Report of the Juvenile Delinquency Committee — John Shaqi
Report of the Juvenile Delinquency CommitteeAlgie, R. M. (Ronald Macmillan)
Philosophy
Report of the Juvenile Delinquency Committee
Algie, R. M. (Ronald Macmillan)
Juvenile delinquency -- New Zealand
The Mazengarb Committee was of opinion that there should be a long-term
study of the problem of delinquency. As a matter of fact the present
Committee heard evidence on this suggestion from several witnesses, and
we were greatly impressed by what we heard. It goes without saying that
if one would seek a remedy for a given problem a thorough diagnosis of
the problem itself is a fundamental prerequisite. First let us find the
facts; let us know what is the nature and extent of the evil; let us
get as much data as to its causes and incidence. With that material in
hand we should be in a better position to search for useful methods of
treatment. This task of fact finding would be a long and arduous one;
it would need to be entrusted to experts of wide knowledge and
experience. A start has already been made by the setting up of the
Inter-Departmental Committee referred to earlier in this report. We
strongly recommend the Government to give very favourable consideration
to this particular proposal, and we hope that ways and means will be
found of giving effect to it. We think that this suggestion is of
fundamental importance in any approach to the problem, and we consider
it should be given consideration by the Government.
_Instruction for Parents_: In the long run the responsibility for
a child's general well-being rests upon the parents. Some can, and do,
take every care to discharge that responsibility. Others either fail or
neglect to do so. In some cases this failure comes from a lack of the
necessary knowledge or from inability to impart it. In one memorandum
addressed to the Committee there appear the following paragraphs:
"I think it highly probable that much delinquency is due to the
fact that parents simply do not know how to teach their children on
a subject that many parents regard as secret between parents. I
think it highly unlikely that a parent will consult an adviser
(say, a doctor) as to how the child should be trained, and I am not
so sure that a doctor would know what advice to tender even if he
was consulted.
"Instruction of parents seems to be the job of a specialist. The
doctors have prepared several booklets on sex instruction.
"I am wondering if good attendance could be secured for a series of
lectures by specialists to parents, either to both sexes or to
mothers alone. A mother would probably be more likely to attend a
meeting as one of an audience rather than to suffer the
embarrassment of a personal consultation with, say, a doctor to
whom she has to admit that she does not know how to discharge her
duty to her children.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account