receipts and Expenditure for the Schools during 191 1. E — Statistics of the Number of Schools and the Number of Children under Detention. F — Organization of the Schools. 1. Certificates and Inspection. 2. Duties and Powers of the Managers. G — Difference between Reformatory and Industrial Schools. 1. Age. 2. Offence. 3. " Conviction " to a Reformatory School. A — Definition of a " Reformatory " and an "Industrial" School (The Children Act, Part IV) THE expression 'Reformatory School' means a school for the industrial training of youthful offenders, in which youthful offenders are lodged, clothed, and fed as well as taught. " The expression ' Industrial School ' means a school for the industrial training of children, in which children are lodged, clothed, and fed as well as taught.^ ' Section 54. 28 CHILDREN LIABLE TO BE COMMITTED 29 *• The expression ' Certified School ' means a Reformatory or Industrial School which is certified in accordance with Part IV of the Children Act." B — Children Liable to be sent to Reforma- tory AND Industrial Schools Any youthful offender who is over 12 and under 16 may be sent to a Reformatory School if he is convicted of an offence punishable in the case of an adult with penal servitude or imprisonment, provided that he is not in addition sentenced to imprisonment. (See Appendix A.) The class of children who can be sent to Industrial Schools is much larger ; they come under six categories which are enumerated in Section 58 of the Act. The first sub-section includes all children under 14 who are found begging or wandering, or are the children of tramps and ne'er-do-weels, who have no proper guardianship provided for them, and for whom home-life is non-existent. This sub-section includes, in addition, children who are taken from immoral surroundings. During 1911 3,053 children were sent to Industrial Schools under Section 58 of the Act, and of these 55 per cent, were committed under the above sub-section. Sub-sections 2 and 3 deal with the children 30 YOUNG DELINQUENTS who have committed offences which in the case of an adult would be punishable with imprison- ment or penal servitude. If the Court before which the children are brought considers it expedient, and if, in the case of a child over 12, it is a first conviction, they may be sent to an Industrial School, provided that the Managers are willing to receiv^e them. Sub-sections 4 and 5 deal respectively with children who are unmanageable in their own homes, or in any Poor Law institution. Such childrenas these maybe sent to Industrial Schools if the parents, or the guardians, can satisfy the magistrates that the child in question is beyond their control. There are very few children committed to the schools under this sub- section. Sub-section 6 deals with children who fail to attend school regularly. Any local education authority can bring such children before the magistrates ; for the purpose of enforcing an attendance order they may be sent to an Indus- trial School. (See Appendix B.) C — Authorities Responsible for the Main- tenance OF the Children in Reforma- tory AND Industrial Schools The cost of maintenance in both classes of schools varies considerably, owing to the COST OF MAINTENANCE 31 different local conditions, the numbers of the school, and the profit made by the industrial departments. In Reformatories the average cost of each boy is ^26 i^-. per annum, and for girls it is ^25 is. In Industrial Schools the average cost for boys is £24. 2s., and for girls it is ^23. It will be seen by the following tables that the cost of maintenance is mainly shared by the local and central authorities ; profits from industrial departments, legacies and subscrip- tions being comparatively small. The Treasury grants to both classes of school vary according to the age and offence of the child : the highest grants are for children over 10 who have com- mitted some offence which would be punishable, in the case of an adult, with penal servitude or imprisonment. In the case of Industrial Schools the local education authority is required to make up the Treasury Grant to a certain amount, usually to 8^-. per head per week (i.e. the Treasury Grant being ^s. or 3.?, 6d., the Local Authority would make good the deficiency of 35-. or 4.S. 6d.). In the case of Reforma- tories any deficiency is met by the local police authority. The Treasury does not contribute towards the support of a child sent at the instance of the Guardians, nor to certain of the Education Act cases. Where the child belongs to a tramp, there 32 YOUNG DELINQUENTS is often difficulty in ascertaining which local authority is responsible for its maintenance. As a rule, if there is any real doubt, the authority which charges the child is responsible. If the child is charged with some offence by an authority other than that of his native place, the local authority, which is naturally responsible, has the power of expressing its opinion before the child is committed. The parents' contributions are paid direct to the Treasury ; the amount received during 191 1 was ^25,360, which is only 4 per cent, of the total receipts. It is of the utmost importance, wherever possible, that the parents should contribute towards the maintenance of their children, and legal proceedings may be taken against them if it is considered expe- dient. On the other hand, the Secretary of State may remit the whole or part of any payment from the parents if they are known to be in such circumstances that any con- tribution is impossible. By the Education Act of 1870, the Local Education Authorities were given power to establish Industrial Schools. In such cases they are responsible for the upkeep of the buildings and for all the details of management. At present only 22 of the existing 112 Indus- trial Schools are owned and managed by the local authorities, and of these 7 belong to METHODS OF FLNANCING THE SCHOOLS 33 the London C.C. The L.C.C. has also definite arrangements with 55 Industrial Schools and 24 Reformatories ; by these arrangements the Managers consent to have a certain number of L.C.C. children in the school, and in return they receive a definite grant per head. There are three grades of grants ; 75., 8^., gs. for girls, and Ss., gs., los. for boys. Should the L.C.C. Inspectors consider the school efficient in every way, it is given the top grant, but if this is not the case the Managers have to be content with less financial assistance until the necessary alterations are made ; on the other hand, if there is any considerable outlay as regards the buildings, the L.C.C. usually contributes something towards the expense. It also makes it a condition of their agreement that they shall be allowed to have a representative on the Committee of Managers. There is little doubt that at present the methods of financing the schools are radically wrong. A dependence on voluntary contri- butions is the cause of much that is least satisfactory in their condition. Not only is it necessary to resort to unworthy advertising, but it is difficult to ensure an " all round " education if there is need to supplement the school income by the young delinquent's earn- ings. Apart from these important considera- tions, the unstable financial condition of the 3 34 YOUNG DELINQUENTS schools means in many cases an underpaid staff and inadequate accommodation. Until they are freed from this serious embarrassment their work will be hampered in every direction. D — Receipts and Expenditure for the Schools during 1911 REFORMATORIES Receipts ' Treasury allowance .... Payments from county and borough rates Subscriptions, legacies, etc. Payments from voluntary associations . Sundries, interest on investments, etc. Profit on industrial departments, including hire of labour: England, ;^3,774 ; Scotland, ;^586 England. I 73.721 33,091 2,739 152 2,308 9,247 Scotland. 11,859 5,439 "3 753 1,587 1,087 Total ;^I2I,258 ;^20,838 Expenditure Officers' salaries and rations Food of inmates .... Clothing of inmates Rent of school premises and interest Disposal on discharge . Loss on industrial departments . Building and Capital Account Sundries, including furniture, rates, e Total . £ 28,651 27,435 13,361 3,443 5,439 1,366 8,834 34.291 4.457 4,646 2,561 477 6x8 2,166 6,670 i:i22,82o ;^2I,595 ' In addition to these receipts there is the "Reformatory Aid Grant " of ^8,000 per annum placed at the disposal of the Chief Inspector. AVERAGE COST OF MAINTENANCE 35 The amounts received from parents of juvenile offenders in Reformatory Schools for 1 9 1 1 were : I s. d. England and Wales . . . . 7,103 2 i Scotland 569 16 6 Total . . .;^7,672 18 7 The average cost of maintenance, including rent and expenses on disposal, and allowing the usual set-off for the profits of the labour of the inmates, was : For Boys' Reformatoriesin England, ^25 lOi"., and in Scotland, £26 i8i". For Girls' Reformatories in England, ^25 2s., and in Scotland, £2% \2s. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS Receipts England. Scotland. £ £. Treasury allowance 126,808 49,834 Payments from county and borough rates \ ,^. .,,^ t . «.- Payments from education authorities, etc. ) Payments from parochial authorities . . . 20,122 1,002 Subscriptions, legacies, etc. .... 21,091 7,613 Payments for voluntary inmates .... 7,109 3,629 Profits from industrial departments, including hire of labour: England, £,'i,yT2.; Scotland, ;^i,078 12,432 4,197 Total . . . ;^337,095 ;iC94.oi4 36 YOUNG DELINQUENTS Expenditure England. Scotland. £> £ Salaries 85,473 24,213 Food 82,500 24,761 Clothing 35,009 12,200 Rent 7,117 1.920 Disposal on discharge 12,067 2,281 Building and Capital Account .... 13,855 3,387 Loss on industrial department .... 2,258 133 Sundries, including furniture, rates, etc. . . 98,713 24,475 Total . . . £1^,6,992 ^93,370 The amounts received from parents of juvenile offenders in Industrial Schools for 191 1 were : £ s. d. England and Wales .... 13,480 19 9 Scotland 3,986 15 4 Total . . £\Ta(>7 is I The average cost of maintenance, including rent and expenses of disposal, and allowing the usual set-off for the profits of the labour of the inmates, was : For Boys' Industrial Schools in England, £2^ 2s., and in Scotland, £20 "js. For Girls' Industrial Schools in England, £2^^ 55., and in Scotland, £i<^ 2s. E — Statistics of the Number of Schools AND THE Number of Children under Detention The number of Reformatory Schools at the end of 1911 was 44, viz. 37 in England and STATISTICS OF SCHOOLS 37 7 in Scotland, with juveniles under detention as in the following table : Boys. Girls. Number of Schools. Under Deten- tion. Number of Schools. Under Deten- tion. England — Protestant . Roman Catholic Scotland — Protestant . Roman Catholic 23 4 4 I 3,716 818 434 243 8 2 2 398 91 Total . 32 5,211 12 642 Including — On licence In prison . Absconded — 1,042 3 40 — 48 I Total . — 1,085 — 49 Number actually in the schools — 4,126 — 593 The number of boys actually in the schools at the end of the previous year was 43 more, whilst that of the girls was 3 more. The admissions to Reformatory Schools in 1911 were 1,380, viz. 1,223 boys and 157 girls, showing a decrease of 77 boys and 5 girls as compared with 19 10. The average number of boys in Reforma- tories is about 130, and of girls it is 50. The number of Industrial Schools at the end of 191 1 was 145, viz. 113 (including 12 special schools) in England and 32 (including 1 special 38 YOUNG DELLNQUENTS school) in Scotland, with juveniles under de- tention as in the following table : Boys. Girls. Number of Schools. Under Deten- tion. Number of Schools. Under Deten- tion. England — Protestant Roman Catholic . Jewish . Scotland — Protestant Roman Catholic . 52 15 I 13 3 6,972 2,312 83 2,263 29 ID I 12 3 2,012 914 59 952 515 Total 84 12,180 55 4,452 Including — On licence . Absconding . In working homes 757 28 155 — 312 7 8 Total — 940 — 327 Number actually in the schools ' 11,240 — 4. J 25 The admissions to Industrial Schools in 19 11 were 3,475, viz. 2,607 boys and 868 girls, showing an increase of 206 boys and an in- crease of 3 girls as compared with 19 10. The average number in boys' Industrial Schools is 140, and in girls' it is 80. F — Organization of the Schools Certification and Inspection By section 45 of the Children Act the Secretary of State may,, upon the application CERTIFICATION OF SCHOOLS 39 of the Managers of any Reformatory or In- dustrial School, direct the Chief Inspector to examine into the condition and regulations of the school, and its fitness for the reception of youthful offenders. If the report of the school is satisfactory it is placed amongst the ranks of the Certified Schools. The Secretary of State has power at any time to withdraw the certificate if he is dissatisfied with the condition or management of the school ; in such an instance as this the Managers would be given six months' notice. If, however, the defects of the school can be remedied the school need only be closed for such time as is specified in the notice sent to the Managers. Managers wishing to resign the certificate of the school must give at least one month's notice to the Secretary of State ; in the case of the withdrawal or resignation of the certi- ficate the children are sent to some other Certified School. The same power of certi- fication is attached to Auxiliary Homes and Hostels which may be organized in connection with any Certified School or group of schools, and for purposes of certification any such home is considered to be part of the school. The Secretary of State appoints a Chief In- spector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools, and as many assistant inspectors as the Treasury may approve, and as are necessary 40 YOUNG DELINQUENTS for efficient work. The assistant inspectors have many of the powers and duties of the Chief Inspector, but they always act under his direction ; at present the Chief Inspector is assisted by six inspectors and assistant in- spectors, one of whom is a woman. Since August 1 910 there has been a part-time medical adviser, who occasionally visits the schools. Every Certified School must be inspected at least once a year, and it is usual for the in- spectors to pay a surprise visit as well. The work of the inspectors is extremely responsible and difficult ; they need to have a remarkable insight, not only into external matters of cleanliness and hygiene, but also into the characters of the staffj and of the boys and girls. They must be able to detect the least sign of repression or discontent, and yet at the same time always be willing to enter into the various difficulties of the Super- intendents and their assistants. It was recently said that it is not so much a case of inspecting as "a question of sympathizing, counselling, and of friendship." ' Duties and Powers of Managers Section 53 of the Children Act deals with the liability of Managers. Once that they have consented to accept a child, or youthful * Farewell presentation to the late Chief Inspector. BOARDING OUT 41 offender, they are responsible for his welfare as long as he is detained in the school. They have also the power to board out a child under 8 until the age of lo years, and with the consent of the Secretary of State for as much longer as they think advisable in the interests of the child. The numbers dealt with since the passing of the Children Act are as follows : 1909 2 girls, I boy. 1910 I girl, 6 boys. 191 1 none, 8 boys. In 191 1, 143 of the boys and girls admitted to Industrial Schools were under 6 years of age, and 328 were from 6 to 8 years of age. These figures show how little Managers have availed themselves of this power of " boarding- out " the younger children. It is to be hoped that in the future they will realize the natural advantages of family life, and endeavour to find suitable foster-homes. In all cases where the child is boarded out he is considered to be under detention in the school, and may be recalled at any time if the foster-parents should fail in their duties towards him. Rules made by the Managers for the manage- ment of the school are always subject to the Secretary of State's approval, and the same applies to any substantial addition or alteration to the buildings. In addition to this the 42 YOUNG DELINQUENTS Managers of any school, or group of schools, have power to establish a scheme of super- annuation for the officers, on condition that the scheme is in accordance with the Super- annuation Act of 1866. The expenses incurred under any such scheme are treated as part of the management expenses. A large majority of men is an almost universal feature of school committees ; at present there are actually 4 Girls' Reformatories, 41 Boys' Industrial Schools, and 7 Girls' Industrial Schools, with no women Managers. There can be few finer openings for women's work than sharing in the management of Certified Schools, where there is infinite need for their comparatively greater leisure and quicker in- sight and sympathy. Both sexes should be represented on every Committee of Managers, and there should always be one or two working- class members, whose first-hand experience of actual conditions would be invaluable. The committees are usually composed of magistrates, doctors, clergymen, retired mili- tary and naval officers, and county or city magnates. They have not been usually chosen for business capacity, or for their understanding of child nature, but more often because their names may bring " kudos " to the school, which is sometimes largely dependent on voluntary contributions. The existing method of appoint- THE MANAGERS 43 ing Managers is eminently unsatisfactory. In future it may be necessary for them to be appointed by local authorities, with power to co-opt one-third of their number as a safeguard against officialism. It would appear that the school authorities are often more anxious to create a good pattern and to secure satisfactory general results than to build up strong individual characters. Many Managers, when they visit the school, like to see the boys salute smartly, the girls cease their work, and all rise quickly as they enter the room, with a chorus of "Good afternoon, ma'am," or " Good morning, sir," as the case may be. They seldom make any efforts to become really acquainted with individual boys and girls. It might be advisable if the Managers would adopt something similar to the attitude of the " Big Brothers" in New York. The " Big Brothers," many of whom are well-to-do city men, have each adopted a young boot-black or newspaper vendor and treat them as young brothers. In the city men's attitude there is no suggestion of the condescension which is so fatal to real friend- ship. " Big Brothers" and " Little Brothers" alike realize that there is much to be gained by their mutual intercourse. If the Managers are willing, as they have been in a few schools, to become real friends to the boys and girls, it 44 YOUNG DELINQUENTS will be possible to avoid the risk involved by the schools' dependence on voluntary contribu- tions, and so show the desirability of having State - controlled schools under voluntary management, G — Difference between Reformatory and Industrial Schools The boys and girls in Reformatory and In- dustrial Schools belong to the same social class, the most obvious difference between the two types of schools being the one of age. The rules are practically identical, except that in Reformatories the hours of labour are some- what longer and punishment may be more severe ; the sole reason for this is the greater age of the young delinquents. The following figures show the ages on admission of the boys and girls committed to both classes of school during 191 1 : reformatories Boys. Girls From 12 to 14 . . . . 370 25 ,, 14 to 16 . . . . 852 128 INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS Under 6 7° 73 From 6 to 8 . . . . 201 127 ,, 8 to 10 . . . . 465 159 „ 10 to 12 . . . . 877 238 Over 12 994 271 DIFFERENTIATION 45 In Reformatories the age varies from 12 to 18 years, the average age being usually 16; recently the average age of admission to both classes of schools has become consider- ably higher owing to the reluctance of many maofistrates to commit children to schools when the Probation System provides for them more cheaply. A more serious result of this mis- taken economy has been that often, especially in the case of Reformatories, the boys and girls are committed after a third or fourth conviction, and so they are on their way to become habitual delinquents before they are removed from their home surroundings. The maximum age of detention in Industrial Schools is 16 years; the average age of the children now in the schools is 12 to 13 years. Offence The older delinquents in Reformatories are committed for more or less serious offences ; they must have been convicted of an offence punishable in the case of an adult with penal servitude or imprisonment (see Appendix A). The younger delinquents in Industrial Schools are prevented by the fact of their extreme youth from being anything but vagrants or petty thieves. They are more often neglected or abused, and have committed no offence 46 YOUNG DELINQUENTS themselves. The number of children com- mitted for a punishable offence is comparatively small. The following are particulars of the admissions to a typical Reformatory and Indus- trial School : At Redhill Reformatory, of 83 boys admitted during 19 10, 74 were convicted of stealing and burglary. 2 ,, „ ,, common assault. 4 ,, ,, ,, begging and wandering. I was ,, ,, indecency. 1 was committed from an Industrial School for breaking the rules. At Clifton Industrial School, of 43 boys admitted during 19 10, 19 were committed for begging and wander- ing. 12 ,, „ ,, being charged with a punishable offence. 6 ,, ,, under the Education Act. 2 ,, ,, for residing in brothels. 4 ,, ,, ,, being uncontrollable by parents or guardians. •' Conviction'' to a Reformatory School The most important difference between the two classes of schools is that a child is " con- victed " when sent to a Reformatory, whereas RESULTS OF A "CONVICTION" 47 he or she is only " committed " when sent to an Industrial School. The Reformatory School boy and girl carry the stigma of the " convic- tion " for the remainder of their lives ; the navy refuses to have boys who have been " con- victed," and for a time Canada closed her doors to them. It is a fact that two boys, one just under 12 and the other just over 12 years of age, with the same home conditions, may be guilty of exactly the same offence, and the one will be sent to an Industrial School and the other to a Reformatory. At the schools they may have exactly the same training, but the latter will always bear the stigma of his convic- tion, and his ultimate career will be unnecessarily hampered. The atmy admits boys who have been convicted, and it is interesting to note that 4,565 Home Office School boys fought in the South African War, and of these, 4 were specially mentioned in dispatches. 10 won distinguished service medals. 2 ,, commissions. 4 ,, the Victoria Cross. Almost as serious a stigma is attached to the name " Reformatory," and therefore many schools avoid the name. Redhill Reformatory is known as " The Farm School" ; Kenilworth Girls* Reformatory is known as " The Training Home." Changing the name, however, does 48 YOUNG DELINQUENTS not prevent the boys and girls from going out into the world unnecessarily hampered by the old " conviction." Superintendents have known of former pupils who have married and hold responsible posi- tions, yet the constant dread hangs over them of the family and friends hearing of their con- viction to a Reformatory, which may have been the penalty for some childish indiscretion. The fact that a child has been guilty of some offence involving the charge of dishonesty does not necessarily mean that he or she has definite criminal tendencies, but rather such an offence is often the result of their youth, and when they reach a more mature age any such tendency disappears. CHAPTER IV THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CONDITION OF THE BOYS AND GIRLS IN CERTIFIED SCHOOLS A — Their Inferior General Condition at the Time of their Committal. B — Some Comparative Statistics. C-7-Medical Care of the Schools. D— Diet. E — School Buildings and Equipment. A — Their Inferior General Condition at THE Time of Their Committal THERE can be no doubt that at the time of committal to Certified Schools the majority of juvenile delinquents are inferior physically to the general population of a similar age. Dr. Morrison believes this in- feriority is largely due to the fact that so many of them lose one or both parents at an early age, and premature death, when not produced by violence, is a sure sign of feeble vitality. Of the 3,266 children committed to Industrial Schools during the year 19 10, 4 49 50 YOUNG DELINQUENTS 29 per cent, were orphaned and 6 per cent, were illegitimate. When, in addition to this, the poor condition of the great majority of their homes is taken into consideration, the fact of their physical inferiority is not a matter for wonder. B — Some Comparative Statistics It is difficult to compare the physique of the inmates of Certified Schools with that of other children of a similar age, owing to the fact that it is not possible to find a really adequate standard of judgment. Height and weight are not necessarily the most important tests. A small, slim child is sometimes more physically sound than one of a heavier build. The medical officer of the Leicester Education Committee has recently made some interesting comparisons of boys in Secondary, Elementary, and Industrial Schools. The children in Elementary Schools were divided into three groups, A, B, and C, according to the hygienic condition of their homes ; the boys under group C come from the poorest class of home, and are therefore most comparable with the boys in the Industrial Schools. The following statistics show the result of the comparison : COMPARATIVE STATISTICS 51 Secondary Schools. Elementary Schools. Industrial A. B. C. Cue 4-» s: be s M 4J 4J 16 4J JS ho 4-» J3 tUO 2 bt be 4.* JS ba V be < 0) 0) V X X 5 X ^ in. lb. in. lb. in. lb. in. lb. in. lb. 8-q — — 47' 5 57-9 46-9 53-8 46-8 50-9 43-5 45'3 9-10 51 -o 59'o 50*2 5^^-2 497 569 48-8 54'9 477 502 lO-II 5374 67-S SI -9 64 '5 507 60-9 50-5 59-5 49-8 59-5 II-I2 54'5 70-0 S3 -2 67-5 52-8 66-6 51-5 64 "2 50-4 67-8 12-13 57-5 7875 S6-8 73-(> 55-6 73-6 53'9 68-6 53-3 71 3 13-14 59-6 89-5 57-6 82-3 56-8 79-8 55-2 73-b 54-2 75-2 It will be seen that the boys in the Industrial Schools are stunted in height, and are of less weight than those in the Elementary Schools, but it appears that after some time the regular feeding and healthier conditions of living result in the recovery of some of the lost ground in regard to weight, which is greater than that in group C, while the height re- mains inferior. These statistics do not neces- sarily prove that the muscular development and state of nutrition of an Industrial School boy is inferior to that of the average boy in an Elementary School, but rather do they prove that although it is possible to modify the effects of heredity it can never be really overcome, the children of stunted and ill- nourished parents starting life with a great handicap. Although the Leicester school is very repre- 52 YOUNG DELINQUENTS sentative, the physical condition of children in that town may be very different from that of other towns, therefore these statistics must simply be taken on their own merits. They undoubtedly prove the necessity of doing everything possible to improve the physical well-being of the children who are sent to Certified Schools. C — Medical Care of the Schools No child is admitted to a Certified School who is an unfit subject for industrial training. The persons responsible for the committal are required to fill in a detailed medical form stating the physical and mental condition of the child and, as far as possible, of the parents. This form has to be passed by the school medical officer before the child is admitted ; if he passes it he himself examines the child immediately upon its arrival ; the discharges on account of unfitness for reformatory and industrial training are therefore very few. During 1910 the number per thousand inmates of the Reformatories was 2" 16, and in the Industrial Schools it was 1*47. Dr. Branthwaite, who has recently been appointed medical adviser to the Home Office Schools, in his report for 1910 writes: " Of about 700 boys examined in a naked state, roughly about 85 per cent, of those who have MEDICAL ADVISER^S REPORT 53 been under detention two years or longer were well nourished and of good physique. New admissions, or boys who have been under detention for short periods only, were found to be poor in these respects ; therefore, arguing from appearances, it is probable that at least 85 per cent, may be expected to become physically strong under prevailing con- ditions. Of the remaining 15 per cent, about two-thirds were found to be moderately well developed, fit for occupations requiring no more than moderate physical strength, and the remaining third weaklings who are un- likely to become fit for any physical employ- ment. . . . The general health of the schools has been good throughout the year, remark- ably so when it is realized how much risk of infection must result from the constant admission and readmission of children from some of the most congested and insanitary areas of our large towns. Moreover, the majority of newly admitted children are ill-fed, ill-nourished, and of low vitality, and therefore more liable to contract disease during the first few months of school detention than later, when good feeding and care have resulted in improvement. . . ." It is now generally admitted that apart from hereditary mental deficiency, bodily degeneracy has a tendency to produce mental degeneracy, 54 YOUNG DELINQUENTS and hence it is not to be wondered at that many of the boys and girls are mentally deficient. Miss Mary Dendy, who has studied the question of feeble-minded children very closely, considers the most common features of such children to be " the want of inhibition, the want of will, the readiness to obey irration- ally, the absence of any sense of right or wrong, and the incapacity to be educated into the ordinary routine of a school, or of a society, without constant direction from a stronger mind." The experience of many Certified School teachers has been that these short- comings are exactly those that make their work so difficult, and therefore the urgency of making separate provisions for the mentally deficient children is very apparent. It is almost impossible to give them the right amount of supervision when the school is organized for the training of normal children. It has to be remembered that although a certain proportion of the inmates of the schools are definitely feeble-minded, there are a number of others who are dull sim.ply as a result of illness and bad conditions of life, and when the environment and physical care of the schools has had time to take effect they will lose all trace of their deficiency. Everything points to the conclusion that the physical and mental condition of the majority of the boys THE MEDICAL OFFICERS 55 and girls during their detention in the schools is considerably improved as a result of regular food, sufficient sleep, and systematic medical supervision. The Committee of Managers appoints a medical officer who visits the schools at regular intervals, in some instances every week ; and if there is any illness he comes as often as is necessary. There is little doubt that the medical care of Certified School children might more often be given to women doctors, at any rate they might have charge of the girls' schools. Great progress has lately been made with regard to the care of the teeth ; a few schools have appointed a dentist who makes a regular examination of each child, and in some places the care of the eyes and ears is equally considered, but with the majority of schools there is still considerable room for improvement. The Medical Adviser to the Home Office Schools, in his report for 1910, says: " All the Medical Officers I have inter- viewed are men of good standing ; generally the best known in the neighbourhood of each school. As a whole, I believe they give a much larger amount of attention to their schools than they are paid to give, and, as I have good reason to know, do not grudge any time or trouble in case of necessity." 56 YOUNG DELINQUENTS D— Diet The importance of diet cannot be over- estimated. Dr. Leslie Mackenzie, the Medical Inspector to the L.G.B. of Scotland, considers that of the three selective agencies, housing, occupation, and feeding — " unquestionably the most important is feeding." " By correct diet we mean a diet where the proportions of tissue- forming elements are in the proportions neces- sary both to satisfy immediate physiological conditions and to preserve the physiological equilibrium in the growing organism. The science of diet is sufficiently elaborated to permit of precise quantitive prescriptions — maximal and minimal." ^ Want of nutrition may have a twofold effect, either dulling the child's mind, or developing an unhealthy and morbid activity. Dr. Arkle, in giving evidence before the recent Poor Law Commission, explained that " Starvation act- ing on a nervous temperament seems to produce a sort of acute precocious cleverness . . . but it is the eager intelligence of the hunting animal, with every faculty strained to the uttermost, so as to miss no opportunity of obtaining good. It is from this class that the ranks of pilferers and sneak-thieves come, and their cleverness is not of any intellectual » " The Medical Care of Schools," Leslie Mackenzie. DIET 57 value. With children of a more lymphatic tendency starvation seems to produce creatures more like automata. They seem to be in a condition of semi-torpor, unable to concentrate their attention on anything, and taking no notice of their surroundings if left alone." ^ Besides accounting for the inferior physical condition of the children when they come to the schools, this proves the necessity of giving them a generous diet. As a rule the food given the children is wholesome and sufficient ; in every case the dietary has to be approved by the school medical officer and the Government inspector. Dr. Branthwaite, in his report for 191 1, writes: ''During the medical inspection of schools, three faults have been evident — a tendency to monotony in food supplied, cold service, and hurried eating." He suggests that the diet scale should extend over two or even three weeks, and he includes in his report a suggestion for a more varied dietary and methods for overcoming the difficulties of ensuring warm service and unhurried meals (Appendixes C, D, and E). It may not be wise to have a wholly vegetarian diet, but much benefit would be derived from a greater amount of fruit and vegetables, Coventry Girls' School finds, however, that a strictly vegetarian diet ^ The Poor Law Commission (Minority Report). 58 YOUNG DELINQUENTS has a wonderfully beneficial result on the girls' general health. Unfortunately in some of the poorer schools there is risk of too rigid economy in the matter of food. The periodical medical examination of each child is a safe- guard, and on the whole there is every reason to believe that in the majority of schools the children have adequate nourishment. E — School Buildings and Equipment The actual buildings of the schools vary considerably, many being originally residential houses which have been adapted to meet the needs of the school. In matters of hygiene all have to satisfy the Government inspectors ; but in some of the older buildings there is still a risk of overcrowding in the dormitories, and it is to be feared that the washing apparatus is often hopelessly inadequate. The lavatories are damp and dark and the basins and baths are of an unsatisfactory pattern, and if the schools are visited at the end of the week, the towels are sometimes found to be in a filthy condition. The wisdom of changing the towels in the middle of the week is apparently not always realized. In many schools, however, there is little to be desired in this respect, and the boys and girls quickly respond to the high standard of cleanliness. A number of boys' BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 59 schools have their own swimming baths, and those that are not so fortunate avail them- selves generally of a neighbouring public bath during the summer months. In matters of decoration there is need for considerable improvement. The walls of the rooms are often particularly dark and dreary, and they are destitute of pictures other than those taken from illustrated papers ; the subject of the pictures being, as a rule, either unsuitable or meaningless. There is seldom any sugges- tion of homeliness, and there are very few opportunities for the boys and girls to realize the pleasure of ownership. In addition to this serious shortcoming in the school management, there is little effort made to create a standard of refinement. The meals are sometimes served in an almost revolting manner, the food being shovelled on to coarse enamel plates, the tablecloth anything but white, and the bread cut too thick to be eaten decently. Happily such methods as these do not exist in the majority of schools, for many are trying to secure a more home-like appearance. The mistake has been in the past to lower the standard of refinement to the unfortunately low level of the children, instead of educating them to appreciate a higher standard than they had known in their home life. Managers are often fearful of " spoiling" the boys and girls. 60 YOUNG DELINQUENTS They argue, for example, that it is unwise to give them fine bath-rooms, if for the greater part of their lives they must be content with the minimum of washing apparatus. There is, however, a middle course, and without accus- toming the boys and girls to undue luxury, much may be done to help them form a standard of what is right and necessary in matters of personal hygiene. With girls it is particularly necessary that they should have some scope to cultivate a little " house pride." At a Roman Catholic Reformatory each girl has a little cupboard by her bed-side and a small strip of carpet ; and every morning she has to make her own bed, dust her own ornaments, polish the floor round the bed, and sweep the carpet. In another Roman Catholic School, before a girl leaves to go to service, a corner of the dormitory is screened off and made to look as much as possible like a little room, with chest of drawers, washstand, and chair, so that besides learning to keep her own room tidy, she becomes accustomed to the sensation of sleep- ing alone. It is of the utmost importance that the girls, of whom the majority will eventually have homes of their own, should acquire a right standard in such matters as decoration and household management. CHAPTER V THE SUPERINTENDENT AND THE STAFF OF REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS A — Difficulties and Responsibilities of a Superintendent. B — Women Members of the Staff of Boys' Schools. C — Exclusion of Men from some of the Girls' Schools. D — Difficulties and Responsibilities of the Staff. A— Difficulties and Responsibilities of a Superintendent THE success of the school rests almost en- tirely with the Superintendents. Beautiful surroundings and the most modern equipment are as nothing compared to their influence. Their opportunities are manifold, but their difficulties at times seem to be insurmountable. Unlike other head teachers, the burden of the whole school rests upon their shoulders, and they are in fact the main-springs of their institutions. Not only are they responsible for the intellectual training given to the boys and girls in their charge, but they are also responsible for their physical welfare and the building up of their characters. If, in addition to this, it is remembered that the boys and girls 61 62 YOUNG DELINQUENTS are, as a rule, the victims of parental incom- petence and an unmoral environment, it will be realized that the Superintendents of Certified Schools are faced with very special difficulties. There can be no doubt that there are few positions which are more exacting. The boys and girls leave school when their characters are beginning to respond to the training, and they have acquired some degree of efficiency in their work ; while with the new-comers the Superintendents have to start again with as much hopefulness as if they had never known failure or disappointment. The members of the staff are not always dependable, and often the Managers take very little active interest in the school. Moreover, the employers of former pupils are generally more critical than helpful. At the same time the Government regulations are increasingly exacting, and con- stantly involve additional office work. In spite of all these difficulties the Superintendents have to retain their position as wise adminis- trators and sympathetic counsellors to a little community in which the members are as varied as are their individual needs. Unfortunately they have often to continue bearing this burden longer than is wise for them or for those com- mitted to their care. It is to be hoped that some Government scheme of superannuation will come to their assistance in the near future. THE SUPERINTENDENT 63 To those familiar with Certified Schools it is quite apparent that in many cases the Superintendents act as real parents to the boys and girls, many of whom have little idea of what it is to be loved. " Love is a great teacher, and able both to withdraw men from error and to reform the character, and to lead them by the hand and out of stones to make men." ^ There have been instances where the moral tone of a whole school has been in a serious condition, and yet with the advent of a new Superintendent the place has been transformed in a comparatively short time. When it is remembered that character is the greatest and most potent force for influencing character, it is seen that besides caring for the physical welfare of the children committed to their care they have grave responsibilities. This pro- fession, like so many others, has made the mistake in the past in recruiting from one social and intellectual class. Insufficient account has been taken of the weight of individual character ; a good record of many years' service in the schools has been thought sufficient recommendation. The fact that a " would-be" Superintendent has taught all his life in the schools, and his parents before him, does not necessarily imply that he is best fitted for the * St. Chrysostom. 64 YOUNG DELINQUENTS post. One who has had the greater part of his training in other types of school is probably no less well equipped, and moreover he might realize the need of altering regulations whose only justification is their long existence. The Superintendents need to be the very best men and women that it is possible to find. It is reasonable that they should not be equally remarkable for their mental gifts and their business capacity ; but there are certain things which are absolutely essential if they are to be worthy of their position. They need above all to have immense and undying faith in goodness : they need also to have an under- standing sympathy with young life. It has been said that " a Superintendent must be able to discern the secret springs in a boy's character, to appeal to unsuspected motives, to arouse dormant powers of resistance to temptation, and to labour with unflagging zeal and unlimited patience for the accomplishment of the seemingly impossible task." ' There is one quality which is apt to be forgotten, and that is reverence. It is difficult for men and women dealing with what must sometimes seem to be the dregs of humanity to retain a spirit of reverence and humility. But St. Francis kissed the wounds of the lepers from which other people fled, and John » Hastings H. Hart. WOMEN TEACHERS IN BOYS^ SCHOOLS 65 Wesley when he saw a drunken man reeUng in the street turned to his friend and said, " There, but for the grace of God, go I." B — Women Members of the Staff of Boys' Schools In the case of a married Superintendent, his wife, as a rule, acts as matron. Although this seems in some cases to be a successful arrange- ment, it is not altogether desirable. It is usually better for the Superintendent's wife to hold an entirely unofficial position, so that she can devote herself more closely to the boys, letting them feel that they have a sym- pathetic friend in one who is dissociated from the actual routine of the school. The matron's position is one of utmost importance. She must be a woman of real refinement and motherly instincts. Great importance is attached to her official duties, but still more important is the influence she exercises unofficially. The question of having more women on the staff of boys' schools is one that needs some consideration. At present, apart from the matron and an assistant matron in large schools, the staff is composed almost entirely of men. There are at present two Reformatories and three Industrial Schools (two of these being ships) where there is no matron or nurse on the 5 66 YOUNG DELINQUENTS staff. Occasionally a woman is in charge of the mending-room and laundry, but she has little influence outside of her own sphere. A few of the Roman Catholic Industrial Schools for younger boys are entirely managed by Sisters ; and, as at St. Nicholas, Ilford, many of their other schools have Sisters teaching in the school-room. The late Chief Inspector admitted recently that the two best boys' schools were taught by Sisters ; ^ the general results of the Roman Catholic Industrial Schools clearly bear out this testimony. There are certain difficulties in the way of a mixed staff of men and women, but fortunately these difficulties are not insuperable. With boys coming from the poorest homes, the in- fluence of the right sort of woman is essential. There is no reason to believe that because of their sex women are any less capable of managing the most difficult type of juvenile offender ; nor are they less fit to cope with the most serious questions of morality. One Superintendent admits that when all other means have failed to rouse his most difficult boys to a true sense of their guilt, he hands them over to his wife, and sometimes the most hardened delinquents have broken down com- pletely before her womanly sympathy and motherly admonition. The Superintendent of * T/ie Certified Schools Gazette. MEN TEACHERS IN GIRLS' SCHOOLS 67 a larofe American Industrial School, whenever he sends a boy into the city, invariably makes the arrangement through one of the women teachers, because, as he says, "It is an un- heard-of thing for a boy to run away after promising a lady to return." It is sometimes argued that if boys are too much with women they become effeminate, and boys of the poorest class need to be made manly ; therefore it is thought necessary for them to associate mainly with men. In an ordinary home the father and miOther share the responsibilities of bringing up their sons, and there is certainly no reason to believe that fatherless boys are any less manly than those who have both parents living. On the con- trary, experience seems to show that such boys have the highest instincts of manhood developed in them at an early age. C — The Exclusion of Men from some of THE Girls' Schools If the absence of women in boys' schools is wrong, the exclusion of the male sex in some of the Q-'irls schools is almost as harmful. It has the result that when the girls go to service they sometimes " fall into the arms of the first butcher boy who comes to the door." Unfor- tunately many of the girls come from immoral homes, but any evil tendencies they may have 6S YOUNG DELINQUENTS will be aggravated by a strictly conventual life. Happily, it is realized increasingly at the present day that boys and girls need direct teaching, not only on sex hygiene, but also on the sanctity of the mysteries of human life. It is not so possible to have men teachers in girls' schools as it is to have women teachers in boys' schools, but much might be done to prevent the complete estrangement of the girls from the male sex. At Nazareth House, Isle- worth, the girls give entertainments to their neighbours, and each summer they are taken for an expedition up the river by the local bargemen, and in return the girls entertain their kind hosts at Christmas-time. At a school for feeble-minded girls, it was found that the fatherly interest and kindly understanding of the gardener and carpenter had quite a remarkable influence on the girls' daily life. Occasionally when there is a boys' and a girls' Industrial School in the same town, the children meet at an annual entertainment, and in some cases there is an interchange of work. For example, at Bath the girls do most of the boys' laundry work and use their gymnasium ; the boys in exchange bake the girls' bread and mend their shoes. Much still needs to be done to remove the unnatural atmosphere of an institution, and to make it more like an ordinary home, where boys and girls grow up together. THE STAFF 69 Without this, there must be a one-sided development. D — Difficulties and Responsibilities of THE Staff There is as a rule one member of the staff to every eleven or twelve boys or girls in the school. In boys' schools the staff generally includes, besides the Superintendent and matron, a schoolmaster and his assistant, a carpenter, tailor, shoemaker, bandmaster, cook, and laundress. In some of the large schools there is a resident gymnastic instructor and farrier ; in country schools there are in addition agricultural and horticultural instructors. The staff of girls' schools usually includes, in addition to the Superintendent, a school- mistress and her assistant, a laundry, kitchen, and house matron. The number of the staff varies according to the size of the school, but the above is typical of an average school. The influence of the members of the staff is very important, because they are in close con- tact with the children for the greater part of the day. What has been said of the Superin- tendents is equally applicable to other members of the staff. They have great responsibilities and great opportunities. Unfortunately their lives are apt to become very monotonous and restricted, and they have little time for 70 YOUNG DELINQUENTS recreation or for cultivating their own minds. Dr. Arnold once said, "A master needs to be continually educating himself morally and intellectually if he is to be at all successful as a teacher." At present it is not always easy for the teachers to do this, while in country schools it is still more difficult ; they have often no other alternative than to go for a walk in the country lanes when they are off duty. In dark winter evenings this is not inviting, and it certainly is not educating. Much might be done, however, to help the teachers, if residents in the neighbourhood of the school would take more active interest in their welfare ; it may be only by the occasional gift of a theatre or a concert ticket, but in any case the sympathy and encouragement of men ^nd women leading less-restricted lives would be a g^reat stimulus to the teachers, whose lives are often barren of interests outside of their school. It is par- ticularly necessary for them to have plenty of free time, but this is difficult, because the children are never absent. At present the holidays are very inadequate, and this fact, in addition to the restrictions of the life, is one of the main difficulties in securing suitable men and women to undertake the work. A great tribute must be paid to the Sisters in the Roman Catholic schools. It was said by the late Chief Inspector, at a farewell dinner THE WORK OF SISTERS 71 recently given in his honour, that "the results from the school managed by Sisters were the best they could hope to ever achieve, because every Sister was devoted to her work, and had nothing to trouble her but the interests of the children." He considered it a very high tribute to the other schools that they were able to get within measurable distance of " the splendid schools managed by Sisters." The difference of tone between some of the Roman Catholic and Protestant schools is very apparent ; it is difficult and often impossible to ensure such an atmosphere of self-sacrifice and devotion amongst a staff to whom the earnings of their daily bread and the provision for their future are prior considerations. It would seem that the members of the staff need to be almost exceptional men and women, and in view of this it is gratifying to know of many cases where they are devoting themselves to the work with a whole-hearted zeal and a wonderful spirit of self-sacrifice. In a number of schools there appears to be a perfect harmony and co-operation between the Super- intendents and the staff and the boys and girls ; but it must be admitted that there are still many schools where those in authority, from the Chairman of the Managers to the humblest teacher, need a fuller realization of their sacred responsibilities. CHAPTER VI THE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND THE RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION A — Difficulties Peculiar to Certified Schools. 1. The Children's Ignorant Homes. 2. The Adjustment of the Industrial and School Work. 3. The Less-qualified Teachers. B— Certified School Teachers' Special Opportunities. C— The Religious Instruction. 1. Existing Opportunities. 2. Their Inadequacy. D— The Boys' and Girls' Distorted View of Religion. E— The Aim of Religious Instruction. A — Difficulties Peculiar to Certified Schools IN considering the elementary education it must be remembered that certain difficulties are peculiar to this type of school. Firstly, the children come from the most ignorant class ; secondly, there is great difficulty in securing a proper adjustment between the elementary education and the industrial training ; and thirdly, the schools, as a rule, have failed to secure the most efficient teachers. In the first place, the large majority of the children come from the poorest and most 72 THE CHILDREN'S IGNORANT HOMES 73 ignorant homes, where education is only tolerated as a means of providing for the little ones who are unable to supplement the family- income with their earnings. For those that are older, not only is no encouragement given to their school work, but it is often despised and whenever possible avoided. Sometimes the parents are perpetually changing their address in order to escape the attendance officers. Unfortunately, even when the parents are anxious for the children to attend school, the sheer poverty of the home drives them to help their mother in some sweated industry during their free time. It is not a matter of surprise, therefore, that so many who are committed to the schools are below the average in matters of elementary education. What they may lack in intellectual development they have often gained in precocious delinquency, their energies being for the most part misdirected. Boys or girls of 12 and 14 are sometimes to be seen sitting side by side with little ones of 7 and 8, trying to form their letters and spell the simplest words. It is quite clear, therefore, that the teachers in Certified Schools are faced at the outset with many difficulties. Till they are 14, the children are obliged to spend half of their working time in the school- room ; this is as a rule five hours a day. From 74 YOUNG DELINQUENTS the age of 14 to 16 they must spend at least three hours a week, but in many Reformatories more time is given to the theoretical side of the education ; this is especially the case with Boys' Reformatories where there is an army class. The class is periodically examined by a military official, and those who secure the " School Army Test Certificate " are able, within a few days of entering the army, to secure an easy pass, under military schoolroom conditions, for the "Army Test Certificate"; in this way they are some years ahead of the ordinary recruit. It is to be hoped that before very long boys entering industrial and agri- cultural careers will have a similar advantage. A knowledge of industrial history and the existing factory laws would be a useful addition to their equipment. There are certain difficulties in the way of satisfactorily adjusting the industrial and school work. In some schools the children work in the schoolroom every morning for one week, and every afternoon for another week ; in other schools they work alternate days, in the afternoon and in the morning. At one In- dustrial School the Superintendent has found the best results from letting the boys work for six hours alternate days. This is a matter which must be left to the discretion of those in authority in each school. It is obviously UNCERTIFICATED TEACHERS 75 very important that the intellectual education should not be lost sight of in the desire to give an adequate industrial equipment. Industrial instructors sometimes disapprove of the school- room, which robs them of their most efficient workers for a few hours every day. The two branches of education are equally important, the one naturally supplements the other, and the schools which show the best results are those where there is a practical alliance between the schoolroom instruction and the technical instruction of the industrial departments. (See Appendixes F, G, H, I.) One of the most serious difficulties in educating Certified School children has been that in the past the majority of the teachers have not been fully qualified ; many school authorities are increasingly realizing the need of securing the most efficient teaching. In well-managed schools the education is little different from that which the same class of children would have received elsewhere. The fact that the teachers have administrative as well as schoolroom duties may have the effect of diminishing their teaching powers, but on the other hand it enables them to become intimately acquainted with the children, which is a very considerable advantage. The advisability of allowing Industrial School children to attend the Elementary 76 YOUNG DELINQUENTS Schools has sometimes been considered. At present at two of the boys' schools and two of the girls' schools the children attend the neighbouring Elementary Schools. This policy has the great advantage of securing the best education that the State provides, but, on the other hand, there are serious difficulties. The school curriculum has to be very much reorganized, and also there is considerable risk of the children carrying infection or becoming infected. At present the institutional school is better able to bridge over the gulf between the technical and the industrial education. The difficulties of a satis- factory adjustment are not insuperable, and it may be that such a policy will be a solution of the difficulty of ensuring Industrial School children an adequate elementary education. The fact that Elementary Schools are laying more stress on industrial training is greatly in favour of such a scheme. Taking it as a whole the education cannot be altogether dissociated from that of ■ the Elementary Schools, and usually the same criticism is applicable. " The chief fault of all elementary education is that there is too much teaching and too little work. . . . The teachers have been handicapped owing to the fact that their capacity will be judged, not by how much they have taught the boys to think THE TEACHERS' OPPORTUNITIES 77 for themselves, but rather by how much know- ledge they have been able to drum into the often dull minds. . . . History is read again, but they still blindly identify all persons of the name of William in one composite personality, who conquers, has red hair, is silent, and has something to do with an orange." ^ B — Certified School Teachers' Special Opportunities There can be little doubt that if the ele- mentary education had been more thorough, more former members of Certified Schools would have entered skilled careers. Gifted teachers have unrivalled opportunities from the fact that they live in the school and are able to know the children at their play as well as at their work. The education need not cease during playtime ; much could be done with history by encouraging the children to act various scenes from the period they are 'studying ; and every opportunity should be given them for cultivating individual hob- bies. With such education dull and apathetic minds would be roused, and the children would have something to think and talk about, other than the shortcomings of those in authority, 1 " Across the Bridges," Paterson. 78 YOUNG DELINQUENTS and what they sometimes firmly believe to be their own misunderstood characters. Dr. Arnold, in contrasting a usefial education with one that does not affect the future life, said : " The difference rests mainly on the greater or less activity which it conveys to the pupil's mind — whether he has learned to think or to act and to gain knowledge, or whether he has merely followed passively as long as there was some one to draw him." The fundamental idea in the training of juvenile delinquents should be to direct ener- gies which have hitherto been misdirected. Herein lies the opportunity for the school- teacher. It is because the system has con- sisted in a process of pouring in information heedless of individual needs, rather than a process of drawing out dormant possibilities, that better results have not been achieved. C — The Religious Instruction Existing Opportunities With the exception of the schools for Roman Catholic and Jewish children, the nature of the religious instruction varies in accordance with the views of the Managers. A few of the boys' schools have their own chapels, but, as a rule, the school attends a neighbouring RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION 79 place of worship ; in a few cases it attends a church in the morning and chapel in the evening. In some cities it is not an un- common sight to see the local Reformatory or Industrial School going to church : the boys, in a drear uniform, walking four or six abreast, the girls, dressed in a sombre fashion, walking demurely two and two. The place of worship that is chosen is unfortunately very often one of the most antiquated and gloomy : the school sits in long rows in a dark gallery or a side-aisle, and the boys and girls are generally conscious of the rigid super- vision of those in charge, who are ready to detect the gentlest whisper or the slightest movement, and thus are unable to set the example of a single-minded and sincere devotion. In addition to these services there are Bible classes or Sunday school in the afternoon, and occasionally there is a service held in the school during the week. Visitors are sometimes willing to help with the religious instruction ; but the main responsibility rests with the Superintendent — the success of the teaching depending upon the sincerity and fervour of his or her faith. The chaplain, who is ap- pointed to most schools, holds a more or less official position, and does not become intimate with the boys and girls ; where, however, the 80 YOUNG DELINQUENTS school has its own chapel, the chaplain takes a more active share in the work of the school, and he is able to lighten the burden of re- sponsibility, which rests otherwise entirely with the Superintendent. The parish clergyman has a right to visit the school and give religious instruction ; but, even when this privilege is used, the instruction is not always inspiring or well understood. Morning and Evening Prayers are an established custom, and, as a rule, there are a few minutes of silence in each dormitory for private prayer before going to bed, and before starting the work of the day. Such are the opportunities for religious instruction in Certified Schools. There can be little doubt that much of it is lifeless and unreal, and there is little that is truly spiritual and uplifting, while there is a geat deal that is cold and forbidding. In some schools the young delinquents are so constantly reminded that they are sinners by the texts on the walls, or by the words of their teachers, that they begin to act accordingly. D — The Boys' and Girls' Distorted View OF Religion When it is remembered that many of them come from some of the most ignorant and DISTORTED VIEW OF RELIGION 81 degraded homes, surely it is of the utmost importance that their religious instruction should not be lacking in spiritual power. They have often, especially the elder ones, a very distorted view of religion. Professedly religious people, in their previous experience, were not always remarkable for their honesty or for their charity, and any religious training they may have had has been more often associated with the Annual Treat than with the worship of God. If at any time they may have had sparks of religious enthusiasm, the sparks were successfully quenched by the home environment, where they heard curses rather than prayers. It is not a matter of surprise, therefore, that the boys and girls often come to the school bereft of a spirit of reverence, when they had so little in their lives which would call it forth. It is the lack of this spirit which has been mainly the cause of their undoing. The first thing the teachers have to do is to implant the seeds of rever- ence ; and the problem is to find the best means of accomplishing what may seem some- times to be an impossible task. E — The Aim of Religious Instruction Children of all ages are hero-worshippers — in the bottom of their hearts the most hardened 6 82 YOUNG DELINQUENTS delinquents admire what is truthful and sincere. It is here that the teachers have their oppor- tunity ; they can give the children a definite Hero to follow in the Person of Christ — a Hero whom they can both love and reverence. If this becomes the corner-stone of their teach^ ing it will be comparatively easy to show that love demands sacrifice and service, because there will always be Christ's example of Perfect Sacrifice before them. It is always found to be wiser to give positive teaching rather than negative ; to help the boys and cfirls to strive after a definite ideal is better than to preface everything by " Thou shalt not." When they fail, it helps them to know that many of the world's greatest men and women failed in the same way, but they per- severed ; it is not the actual failure, so much as the failure to persevere, which is condemned by God. The religious instruction must be intensely spiritual if it is going to permeate the hearts of the children, but, at the same time, it must be essentially practical. Religion should not be kept only for Sundays. Such every-day virtues as kindness, " playing fair," and con- sideration for those in authority are a neces^ sary outcome of any true religion. It is also very important for the boys and girls to realize that a truly religious person is always RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION 8S joyful ; there is no place for " sulks " and "glumness," Here again a great tribute must be paid to some of the Roman Catholic Schools, where much of the religion is beautiful and full of hope, and where the gentle lives of the Sisters are illustrations of self-sacrifice and the power of love. Great care is needed to avoid any kind of formalism. A bishop, describing a visit to an institution, remarked that " the devotions might well have been a series of physical exercises." Another precaution is necessary in order to avoid emotionalism, to which children, especially girls, are very subject ; not only is it disastrous to the individual, but, because of its rapid infection, to the whole school. Formalism and emotionalism alike will be prevented only by a direct appeal to the heart and roots of conscience ; and once this is accomplished there need be no fear. It has also to be remembered that, as a rule, the boys and girls are intensely anxious to please, and therefore if the heart remains untouched this leads to hypocrisy, which is as harmful to themselves as it is to the whole cause of religion. Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of the teachers themselves holding high ideals ; should there be the least suspicion of "faith without works," their teaching will 84 YOUNG DELINQUENTS be of no avail. None are so quick as young people to detect insincerity. It has been said that " Some men prepare their sermons and other men prepare themselves." It is when the teachers prepare themselves that their teaching bears most fruit. CHAPTER VII BOYS' REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS A — The General Appearance of the Boys. B — DiscipHne and Punishment. C — Physical Training and Recreation. D — Industrial Training. E— Nautical Training. F — Agricultural Training. G — Separation of the Economic and the Industrial Interest. H— Occupations of the Boys who left the Schools in 1908, 1909, 1910. 1. Industrial Careers. 2. Army and Navy. 3. Agricultural. 4. Horticulture. I— Supervision and After-care. 1. Homes in connection with Certified Schools. 2. The Certified Schools' Agent. A — The General Appearance of the Boys 1'^HE general appearance of the boys naturally varies in different schools, but there is nearly always a painful lack of individ- uality, and in many cases the uniform is need- lessly unsightly. If it is necessary, for economic reasons, to have a uniform, there is no reason for it to be ugly. It is quite possible for corduroy to be made becoming, even if it is 85 86 YOUNG DELINQUENTS merely a " cut " which permits the wearer to show a soft collar and tie. The almost universal practice of keeping the boys' hair closely cropped still further robs them of all individuality ; their improved ap- pearance in the few schools where this is not the custom is very remarkable, and the Super- intendents of these schools have found that there is very little difficulty in ensuring cleanli- ness. They are undoubtedly fully rewarded for any extra trouble. There has recently been some strong criti- cism directed against the uniforms of the boys which has been answered by several Superinten- dents in The Certified Schools Gazette. Colonel Johnston, of Castle Howard Farm School, wrote: " Where the dress consists of a ghastly uniform or badly fitting suit ... it should certainly be abolished, and all Reformatories should be brought up to the standard of the institutions which dress the boys properly in neat and smart uniforms, plain clothes, and working dress. To dress a boy properly is to preserve his self-respect, to dress him badly is to make him ashamed of himself and creates and arouses a resentful spirit within him against all man- kind." At this school the full dress consists of a neat blue uniform with brass buttons and badges and red facings. For discharge and holiday wear the boys have dark tweed suits, UNIFORMS 87 and for work corduroy jacket and trousers with leggings. Canon Vine, of Redhill Farm School, considers " a military uniform has a consider- able advantage over civilian dress, in that vari- ous decorations, which boys, like soldiers, so much covet and appreciate, can be worn with It. The uniforms described above are fairly typical, and there is little doubt that in the majority of schools there has lately been a great improvement. This, however, refers especially to the younger boys in Industrial Schools, for many Reformatories still need to make considerable modifications. In many schools a great point is being made of the games clothes, and, although in most cases this only affects the members of the various teams, it is a great step in the right direction. The question of uniform and cropped hair may seem a trifling matter to a casual observer, but it is one of vital importance to the boys themselves. If every chance of " good looks " is taken from them, they have little opportunity for taking a pride in their personal appearance, their first step towards self-respect. It is not an uncommon sight, in some towns, to see the local Industrial or Reformatory School marching through the streets for all the world as if they were young convicts, instead of untrained boys, the majority of whom are no worse than those 88 YOUNG DELINQUENTS who half scornfully and half pitifully watch the regiment go by. It is to be hoped that in future the uniforms will be kept principally for ceremonial occasions, and that the every-day clothes will be more rational and less con- spicuous. B — Discipline and Punishment The chief aim of discipline is to keep order, to check delinquent tendencies, and to inculcate some idea of self-control and self-reliance. The methods of accomplishing this vary considerably in different schools ; in some cases there is the rigid model of the military system ; in others there appear to be very few hard-and-fast rules, the masters relying to a large extent upon the " good tone " amongst the boys. There are many schools which have broken away from the almost prison-like discipline of the past, and yet are not willing to rely to any great extent on methods which depend on the boys' sense of responsibility. It must always be remembered that the majority of the boys coming to the schools are lacking in self-control and possess little or no understanding of the meaning of obedience ; therefore it is necessary that there should be a wise and strong discipline which is thorough without in the least being harsh. A weak and inefficient discipline will do as much harm as DISCIPLINE 89 one which is too severe. As has been well said, " the process of reformative treatment must not err on the side of being so easy and delightful that it is robbed of a certain sting and struggle." ^ Practically every school has some monitorial system by which the elder boys and those of more exemplary conduct are given certain responsibilities, and are allowed to share in the maintenance of discipline. The idea of self- government has been vividly brought forward lately by the work of the George Junior Repub- lic : a few schools have been willing to adopt some of its methods. The Hayes Industrial School for Jewish boys has a system which is very similar, and it has been found to work remarkably well. For the great majority of schools discipline is largely maintained by a mark system with money rewards. The actual method varies very much, the usual one being to credit the boys with a few pence every week in proportion to the marks they have received. Monitors are paid usually at the rate of 6d. or \s. a week. In many schools, as at the Regent's Park Home, every new boy has an account opened at the Post Office Savings Bank, and all the money he earns for good marks or prizes is paid directly to his account. Although the ^ " Across the Bridges," Paterson. 90 YOUNG DELINQUENTS thought of payment for being good seems altogether incongruous, so long as it only- remains a means to an end it must not be wholly condemned. Such a system has the great advantage of encouraging the boys by letting them feel that they are able to earn, and therefore it is possible for them to retain a little self-respect. It has the material ad- vantage of enabling them to have a "nest-egg " when they leave school. In matters of discipline it is very necessary that the boys should not be treated as mere machines. Discipline often becomes a regular " fetish." There is incessant saluting and standing at attention, the explanation being that discipline must be maintained, and that boys who have little natural respect must be made respectful. Such schools lose sight of individual needs in the desire to create " a smart tone." It should be always remembered that the insistence on outward signs of respect is merely a means to an end and a stepping- stone to spontaneous good manners. Directly it becomes an end in itself it is mechanical and insincere. Formerly a child with a crooked spine was bound down to a board for hours at a time, but now such a deformity is corrected by physical exercises and by an appeal to the child's will-power. There is always the fear that where the smart discipline is too apparent DISCIPLINE 91 the boys are in much the same position as the child tied to a back -board. When they leave school they will be "smart" for a time, but, because their personal will and initiative have not been exercised, they will very likely fall back into a worse condition than they were in before they came to the school. It often appears to the masters that the lower nature of the boys is uppermost, and therefore tangible methods are necessary to ensure dis- cipline ; but the fact remains that eventually the spiritual nature of each boy must be reached by spiritual means. The boys must be able to feel that they are trusted, and that their masters sincerely care for them. There are schools existing to-day where the boys know they are regarded as a " bad lot," and where they have little opportunity for proving that they are to be trusted. It is the lack of this opportunity that is the cause ot much that is least satis- factory in the schools. In a few schools the boys are rewarded for good conduct by a half- holiday " on parole," the knowledge that they are trusted having a marked effect on the atmosphere of the whole school. Where the masters have the boys' confidence they are able to help them see the reasonable- ness of self-restraint. A contemporary of Dr. Arnold at Rugby found that at exactly the age when the boys begin to acquire some degree 92 YOUNG DELINQUENTS of self-respect and some desire for the respect of others, they were treated with confidence by- one whose confidence they could not but regard as worth having, and found themselves in a position where their own dignity could not be maintained except by consistent good conduct. Once that a boy realizes his own responsibility the reformative treatment is well on the way towards producing a citizen worthy of the name. To do this the aim of the masters, as an American writer has said, should be,^ " To teach the boys that they are not individuals, not unrelated atoms in a random universe . . . but that they are links every one of them in a splendid chain that has been running since life began, and runs on till the end of time ; . . . they must realize that no chain is stronger than its weakest link, and that this means them. There is a powerful socializing force in the sense of personal responsibility, it cultivated in the right direction. A boy may be willing to take his chances of going to the bad, economically and socially, as well as morally, if he thinks that it is only his own personal concern, but he will hesitate when once it is impressed upon him that in so doing he is blocking the whole magnificent procession. The social efficiency of these boys would be developed by stamping upon them the know- ' " Queed," H. S. Harrison. PUNISHMENT 9S ledge that the very humblest of them holds a trusteeship of cosmic importance." Pu?iishment In the well-managed schools there is com- paratively little punishment other than the deduction of marks, but unfortunately from time to time abuses are apt to arise, and the general public is shocked to hear of unneces- sarily severe and even degrading punishments being used. Owing to the more enlightened ideas of those in authority, these occasions are becoming rare, but, unfortunately, the most vigilant inspector is not always able to detect a misuse of the disciplinary powers of those in authority. One of the most serious offences that has to be dealt with is absconding or attempting to abscond. This does not necessarily presuppose that the discipline is either too weak or too severe, for such cases are usually amongst new boys who resent any kind of restraint. Another serious offence which is not altogether un- common is that of " malingering." This is usually the result of excessive laziness or of a thorough dislike of work. There is no doubt that if the boys were made more responsible for their own work and given some economic interest in it, there would be less risk of their becoming " shirkers." At the same time they 94 YOUNG DELINQUENTS must be given the principle of work, and be made to realize that in any community, as well as in the world outside, every one will have a certain amount of work which is thoroughly distasteful. To give extra work as a punish- ment is only to increase the distaste for it ; it is probably a wiser method to take the *' malingerer " at his word, dose him with physic, and cut him off from all recreation. " Malingering " may sometimes be the result of a feeble vitality, and therefore medical advice is needed, but it is more often the result of pure laziness. Stealing and pilfering are fairly common offences, as are smoking and trafficking in tobacco. Occasionally there are cases of wilful disobedience, insolence, and indecency, and all such offences need summary treatment. The Superintendent has to keep a record of every punishment and the nature of the offence, which record is shown to the Inspector when he visits the school. If there can be no doubt that the record is faithfully kept, it is a certain means of checking an abuse of disciplinary powers, but unfortunately past experience has not warranted the supposition that all the punishments were strictly recorded. As a rule, the punishment is inflicted by the Superintendent himself, or if not so, either in his presence or by his authority. One of the most enlightened Superintendents makes it a CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 95 rule for the school doctor to be present if he has to administer severe corporal punishment. In some schools it is the practice for canings or birchings to take place before the whole school, or before selected representatives. For the most serious offences a cane or birch is used, a maximum of twelve strokes being allowed in the Industrial Schools and of eighteen in the Reformatories. Caning on the hand is the only other form of corporal punishment, and it is used for less serious offences. There can be no doubt that in many schools such punish- ments as these are too frequent, and this shows that the masters are assuming the animal nature of the boys to be uppermost. An Italian philoso- pher once said : " Anyone can rule by martial law, but a teacher who does so is not worthy of the name teacher, for besides being degrading to himself it is a confession of failure." There may be a few occasions when corporal punish- ment is appropriate, and for that reason it ought never to be used for ordinary offences. It should only be looked upon as a medicine to be used in extreme cases. Dr. Arnold, in writing to a friend, said that " the course of true wisdom is not to make a boy insensible to bodily pain, but to make him dread moral evil more." As the boys grow older it is found that fear of punishment need be appealed to less, but, as the same great educationalist has written, " As 96 YOUNG DELINQUENTS long as a boy remains at school the respect- ability and immunities of manhood must be earned by manly conduct and a manly sense of duty." It has always to be remembered, however, that the class of boys who find their way to Certified Schools are more or less hardened to corporal punishment, and therefore it loses much of its significance. This fact, in addition to the knowledge that at present corporal punishment is, as a rule, used far too freely, to the detriment of the inflictors and inflicted alike, may lead eventually to the total abolition of what should, in any case, be re- garded as a medicine for extreme cases. For minor offences a reduction of food or solitary confinement is sometimes a method of punishment ; but both these methods have obvious dangers. If due precautions are taken the risk is not insurmountable. There can be little doubt that forfeiture of rewards and privileges, or degradation from rank previously attained by good conduct, are more satisfactory methods of punishment. The masters have an exceptionally difficult task, and they need much sympathy and en- couragement. Not only have they to cope with small boys' mischief, but they have great lads of 14 and 15, and in Reformatories many still older, who are wilfully disobedient and per- sistently dishonest. In addition to this each PHYSICAL TRAINING 97 new boy is likely to bring with him the germs of some moral disease which will perhaps infect the whole school. One Superintendent admits that he does not dread the influence of new- comers, because he is sure of the tone of his school. This is probably the schools' only security ; the good tone, however, will only be found where there is an unfailing belief in the good which is in each boy, and where self- discipline and self-control are more prevalent than stern discipline and rigid supervision. C — Physical Training and Recreation The majority of Superintendents and Managers fully realize the immense benefit of systematic physical training to the boys in their charge. Every school has a visiting, or resident, drill and gymnastic instructor, and, as a rule, there is some form of drill every day. Although much of this in the past was both inadequate and unscientific, there is little doubt that the modern schools have made great progress. Many have their own gymnasium, and where this is not the case the necessary apparatus is erected in the schoolroom or play- ground. Redhill Farm School has inter-house competitions which seem to have all the healthy rivalry of a public school. The annual inspec- tion of drill and gymnastics is a certain means 7 98 YOUNG DELINQUENTS of stimulating the boys' interest, and of main- taining a high level of efficiency. The attention that is given to organized games is one of the most encouraging ways in which the schools have lately progressed. Many of the officers devote themselves with a whole-hearted zeal to stimulating their boys' interest and enthusiasm. There are now six athletic associations of Home Office schools, and there are also annual swimming and shooting contests in which representatives from many schools take part. As long as it is possible for every boy to have the advantage of organized games, not merely the chosen few, their value is inestimable. It has been said : " Games do not so much foster the spirit of rivalry, as they do provide an opportunity for understanding and controlling this strong instinct." ^ This being the case, the benefit to boys, many of whom have vague ideas of self-control, must be very considerable. They are able to acquire the art of playing together, besides learning to realize the necessity for the subordination of the individual to the orood of his side. A writer who has an intimate knowledge of boy life believes that games are amongst the foremost influences upon character : " From the sporting view of a game it is no appreciable step to the I "The Philosophy of Boys' Games," FeHx Clay. (Child Study.) RECREATION 99 sporting view of a whole life. In the second as in the first we speak of ' playing cricket.' " ^ It has yet to be learned that play is as im- portant as any work, particularly if it is play that gives scope for self-expression, and en- courages powers of endurance, and it is for this reason that the Boy Scout movement is having such a marked success. At present the move- ment has not affected these schools to any serious extent, owing to the lack of necessary funds, and the difficulty of finding Scout Masters. Both of these difficulties might be overcome by an appeal to a sympathetic general public. Where the school curriculum is considered too full to admit the innovation, some slight readjustment will be necessary. It may be by less military drill, which in spite of its disciplinary value has, as General Baden- Powell points out, certain evils, "(i) Military drill gives a feeble, unimaginative officer a something with which to occupy his boys. He does not consider whether it appeals to them or really does them good. It saves him a world of trouble. (2) Military drill tends to destroy individuality, whereas we want in the Scouts to develop individual character ; and when once it has been learnt it bores a boy who is longing to be tearing about on some enterprise or other ; it blunts his keenness ..." ' "The Growing Generation," Barclay Baron. 100 YOUNG DELINQUENTS The following explanation of scouting shows how much its aim coincides with that of the more enlightened school authorities. " From the boys' point of view scouting puts them into fraternity gangs, which is their natural organiza- tion, whether for games, mischief, or loafing ; it gives them a smart dress and equipments ; it appeals to their imagination and romance ; and it engages them in an active, open-air life. From the parents' point of view, it gives physical health and development ; it teaches energy, resourcefulness, and handicrafts ; it puts into the lad discipline, pluck, chivalry, and patriotism : in a word, it develops character, which is more essential than anything else to a lad for making his way in life, and which is yet practically untaught in the schools. The method of instruction in ' Scouting ' is that of creating in the boy a desire to learn for himself, and not by drilling knowledge into him. From the national point of view our aim is solely to make the rising generation into good citizens." It is to be hoped that soon, in any case, every Industrial School will have its own " Troop " ; the Chief Scout admits that he finds some of his best stuff among the younger hooligans : " The simplest way is to place the hooligan in charge of half a dozen boys and give him responsibility." The summer camp, which is an important RECREATION 101 event in the life of the majority of schools, would be doubly beneficial if the boys were organized Scouts ; as it is, the boys have many opportunities for healthy recreation, and the physical benefit to them is very apparent. It is an excellent opportunity moreover for the masters to become intimately acquainted with the boys, the less need for restraint permitting them to be more on a level. There is a very real danger in this type of school of those in charge " setting themselves on pedestals," and not entering sufficiently into the boys' point of view. A young American Industrial School Superintendent goes with his boys nearly every day for walks or runs ; he tries to let them feel that he is one of them in their sports and in their work, so that when the time comes for punishment, they realize that there is no personal grudge about the treatment. As a rule the schools do very little to en- courage reading, the books which are available for the boys being often antiquated and dreary. Although this is sometimes due to the lack of necessary funds, it is often a lack of foresight on the part of those in authority. The London' County Council circulates boxes of library books amongst the schools with which it has agree- ments, but apart from this, little effort is made to encourage the boys to form a sensible 102 YOUNG DELINQUENTS standard of reading. With the many cheap editions there is no reason why they should not become familiar with some of the finest authors. A conventual life is an even more serious feature of many schools, neither boys nor masters appearing to take any interest in what is happening outside of their own four walls. When it is remembered that the majority of the boys belong to a class which has extremely vague ideas of the duties of citizenship, this shortcoming in the life of the schools is especi- ally serious. Many Secondary Schools are trying to interest their pupils in matters of local and imperial concern ; sometimes the news of the day is posted in a prominent position, and any important parliamentary measure is dis- cussed by the school debating society. Even small boys have been heard eloquently dis- cussing the merits of Tariff Reform, and the advisability of extending the franchise to women. The George Junior Republic has shown that it is quite possible to interest boys in matters of government ; the young electors and adminis- trators are found to fully realize their responsi- bilities, and they enter into the details of their work very seriously. Although their methods may not be altogether adaptable to this country, there is much that might be introduced into the Certified Schools in order to prevent their boys TRAINING IN CITIZENSHIP 103 from rejoining the ranks of the ignorant and indifferent citizens. With this class of boy it is also very necessary to inculcate a true spirit of patriotism. They need to realize that true patriotism consists in active interest and service, not merely in the hearty singing of " God save the King " or •' Rule, Britannia " ; and moreover that a farmer or an industrial labourer may be just as patriotic as a soldier or a sailor. The upholding of the nation's honour does not only rest with its armed forces. Furthermore, they need to realize that a boy who boasts of his country and then commits some wilful act of dis- obedience forgets his responsibility to the com- munity, and a boy who is moved by the story of one of his nation's heroes, and yet has not the courage to speak the truth, or to endure a little pain without murmuring, does not possess the qualities that help to make a patriot. It is very apparent that in such matters as these the schools still need to make considerable progress. Little has been done in the past to prepare the boys for efficient citizenship by stimulating their interests in the national and civic concerns of their country. D — Industrial Training The Departmental Committee of 1896 laid much stress on the fact that too often the aim 104 YOUNG DELINQUENTS of the school authorities was to augment their income through the labour of the boys. The result of this has been that in recent years much improvement has been seen, and those occupa- tions such as oakum-picking, paper-bag and matchbox making, which have no educational value, have been discontinued. There are still a few schools where wood-chopping is carried on, although it was condemned by the Com- mittee of 1896. Until the financial position of some of the schools is more secure, it will be necessary for them to supplement their income by means of the boys' earnings, but this is altogether inadvisable unless the occupation is one which has some real educational value. Industrial schools, situated in the towns, some- times adopt the practice of sending the boys in the early morning to clean boots and knives in private houses, while others are sent to shops where they do the work of errand- boys. Although such work may have but little direct educational value, it has the advantage of varying the monotony of the school life, cultivating the boys' self-reliance, and securing for them useful friends. As a rule such work is only for one hour in the early morning. It has to be remembered that industrial training must be organized largely with a view to its value as a means of producing character. INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 105 Mr. Hastings H. Hart, who appears to have had considerable practical knowledge of the industrial training given to the boys in his country, writes that in his experience, " If young boys are to be used in productive manufactures successfully, their training must be specialized, and they must be kept doing one thing at a high speed." This, as he says, is hopelessly inconsistent with the effort to create character. " Incessant monotonous toil does not develop independence, hopefulness, or love of industry. It produces a bodily weari- ness which hinders education on other lines." ^ In every school nearly all the clothes are made on the premises, and this necessitates the existence of efficient tailoring and shoe- making departments. At St. Nicholas, Ilford, there are stocking-making and mending machines, and there is also a machine for making the jerseys worn by the boys. The work is usually carried out on scientific lines, each boy acquiring some theoretical knowledge as well as practical experience. In carpentry and tailoring the boys are taught to draw dia- grams of the work they are going to do, and this involves neatness and accuracy, both valuable additions to their training. The carpenter's shop is generally a prominent feature in both > " Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children," Hastings H. Hart. 106 YOUNG DELINQUENTS classes of school, and in many cases attains a high level of efficiency. The boys at Regent's Park Home are foremost amongst the com- petitors in the Prize Competition organized by the Turners' Company for Certified Schools. A few schools, notably Redhill, have a forge, and the boys, besides learning the ordinary farrier's work, are able to learn various kinds of metal-turning. Bricklaying is not altogether uncommon, and in many places it is possible for the boys to get some understanding of mechanics and electricity. Regent's Park Home is almost unique in the possession of a printing shop, which has become a paying concern, and has the further advantage in the fact that it trains the boys in a skilled occu- pation. Another department which has lately been introduced into some of the schools is that of cookery, and boys with any aptitude in this direction may, when leaving school, go for a few months' training to the Liverpool Cookery School, and secure a certificate which qualifies them for a cook's post on any of the big liners. One of the most popular and prominent features in the life of the schools is the brass band. The training has a very material advantage in enabling the boys to get good positions in army bands, and, in addition, it is generally a means of increasing the school NAUTICAL TRAINING 107 incomes by engagements to play at various functions in the neighbourhood. The benefit of music of any description is very marked among boys of a rough class, for besides being an outlet for the healthy emotions, it is an excellent mental training. It is only to be regretted that more boys do not share in the opportunities it affords. E — Nautical Training There are at present seven Training Ships and three Nautical Schools ; three of them are certified as Reformatories, and the remaining seven as Industrial Schools. Fortunately it is no longer considered necessary to train a boy for the sea on a ship afloat, for the sailor of to-day is becoming more and more of a mechanic, and the various departments of his work can be equally well learnt ashore : the fact that, as a rule, 20 to 30 per cent of the boys are not willing or able to go to sea, is another reason for keeping in touch with the land. The Mars has all her training shops on shore, the boys going to and fro from their work in the dinghy belonging to the ship. In addition to this, from the point of view of hygiene, there are obviously disadvantages in using the old ships as schools. The managers of the Akbar and the Formidable have 108 YOUNG DELINQUENTS recently been obliged to move the schools on to the land, the ships' quarters becoming in- creasingly confined and unhealthy. The management of Training Ships is the same as that of any other Certified School, and the ships are subjected to the same amount of inspection. In addition they are periodically examined by Admiralty Inspectors in matters of seamanship and nautical drill. The training is rapidly becoming more comprehensive and scientific, the boys having to master a great deal of machinery, as well as to undergo the ordinary training in seamanship and gunnery. Wireless Telegraphy is the most recent inno- vation ; the Akbar school has lately intro- duced a plant, and the great demand not only in the Navy, but in the Merchant Service, for boys who have been trained in this most modern of sciences, has fully rewarded the managers of the school for their initial outlay. On the Clio Seamanship includes : Parts of the Ship, Rigging, etc. Reefing and Furling Sails, etc. Compass and Steering. Lead and Log Lines. Rule of the Road. Knotting and Splicing. Sail-making, etc. Fire Drill. AGRICULTURAL TRAINING 109 Gunnery includes : Heavy Gun, 4-in. B.L. 6 P.R., 2 F. and 7 P.R. Field Gun. Rifle Drill. Magazine Carbine. Morris Tube Practice. It will be seen that the training that is given in both subjects is comprehensive, and this syllabus is typical of the work of other schools. The technical side of the training is usually very thorough, and the boys are well equipped when the time comes for them to leave the school. A nautical career has many advantages for boys coming from an unsatisfactory environ- ment, and the fact that there are as many as 30,000 aliens as compared to 200,000 British seamen indicates that the career is one that has many possible openings. F — Agricultural and Horticultural Training Where agricultural work is possible there is the great advantage of equipping the boys for a career which has so many openings in the colonies, and in addition it enables the school to be self-supporting, even if it is not a source of profit. The life is eminently suitable for 110 YOUNG DELINQUENTS boys suffering from the effects of an undesirable environment and a weakly inheritance. Were it not for the lack of the necessary funds many more schools would leave the crowded cities for the neighbouring country-side, for it is found that the industrial training can be quite as efficient, and the great advantages derived from the healthy surroundings and unlimited playground more than recompense the managers for any inconvenience which may result from their separation from the busy life of the city. Great progress has lately been made in several schools with regard to horticultural training. The Royal Horticultural Society for the last few years has offered certificates to boys under i8 ; the holder possesses the know- ledge which should enable him to select, lay out, and conduct a small garden on profitable lines. At Stoke Farm it is possible for each boy to have a garden of his own, and lately a boy was awarded first prize in a " Beautiful Garden Competition " promoted by a weekly paper ; the design was original and drawn to scale, and the garden was cultivated during its owner's spare time. The same boy won a ^50 scholarship which will keep him for two years at the Royal Horticultural Society's School. Too much stress cannot be laid on the beneficial results of out-of-door work for ECONOMIC INTEREST 111 boys of a weakly or nervous disposition, and, therefore, whenever possible every advantage should be taken of the opportunities it affords. It must be remembered, however, that not many boys can be adapted to the career of farming ; the majority of them having come from the cities with town fever in their veins, and so drifting back to the city life on the slightest pretext. To force such boys as these to work on the land is to fail to give them an adequate industrial equipment. G — Separation of the Economic and the Industrial Interest The separation of the industrial and economic interest in the boys' minds, is a serious short- coming. It has always to be remembered that the aim of the industrial training is to help the boys to become eventually self- supporting citizens, and therefore they should be encouraged to do in a similar way the things that they will be expected to do in adult life. In a large American Orphanage ;!^i6o is paid annually in the children's wages ; they learn how to earn, save, spend, and give money. Every child earning a dollar a month is required to keep accurate accounts, which are regularly criticized by the masters and mistresses : thus it is possible for the children 112 YOUNG DELINQUENTS to gain some idea of the value of money before they start on their industrial careers. The Superintendent of this school argues that as the work the children do is necessary work, it is better to pay them for it than to pay outsiders. All the children may grow veget- ables in their gardens which they sell to their cottage-mother. In addition to this anyone who has a responsible position is paid accordingly. All of the 200 children have opportunities for earning ; there is therefore a great incentive to work, and at the same time a convenient means of maintaining dis- cipline by a system of fines, which may become a serious item on the young workers' budgets. It may not be possible as yet to adopt this system altogether, but the introduction of a modified form would be of great value, and would result in turning out boys more equal to their American cousins in matters of business capacity. Apart from this the industrial train- ing of the schools is satisfactory. As a rule, each boy's taste and aptitude are taken into consideration, the aim being to create character and to make for industrial efficiency, rather than to increase the school income. DISPOSAL 113 H — Occupations of Boys who left the Schools in 1908, 1909, and 19 id No. at No. St Occupations. end of 1911. Occupations. end of 1911. Army : Labourers : Including Band 7201 76/ Builders • 90^ ,, Special 1,866 Dock . • 71 Reservists . Factories, works J etc. . . 283 • 51 . 129 . 62 Navy : General ■ 797 Including Band 25| Iron works . Royal 309 Mechanics Marines S-* Shipyard Mechanics. . Ill Mercantile marine 677 w IS6 Coasting trade . 132 Messengers and porters 348 Fishing 100 Mill workers 190 Bakers 95 Miners 839 41 Blacksmiths 66 Ostlers Bricklayers, masons, etc. . 54 Packers and warehousemen 7^ Butchers .... Carpenters, wheelwrights, 49 Painters . Printers / J 60 40 etc. . Carters . 211 258 Railway workers Scholars , 151 29 Clerks • 44 Shoemakers 186 Dairymen . • 54 Shop assistants . 188 Factories, works, etc. : Tailors 201 Including glasswo kers, Waiters lOI 53 • • • 398 Other regular employment >7 Farm 1,600 Casual 444 Footmen, page boys, etc. . 98 Convicted . 677 Gardeners . 71 Dead 136 Iron, steel, etc., work .ers . 299 Unknown . Total . • 446 ",531 Industrial Careers The justification of institutional treatment for juvenile delinquents depends upon the 8 114 YOUNG DELINQUENTS degree of moral and industrial efficiency with which the boys are equipped, when the time comes for them to enter their various careers. Consequently, from the day of their arrival at the school, to the day that they leave, it must never be forgotten that eventually they are to become self-supporting and self-respecting citizens. This requires a great deal of fore- sight on the part of the Managers and Super- intendents, who have not only to consider the actual capacities of each boy, but have also to keep in touch with the labour market, closely watching the supply and demand of workers for the various trades, and directing the boys' training accordingly. The increasing use of machinery in many trades must naturally modify much of the industrial training. For example, there is little use in teaching a boy to make a boot throughout by hand, when he will find that in a boot-factory practically the whole process is done by machinery. There- fore it is essential that with the specialization there must be a thoroughly sound general education, so that each boy shall acquire a certain degree of adaptability. Furthermore, it has been the experience of many Managers that the more they can interest employers in the work of their school, and the more they from the beginning consider the individual boy's capacities, the easier it will be to secure INDUSTRIAL CAREERS 115 a satisfactory disposal when the period of their detention is finished. Boys and Managers alike have to realize that the employer's interest rests entirely on the actual value of an applicant's worth, not on his athletic achieve- ments nor, unfortunately, on his individuality. With industrial careers, except in rare instances, the task of supervision rests almost entirely with the Superintendent and the Certified Schools' Agent. Largely as a result of economic changes the old apprenticeship has disappeared, and nothing as yet has come to take its place. Although the present industrial system has not all its advantages, there is no reason why the boys who enter an industrial career should not have the three essential conditions of apprenticeship, so well described as " proper supervision, adequate training, and eventual opening." ^ Under the old system, till the age of 21, and sometimes 24, the apprentices were under the direct control of their masters. With the repeal of the Elizabethan Statute of Apprenticeship in 18 14, the State abandoned practically all responsibility for the well-being of its embryo artisan population. In a few trades, such as printing, engineering, and jewellery, where there is still a system of apprenticeship, the Managers would avail them- selves of it more often were it not for the lack ' " Boy Labour and Apprenticeship," Bray. 116 YOUNG DELINQUENTS of necessary funds. This difficulty might be sometimes met by persuading the employers to come to some agreement with the school authorities, but the large supply of boys outside the Certified Schools, whose parents are willing to defray the whole cost of their apprenticeship, makes this almost impossible. An even greater difficulty in the way of apprenticeship lies in the fact that the majority of the parents are not able to wait a few years for their boys' earnings, and even if this is not so there is often a lack of foresight in the parents' inability to realize that it will be for their sons' ultimate good. It will be seen by the above statistics that more than one-third of the boys who left the schools during the years 1907, 1908, 1909 entered definitely industrial careers. The Juvenile Labour Exchange will in future greatly facilitate the work of school authorities in placing the boys, and in future every possible advantage should be taken of a scheme which aims at such far-reaching co- operation. Army and Navy Military and naval careers are the most popular with all concerned. Boys entering the Army or Navy have the advantage of satisfac- tory supervision and a continuance of discipline, which may be very necessary for many who ARMY AND NAVY 117 leave Certified Schools. The statistics show that the great majority of the boys join the band, which is a skilled profession, and a great number join as tailors and cooks, but compara- tively few become mere " rankers." It has always to be remembered that the services, especially the Army, have the same disadvan- tage for the ex-Certified School boys that they have for any other boys, namely, that unless they are able to work their way through the ranks they are eventually cast upon the labour market without any industrial qualifications. Such men as these have generally to earn their living as casual labourers, unless they have the good fortune to be found more satisfactory employment by their officers, or by some asso- ciation for befriending young soldiers. The period of service admittedly tides over several of the most difficult years in their lives, and it remains to be seen if the Army can give the young soldiers some industrial qualifications during^their seven years' service. Agriculture An agricultural career is becoming increasingly popular with the school authorities owing to the great openings in the Colonies and the facilities offered by Welsh farms. A great many boys, particularly those from Industrial Schools, are 118 YOUNG DELINQUENTS sent to Wales. Unfortunately the accommoda- tion provided for the boys has sometimes been very inadequate, which shows the necessity for continued supervision. The question of emigra- tion is immensely important, for the benefit it gives the boys of an entirely new start in the invigorating and stimulating atmosphere of a new country is inestimable. The Chief Inspector of British Immigrant Children and Receiving Homes in Canada, in his Report for 1 9 1 1 , estimates that the demand for boy and girl immigrants was eight times larger than the supply. It is reassuring to the school authori- ties to know that owing to the vigilance of the inspectorate, and the many precautions that are taken, the children will be as well cared for in Canada as they would be in England. An Inspector visits every home where a child is placed, at least once a year, and gives a report on its health and character. The Canadian farmers depend very largely on the help of young immigrants, and although the Govern- ment promises the latter no exceptional privi- leges it ensures that, " the utmost possible justice, fair play, and liberality will be afforded them." ^ Certain inquiries are made by the Colonial agents as to the character and parent- age of young immigrants, and only those that ' Report of the Chief Inspector of British Immigrant Children, 191 1. HORTICULTURE 119 are physically and mentally sound have a chance of being accepted. In order that they should not outstep their welcome it is necessary for the authorities at home to facilitate, as far as possible, the work of the Colonial representa- tives whose duty it is to examine the children. Horticulture Gardening is a profession which is also in- creasingly popular, and it is one that has many advantages owing to the fact that it is skilled work with a number of possible openings, which are still further increased by the introduction of intensive culture and other scientific methods. Moreover, it is one of the most healthy careers and is therefore eminently suitable for boys who are at all deficient. Although such boys as these may never have the intellectual power and initiative necessary for the more scientific gardening, there is a great deal of work which will not tax their limited capacities too severely. Taking them as a whole, the schools are doing excellent work as regards the disposal of their boys ; they are giving them such sound training that they are often far better equipped than the boys leaving Elementary Schools, who start their industrial career at the early age of 14 with little or no manual training and not much idea of discipline. The Managers are contin- 120 YOUNG DELINQUENTS ually faced with the problem caused by a certain number of boys who will never be skilled work- men and, unless many precautions are taken, will simply swell the ranks of casual labourers, or perhaps the " ins and outs " of the prison or workhouse population. For such boys as these it is generally found that agriculture is the safest career ; but because it is not always possible, or even advisable, to insist on a town boy going on the land, the school authorities are continually perplexed as to the best equipment for such boys. The most experienced Super- intendents consider that it is generally possible to instil a certain degree of skill in one branch of work, even if the boy is slightly deficient. It is to be hoped that before long Government provisions will be made for all who are definitely feeble-minded : when this comes about the number of " casuals " and " convicted " will without doubt be greatly diminished. The urgency for legislation of this kind is becoming increasingly apparent, the schools having con- stantly to send boys out into the world whom they know will come to no good and only become a burden on the State. I — Supervision and After-Care The question of the after-care of the boys is naturally very important, and in the well- AFTER-CARE 121 managed schools it is one which is continually under consideration. In Industrial Schools the boys are under the control of the Superintendent until they are 18, and during these two years they are liable to be recalled at any moment if their conduct is unsatisfactory. With Re- formatories the question of after-care is more difficult, because the majority of the boys only leave the school when they are 18, and although they are under authority until they are 19, it is found extremely difficult to make a boy of that age submit to any sort of control. This points to the advisability of doing every- thing possible, while they are still at school, to teach them self-control and self-discipline. There would probably not be this difficulty if the discipline of the schools was less re- pressive and demanded more of the boys' sense of responsibility and initiative. One of the principal means of obtaining information as to the boys' progress is the report which the employer is asked to send, at first monthly, and afterwards quarterly. Whenever possible the Superintendent visits the boys, and if the school is not far away the boys are invited to attend an Annual Reunion. Any system of correspondence is much to be encouraged, and for the great majority of boys it is the principal means of keeping in touch with their old school. At 122 YOUNG DELINQUENTS the Regent's Park Home the boys every year print a " Budget " containing the news of the school and the address and occupation of all the old boys whose whereabouts are known. The " Budget" is widely circulated, and appre- ciative letters are received from all parts of the world ; there is little doubt that it helps the Managers in their work of after-care, while at the same time it is a means of rousing a true esp7'it de co7'ps. Each number contains an invitation to every old boy to be present at " Founder's Day," one of the most popular institutions of the school. The school authorities always have to re- member that the contrast of the solitary life of the boy engaged in industrial or agricultural work, after the busy life of the school where he was one of many, may have a serious effect upon his character. To avoid this, it is found desirable to introduce him to some club or similar organization, where he will still have the advantages of physical and moral training, besides enjoying the companionship of the workers and other members of the club. Probably much more might be done in interest- ing voluntary workers in the welfare of the boys. It is in such work that the Managers can be of the greatest assistance by looking after a few old boys themselves or passing them on to friends. Great care is needed in AUXILIARY HOMES 123 the choice of such friends, for there have been instances where the work of the school has been vitiated owing to the influence of those who were asked " to keep an eye on the boys." The ideal would be for no boy to leave school without being the nominal ward of some one who was willing to take an active interest in his career. Homes in connection with Certified Schools Where a boy should live when he is working in an industrial career, and is not able to return to his home, is an important question. A few schools have combined in founding an Auxiliary Home for such boys, but for the large majority accommodation has to be found with some suitable working-class family. There are usually hostels for working-boys in every large town, and although independent of the Certified Schools they are willing to co-. operate with them. It is wiser for the boys to live where they can have a certain amount of supervision, and where there are at the same time many opportunities for healthy re- creation. The Certified Schools Agency The Certified Schools' Agency was started in 1906 for the purpose of helping the Super- 124 YOUNG DELINQUENTS intendents in their work of after-care. There are at present three officers, who have their head-quarters in Bristol, Birmingham, and Liverpool ; their work is directed by a Super- visory Committee, and the records and accounts are open to the Home Office Inspectors. Owing to the expense, comparatively few schools make use of the Agency, the charge being -^d. per head per week if it is used for the whole school ; the Reformatories are better able to afford this, owing- to their possessing the Reformatory Aid Grant of ;^8,ooo per annum ; but, beyond making use of the Agency for individual cases, the Industrial Schools rarely make further use of its services. There are many instances where it is impossible for the Superintendents to visit their old boys, or to investigate the condition of their homes before permitting them to return, and there- fore, if the Agency was financed by the State, many more schools would be assisted in the arduous work of after-care. The position of Certified Schools' Agent has many possibilities, and needs a man of considerable ability ; not only can he assist in finding suitable situations for the boys as they leave school, but he can do much in the direction of securing for them healthy recrea- tion. It is here that the after-care has been especially inadequate. M uch more needs to be CERTIFIED SCHOOLS' AGENCY 125 done to secure the co-operation of the many associations and organizations which exist for the purpose of providing the young working- class population adequate means of recreation, physical training, and intellectual development. CHAPTER VlTl GIRLS' REFORMATORY AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS A — The General Appearance of the Girls. B — Discipline and Punishment. C — Physical Training and Recreation. D — Industrial Training. E — Occupations of the Girls who left the Schools in 1908, 1909, 1910. 1. Service. 2. Laundry. 3. Emigration. F — Supervision and After-care. 1. Homes in connection with Certified Schools. 2. The Work of the M.A.B.Y.S. A — The General Appearance of the Girls THE lack of individuality in the girls' appearance in many Certified Schools is a most distressing feature. There are naturally advantages in a uniform style of dress for reasons of economy, and for minimizing the chance of rivalry ; but there can be no doubt that in the past the dress has been unneces- sarily plain and unbecoming. It is true that many schools, especially those belonging to the Roman Catholics and a few other In- 126 UNIFORM 127 dustrial Schools, are trying to introduce a certain amount of variety in the dress, and in these schools the girls' improved appearance is remarkable. There is surely no need for the sfirls in Certified Schools to be dressed so differently from others. The fact that it is a true feminine instinct to care for pretty clothes has been practically ignored by the school authorities. The girls' standard of what is pretty may be a very perverted one, but it will remain so unless they are given an opportunity for acquiring" a higher standard. Even the working uniform need not be quite so "drear" in colour and shape, and many modifications could easily be made in the other dresses. In most cases it is found necessary to cut the girls' hair quite short when they first come to the school, and until comparatively lately in the majority of schools it has been kept short till just before the girls go to service. Some schools are now finding that if the hair is cut short to begin with, and a few extra precautions are taken, there is no reason to interfere with its natural growth, and the quality of the hair steadily improves with the girls' physical improvement. There is natur- ally a certain amount of risk, but the more natural and attractive appearance of the girls repays the mistresses for the extra care that 128 YOUNG DELINQUENTS is needed. Many girls of this class have never learned self-respect ; but it is acquired with difficulty if they are unable to take a pride in their personal appearance. Furthermore, it is natural that on becoming independent of the schools they should sometimes choose an extravagant and absurd mode of dress that is the despair of their mistresses. It would be a sounder policy to help them to form a standard of what is suitable while they are still at school. B — Discipline and Punishment The general character of the girls depends to a large extent upon the moral atmosphere of the school, and it is in this respect that the schools differ most widely. In some places it is customary to speak of the staff as the " Officers," and there is a general atmosphere of repression. Even during recreation the girls are half-hearted, unless, as is often the case, they are unnaturally wild as a result of the unreasonably stern discipline they have been subjected to whilst at work. As a con- trast to such schools as these there are many where the staff are spoken of as the " Mis- tresses," or as the " Sisters." There is a general atmosphere of homeliness and happi- ness ; the girls look happy and natural, they are proud of being trusted, and are able to DISCIPLINE 129 prove themselves worthy of trust. Many schools are standing mid-way ; they have thrown off much that is typical of the worst type of school, and yet they are still a long- way below the almost ideal standard attained by the few. The great majority of schools rely on a mark system with money rewards to encourage good conduct, and in many cases it seems to have the desired effect. It is most desirable that the girls should have a little money of their own, even if it is only to encourage them in ways of thrift ; id. 2i week can be spent wisely. Everything that rouses the girls' self-reliance and sense of responsibility is a sure means of securing a good tone in the school ; therefore it is probably wiser to let the girls have their own pennies to spend, or save as they will, than to let it accumulate week by week in the Savings Bank, without the earners having had an opportunity of handling it. As a rule, the mark system works remarkably well, but there are instances where the form is more apparent than the spirit, and in such cases as these the system seems both inefficient and unmoral. The existence of an Honours Board in some schools, upon which the girls' names are written week by week in order of merit, is apparently an additional in- centive to good conduct. 9 130 YOUNG DELINQUENTS The absence of any idea of trusting the girls is a serious fault which is to be found in the majority of schools. Everything, from the Superintendent's room to the smallest cup- board, is kept under lock and key, the reason being that the girls are never for a moment to be trusted, many of them having been sent to the school because of their pilfering habits. If it is true that the girls are not to be trusted, it is doubtless because they have never had any opportunity for proving the contrary since they came to the school. To keep everything under lock and key is to cast a slur upon human nature, and to believe that the girls are incapable of responding to what is highest and best. There are a few schools where this is not the case, and the difference is imme- diately apparent ; it sometimes happens that should the girls go to service and find every cupboard kept locked they receive a rude shock, and come back almost tearfully to their old mistress for an explanation. Many of those in authority have yet to learn that repression is always evil. Servility is not the true basis for respect or reverence. Some schools are so anxious to turn out " smart little servants who know their proper places" that the individual needs are neglected, and the girls have little initiation and self- reliance. In the past Managers and Super- CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 131 intendents have been apt to lay too great a stress upon results. When each girl's char- acter is first taken into consideration, and her spiritual nature fostered, the results follow of themselves, and they are not found unsatis- factory. PiinisJiment Corporal punishment is seldom used in the best-managed schools, but many Superin- tendents have found that there are certain cases where it is desirable, although such cases may only occur once every three or four years. The London County Council refuse their top grant to schools which use such drastic methods, and the Model Rules issued by the Home Office for the guidance of Managers contain a provision forbidding the use of any corporal punishment in girls' schools. In some of the older schools, where the rules were sanctioned by the Home Office many years ago, corporal punishment is permitted. As long as such punishment is used for very exceptional cases and at long intervals it may be justifiable for the younger girls. One Superintendent con- siders the moral effect of corporal punishment upon the whole school is almost as great as it is upon the delinquent herself ; but in this school the others would not be so affected were it not for the fact that there is often some 132 YOUNG DELINQUENTS years' interval between every such punishment. When the teachers are constantly tapping the children on the hand for the slightest offence the punishment has no lasting effect ; but if such a punishment is rarely used, and then made painffjl, the effect will be permanent on the offender and her companions. Three or four sharp strokes on the palm of the hand are usually sufficient to rouse a child to the sense of her culpability, but it should be rarely if ever inflicted on a child over twelve years of age. It is of the utmost importance that the Superintendent should inflict the punish- ment when she herself is perfectly calm, and the delinquent must be made to realize that she is not the only sufferer. The risks of such punishment, however, are so great that, as with the boys' schools, it may be necessary to prohibit it altogether. The punishments have always to be recorded in the Punishment Book, with a description of the offence for which they were given. Other than corporal punishment the methods are often quaint, and sometimes unfortunately degrading. Sending the girls to bed is a very popular and effective means of punish- ment, for it is often found that naughtiness is a result of physical ill-health.' Confining a child with her own resentful thoughts may be very harmful ; but there is a certain type PUNISHMENTS 133 of girl who is always anxious to attract attention, and when exemplary behaviour meets with no success she will resort to wilful disobedience or insolence. For such a girl a few hours' separation from her companions is a most efficacious means of bringing her to reason. Extra bed-making and scrubbing are other means of punishment, but unless great precautions are taken such punishments as these have the disastrous effect of giving the girls a distaste for their work. It is unwise to make work for a delinquent, but there is always something that has to be done, whether it is knitting an inch or two of stocking while the others are at play, or spending a little longer over the needlework, both of which are found useful means of punishment in some schools. With the younger girls the Super- intendents sometimes resort to "slippering" or "spanking"; these methods are unwise, and apt to be degrading to inflicter and in- flicted alike. In some schools if the girls are naughty they wear a distinctive mark on their dress ; in one place, till quite recently, they wore their working dress inside-out for a day or two. Here again the methods are apt to be degrading, and to rouse a resentful spirit in the girl's mind which entirely defeats the purpose of the punishment. If due precautions are taken it is found that to deprive the girls 134 YOUNG DELINQUENTS of their food is an efficient means of bringing them to task, but it is naturally important that every care should be taken not to curtail the much-needed nutrition for long at a time. A great many schools rely almost entirely upon the deprivation of privileges, and this is one of the wisest punishments. Even here there is a danger of rousing a resentful spirit in the delinquent and a self-satisfied spirit in those who are able to enjoy the privileges. Stern words quietly spoken by a loved and respected teacher have often far more effect than any amount of punishment. If this should fail, there must be a direct appeal to the reasonableness of the delinquent, as, for example, by helping an incorrigible pilferer to feel a respect for ownership, or by helping a bad-tempered girl to realize the principle of self-control. At the same time the girls must be made to realize that they are members of a community, and if one does wrong the others suffer. In the best-managed schools punish- ment is rare ; a strong public opinion amongst the girls prevents the most insubordinate from incurring the disapproval of their companions. With girls, owing to the constant danger of ''sulks" and self-justification, the question of punishment is of the utmost importance. Once there is a right spirit in the school, it is seen that inhibition is better than prohibition, and PHYSICAL TRAINING 135 to appeal to the best that is in the girls is a far wiser course than peremptorily to condemn what is wrong. C — Physical Training and Recreation The majority of the schools have some form of compulsory drill, and although in the past it was often unscientific, and therefore had little appreciable effect on the girls, there are now many signs of waking consciousness on the part of the Managers to the continued need of improvement in this respect. At present, for the most part, the methods in use are anti- quated, and the time allotted to drill is woefully insufficient. The importance of giving the girls a sound physical training is very great, and no effort should be spared to make not only the future domestic servants, but the future mothers more alert in their movements and more phy- sically sound. In a very few schools there are organized games which are beneficial in every way. At Coventry Industrial Schools there is regular hockey in the winter, and this appears to be very popular with the girls. In some of the American schools a great deal is done in this direction ; the benefit of getting the girls to 136 YOUNG DELINQUENTS play together and to learn to take defeat is fully- realized. It is in such matters as these that outsiders might take more interest in the schools, and coach the girls in hockey, tennis, basket-ball, or any other organized game. At Coventry the hockey is entirely managed by a resident in the neighbourhood, and this has the advantage of giving the members of the staff a much-needed rest. A certain number of schools situated in the towns avail themselves of the opportunities afforded by the public baths, and every girl learns to swim, and this greatly adds to the pleasure of those who are fortunate enough to go to the seaside for their summer holidays. In a few schools the girls are taught Morris dancing ; probably much more might be done in this direction, combining as it does thorough recreation and physical exercise. Acting is a notable feature in a few schools, especially in those belonging to the Roman Catholics. It affords a splendid outlet for the healthy emo- tions, beside encouraging self-reliance and correct elocution. The treats are, as a rule, frequent at Christ- mas-time and in the summer, but often they are rather wholesale, and do not demand the best of the grirls' natures. At one school the principal Christmas treat takes the form of giving an entertainment to the neighbours, and RECREATION 137 the girls learn the pleasure of being hostesses and themselves the entertainers. In the summer, whenever possible in the case of town schools, it is customary to take the girls to the seaside or country for a few weeks, and whilst there the rules are relaxed as much as possible. In many American schools a great deal of attention is given to the musical training of the girls ; in several places there are string orches- tras, and in one school there is even a brass band. The influence of music is unmistakable on somewhat rough natures, and it is a pity that there is not more of it in the English schools other than class singing ; but in this, as in much else, there is a spirit of conser- vatism. The Managers and Superintendents, many of whom are elderly, have often not had the pleasure which is derived from strenuous physical exercise and healthy recreation in their own youth. This fact, coupled with their con- 1 stant dread of unfitting the girls for service, makes them somewhat loath to encourage any innovation in this direction. They think that if a girl learns dancing and music she will be unfitted for a life where she has to spend the greater part of her free time in a basement kitchen or a dingy servants' hall. Those in authority are sometimes apt to forget that it is 138 YOUNG DELINQUENTS the instinct of all young creatures to play and exercise their limbs, and, moreover, that this instinct is a very healthy one, and ought to be encouraged. It would be far wiser to give a servant girl some opportunities for real recrea- tion than to drive her surreptitiously to read penny novelettes because she knows of no healthier means of recreation and diversion. In this respect the mistresses need reforming as much as the Managers and Superintendents. One of the most enlightened Superintendents has lately tried to make her girls appreciate Shakespeare, but she was so severely blamed by some of the mistresses for filling their young servants' heads with worthless ideas and un- necessary aspirations, that she has been dis- couraged from making further efforts in this direction. Much depends on the associations which are formed in the girls' minds during their im- pressionable years at school. If these associa- tions are healthy and pleasant, they will help to carry the girls through what must often be a very arduous and monotonous day's work. When the time comes for them to have homes of their own, there will be a safe foundation to build upon, and they will not want to satisfy their pent-up craving for excitement and diver- sion by insatiable novel-reading and frequent visits to music-halls and picture palaces. EFFICIENCY OF TRAINING 139 D — Industrial Training In the matter of industrial training there is practically no variety in the schools other than housework, laundry-work, and a certain amount of needlework and dressmaking. As regards the efficiency of the training, however, there is considerable difference. Many schools still appear to believe in the potency of hard labour, and the wholesale nature of much of the work affords unlimited opportunities for carrying out such a policy. Such work as this, which fails to rouse any interest or to demand any individual skill, has the result of turning out the " institution girl " who is the despair of her mistress, and is at the best a competent machine. There are many large schools where the work is better arranged, and where every- thing possible is done to arouse the girls' interest, and to avoid any risk of making the work distasteful to them. It is now being realised that housewifery is an art, and theory is essential to practice ; more enlightened Managers are therefore introducing house- wifery classes, and this is a great step towards the abolition of the machine-like methods which still exist in many schools. It has often been found in the past that a servant trained in an institution has little or no idea of the methods of an ordinary household, 140 YOUNG DELINQUENTS because, unless she has had an opportunity of waiting on the Superintendent and Mistresses, her training has been confined to scrubbing and the most elementary housework. In many schools, because work has had to be found for the girls, there has been little or none of the domestic machinery used which exists in the average household. It has been found occa- sionally that the girls do not even know how to use a broom, not only because of the absence of carpets in the schools, but also owing to the everlasting scrubbing which was considered a wholesome discipline and a satisfactory means of employment. At Nazareth House each girl learns to " turn out " and dust a model sitting- room and bedroom. Both rooms are kept well supplied with ornaments of every description, which accustom the girls to be careful in their work, with the result that when they go to service they do not make havoc of everything which is of a somewhat fragile nature. Some such scheme as this exists in several schools and helps to make the training far more efficient. The laundry is usually a source of profit to the schools, and the quickest girls reach a con- siderable degree of proficiency in it and are able, on leaving, to obtain good posts in public or private laundries. Here again the Managers are seeing the wisdom of allowing their girls to INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 141 learn the theory of the work, but even then it has always to be remembered that it is not really healthy work, and therefore no girl should be kept at it for many hours together. If the work comes from outside, the laundry comes under factory legislation and the condi- tions are inspected by the factory inspectors. For the big, strong girls in Reformatories it is generally found to be the most suitable work. The girls make all their own clothes, in- cluding the outfit they are given when they leave school. Although the best work is in the hands of a few, in the well-managed schools each girl has the opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of plain needlework and dress- making, which should be useful to her all her life. At Nazareth House, where the industrial training is almost ideal, each girl learns to dress, undress, and bathe a large doll in the most approved way, and sometimes they help the Sisters in the care of the little ones, which are a very happy addition to the school. Much more might be done by appealing to the mother instinct in each girl. It is sometimes pathetic to see the amount of affection that the elder girls will lavish on a cat or a dog, or even a doll, for want of anything better. There is one branch of work which is prac- tically non-existent, and that is "out-of-door" 142 YOUNG DELINQUENTS work of any description ; even in country schools, where there are many opportunities, often no attempt is made to vary the curriculum. The reason usually given is lack of time, the girls having as much work as they can possibly accomplish ; this is no doubt true of the smaller schools, but elsewhere it is partly due to the fact that cleanliness has become a " fetish." As an American writer says, " the girls are kept everlastingly scrubbing on the much-over- worked floors and furniture," with the result that there is no time for anything else. In many American schools horticulture and agricul- ture are playing an important part in the girls' industrial training ; in every case the Superin- tendents speak enthusiastically of the beneficial results, both moral and physical. The Super- intendent of the Iowa Home, in her Annual Report, writes : " Many girls are employed in summer on the lawns, with the flower beds, in gathering vegetables, and in garden work generally ; this gives a light and very healthful exercise, besides plenty of fresh air and sun- shine, which works wonders in each case where the physically weak, nervous, and debilitated girl comes to us." It must be remembered that many of the girls sent to the schools are suffering from hereditary physical or mental weakness, and therefore plenty of fresh air is essential for them. The beneficial results of "OUT OF DOOR" WORK 148 outdoor work have already been seen in the case of the epileptic, the feeble-minded, and the inebriate, and it would therefore seem reasonable to include this healthy occupation in the school curriculum. It would at any rate be a desirable alternative exercise to the mono- tonous "crocodile walk," This has already been proved to be the case in a few schools where the girls have gardens of their own, although in these instances the gardens are of too small dimensions to permit of the strenuous digging which is so peculiarly health-giving. At the present time a great deal is being done to encourage girl emigrants, and it stands to reason that a girl will have a much better chance in the colonies if she has some experi- ence in gardening and agriculture in addition to her knowledge of housework. Should she stay in England, the experience of her outdoor work will in no way unfit her for ordinary service, but rather will have been the means of buildinof up a healthy mind and body. If established on a sound working basis there is no reason why in the country schools the garden should not become as much a business concern as the laundry ; it could, at all events, help to make the school self-supporting. It is possible that the opening up of gardening as a career for women will further the development of this idea. 144 YOUNG DELINQUENTS On the whole the industrial training given in the schools is sound, but the actual scope of the work is too limited and not sufficient is done to widen the girls' interest in other directions. Too seldom have they the opportunity of realizing the great principle found in Dr. Thring's famous words, " Honour the work and the work will honour you." E — Occupations of Girls who left the Schools in 1908, 1909, and 1910 Occupations. General servants Casual (including charing) Factories or mills . Housemaids . Private laundry-maids Kitchenmaids. Married ... Nursemaids Assisting parents in house work Public laundry-maids Dressmakers . Parlour-maids Shop assistants Cooks No. ai end of 1911. 1,049 235 232 198 138 IIS 95 92 86 54 51 31 27 27 Occupations. en No. at d of 1911 Scholars . a , 22 Waitresses • 23 Dairymaids . II Clerks, Typists . . 6 Others in regular employ- ment , , 6 Teachers , a 4 Ladies' maids . • 4 Convicted . 28 Dead . • 46 Unknown . . 135 Total • 2,715 Domestic Service i It will be seen by the above statistics that the majority of the girls go to service. Of these the greatest number start as general servants. Most Managers and Superinten- dents consider this the wisest course for the DOMESTIC SERVICE 145 greater number of the girls in their charge, particularly as there is always a large demand for this class of domestic servant. Where the situations are carefully chosen there is no doubt that this is wise, for an efficient girl will have many opportunities of improving herself ; but with oreneral service of an inferior character there is always a possibility of the girl unfitting herself for a better class of work. The loneli- ness of the life for a girl coming straight from school is an even more important consideration. Everything depends upon the actual situation ; even if the girl is one of several servants, there is always risk of her being imposed upon by those that are older, which is as harmful for her as is the solitary life of a " general." It is in such matters as these that every care should be taken to ensure a really satisfactory situa- tion. Much might be done in persuading the mistresses to take more than an official interest in the girl's welfare, not only by safeguarding her from the many temptations which assail a domestic servant, but at the same time by giving her as many opportunities as possible in the direction of healthy recreation. At the present day the domestic servant in many households is regarded very much as a machine. No longer are mistress and maid of " well-to- do " families to be seen working together side by side making pastry or preserve, and rarely lO 146 YOUNG DELINQUENTS do they meet together for " family prayers." The servants come and go in an often rapid succession ; the demand for them is far greater than they are able or willing to supply, indus- trial and business careers having an increasing attraction for them. There is frequent com- plaining that the servants have changed, and that they are inferior to those of fifty or even twenty-five years ago ; but it is not only the servants who have changed — the social and economic conditions of the whole country have changed, and are continuing to change. A laundry-maid in a private family may have a very desirable position, but here again every- thing depends upon the actual situation ; she may be left almost entirely under the influence of an undesirable superior, or on the other hand she may have the same supervision as an ordinary household servant. Taken as a whole, sending girls to public laundries should not be encouraged, for the life is rough at the best, and the girls are beset with many temptations. There are exceptions, but it is to be hoped that with the increasing use of machinery there will be less need for girls' work. The question of emigration is increasingly considered owing to the great shortage of women in all the colonies. During 1910 only 56 of the 980 girls discharged from the schools AFTER-CARE 147 were sent abroad, and when it is remembered how far Canada's demand for women's labour exceeds the supply, this is a small number. There can be no doubt that the colonies afford special opportunities to those who need a fresh start in an invigorating atmosphere. It will be seen that comparatively few girls become dressmakers or anything that requires more intellectual capacity than housework. If the educational methods were improved in some directions many more might be able to earn a living otherwise than by manual labour. The fact of 235 being engaged in casual work is not satisfactory ; there will always be some girls who are inefficient owing to mental de- ficiency, but these are usually the very girls who need the control and discipline of regular work, even though it be of the simplest de- scription. It is such girls that give most difficulty to the school authorities ; beyond ensuring adequate supervision and equipping them as well as their limited capacities will admit, there is little that can be done to ensure their success in industrial careers. F — Supervision and After-care The period of supervision after the girls leave school is the same as has been already described in the case of the boys. When the 148 YOUNG DELINQUENTS girls have pleasant associations with their school life, the actual period of supervision is far longer than that which is legally prescribed, but, on the other hand, there are instances where there is no mutual affection between the girl and her old school. The great majority of schools have no separate accommodation for their old girls, but they depend upon a few spare beds or a sick-room for them to use during their holidays and in between their situations. The success of such a scheme as this depends upon the character of the old girl ; if this is not satisfactory her influence may be far-reaching and have a very serious effect amongst the younger girls. On the other hand, if her character is exemplary, her example may be a means of stimulating the girls still in the school to make fresh efforts to equip themselves for their career, in order that they may achieve some of the success, and secure some of the admiration, that their former companion now enjoys. Homes in connection with Certified Schools It is obvious that the wisest means of pro- viding for the old girls is the institution of a small home in the neighbourhood of the school, or even adjacent to it, where they can spend their holidays and where those that are working AUXILIARY HOMES 149 in the same town may spend their free time. Some such scheme as this exists in a few schools — notably, Princess Mary Village Homes, Nazareth House, and Coventry Industrial School ; many others would make a similar provision were it not for the lack of the necessary funds. Such homes as these may have the double purpose of providing accom- modation for old girls and affording an excellent means of demonstrating to the girls still in the school the requirements of an ordinary household. Many practical lessons in house- wifery might be given in such a place if it were furnished, as far as possible, similarly to the homes where the girls will eventually work ; at the same time it may become an ideal for the girls when the time comes for them to marry and have homes of their own. The Work of the M.A.B. Y.S. Much more might be done in securing the interest of some "outsider" for the girls as they leave school, and this is especially impor- tant for those who go far away. If their work happens to be in a town there is usually some Club or Association for working-girls which will be willing to befriend the new-comer if her needs are laid before them. In 191 1 the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young 150 YOUNG DELINQUENTS Servants had 338 girls under their care from different schools. Failing some such associa- tion as this, it is worth while for the Managers to make great efforts to find some one who will befriend the girl and make provision for her recreation and spiritual needs. Any system of correspondence between the school and its old girls is much to be com- mended, and here again is an opportunity for the Managers, who might take their share in the copious letter-writing which is necessary if the aim of after-care is to be achieved. Each Manager might be responsible for a certain number of girls, but failing this she could find some friend who would take her place, introducing the girl to her before she leaves school. A circular letter would be a useful means of keeping in touch with the old girls, by letting them know the whereabouts of their former companions, and by giving them all the news of their old school. The thought that their old friends would hear of their disgrace would in some cases be a way of checking delinquent tendencies. The greater number of schools rely very largely upon the Annual Reunion, where the old girls are entertained by the present members of the school, and are able to renew their acquaintance with their former friends on the staff. In some places this day is looked forward AFTER-CARE 151 to from one year to another, and old girls may be seen proudly showing their own children some of the relics of their school- days. Unfortunately, comparatively few girls are near enough to the school to attend this gathering, and therefore other means of keeping in touch with them are very necessary. It needs the continuous consideration of Superin- tendent and Managers if the work of after-care is to be carried out satisfactorily. CHAPTER IX THE WORK OF DAY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, SHORT- TERM INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, AND SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS A — Day Industrial Schools. 1. Definition and History of the Schools. 2. Managennent. 3. Education and Industrial Training. 4. Physical Care of the Children. 5. The Staff. 6. The Future of the Schools. B — Short-term Industrial Schools. C — Special Industrial Schools. A — Day Industrial Schools I. Definition and History of the Schools IN Section 77 of the Children Act it enacts that a Day Industrial School is one " in which industrial training, elementary education, and one or more meals a day, but no lodging, are provided," The Act of 1866, which consolidated and amended previous Acts concerning Certified Schools, contained an amendment proposed by Lord Sandown, authorizing School Boards to establish Day Industrial Schools, " for those 152 DAY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 153 children whose education is neglected by their parents, or who are found wandering and in bad company." At the close of 191 1 there were twenty such schools under inspection, of which twelve were in England and eight in Scotland. The number of children attendinsf the schools on December 31, 191 1, were, boys 1,936, girls 653. 2. Ma7iage7nent The schools in England are entirely managed by the Local Education Authorities. In Glasgow, where there are seven of the Scotch schools, all but two of them are managed by the Juvenile Delinquency Board, and they seem to be doing excellent work. In England it is clear that the schools are not making much headway, for there is usually a bare sufficiency of children to warrant the schools being kept open. A local education authority has the same powers in relation to one of these schools as it has to a Certified Industrial School, for it is responsible for the efficiency of the education and maintenance of the children. The average cost per head during 191 1 was £\2, los. ; the parents or guardians of the child have to contribute towards its support according to their ability, but their contributions are 154 YOUNG DELINQUENTS very small in comparison with the cost of maintenance. The children attending Day Industrial Schools are mainly of the same class as those in other Industrial Schools ; they are usually of the poorest, but, because there is less risk of moral contamination, it is considered by the magistrates who hear the case that sufficient provision is made for the child's welfare if it becomes a day-boarder. There are always a certain number of children who have played truant or are unmanageable at home, and it is thought that a few months' detention at a Day Industrial School will have the effect of setting them in the right way again. A number of the children are committed to the schools because of the economic necessity of the home. The mother has usually to supplement the family income with her own earnings, and is therefore unable to give the children the necessary supervision. '> Education and Industrial Training The education of the schools is almost identical with that of the Elementary Schools, with the exception that more attention is given to industrial training, and this is made possible owing to the longer hours the children are in school, usually from 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The DAY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 155 girls help in the housework and preparation of the meals, and in the necessary laundry- and needlework ; there are classes in housewifery, so that they may be able to acquire some idea of the theory of domestic work before leaving school. The boys are taught elementary carpentry, and at some schools they do a certain amount of boot-making and mending. 4. Physical Care of the Children The physical needs of the children are a matter for important consideration ; the majority of them, on entering the school, are suffering from the effects of serious malnutrition and neglect. They have three good meals a day, and the diet is approved by the Government Inspector and the school Medical Officer, who frequently examine] the children. Each child is bathed at least once a week, and everything possible is done to inculcate habits of cleanli- ness ; but because the children return to their homes each night, many of which are anything but clean, the staff is faced with serious difficulties. No uniform is worn in the school other than overalls ; but it is often found necessary to put all the children's clothing into the disinfecting cupboard, this necessitating the keeping of a few extra clothes at the school. TThe children's clothes are often so ragged and 156 YOUNG DELINQUENTS so insufficient that they have to be supplemented from the school store. There is the usual amount of drilling and recreation, and every- thing is done to develop the poor physique of the children. Bristol Day Industrial School has a swimming bath, which is a great acquisi- tion. Wherever possible the whole school is taken away for a few weeks' country holiday, and this has always a very noticeable effect on the children's general condition. 5. The Staff The staff varies little from that of an Elementary School, but their work is un- doubtedly more arduous ; the hours are longer, the children are with them the whole of the day, and they have little opportunity for rest and recreation. They must have an immense fund of patience and sympathy, for the children are usually of the poorest, and it often seems that what is learnt during school hours is for- gotten during the night at home. Many of the teachers give themselves to the work with un- flagging zeal and wonderful devotion ; such work means real self-sacrifice, and there can be no doubt that if the teachers did not realize this need, the schools would not be as efficient as they are at present. DAY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 157 6. The Fului^e of the Schools The main shortcoming of the Day Industrial Schools has been an inability to secure proper control and supervision of the children after they leave, for there are no Government regulations authorizing supervision as in other Certified Schools. It is often known to the teachers that a child comes from a bad home, and yet they have no power to guard it from the moral contamination. In one school, if the head mistress knows that a girl comes from such a home, she endeavours to secure her committal to an Industrial School before she is 14 ; this mistress has known of the school attendance officers watching a suspected house for a whole night in order to prove that a girl runs the risk of moral contamination and ought to be sent to an Industrial School. The condition of Day Industrial Schools at present is not satisfactory. The schools are sometimes ignored by the Local Education Authority, and the general public, as a rule, is hardly aware of their existence. The fact of their great success in Glasgow, where there is an immense population of the poorest kind, shows that they may do much useful work if they are rightly managed. Such schools are necessary for the children of people who are known to be on the borderland of starvation. 158 YOUNG DELINQUENTS It also may be advisable in the future to use the schools as a lever to rouse apathetic parents to a sense of their responsibilities, warning them that unless they respond, as far as they are able, to the efforts the State is making on their children's behalf, they will have to submit to their being sent away. As the schools are constituted at present, their work is often vitiated because they have no power to secure the removal of a child from its home surround- ings if they are undesirable, and there are in addition no Government regulations to authorize satisfactory supervision and after-care. B — Short-term Industrial Schools for Boys Short-term Industrial Schools are an outcome of the original Truant Schools, which were founded in 1878 for the purpose of assisting in the enforcement of certain provisions of the Education Acts. At present there are ten schools, with a total of 853 inmates. The majority of the cases are committed under Section 85 of the Children Act, and they show a distinct tendency to increase ; in most instances the homes' surroundings are suffi- ciently unsatisfactory to make the case eligible for an Industrial School. The schools are entirely under the local SHORT-TERM INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 159 Education Authority, and the management is similar to that of other Certified Schools. A certain degree of efficiency has to be reached in order to secure the Treasury grants ; the average cost per head for 191 1 was ^27 2s. The distinction between Short-term and other Industrial Schools is seen in the actual name. The former were started because it was felt that a few months' committal was all that was necessary for a certain class of delin- quent, and it was naturally not practicable for them to go to a school where the average length of detention was three or four years. During 191 1 the average length of detention was between twenty and twenty-one weeks. Such a short detention would involve a constant change of inmates, which would disorganize the routine and discipline irretrievably. The industrial training is necessarily not very complete ; six or seven months is not sufficient time to give the boys much else than a good general knowledge of handling tools. The education is otherwise merely a continuation of their previous work, enabling them to return to an Elementary School, provided that they are still under 14. The short time for which the boys are detained renders the moral and physical training equally difficult ; the masters can do little else but trust that their influence may have some effect on the boys' 160 YOUNG DELINQUENTS character, and that the generous diet will tell favourably on their physique. As a rule the members of the staff do not stay long ; their work is often discouraging, and demands an unwavering optimism. As in Day Industrial Schools, the authorities have no legal control of the boys after they leave, and are faced with the same difficulties of after-care. The results of the 1,048 boys who left the schools during 1908, 1909, and 1 9 10 are not really satisfactory. 578, or 55 per cent., were in regular employ- ment. 124, or [2 per cent., were in casual employ- ment. 155, or 15 per cent., had been convicted. 191, or 18 per cent., were unknown. ^ When these results are compared with those of other Certified Schools, it will be seen that they are inferior in every way. The schools were doubtless necessary in the early days of compulsory education as a means of enforcing the Act, but it is questionable whether they can at present justify their existence ; they eventually may be converted into ordinary Industrial Schools, as has already happened in two cases. ' Fifty-fourth Report (1914) of the Inspector on Reformatory and Industrial Schools. CERTIFIED SCHOOLS 161 C — Special Industrial Schools There are at present eight Certified Schools for children who are physically or mentally defective, six of which are for the feeble-minded and epileptic, one for the blind, and one for the deaf. The schools have all been certified during the last four or five years, in order that they may be eligible for Treasury grants, and be open to receive children committed under the Children Act. At present such cases are few; the majority of the children in the schools are either sent by the Guardians or are pro- vided for voluntarily. When there is more adequate classification, many children who are now sent to Industrial Schools will be sent to Special Schools, for such children as these not only seriously handicap the work of an ordinary school, but are apt to suffer from the want of the special education they would receive in schools organized for those of their type. The schools have been started too recently to form any estimate of their success, but "in the case of the mentally deficient over i6, there is already a crying need for further Government provision. Unless the institu- tion is built on the cottage system, it is difficult to secure the necessary age classifi- cation, and it is a well-known fact that if the boys and girls are not definitely detained, the II 162 YOUNG DELINQUENTS State eventually has to face an increased expenditure in the maintenance of their de- scendants. It can be reasonably hoped that within a short time Government provision will be made for the permanent control of the mentally defective. CHAPTER X RESULTS OF THE TRAINING GIVEN IN CERTIFIED SCHOOLS A — Statistics. B — Inadequate Means of Determining Results. C — The Low Standard of Success. D— The State's Responsibility. E — The Future of the Schools, A — Statistics STATISTICS showing the subsequent character of the boys and girls who left Industrial and Reformatory Schools during the years 1908, 1909, and 19 10 are as follows : ^ BOYS In DUSTRIAL Schools. Reformatory Schools Protestant. Roman Catholic. Protestant Roman • Catholic. Since dead . 67 22 32 9 Regular employment 5,226 1,448 2,535 619 Irregular ,, 189 68 112 22 Convicted . 248 69 281 So Unknown . . 282 49 82 33 Imbecile 4 2 — — Physically unfit . 40 12 — — 6,056 1,670 3,042 763 To tal . 7,726 Total . 3, 805 * Fifty-fourth Report (191 1) of the Inspector on Reformatory and Industrial Schools. 163 164 YOUNG DELINQUENTS GIRLS Industrial Schools. Reformatory Schools. Protestant Roman Catholic. Protestant Roman ■ Catholic. Since dead ... 19 13 5 2 Regular employment . 1,244 690 250 87 Irregular ,, . 122 36 27 2 Convicted of crime . lO 3 15 — Unknown ... 65 24 40 6 Imbecile ... 4 I 2 — Physically unfit . . 26 8 13 I 1,490 775 352 98 Total . 2,265 BOYS Total; . 450 i~r' ■' . '■ Industrial Reformatory Schools. Schools. Total percentage : In regular employment . • 87 84 In casual ,, • 4 3 Convicted or reconvicted • 4 10 Unknown • 4 GIRLS 3 In regular employment . • 87 77 In casual ,, ■ 8-5 10 Convicted or reconvicted • o-s 3 Unknown • 4 10 B — Inadequate Means of Determining Results It is extremely difficult to form an adequate estimate of the results of the training given in Certified Schools, because it is impossible to make accurate statistics of such things as character and the degree of industrial effi- THE LOW STANDARD OF SUCCESS 165 ciency. The elasticity of such terms as "satisfactory" and " doing well" is an insuper- able difficulty. For example, an old pupil may be in regular work, but it does not follow that the training has been entirely successful. Moreover, the employer's standard of what is satisfactory as regards efficiency and character may be a very different one from the Superin- tendent's, whose standard necessarily varies to a certain extent with each individual : it is satisfactory for some of the dullards not to be a charge on the rates, whereas much more would be required of those that are really capable. Thus there are no more adequate grounds for supposing that the results are satisfactory because the ex-inmates are reported to be " doing well " than there is reason to believe that all those reported as " unknown " are absolute failures. C — The Low Standard of Success In addition to the unavoidable inaccuracy of the statistics, there can be no doubt that the standard of success has been put on a very low level by the school authorities. The principal test has depended upon the number of recon- victions ; but besides the fact that arrest is a matter of chance, the results of training may have been altogether unsatisfactory, and yet 166 YOUNG DELINQUENTS there is not sufficient cause for reconviction. It must be remembered, however, that a reconviction need not necessarily be for a serious offence ; it may only be for some offence against the by-laws, imprisonment being the only alternative to a fine which a person in better circumstances would be able to pay. In considering the results of the schools as seen by the above statistics, the percentage of reconvictions in the case of Reformatories for boys is lo per cent., and for girls 3 per cent. ; in the case of Industrial Schools the percentage is somewhat lower, being 4 per cent, for boys, and o"5 per cent, for girls. This fact is largely owing to the earlier age of commitment and the longer period of detention ; the older boys and girls in Reformatories have had more time to become habituated to crime, and they have been more permanently influenced by their environment. If it is possible to arrest a delin- quent at a comparatively early age, there is every chance of checking criminal tendencies and effacing effects of the evil influences of early childhood. When it is remembered that only a small proportion of the children in Industrial Schools have been committed for an indictable offence, surely it is obvious that they are an easier class with which to deal. Enough has been said to show the inadequacy of taking the number of re-convictions as a RE-CONVICTIONS 167 means of judging the results of the training given in the schools. Detailed classification will be needed before it is possible to judge of the seriousness of a re-conviction. From time to time the schools have much hostile criticism from persons writing to the press pointing out the number of ex-inmates who have been brought before the magistrates. Their figures, even if they are not hopelessly inaccurate, are apt to be very misleading. For instance, in the year 191 1 the number of men and women in prison who had received part of their early training in Certified Schools was 944 (913 males and 21 females) ; but — and this is a qualification which critics sometimes forget to add — the age of these persons varies from 16 or 17 years of age to perhaps 70 years of age. Many of them, doubtless, had not had the advantage of the improved method of training given in the modern Certified Schools. Of these 944 convicted persons, 210, or 22 per cent., had left the schools during the three immediately preceding years. The remedy will not lie in the direction of making the schools more prison-like, but rather in a contrary direc- tion. At the same time, there will always be a small percentage of failures until the State has seen the wisdom of making some per- manent provision for those who are morally and mentally deficient. 168 YOUNG DELINQUENTS The results of the schools, even when they are considered in the light of the above qualifi- cations, show that there is much room for improvement. It is to be feared that often the welfare of the majority of ex-pupils is dis- regarded in the consideration of the remarkable success of the minority. The Managers and Staff of Boys' Schools receive letters describing positions of great trust held by their old boys at home or abroad ; or perhaps they read a stirring account of regimental life where a former member of their school seems fast on the way to become a commissioned officer. In Girls' Schools the same thing happens ; they are all so proud of their old girls who are excelling in domestic service, or who have married and are bringing up their family in an exemplary fashion. It is natural that the school authori- ties should make much of their success — they certainly need the encouragement which is derived in so doing ; but they must not forget the majority who are only fairly satisfactory. The public hear little about them because their letters are not printed in the Report and their photographs are not placed in a prominent position in the school. The standard of what determines success should be rising continually if tlie results of the schools are to be satisfac- tory. In the past, the authorities have been apt to rest content if they can say that anything THE STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY 169 from 85 to 95 per cent, of their former pupils are " doing well." Such a remarkably high percentage must mean that in some cases the standard is very low. The authorities and the general public have never to lose sight of the fact that the schools are not intended for brilliant boys and girls, who would be most likely to excel wherever they were, even though they may have infringed the law by some youthful offence ; the schools are intended rather for the great army who, probably through no fault of their own, may be classed as " Nature's dullards," whether it be morally or intellectually. D — The State's Responsibility Although the results show great room for improvement, it must be admitted that the schools are often seriously handicapped by their unstable financial condition and their difficulty in ensuring satisfactory after-care. It is in such matters as these that it may be necessary for the State to come to their assistance. Many schools are so poor that they can do little but feed and clothe their large household on the most economical lines and keep the buildings in a clean condition. They have not the means to pay adequate salaries to the members of the staff, and they are also unable to undertake any 170 YOUNG DELINQUENTS structural alterations in the buildings, even if they are very necessary. In addition, they are unable to provide anything which may make for the greater health and happiness of their boys and girls, whether it be a summer holiday or a suitable playground. Such schools as these are, as a rule, doing their best, but obviously they have great need of further assistance. The question of after-care is equally per- plexing. Many failures can be accounted for by the absence of any other alternative than that of allowing the boys and girls to return to their original environment as soon as they are free of the school's control. It is generally admitted that the most critical and determining years of a young person's life are i6 to 21, and therefore if during that time they come into an evil environment, they are more likely to be seriously influenced than would be the case if they had reached a maturer age. It is an almost universal continental custom for all children in Government schools to be " Wards of the State" until they are 21 ; this means that wherever necessary the State can prevent a boy or girl returning to their home till they reach that age. In many cases a young person of 2 1 would not tolerate the conditions that they might tolerate if they were 1 6 or 1 7. It would be wise for England to follow the example of other THE STATERS RESPONSIBILITY 171 countries in this respect. It may be necessary, in addition to this, for the State to establish some form of Labour Colonies, where the less- satisfactory boys and girls can be sent when they leave school, and thus secure them further supervision and prolonged training. Such a community would endeavour to create a sense of responsibility and self-reliance ; there need be nothing savouring of an institution in its methods. It would still be necessary to provide some permanent control for those who are decidedly deficient. The question of expense is important, but, as has been said,^ "When it is remembered that ^loo is said to be a fair average for the cost of a child's training in a Certified School, it is an uneconomical policy to grudge the additional expenditure which would increase the security of the original investment." There is always a fear in the mind of the general public that the State, in its efforts to protect the children, will undermine parental responsibility. In the case of juvenile delin- quents it is generally clear that the parents have not risen to their responsibilities, and when this is the case it is time for the State to protect what are known to be its most precious possessions, namely, its future citizens. It may be that sometimes the necessity of pro- » " The Making of the Criminal," C. B. Russell. 172 YOUNG DELINQUENTS viding for their child will rouse the parents from a condition of apathy ; but are not the risks incurred by leaving a child in an unsatis- factory environment too great to justify such an experiment ? When it is remembered that the State is mainly responsible for some of the direct causes of crime, such as bad housing and sweated labour, it cannot refuse to bear the burden of its own shortcominofs, E — The Future of the Schools One of the most striking features of Certified Schools is the extraordinary variety of their methods. There are still a few which are not unlike prisons, and there are many which are merely institutions ; there are some, however, which have the best traditions of a public school, and others which closely approximate to the ideal of home life, in so far as it is possible with families of one sex of forty or fifty members. It is right that each school should be given scope to develop its indi- viduality, but in the future it may be wise to indicate guiding principles, in order that all may reach a certain standard of success. The necessity of dispelling the last remnants of prison-like discipline is only too obvious, and there need be no difficulty in completing this work. But it is more difficult to over- THE FUTURE OF THE SCHOOLS 173 come an institutional atmosphere whilst the schools are so large. When there are as many as one or two hundred children living under the same roof it is almost impossible to secure the necessary amount of individual considera- tion, and to give sufficient scope for the develop- ment of individuality. Even in the smaller schools where there are forty to fifty children it is quite possible to find a sadly uniform type of child. The large schools are usually more successful from a financial point of view, and therefore, if in the future the schools are smaller, they may need increased assistance from the State. A Cottage System, similar to that of Hungary, where from twenty to thirty children live with foster parents, yet all under the direct control and supervision of an experienced Superintendent, may be the solution of the difficulty. Such a scheme easily admits of the necessary classification as regards the age and offence of the delinquents ; as the schools are organized at present such classification is impossible. In Reformatories young delinquents of 12 and 13 are in close contact with those of 17 and 18, and in the Industrial Schools those of 14 and 15 are living side by side with those of 7 and 8. Not only is there risk of the younger ones suffering from wrong influences, but it is not fair to hamper those who are older with the 174 YOUNG DELINQUENTS rules and regulations which may be necessary for the younger members of the school. Such a system is especially unfair to the older boys, who need to be encouraged in manly inde- pendence and self-reliance ; if they are treated as men there is more chance of their developing manly qualities. The idea of a sixth-form boy in a public school being treated in the same way as a small boy in the fourth is unthink- able, but the above system is scarcely more reasonable. To ensure this classification it may be necessary to institute another class of Industrial School to include all the boys under 15 who are now in Reformatories, and those who are over 12 who are now in Industrial Schools. Those who are under 1 5 when committed to a Reformatory would spend the intervening years at the Middle School, and it is reason- able to hope that their characters would then be sufficiently firmly established to resist any evil influence that they might meet in the Senior School. The Senior School would be as far as possible on the lines of a self-governing and self-supporting community. The boys who are now committed to Industrial Schools until they are 16 would, if necessary, spend their final year at the Middle School ; but, wher- ever possible, they would be licensed before they had reached that age. Boys and girls under CLASSIFICATION 175 12 could be cared for together in a Preparatory School, under the charge of women teachers. The London County Council has recently established two Special Schools for boys under 8, and those who are old enough attend the neighbouring Elementary Schools. When they reach the age of 8 they are sent to the ordinary Industrial Schools. Age classification is less important in girls' schools, as the schools are usually smaller, and the presence of little girls helps to make the life more like that of a family and less like that of an institution. But in spite of this it is far wiser for all the children under 8 to be boarded out with suitable foster parents. . Beyond age classifications and separate pro- visions for those who are unquestionably mentally or morally deficient, classification is unwise and unnecessary. Unhappily there are some girls committed to the schools whose minds have been seriously contaminated ; a Special School has recently been provided for such cases, and therefore there need be no more risk of such girls contaminating the minds of their innocent companions. But for the great majority of children systematic classi- fication, according to their offence or the offence of their parents, is impossible. It is quite probable that a boy who has been three times convicted may have a less pernicious 176 YOUNG DELINQUENTS influence on his fellows than a boy who is committed because he is said to be unmanage- able, or even because he has been seriously- neglected by his parents. Even if such classi- fication were possible it would be unwise. An experienced U.S.A. Superintendent has written : " Do not tell a boy he is bad by putting him by himself, or with any exclusive company of the bad. ... If the bad boy sees that he is treated as well as the boy of superior merit, he will endeavour to rise to that merit." In Hungary there is no distinction made between the children placed under moral control and those who are destitute, and there can be no reason for the rigid distinction which now exists in this country. Eventually all the juvenile wards of the State may be cared for together in village communities similar to those of Hungary, schools only being used for those who need a special education, or for those who require more supervision. Meanwhile a division of the schools into Senior, Junior, and Pre- paratory is a scheme which could be adopted without much difficulty, the existing schools being divided into the three classes. Whatever type of school is eventually con- sidered most suitable for this class of English children, there will be one fundamental prin- ciple underlying the organization. If, as is generally accepted, children are for the most THE AIM OF THE TRAINING 177 part delinquent because they are untrained rather than because they are criminal, the methods will be essentially educative. Mr. Gladstone once said, "It is liberty alone that fits men for liberty." This will be the corner- stone of the training ; everything will be done to equip the boys and girls for efficient citizen- ship ; but this will not be by repression and stern discipline. The teachers will be as gardeners in Life's garden ; much pruning and cutting is sometimes necessary before the young plants are ready to bloom, but what they all need is nourishment, whether from the earth beneath or the heavens above. There are a few plants which always need a support ; their stems are too frail to support their heavy heads. There are others which constantly need trimming, otherwise they would cause confusion in the garden. They all have varying needs, and the gardeners must be infinitely patient and wise ; but great indeed is their reward when one day they find a delicate plant, which had caused endless anxiety and unceasing toil, at last responding to their efforts. Their joy is complete when the tiny bud bursts into a radiant blossom. The teachers have especially to guard against too much pruning, which may result in the taking away of both individuality and initia- tive. They should be rather the leaders in 12 178 YOUNG DELINQUENTS a community, where every one is given some responsibility. And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose, And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows ; But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam, For the glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.^ The life of the community must be as similar as possible to that of the great world outside. A conventual or a prison-like life does not ade- quately equip those who are going to join the vast army of workers. The strongest men and women are those who have borne re- sponsibilities and overcome temptations, not those who have led a completely sheltered life. If behind it all there is the power of real religion, to encourage, to strengthen, and in- spire, the success of the community will be assured. Much depends upon the leaders, who have a sacred trust given to them. Sometimes they are faced with what may seem insurmountable difficulties, and yet " They have not to weary in well-doing, or despair of unrewarded efforts. . . . Let it be enough for faith that the whole creation groans in mortal frailty, strives with unconquerable constancy, surely not all in i> 2 vam. » " The Glory of the Garden," Rudyard Kipling. ' " Pulvis et Umbra," R. L. Stevenson. CHAPTER XI THE DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE OF 1911 A — Administration and Management. B — Education and Discipline. C — Industrial Training. D — Disposal and After-care. A — Administration and Management IN March 1 9 II, as a result of the attention of Parliament being called to certain abuses said to exist at the Heswall Nautical School, a Departmental Committee was formed to in- quire into the constitution, management, dis- cipline, and education of Reformatory and Industrial Schools in England and Wales. After making the most thorough and searching inquiries the Committee issued their Report June 7, 1913. A high tribute is paid to the work that is being carried on by the schools, but at the same time the fact that there is a wide differ-! ence in their efficiency is much emphasized throughout the Report. " Many schools are good or fair, some excellent, some, owing 179 180 YOUNG DELINQUENTS mainly to lack of funds, fall below the standard which ought to be required of institutions certified by a Government Department. Many combine certain good points with defects which ought to be remedied without delay." To procure "the general levelling up" of the schools the Report recommends a considerable reorganization of the Central Authority. At present the schools are managed by a Central Authority (the Home Office), whose main work is in no way connected with education. It stands to reason that officials who are chiefly occupied with police regulations, organization of prisons, and granting of licences are not the most suitable people to control the education and management of this class of children. As a result of this much of the work has fallen on the Chief Inspector and his staff, and it is quite clear that such an arrangement means that neither the inspection nor the adminis- tration can be really efficient. Even if it were possible for both to be efficient, such an ar- rangement is extremely unwise. The Report therefore recommends that a special branch of the Home Office should be constituted to deal solely with the administration of Certified Schools and Children's Courts, having the assistance of an Advisory Committee. This committee should consist of seven members, three at least being women, who have the THE ADVISORY COMMIITEE 181 leisure and the ability to study the educational problems as they arise, and watch the changing social and industrial conditions, advising the Administrative Department accordingly. It is recommended that the two bodies should meet at least once a quarter, with further special meetings when desirable. The members of the Advisory Committee should be unpaid, but they should have the assistance of a paid secretary, who should be a member of the Administrative Department, this arrangement ensuring that the views of the Advisory Com- mittee are constantly kept before the paid officials. Without lessening the work of the voluntary managers and local authorities, it is necessary that there should be, as the Report recommends, " a vigorous Central Department to raise the level of the inferior schools, to initiate and guide improvements, and to build up the necessary organization in such matters as disposal and after-care, where co-operation between the scattered and independent schools is essential for efficiency." B — Education and Discipline In order to raise the standard of education throughout the schools the Report recommends that in future the elementary education, in- dustrial training, and physical training should 182 YOUNG DELINQUENTS be inspected by the inspectors of the Board of Education. This would prevent the schools from being "an isolated province cut off from the larger system of national education," which has been so serious a disadvantage in the past. As the Chief Inspector of Elementary Schools said, when giving evidence before the Com- mittee, " It is extremely difficult for an inspector whose experience is limited to a few schools of a particular type, either to acquire a true stan- dard in assessing their merits, since his basis of comparison is too narrow, or to bring to bear on the improvement of their instruction and administration really fruitful principles, which can only be derived from a wide knowledge of the best thought and practice current in the profession." It is, in the words of the Report, essential that "these children should not be considered as a class apart ; their needs and capacities can best be appreciated by a man accustomed to measure the needs and capacities of other children." It is recommended that the Home Office inspectors should be mainly con- cerned with the management and discipline of the schools, and questions referring to after- care and disposal. The idea of this dual inspection is opposed in a strong memorandum, which is signed by two members of the Committee, on the grounds of the danger of divided responsibility. In the DUAL INSPECTION 183 first place, "A child's life in these schools must be regarded and treated as a single whole. Education and industrial training cannot be separated from questions relating to ultimate disposal of the child to his future occupation in life ; nor from questions relating to staff, dis- cipline, and time-table. Nor can they be separated from questions of dietary, recreation, buildings, accommodation, equipment, clothing, and sanitation." Secondly, "the danger of dual inspection appears to be not in friction so much as ineffectiveness," each inspector hesi- tating to give directions with which he fears his colleague will not agree. Thirdly, the Home Office inspectors would work directly from head-quarters, whereas the Board of Education inspectors are localized, and there- fore the former would be likely to find different methods and different standards being pre- scribed in the various districts. Fourthly, there would be a danger that the Central Authority's control would become even weaker than it is at present. The signatories of this memorandum consider that the whole responsibility for in- spection should rest with the Home Office. Five other members of the Committee con- sider that the schools should be given over entirely to the control of the Board of Educa- tion. It is interesting to know that the Royal Commission of 1884 suggested that the ele- 184 YOUNG DELINQUENTS mentary education should be inspected by inspectors from the Board of Education, and it was considered that there need be no difficulty in satisfactorily adjusting the provinces of the two sets of inspectors. It is evident that the Report is attempting a compromise, but a compromise which involves divided responsi- bility may have grave dangers. In order to insure more efficient medical in- spection, the Report recommends that the present part-time medical officer should be made a whole-time inspector, and that furthermore he should have the assistance of a qualified medical woman, who should visit the boys' schools as well as the girls'. It is also recommended that the appointment of women doctors for girls' schools should be encouraged, and in certain special girls' schools insisted upon. As regards the Committees of Managers, the most important recommendation is, that the committees of all the schools, both boys' and girls', should have women members, and also that the Central Authority should have power to nominate one member if they wish to do so. If it considers that the Committee of Managers does not come up to a certain standard, it will withhold the grant or continuation of the cer- tificate ; another condition of the continuance of the certificate being that the Central Authority should approve the appointment of SUPERANiNUATION 185 the Superintendent. Although the Committee appear to be impressed with the character and talent of many Superintendents, they have apparently found a great number who are quite unsuited to the work of caring for delinquent children. Furthermore, they have found that too large a proportion of the teachers are un- certificated, and also that the technical in- structors are not always sufficiently skilled in the theoretical side of their work ; great stress is laid on the need for them to be men and women of high character. Another important recommendation is that provision should be made for pensioning all the members of the staff. Evidence was given that a large number of the officers were over 60 years of age, and the two following cases were quoted: (1) A school with 28 officers, of whom 6 were over 60, their ages being 61, 64, 65, 'JO, 76 ; (2) a school with 24 officers, of whom 6 are between the ages of 64 and 69. The Report recommends that a fund should be established by contributions from the bene- ficiaries of the schools, and the general funds ; details of the scheme should be left for the Central Authority to settle in consultation with the Treasury, and representatives of the Managers and Superintendents, As regards the actual composition of the staff, it is recom- mended that provision should be made for 186 YOUNG DELINQUENTS married teachers, and that in all boys' schools, including ships, there should be a matron on the staff. One of the male members of the Committee, in a Memorandum, writes : " I desire to record my strong belief in the need of cultured women being on the staff of all the schools. In ordinary boarding schools boys have long holidays three times a year, in which they are under the influence of home and family. These influences are missing in the case of Reformatory and Industrial School children, who in many cases remain at school without any break during the whole period of their detention." The Committee have come to the conclusion that classification is only necessary for girls who have been morally contaminated (a special school is now certified for such cases) ; but they suggest that there should be more classifi- cation by age. In the first place all boys under 8 should be boarded out, and failing this they should be sent to a school where children are not received beyond the age of 8. Secondly, no boy under 12 should be sent to a Training Ship, and boys who show that they have no taste for sea life should be transferred to shore schools. Thirdly, although there is less objection to mixing older and younger girls in the same school, more needs to be done in the way of boarding out the CLASSIFICATION 187 very young children. As there is sometimes a risk of new girls over 12 having a bad influence over those that are younger, it is recommended that girls' Industrial Schools should be divided into two classes: (i) Schools admitting children under 8, and not admitting children over 12; (2) schools ad- mitting children between 8 and 14. No feeble-minded children are to be committed to ordinary Reformatory and Industrial Schools, but should such children be committed, the Central Authority should have power to send them to other institutions as soon as it is dis- covered. (There are at present six schools certified for feeble-minded and epileptic chil- dren.) It is also suggested that as the main distinction between the two classes of schools is one of age, the schools should in future be known by the names of Senior and Junior Industrial Schools, or Senior and Junior Home Office Schools. This would do away with the name " Reformatory," which has some preju- dicial associations partly because the children have been "convicted." The Committee now recommend that the Children Act be amended so as to enable magistrates to commit young delinquents to Reformatories, or rather the Senior Schools, without "convicting" them. At present those who have been twice convicted must not be sent to Industrial Schools, but it 188 YOUNG DELINQUENTS is recommended that this proviso in the Act should be repealed, since there are many children who are eminently suitable for such training, and yet are ineligible because of a previous conviction, which may be for a very trifling offence. These last-named recommendations are important ; they clearly indicate that the Report aims to abolish the last traces of the stigma attached to the children in Reformatory Schools, which in the past has often cruelly hampered their career. The Committee are unanimous and emphatic in their opinion that many of the defects of the schools are largely due to lack of sufficient income, and therefore they make some im- portant recommendations. Firstly, there should be a Minimum Main- tenance Grant as follows : From the From the Local Total. Treasury. Authority. s. d. S. d. s. d. Boys' Reformatory . 6 6 3 6 10 o Gills' . 6 o 3 o 9 o Boys' Industrial . • 5 o 4 6 9 6 Girls' „ • 4 6 4 o 8 6 The estimated additional cost to the State is ^34,276, to the Local Authorities ;!^io,70o. Secondly, there should be in addition a " Variable Treasury Grant " for both Reforma- tory and Industrial Schools, to be allocated by the Central Authority at discretion. FINANCIAL RECOMMENDATIONS 189 The gross maximum amount of this grant would be .;^48,ooo Less (i) Existing Reformatory Aid Grant . ;^8,ooo „ (2) Special grants surrendered . . 7,860 15,860 Maximum net additional cost to State . ;^32, 140 Thirdly, it is suggested that " Special grants or loans in aid of the building of new schools, or the rebuilding or alteration of existing schools, should be made by the Treasury. These should be supplemented by grants or loans from the local authorities." Some of the other extra provisions recom- mended are for the children and young persons in Auxiliary Homes, for those who are boarded out with " fit persons," instead of being sent to a school, and for those who are emigrated. The total maximum cost to the State is approximately ^73,076. In describing the financial difficulties of the schools, the Report points out that " economy in the industrial training is false economy for the nation, whose interests are best secured by sending the children out into the world well equipped as wealth producers." The additional assistance from the State is for actual needs, and for " no extravagant ideals." In short, in the words of the Report, "while there is no school that has not to be very careful, there are many whose work is hampered and whose staff is unduly harassed by poverty, while a few, including 190 YOUNG DELINQUENTS some of great value, are in danger of actual extinction." Concerning the education that is given in the schools, it is hoped that by placing it under the control of the Board of Education the standard may become considerably higher than it is at present. The Committee evidently think that the teachers lead far too restricted lives, and that they have little leisure or opportunity to study modern educational requirements or to meet teachers from other types of schools. Where this is the case, the education cannot be really efficient. The Committee also think that up to the age of 12 all children should spend " full time " in school-room, which should include manual training, specially designed to train hand and eye. After the age of 1 2 the " half-time " system may probably be adopted. The physical education needs in many cases to be more systematic, and a detailed programme is suggested. It includes, (a) Free standing exercises (based on the Swedish system) ; (d) Gymnastic and playground games, dancing steps, etc. ; (e) Apparatus exercises ; (d) Field games, sports, swimming, etc. It is pointed out that in certain boys' schools there is a tendency to give too much attention to show gymnastics and displays, and not enough to the general physical development of the children, and especially of the weakly boys. There is CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 191 much need for a physical training which aims to promote a harmonious development of the mind and body of each individual child. The Committee warmly urges that summer camps and country or seaside holidays should be encouraged, one of the chief drawbacks of the schools being that in so many cases there is litde to break the monotony of the school routine. They recommend that further pro- visions should be made for indoor recreation, and also that attention should be paid to the provision of reading-rooms and suitable books, and for each child to have a locker of his own. There are no drastic recommendations con- cerning the maintenance of discipline, but great emphasis is laid on the need for corporal punish- ment to be an " exceptional method used in exceptional circumstances." Apparently there is a strong feeling amongst the Superintendents that they could not manage to maintain dis- cipline in their schools without corporal punish- ment. The Committee feel that there should be a considerable reduction in the number of strokes, namely, in Reformatories from i8 to 12, and in Industrial Schools from 12 to 8. Furthermore, caning on the hand is strongly deprecated, four strokes inflicted on the palm of the hand by the head teacher being a maximum. One member of the Committee recommends the total abolition of such punish- 192 YOUNG DELINQUENTS ment. An interesting petition was signed by seven Superintendents of Girls* Reformatories asking that "some degree of corporal punish- ment should be placed in the power of Superin- tendents in girls' schools." The following are some of the representations that are made : " The Committee will, we are sure, believe that we do not advocate this method of pun- ishment from any motive inconsistent with humanity and a sincere regard for the welfare of the children committed to our charge. The infliction of personal chastisement is intensely distasteful to all of us, and we only advocate it as a last resource. Further, we believe that if it were made known in our schools that such a method of punishment is open to Superinten- dents, many of the serious offences now of frequent occurrence would not be committed at all ... ; the influence of one stubborn and refractory girl who goes practically unpunished has a fatal effect upon a number of others, interfering with the discipline of an entire school. . . . We make our application to your Committee mainly in the interest of the children in our schools, but we have also to say that a constant struggle to establish and maintain, by moral suasion alone, obedience and submission to instruction is a heavy strain upon the physical capabilities of ourselves and our matrons, which renders our work vastly more trying than it CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 193 need be. The fatigue and depression induced by such efforts cannot easily be described, and must react upon our general efficiency." In view of this communication, a special sub- committee was appointed to investigate the whole question, which eventually came to the conclusion that, " though good Superintendents would probably seldom or never use corporal punishment if it were permitted, yet the power to inflict it in extreme cases would be useful." It is to be hoped that with the improved methods of education and the better under- standing of the girls' spiritual needs, that these "extreme cases" may never occur. The Committee much emphasize the import- ance that all corporal punishments should be faithfully and accurately recorded, the Managers and Medical Officer sharing the responsibility with the Superintendent. It is agreed that punishment cells should be finally abolished, and that solitary confinement should never be inflicted as a punishment, unless the child is shut up in a room which is light and otherwise suitable. Such punishment may sometimes be necessary in order that a child may recover from a fit of temper. Beyond deprivation of treacle or jam, or similar items, punishment by deprivation of food should be prohibited. As a means of maintaining discipline, the Committee express their approval of the Mark System, 13 194 YOUNG DELINQUENTS provided that it is carefully thought out and efficiently worked. An important recommenda- tion, which may be unheeded in the midst of those which are more drastic, is that there should be a greater amount of liberty allowed all the children. " The example of schools where doors are not locked, where children are sent out on errands, where there is free access to playing fields, and where half-holidays on parole are allowed, should be generally fol- lowed. . . . The Central Authority should pay special attention to these points and encourage Managers to adopt all measures which combine with the bracing effects of trust, means of spreading a practical knowledge of the outside world." C — Industrial Training Beyond finally prohibiting non-educational employment, such as wood-chopping, paper-bag making, hiring out boys for domestic and agri- cultural work, the Report makes no important recommendations. There is great stress laid on the need for more time being given to skilled work, and for giving the boys an all-round industrial equipment rather than letting them spend much time in the tailoring and shoe- making shops. The Committee consider that in girls' schools there is still greater danger of the training being subordinated to the needs of INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 195 the institution. The Organizer of Technical Classes for Girls to the L.C.C., who had visited 24 schools, in giving evidence, said : " I think it is not an unfair criticism on these schools that the work is organized chiefly from the point of view of how it can best in volume be got through." The Report therefore urges the necessity for there being a large diminution of the drudgery in household work and rough washing. An important recommendation, which would be a complete innovation, is the teaching of special trades to girls who are not suited for domestic service. The Report suggests that where trade centres exist special trade schools should be founded, the girls being transferred to these schools from the ordinary schools when they are 13 J. In connection with such schools there should be Auxiliary Homes where the girls could live when they are licensed out at the age of 15^ years, the Home being super- vised by an experienced matron who was familiar with the organization and methods of girls' clubs, and had not had merely an institu- tional training. D — Disposal and After-care There are three important recommendations as to licensing and supervision. (i) "All Reformatory inmates to be licensed 1 2 months 196 YOUNG DELINQUENTS or more before the age of i8, unless there are special and exceptional reasons to the contrary." (2) " That the age of supervision for Refor- matory School inmates to be extended to 20." (At present in many cases the boys and the girls leave school when they are 19 and the authorities have no more control over them ; this arrangement would procure for them two years of supervision after they leave school.) (3) " Children committed under the Education Act to Industrial Schools for failure to attend the Public Elementary Schools to be, like the rest, under supervision until they are rS." (At present the Managers have no power over these children after they are 16 ; in many instances they have been altogether powerless to prevent them returning to undesirable surroundings.) Beyond emphasizing the need for securing accurate returns as to disposals, the Report has no important recommendations to make ; but it advises that the form in which the returns are made to the Central Authority should be improved, in order to secure greater accuracy. In addition to this it is considered questionable whether so many children should be " returned to friends " ; at present the friends and relations often make themselves known the very day the boy or girl is to be discharged ; not, it is to be feared, from any deep-rooted affection for the child, but more AFTER-CARE 197 often because they are concerned in his or her economic value. The Committee again emphasize the need for considering the taste and aptitude of each child, and they urge that more children should be sent to skilled industrial occupations. For such boys and girls it is recommended that there should be Auxiliary Homes, and the schools are urged to co- operate in the founding of such homes. The arduous work of after-care is mainly borne by the Superintendents, the actual arrangements differing in the various schools. The Committee consider that this work, and also the work of disposal, could be greatly simplified and improved by the organization of a system of agents throughout the country (at present there are only three agents, and they act as a private firm) ; (i) the agents " should be constantly collecting information as to suitable places for children, and (2) they should supervise and report on the children placed out in the district." As the Report points out, it is in no way necessary that all agents should be paid ; it is essentially work which could be partially left to voluntary workers. Still further use could be made of existing organizations such as the Children's Aid Society, the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants, and the Girls' Friendly Society. The Committee calls attention 198 YOUNG DELINQUENTS to the work that is now being carried on by the Care Committee attached to the Birming- ham Education Authority. A Sub-Committee has recently been formed to supervise children from Industrial Schools who are workinsf in the city, even though they may not have been originally committed from Birmingham, and each child is assigned a " helper " when he arrives in the town. It is, in the words of the Report, for *' the Central Authority to gather together, supplement, and build into a complete scheme the individuals and societies who are at present working in a disorganized and fragmentary manner." Further recommendations in the Report concern buildings and domestic arrangements, which apparently need in many instances to be considerably improved. The Committee are also evidently of the opinion that schools of moderate size are to be preferred to large ones, and they suggest that new schools should be limited to 150, and that no school whose numbers now stand at that figure, or below, should be allowed to grow beyond it ; when practicable the numbers of the largest schools should be reduced. The Report further recom- mends that Short-term Industrial Schools should be discontinued as soon as is possible, and that children sent to Day Industrial Schools should be committed until they reach the age of 14, THE AIM OF THE REPORT 199 the local authorities being urged to institute arrangements for efficient after-care. Such are the main recommendations of the Departmental Committee of 1913. It was said that it was the aim of the Children Act " to shut the prison door and open the door of hope." It may be said of this Report that it aims finally to conceal the prison door, and permanently to hold open the door of hope. The members of the Committee have evidently had the children's highest interests at heart, and their recommendations are solely with a view to help them become self-respecting and useful citizens, yet at the same time there is nothing visionary or fantastic. There is a sincere appreciation of the work that is now being carried on ; there is a practical under- standing of the conditions which make this work so difficult ; and lastly there is an evident consideration for, what is believed to be, an overtaxed Treasury. If the recommendations are carried out, they will have far-reaching consequences. But a strong and enlightened public opinion must see that they are carried out. The Royal Commission of 1884 said that " profits are not the object of industrial training " ; this was strongly reaffirmed by the Departmental Committee of 1896, and has been again reaffirmed in 191 3. The general public must now see that the schools are finally 200 YOUNG DELINQUENTS established on a sound financial basis, so that a future Departmental Committee or Royal Commission will have no grounds for again reaffirming this particular recommendation. Again, in 1896 it was said that punishment by confinement in a cell should be discontinued, but there are still a few cells found in 191 3. Boarding-out the younger children was men- tioned in 1884, it was strongly recommended in 1896, it was included in the Children Act of 1908, but in 191 1 it was found that only eight boys and three girls had been boarded out, and therefore this practice is again strongly recommended. The need for every child to possess a locker was emphasized in 1896, and it has again been emphasized in 191 3. Both Committees have also had to draw attention to the unjustifiable rule of silence during meals. The last are small points, and therefore there can be no reason for their not being altered at once. Such things as educa- tional efficiency and an enlightened form of discipline will come more slowly, but the public must watch the schools, encouraging the authorities to have a progressive policy. There must be no stagnation or apathy allowed, and there must be no lagging behind the main systems of education, which are continually advancing throughout the world. The work of caring for neglected and MODERN SOCIAL LEGISLATION 201 delinquent children will always be difficult, but it will tend to become less difficult in years to come. Modern social legislation which aims to better the condition of the poorer classes, such as improved housing, factory and workshop legislation, the control of the feeble-minded, will all help to diminish this class of children, and the even more direct work of After-care Committees and Children's Courts will help still further. But what is going to help eventually to minimize the need for such schools is an enlightened public opinion which refuses to tolerate the social conditions which are largely responsible for causing children, the nation's most precious asset, to become neglected or delinquent. APPENDIX A REFORMATORY SCHOOLS Offences for which Young Persons were committed to Reformatories in 1911 Oflfence. Boys. Girls. Total. Arson 5 _ 5 Assault .... 6 I 7 Attempted carnal knowledge 3 — 3 Attempted suicide . — I I Attempted theft — I I Attempted unnatural offence . 2 — 2 Begging .... 22 2 24 Breaking into ship 2 — 2 Burglary .... 8 8 Cruelty to animals. 2 2 Disorderly conduct — I I Embezzlement 24 24 Escaping from a person w ith whom placed on licence . — I I Felony I — I Fraud — • I I Frequenting . I I Gaming 10 10 Gross indecency . I I Hawking without a licence I I Housebreaking 67 5 72 Indecent assault lO — 10 Indecent exposure . I — I Industrial Schools : Escaping from . 12 3 15 Breach of rules . 2 2 4 Larceny. 898 118 1,016 Loitering with intent 13 — 13 Maliciously wounding . 3 — 3 Obtaining by false pretences 20 6 26 Carried forward . 1114 142 1256 203 204 YOUNG DELINQUENTS Offence. Brought forward ... On enclosed premises for presumed un lawful offences Receiving stolen property Rioting , Sacrilege Shopbreaking Sleeping out . Theft from person Throwing stones at a train Unlawful possession Vagrancy Warehouse breaking Wilful damage Workhouse, escaping from Wounding with the intent to murder Total . Boys. III4 3 2 I I 31 6 13 I 6 22 15 9 I I 1,226 Girls. Total. 142 149 1256 3 2 I I 31 9 14 I 6 23 15 9 I I I.37S APPENDIX B INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS Offences for which Children were committed to Industrial Schools in 1911 Offence. Begging, etc. Found wanderings etc. .... Destitute and parents in prison, etc. Parent or Guardian of criminal or drunken habits .... Father convicted of sexual offence against a daughter . . . ._ • Frequenting the company of thieves, prostitutes, etc. .... Residing in brothels, etc. Charged with punishable offence : Children under 12 . Children aged 12 and under 14 . Uncontrollable by parents, etc. Refractory paupers, etc. Education Act cases .... Not attending or misbehaving at a Day Industrial School .... Contravention of by-laws as to street trading ...... Admissions under attendance orders Voluntary cases ..... Admissions to Day Industrial Schools on licence from Residential Industrial Schools ...... Transfers from Reformatory Schools by Secretary of State .... Removed from Isle of Man or Channel Islands Removed from Scotland or Ireland Total Boys. 274 532 28 57 14 68 414 293 174 20 1,378 19 3 2 116 2 I 3.402 Girls. 21 205 21 48 7 16 82 20 35 34 2 386 10 55 948 Total. 295 737 49 105 7 30 150 434 328 208 22 1,764 25 3 12 171 4,350 205 APPENDIX C DIETARY TABLE C1.IFTON Wood Industrial School Breakfast, 8 a.m. I pint hot Bread and Milk ; Bread, 4 oz. Or I pint of Porridge ; i pint Milk ; and Bread, 4 oz. In early morning ^ pint Cocoa and a Biscuit or two are given. Dinner, i p.m. Sunday . . Corned Beef, 6 oz. ; Potatoes, 8 oz. Monday , . Pea Soup, I pint ; Bread, 4 oz. Tuesday. . Boiled Suet Pudding, 12 oz. ; with Stewed Fruit sweetened, etc. ; Bread, 2 oz. Wednesday . Irish Stew, i pint ; Bread, 4 oz. Thursday . Roast Beef or Mutton, 6 oz. ; Potatoes, 8 oz. ; with Cabbage or other Vegetables. Friday . . Boiled Suet Pudding, 12 oz. ; with Stewed Fruit sweetened, etc. ; Bread, 2 oz. Saturday . Bread, 8 oz. ; Cheese, 2 oz. ; Cocoa, i pint. Supper, 6 p.m. Bread, 8 or 6 oz. ; Cocoa, l pint ; Butter or Dripping, 5 oz. Boys over 12 years of age, 8 oz. ; under 12 years, 6 02. of Bread, N.B.— Extra bread can be had at any meal, if required. 206 APPENDIX D DIETARY TABLE REDHiLii Farm School (Reforbiatory) Day. Sunday. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday . Saturday Breakfast. Dinner. Bread, 8 oz., Milk, f pint, or Cocoa, i pint. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto (or as Saturday). Ditto. Ditto. Oatmeal Por- ridge, i pint (6oz.), Bread, 4 oz.. Milk, f pint. Meat, 6 oz. Bread, 4 oz. Vegetables, 16 oz. Baked Suet Pudding, 20 oz. As Sunday. Ditto (or fish, I lb.). Baked Suet Pudding, 20 oz. As Sunday. Bread, 12 oz. Cheese, 4 oz. Onions, 4 oz. Supper. Bread, 8 oz., Butter, f oz., Milk or Cocoa as at Breakfast. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. In winter on two meat-days 4 oz. are allowed for soup, with 8 oz. bread and vegetables, and on the other two meat-days 8 oz. meat are supplied. Coffee is served on Sundays, and jam allowed in lieu of butter once a week. N.B.— Tea and cake are supplied for supper once a month, e.\tra under special rules. 207 Q I— I ci C Pi O t^ Z o H CO O O D « u z z Q 1— ( O Z •3aippnd lang g 1 1 1 1 *l 1 •Jnippnd 3g ao '3;Bp 'uisibh g 1 1 -^1 1 1 ■* •auippnd lUBf g 1 * 1 1 1*1 •Suippnd BDOide; jo 'oSbs 'sdih g 1 1 1 * 1 1 1 •jinjj pa.iAais g ^ i 1 M 1 1 •■CaiJBq ijeaj g 1 '^ 1 1 1 M •3;3 'su33ja 'sdiuan; 's;ojjb3 g en 1 1 foro 1 1 •peajg g ■^NNNNMN •S30}850J g -t ■* -"j- -"l- ■* 1 'T •qs'j g 1 M 1 1 l« •33IJ pUB 3B3UI P3M31S g 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 •noDBq puBjaaq psjiog g 1 1 1 r^o 1 1 •noiinni jsbo^ g 1 1 I'rol 1 1 •M3^s qsui s. 1 1 - 1 I 1 1 •uoiinui psnog g iTol 1 1 1 1 •jaaq is80>i g-^i 1 1 1 1 1 H < < u b: •33a - 1 1 1 1 1 1 •(jsiniuns) B3X Q^ 1 «W 1 ^^ \ ^^ 1 •(jajuiM) aSpuJOj ■g_ 1 «|Tf 1 «!•«• 1 eohw 1 •E0D03 •£_ 1 1 HIM 1 -<1« 1 Hw •B3X ^«i-| 1 1 1 1 1 •3n!ddija O •pEajg o Sunday. Monday Tuesday Wednesday . Thursday Friday .... Saturday 208 < u H •3S331J3 S 1 1 1 1 " 1 1 •E0003 •g_ 1 H|«H|M 1 mIcihIo-^Ict •B3X ^HICJ |-,C,| 1 1 •UlBf s - 1 1 1 1 1 1 •apB3Jx S ! 1 - 1 M " •SuidduQ S 1 "i^ 1 "1* 1 "1^ 1 ■pBajg g t- r^ f~ i-^ t>. t^ r^ u z z Q Id Id d Z •Saippnd 3g jo 'aisp 'uisib^ S M ^ 1 1 ^1 •3uippnd mef g 1 1 1 -^1 1 1 •Saippnd BooidE} pue 'o2es 'aoiy i \ ^\ 1^1 1 •litiJj paM3)S g ^ 1 1 1 1 1 1 •X3[JBq iJBaj g 1 1 1 ^ 1 1 1 •oia 'snaajS 'sdiuam 'siojjb^ g ro ro 1 1 1 ro ro •pE3jg g •<:J-N(SMNNN •sao^Ejo^ S -*! 1 -^1 -^1 •aid qsiuj03 g M 1 1 1 1 2 •uoiinui 5SBoy; g 1 M 1 r-' 1 •M35S USUI i 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 •uo^iniu paijog g 1 M "^ 1 1 1 •dnos E9J s. M " 1 1 1 1 •susaq }ODUBq pus ;b3ui paMa^g S l« 1 1 1 1 1 •jaaq isboh g "^ 1 1 1 1 1 1 Sunday . Monday . Tuesday Wednesday . Thursday Friday . Saturday (/> n o u u o «M >» ^3 a, a, 3 4-* (/I 3 x; m o >> C u 3 O rt &, bo nd V (L) ^ o o ^ •*•* ;-i -o o cj V rt XI O vm Pi o N o c vO o ^ ^ a o ^J N 4~* rt o T3 ^':^' XI a ■ri '^ a u S rS cook eef a xi C XI o D . tn . N (U N O ■i^ 4-t V c c (J > *j o 4-« 3 D 3 O o- cr H ^ W W "h -^ c* o „ <*- 0) 9.0 »> I2.0 > 12.30/ 12.30 noon, 1.30 p .m. 430 >> S-O >> APPENDIX I GENERAL TIME TABLE Stanhopk House Girls' Industrial School 6.30 a.m. Rise. Six girls in the Laundry, others employed in Housework. Breakfast and Prayers. Girls in school except those over I4 years of age, who work in Laundry, Kitchen, House, or at Needlework. Recreation. Dinner. Afternoon School. Recreation. Tea. 6.0 , , Monday : Knitting. Tuesday : Fancy Work. Wednesday : Elder girls, Bible Class. Others, Recreation. Thursday : Repairing. Friday : Bathing. Saturday : Recreation. 8.0 ,, Prayers. Bed. Girls under 10 years of age spend their whole time in school. Girls from 10 to 14 years of age spend half their time in school. Girls over 14 years of age spend Friday afternoon in school. On Thursdays from 9.30 to 12.0 they have Special Laundry Lessons, and on Fridays from 9.30 to 12.0 they have Special Cookery Lessons. Each girl's work is changed monthly. The elder girls attend Church twice on Sundays, and there is a Bible Class from 3 to 4 in the afternoon. There are walks on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. 217 218 YOUNG DELINQUENTS GENERAL SCHEME OF WORK Stanhopk House Girls' Industrial School Subjects Taught in the Schoolroom Arithmetic, Mental Arithmetic, and the Keeping of Household Accounts. Reading and Recitation. Composition, Spelling, Dictation, and Writing. General Information, including the Common Laws of Health. Geography and History. Singing and Drill. Scripture as set by the Syllabus of the Children's Aid Society. Industrial Training Needlework, including Cutting-out, plain Dressmaking, and Machining. Housewifery. Laundry. Cookery. BIBLIOGRAPHY Across the Bridges . The Making of Citizens . Citizens in the Making . The Making of the Criminal Working Lads' Chibs Manchester Boys Young Gaol- Birds . Studies of Boy Life in our Cities The Growing Generation. Child Problems (U.S.A.) The Junior Republic The Town Child . The Town Boy Boy Labour and Apprenticeship Juvenile Offenders . Schools at Home and Abroad . Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children (U.S.A.) Administrative and Educational Work American Juvenile Reform Schools . Le Sauvetage d'Enfance .... Lutte contre la Criminalite des Mineurs. (Hungary) .... The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets The Child and the State . The Health of the State . Report of the Parliamentary Commission of 1834 on Reformatory and Industrial Schools. Report of the Departmental Committees of 1898 and 191 1 on Reforma- tory and Industrial Schools. 219 Alexander Paterson. Hughes. F. J. Billiarde. C. B. Russell. Edited by Urwick. Barclay Baron. Mangold. W. George. Bray. E. J. W. D. Morrison. Hughes. Hastings H. Hart. of^David S. Snedden, / Ph.D. fComte Andrassy and Bella Kun. Jane Ad dams. Margaret McMillan. George Newman. 220 YOUNG DELINQUENTS Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Abuses said to exist at the Heswall Nautical School. Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Reports, for the years 1910 and 191 1, of the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools (Parts I and II). Criminal Statistics (Part I) for 1910 and 191 1. The Certified Schools Gazette from July 191 1 to May 1912. INDEX Absconding, 93 Act, Children, 1908, 23 ,, Education, 1870, 10 Acts, Reformatory and Industrial School, 1854,1861, 1866, 1876, 1893, 20-22 After-care, Boys, 121, 122, 170, 195 After-care, Girls, 147, 150, 170, 19s Agricultural training, 1:7 Apprenticeship, 115 Army as a career, 1 16 Arnold, Dr., 95 Athletic Associations, 98 Auxiliary Homes, 123, 148, 149, 195. 197 " Big Brothers," U.S.A., 43 Boarding-out, 41, 175, 186, 200 Buildings and equipment, 58-60, 198 By-laws, infringement of, 1 1 Care Committees, 4, 198, 201 Carpenter, Mary, 18-20 Certified Schools Agency, 123- 125, 197 Character and environment, 1-3 Cinematograph, its abuse, 8 Citizenship, training in, 102, 103 Classification, 173-176, 187 Clubs, 9 221 Cookery for boys, 106 Courts, Juvenile, 6, 12, 25 Day Industrial Schools, 152-158, 198 Departmental Committees of 1896, 1911, 22, 177-201 Diet, 56-58, App. C, D, E. Discipline, Boys, 88-97, 191 „ Girls, 128-135, 191, 192 Domestic Service, 145, 146 Economic and industrial interest, III, 112 Elementary Education, 72-78, 181-184 Emigration, 118, 146, 189 Gambling and betting, 9 George Junior Republic, 89, lo2 Guthrie, Dr., 19 Hart, Hastings H., 105 Heredity, 13 Hill, Davenport, 19, 20 Horticultural training, no, II9, 120, 142, 143 Industrial training, Boys, 103- 107, 194 Industrial training. Girls, 139- 144, 19s 222 YOUNG DELINQUENTS Inspectors, 39, 40, 182-184 L.C.C., 33, loi, 175 M.A.B.Y.S., 149. 197 Maintenance, Authorities respon- sible for, 31-34 Maintenance, cost of, 35-36 Malingering, 94 Managers, 40-44, 184, 185 Marine Society, 17 Medical careof schools, 49-55, 184 Musical training, 106, 137 Nautical training, 107-109 Norton, Lord, 20 Occupations of boys who left schools 1908-1911, 1 13-120 Occupations of girls who left schools 1908-1911, i44-'47 Out-of-door work for girls, 142, 143 Parents' contributions, 32 Parental neglect, 4-6 Parkhurst Prison, 18 Philanthropic Society, 17 Physical and mental condition, 49-52 Physical and moral ailments, their connection, 3, 4 Physical training, Boys, 97-101 Girls, 135-136 Pounds, John, 18 Punishment, Boys, 93-97, 191, I93 „ Girls, 131-135, 192, 193 Ragged Schools, 19 Re-convictions, 165-167 Recreation, Boys, 99-103 Recreation, Girls, 1 35- 1 37 Reformatory and Industrial Schools : Certification of, 38, 184 Children eligible for, 29, App. A, B. Definition of, 28 Difference between, 44 Number of, 37, 38 Number of children under detention in, 37, 38 Receipts and Expenditure for, 34-^36 Religious instruction, 78-84 Results of training, 163-169 Royal Commission, 1834, 18 1884, 21 Sandown, Lord, 21 Scott, Russell, 20 Scouting, 99-101 Shaftesbury, Lord, 10, 18, 19 Short-term Industrial Schools, 158-160, 198 Special Industrial Schools, l6l, 162, 175 Staff, 68-71, 177, 185 State's responsibility, 169-172 Street trading, Juvenile, 12 Sturge, Joseph, 20 Superannuation, 62, 185 Superintendents, 61-65 Time Table, 74, 75, App. F, G, H,L Uniform, Boys', 85-88 Girls', 126-128 Washing apparatus, 58 Watson, Sheriff, 19 Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. 6S "iSiBteiw stamped below UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. ENEWAL JUN 10^989 rm L9-Series 444 3 1158 00922 9690 / UC SOUTHERPi RrniO'JAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 421 389