Pictures and Problems from London Police CourtsHolmes, Thomas
History
Pictures and Problems from London Police Courts
Holmes, Thomas
Crime -- England -- London; Poor -- England -- London
With a humanized prison system many of these men might be lifted
up, but alas! when they come into the hands of any society or
individual who purposes helping them, not only has their crime and its
consequences to be considered, but the work of the prison has to be
undone before success can be achieved. To undo this in some cases is,
I believe, an impossible task; the stain has become part and parcel of
themselves, and though they may have good instincts, intentions, and
desires, they cannot carry them out, for the dead hand of the prison is
upon them, and to crime they go with automatic certainty. But I have
given instances of criminals that possess a mania for one particular
kind of crime only, and who rarely, if ever, commit any other. Such
are by no means few in number, but how to deal with them is beyond my
comprehension, for though it is possible to trace their crime to its
cause, it is impossible for me to say how that cause can be removed.
One thing, however, I do feel sure about, and it is this, that the
present method of dealing with them while in prison intensifies the
proclivity. Medical and scientific men ought to succeed where I fail;
they can go deeper down into the wonders of the human body and mind. I
can but pity such criminals, and in my blind way try to help here and
there one of them. But to the Faculty I point out the undoubted fact
that otherwise decent and estimable men and women have a mania for a
particular sort of crime, and that at intervals an almost irresistible
impulse towards its commission comes upon them.
Probably this is not a new discovery; others beside myself must have
noticed it. They may have noticed it, but very few can have had the
same opportunities as myself of seeing the reality and force of this
mania, and possibly no one has ever racked their brains or searched
their mind as I have in the vain endeavour to find some method of
saving these people from themselves, and of helping them in the
strenuous but fruitless battle that many of them fight. To the Faculty
I point it out, and to the Faculty I look for help. Shall I look in
vain? Are we to be for ever impotent before diseases of the mind? I
hope not, and I believe it will not always be so. The wondrous and
varied organisms of the human body are now made visible to us, its
diseases are traced and located, treated and often cured. But the
abyss of the human mind is still unexplored, its diseases are still
unclassified, and its peculiarities but little noticed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account