A Branch Line
| Published date | 01 September 1955 |
| Date | 01 September 1955 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455055500701109 |
| Subject Matter | A Branch Line |
BOOK
REV1
E
WS-
(Continued)
An unusual and thoughtful article on “Juvenile
Delinquency and Culture Conflict
in
Israel,”
by
David
Reifen, Juvenile Court Judge at Tel-Aviv, has some
admirable comments on family life and environmental
problems, which are of universal application. Some-
times, we pay too little regard to the effect upon young
members of a family when they are uprooted from their
environment, particularly
if
they move from
a
rural
to an urban area, but the problem
is
the same, be’ they
Jew or Gentile.
In a series
of
three articles dealing
with
“Human
Relations in Institutional Treatment,” the angle
of
English prisons is dealt with
by
Dr. Roper, of Wakefield.
This article is the more interesting now that
the
news
has come through that prison welfare officers are to be
appointed to Birmingham and Liverpool Prisons.
The other two articles in
this
group deal
first
with
a
German youth prison and, secondly, Dr. Marjorie
Franklin writes on maladjusted and delinquent children.
Finally, Dr. Grunhut comments on the criminal
statistics for 1953.
This
brief
survey cannot include mention of all the
worth-while reading matter in the Howard Journal,
but
it
does perhaps indicate sufficiently to the thinking
reader the query: Can
I
afford
NOT
to belong to the
Howard League? A.G.F.
L’Enfance
Delinquante,
by
Jean Chazal (Presses Univer-
sitaires de France,
1953).
This
little book, written
by
a French juvenile
magistrate, seems to me to be extremely useful. It may
not. contain very much that
is
new to probation offlcers,
especially those
with
a smattering
of
psychology, but for
the more than casually interested general public, for
whom
I
imagine
it
is
written,
it
should be both informa-
tive and stimulating. And even for the probation omcer,
caught up in the day-to-day rush of work,
this
book could
act as
a
bencflcial reminder and co-ordinator of our
problems.
As
a short introduction for prospective
trainees or for juvenile magistrates
it
could
be
recommended.
The psychological, social and legal aspects
of
juvenile
delinquency are dealt with briefly. In the psychological
causes, though these are simplified, the influences of
Freud, Friedlander and Bowlby are recognisable but due
weight
is
also given to physical factors.
As far as can be gathered from
this
book the problems
of
iuvenile delinquency and the methods
ot
dealing with
them
in
France are broadly the Same as in
this
country,
the differences being only in details. The French juvenile
courts were established and regulated in
1912
and they
deal with Young people to the age of
18
years; there
is
apparently no minimum age but in practice the youngest
children are between seven and eight years. Wandering
young
’‘
vagabonds
”
seldom come our way
in
England,
but especially since the war vagabondage has been an
acute Continental problem for those working with youth,
It
is,
of course, connected with the chaotic war and after-
war conditions and the homelessness and loss of family
of many children.
Mr.
Chazal mentions that the criminal
Is
in
some wags the scapegoat of society: these young
vagabonds could be described
as
the results
of
society’s
crimes. Furthermore,
it
must be remembered that the
housing situation
in
France
is
considerably worse than
in
England.
The treatment available to the court appears to corres-
pond roughly to this country.
“
supervised freedom
”
being presumably the equivalent of probation. Boarding-
out
of
delinquents is also mentioned, a solution which
I
have heard vigorously advocated
by
Dr. Stott but have
not yet met
in
practice in this country.
A
suggestion
is
made
that
there should be two systems organised to deal
with
juvenile delinquents
-
one to prove guilt, and the
other, a form
of
specialising panel, to decide on the treat-
ment. France, and the Continent generally, also appears
to
have a number of private and experimental institu-
tions on the lines of self-governing republics and chil-
dren’s communities in which shades of Aichorn can be
detected and of which David Wills’ experiments
in
Eng-
land seem to offer the only comparison.
Ttie influences of the cinema, the Press and the amuse-
ment arcade are considered
by
Mr. Chazal, and in view
of the current interest shown
in
the English press and
elsewhere as regards American horror comics
it
would be
interesting to know more about a French Law
of
16.7.51,
which
is
mentioned as affecting control of the press
destined for youth.
Finally, an important point about
this
book in my
opinion. is the fact that
it
is
written
by
a juvenile Court
judge and that
this
man should display so much
humanity and understanding
as
well as specialised
knowledge.
W
o
u
1
d
he not make
a
probation officer’s
work very inspiring? Mr. Chazal tells
us
that France
has specialising juvenile judges and points out that
apart from being jurists they need wide information and
education on social and psychological matters. For this
reason French juvenile magistrates attend annual
“refresher” courses. He hopes even tnat training in
psychological and social subjects could be incorporated
into the Faculty
of
Law, carrying a diploma which would
be obligatory for
a
juvenile magistrate, and he expresses
the hope that the study of criminology may become
obligatory to all future magistrates.
This
poses many
questions
in
connection with
our
own system of
lay
magistrates. B.
A.
A
-
A
BRANCH
LINE
SOUTH-WESTERN
BRANCH
On June 29th,
a
large group of magistrates, probation
officers and other social workers heard Mrs. W.
E.
Cavenagh,
B.A.,
J.P., speak on “The Child
and
the
Court.” Many people were interested in what Mrs.
Cavenagh had to say, speaking
as
she did from the point
of
view of a magistrate on the Juvenile Court Panel
in Birmingham. A.G.H.
A
-
DIARY
October
28th
to 30th.
1955.-London Branch Week-end
Conference, Eastbourne. Particulars from Mr. E. G.
Speller, Tower Bridge Magistrates’ Court, Tooley
Street,
S.E.1.
April
13th
to
15th,
1956.-West Riding Week-end Con-
ference, Shefield. Details from Mr.
A.
Bannerman, 26,
Great George Street, Leeds.1.
May
4th
to
6th 1956.44th Annual Conference and
Annual General Meeting, N.A.P.O., Pler Pavilion, Colwyn
Bay.
June
15th
to
17th’ 1956.-WeSt Midland Branch Week-
end Conference, Police College, Ryton-on-Dunsmore.
Details from
Mr.
J.
Clifford Cooper, Probation OfRce,
City
Magistrates’ Court, Birdport, Worcester.
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