It is anticipated that this Act will have far-reaching effects (1) in the avoidance of imprisonment where the offence can be adequately met by money payment: (2) in the saving from the taint of imprisonment in the early years, by placing under responsible supervision and care, any young person under twenty-one, who, under the old system, would become familiar with prison surroundings: (3) by extending and strengthening the provisions of the Borstal Act, 1908, and (4) by making effective the classification of ordinary prisoners, aimed at by the Prison Act, 1898, and by adapting their treatment and segregation during imprisonment according to their antecedents and the character of their offence.
THE BORSTAL SYSTEM.
The little village of Borstal, on the banks of the Medway, not far from Rochester, has given its name to a system which is now being universally applied, not only at home, but in our Dominions, for the treatment of young offenders, 16-21.
It happened in this way. In this village was situated an old Convict Establishment, formerly used as an annexe to Chatham Convict Prison. There were still a few convicts there; but there was available space for an experiment, which it was decided to make (and which is described later) for the special location and treatment on reformatory lines of young prisoners, 16-21, selected from the ordinary Prisons, where the length of sentence afforded a reasonable time for the application of the system.
The title "Juvenile-Adult" was invented to describe the class—too old for commitment to Reformatory Schools, and too young to be classified with the ordinary grown-up criminal.
The average number of youths of this age committed to Prisons in England and Wales in the opening years of this century was about 19,000. For one year their distribution was as follows:—
| 16 | years | 2,898 |
| 17 | " | 4,099 |
| 18 | " | 5,550 |
| 19 | " | 5,576 |
| 20 | " | 5,130 |