The Elements of Child-protection

by Sigmund Engel

The problem must therefore be solved on the following lines: In every case there should be a thorough medical examination of the child, and a careful study of its educational acquirements and capacities, and upon the results of this examination should be based the decision whether this particular child can best be dealt with in an institution or in a family. In making our decision we should never lose sight of the principle that, except in the case of the really bad children, the advantages of a family education should as far as possible be given. Only in the case of children with obstinate and unconquerable criminal tendencies is continuous institutional care essential; for abnormal children, prolonged curative educational treatment is requisite, as far as possible, in institutions or colonies founded especially for this purpose. The educational institution should be a place in which the pupils undergo a thorough bodily and mental cleansing process. When this has been effected, as soon as we have a right to assume that the child could be received as an inmate by an ordinary family without endangering the other children, then the sooner the child is removed from the unnatural life of the institution to the natural life of the family, the better will be its chances for the future. A reformatory institution which is to attain its ends must have characteristics resembling those of a modern foundling hospital. It must be a place at which those children who, for one reason or another, have to leave their foster-parents, can be received and cared for while another suitable home is being found for them; it must be the centre of supervision of the children placed in family care. It is true that at a reformatory a child is deprived of personal liberty and remains in the institution under compulsion, but the aim of the reformatory is very different from that of the prison. The reformatory should resemble, not a barrack, but a family—that is to say, the barrack system (collective system) must find no place in the reformatory. The institutional life must be as free as possible, and the child must be treated as a member of a family.

Individual treatment and classification of the children are of great importance. Special institutions are requisite for older children and younger children, for those who are more and those who are less corrupt, for those who need mild and for those who need strict treatment. In accordance with this classification, the children must be distributed in the various separate institutions. Unimprovable children should not be received at all, for not only can we do them no good, but their presence is harmful to the other children. It is also necessary that there should be special institutions for observation purposes, to enable us to decide which of the other institutions is best adapted for the treatment of individual cases. When they first enter the observational institution, children should be isolated for a while, until they can be sent to an appropriate section. In former times, grave mistakes were made in this matter of individualisation. Routine treatment and equality of punishment for all similar offences were justified with reference to the principle of equality before the law. Even to-day, children still at times are thrust into contact with the most dangerous elements, and even with the refuse of human society, although this happens much less often in reformatory institutions than in police cells, local prisons, or workhouses. But in general, and especially in England, France, and the United States of America, great stress is now laid upon proper individualisation. In England, above all, do we find the attempt made to secure that all the younger children should be sent to industrial schools, and all the older children to reformatory institutions.

The aim of the reformatory is to improve the child. This is equivalent to an endeavour to produce in the child an independent spirit, and a capacity to provide for itself in a free life. This can be done only by leaving the child a certain amount of freedom, by cultivating its self-respect, and by doing all in our power to put it upon its mettle. He only will be able to make his living who possesses some definite capacity and is willing to work. For this reason, the institution must take every care, not merely to accustom the child to work in general, but also to render it competent in some particular handicraft. Hence the child’s occupation in the institution must not be either useless or depressing in character, nor must it be of such a kind as only an adult can do properly; it must be one suited to the powers and capacities of the child. In the older institutions, which were badly conducted, the pupils were engaged in useless and mind-destroying occupations. Owing to the fact that these institutions were inadequately supplied with funds, the work done was chosen, not because it was of any value to the inmates, but simply because it could provide a contribution to the expenses of maintenance. Unfortunately, even at the present day, on the ground that it is within the rights of the State that a part of the expenditure upon the inmates should be provided by the utilisation of their labour-power, far too much stress is laid upon attempts to make such institutions “self-supporting.”

The school instruction in reformatories should, in general, resemble that which is given by the State to normal children outside. The main points are, to provide a suitable elementary education, and to devote a great deal of attention to the care of the body. The most difficult class to deal with in reformatories is that of the habitual vagrants.

Testing Reform.—How can the improvement we hope to effect in the reformatory best be tested, and how can we best prepare for the transition into a free life? In view of the fact that these problems have been most completely solved in the United States of America, it will suffice here to describe the systems in vogue in that country. The indispensable preliminary to a successful reformatory education is the indeterminate sentence. The child will not leave the reformatory (presuming that the stipulated maximum term has not been attained) to assume the full responsibilities of freedom, until it has satisfactorily responded to the test of a probationary freedom. When it first enters the reformatory the child is apathetic. But before long it becomes aware of the significance of the indeterminate sentence; it perceives that it will not obtain its discharge until it has improved; and this induces a condition of nervous, yet salutary, tension and disquiet. The indeterminate sentence thus exercises upon the child a powerful influence, laying its fate to some extent in its own hands, making hope in place of fear the most effective element of its thought, and awakening the desire to effect improvement by means of its own efforts.

We must not overlook the possibility that those who may secure their discharge before they have served the maximum term of their sentence may not necessarily be those who have truly and completely reformed, but those who possess the greatest power of adaptation to the conditions necessary to secure their release.

A system which in various forms constitutes an almost universal feature in the conduct of American reformatories is known as the “mark system,” or “merit system.” The nature of this system is that every inmate is able, by earning a certain number of good marks, allotted on account of general good behaviour, and of progress in the school and the workshop respectively, to earn his release upon probation. The numerical formalism of this system is counteracted by an individual consideration and treatment of the pupils.

In the reformatory, we may endeavour to effect an improvement, and may hope that we have done so; but it is impossible to be certain that this end has been attained. While the child remains in the institution, no one can tell if it has acquired the power of overcoming the difficulties of the life of freedom. It is the period immediately following the discharge from the reformatory which is the most dangerous to the child. It is upon this period, above all, that it depends whether the child will be successful in gaining a proper place in society. For this reason, it is of fundamental importance to find work for all those who are discharged from a reformatory; indeed, they should only leave the reformatory to enter an assured position. Every care must be taken, in seeking employment for those about to be discharged, that we are not increasing the general difficulty in obtaining work by overstocking the labour market. In the reformatories of the United States, the difficulties of the transition period are met by releasing the inmates on probation only, for a time during which they are not only supported, but carefully supervised. In the criminal law of European countries, the period of punishment is at an end when the specified term of sentence has expired. No such determinate sentence exists in the case of American reformatories, for the maximum term of sentence usually extends far beyond the end of the period of probationary release. What is requisite is, that the definitive discharge from supervision and control should only take place when the conduct during the term of probationary release has been satisfactory, and when the duties imposed have been faithfully performed. The child released on probation must behave well, work diligently, and punctually and at regular intervals report itself at the reformatory. Until the end of the probationary period, it remains under the supervision and care of the institution; the conditional release may at any time be revoked; and the final discharge is not effected until the child has given satisfactory proof of its fitness for a free life. The child released on probation generally behaves very well, for it fully understands that any misconduct would entail serious consequences, that it would lose in a moment all that it has hitherto gained, that it would have to return to the institution, and begin once more at the beginning the struggle to secure its freedom.

Some of the reformatory schools of America are governed as child republics, known as “Junior Republics.” In these the children exercise self-government after the example of the Great Republic itself, and the executive of the institution merely exercises a kind of supervision. The greatest possible weight is thus given to the educative influence of personal responsibility. Above all, the trial and punishment of offences against the discipline of the reformatory, by courts constituted by the inmates, works exceedingly well, because the comrades know one another better than anyone else can. The reformatory system of the United States of America meets with very general approval. In Europe, indeed, it is said that the system is too expensive, and that the inmates are treated too well. The view we shall take upon this matter will depend upon our general opinion as to how a reformatory should be organised and carried on. In the United States of America, intercourse between man and man is free and unrestrained, and the standard of life is higher than in Europe. Only the improvable children are so well treated; the habitual offenders, on the contrary, are subjected to a draconian régime. It is true that in Europe the cost per child is less, but in view of the meagre results obtained on this side of the Atlantic, the saving is apparent merely.

The defects of the American system are the following. As soon as a new political party gains a majority, and a new government therefore comes into power, much of the official staff, including that of the reformatories, is changed. Hence, the greater part of the staff does not consist of persons who have devoted their life to the improvement of children, but is composed mainly of persons without proper professional training. But it is well known that the staff of our European reformatories also lacks proper professional training in respect of the hygiene and psychology of child life.