Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders: Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of HealthNew Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders
Science
Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders: Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of Health
New Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders
Mental health laws -- New Zealand; People with mental disabilities -- Care -- New Zealand; People with mental disabilities -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- New Zealand; Sex offenders -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- New Zealand; Sterilization (Birth control) -- New Zealand
It is becoming more and more widely recognized that by due attention to
the pre-natal and post-natal care of mother and child an infinity of
good can be done--indeed, a great deal is already under way in this
direction throughout the Dominion. But the Committee are satisfied that
much more ought to be done to ensure for children of the pre-school and
school ages more generally favourable home conditions, and healthier
environment and habits outside the home.
In the meantime it is obvious that very little can be effected in the
way of bettering the average heredity; but are we taking adequate
measures in the direction of improving the environment of mother and
child? The housing problem is still far from satisfactory; help in the
home can scarcely be procured, and the rearing and care of children
throughout the pre-school and school periods, in a large proportion of
cases, is neither conducive to a high standard of nutrition, growth, and
moral development, nor to the establishment of normal self-control,
especially as regards sexual habits and manifestations. The Committee
cannot ignore the fact that the leading medical and psychological
authorities lay it down as an axiom that the power of self-control is at
its highest when the individual is physically active, well-nourished,
and in perfect bodily health, and that impaired control always
accompanies impaired nutrition, debility, and disease. It has been said,
with profound wisdom and insight, that ultimately and fundamentally
reproduction should be regarded as essentially "an exuberant phase of
nutrition"; and there is no escaping the wide implication of Schiller's
aphorism that "Love and Hunger rule the World."
In view of these considerations the Committee feel compelled to refer to
such serious handicaps to all-round health, control, and efficiency as
the prevalence of wrong feeding habits--_e.g._, giving children food
between meals and the insufficient provision of fresh fruit and
vegetables in the daily diet and the abuse of sweets. Other prominent
and avoidable handicaps, seriously affecting many children throughout
the Dominion, which ought to receive more serious attention are
insufficiency of sunlight and fresh air in the home and at school,
insufficient daily outing and exercise, lack of adequate provision in
the way of playgrounds and swimming-baths, and last, but not least, the
highly injurious practice of frequenting "picture-shows."
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