British Social Hygiene Council
| Published date | 01 March 1947 |
| Date | 01 March 1947 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455054700500811 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
109
SURREY
BRANCH
The
Surrey
Branch
held
its
first &dquo; open
event &dquo;
on
November
24th,
in
the
shape
of
a
one-day
Conference
on
Matrimonial
Work-Its
Problems
and
Techniques.&dquo;
The
Conference,
which,
by
the
courtesy
of
the
Croydon
Y.M.C.A.,
was
held
in
their
headquarters,
was
well-
attended
by
magistrates,
probation
offices
and
other
social
workers.
The
morning
session,
at
which
the
chair
was
taken
by
Alderman
Basil
Monk,
J.P.,
of
Croydon,
was
given
up
to
discussion
of
the
practical
aspects
of
matrimonial
work
in
the
courts
in
an
attempt
to
define
the
best
method
of
approach
to
its
problems
by
magistrates,
clerks
and
probation
officers.
With
this
in
view,
the
Branch
Com-
mittee
had
invited
Mrs.
G.
M.
Bluett,
Chairman
of
the
Wallington
Matrimonial
Court,
Mr.
S.
C.
T.
Littlewood,
Clerk to
the
Kingston
Borough
Justices,
and
Mr.
I.
Elgar,
Probation
Officer,
Croydon,
to
open
discussion.
Unfor-
tunately,
Mr.
Littlewood
was
prevented
from
attending
at
the
last
moment,
and
it
was
not
possible
in
the
time
available
to
find
a
substitute
speaker,
so
to
that
extent
the
session
was
not
as
well-balanced
as
had
been
hoped.
Since
the
Conference
was
called
by
probation
officers
primarily
with
the
object
of
helping
us
to
improve
on
our
efforts
by
getting
a
clearer
vision
of
the
whole
field
of
conciliation
work,
it
was
thought
appropriate
for
Mr.
Elgar
to
open
the
discussion,
which
he
did
both
forcefully
and
pointedly.
His
address
took
the
form
of
a
series
of
questions
to
magistrates,
designed
both
to
elicit
from
them
precisely
what
part
they
expect
us
to
play
in
the
work
of
the courts
while
at
the
same
time
suggesting
what
he,
as
one
probation
officer,
felt
we
could
best
do.
Mr.
Elgar
was
followed
by
Mrs.
Bluett,
who
had
been
forearmed
with
knowledge
of
the
questions
which
Mr.
Elgar
proposed
to
put.
These
she
dealt
with
very
fully
and
with
no
less
forthrightness
than
Mr.
Elgar
had
shown,
and
it
soon
became
clear
that
while
fundamentally
both
were
approaching
the
subject
in
the
same
sympathetic
and
understanding
spirit,
there
was
quite
a
deal
of
divergence
on
practical
points
of
method,
which
fore-
shadowed
lively
discussion
to
come.
Mrs.
Bluett
went
on
to
discuss
the
type
of
cases
which
she
thought
could
be
most
usefully
referred
to
probation
officers,
instances
of
middle-aged
couples
drifting
apart
for
no
very
good
reason,
of
cases
where
a
marriage
is
threatened
by
the
interference
of
a
third
party,
and
of
cases
where
there
is
affection
but
inadequate
knowledge
of
the
art
of
living
together.
She
concluded
her
address
with
comment
on
some
of
the
main
difficulties
which
her
experience
showed
that
Justices
in
Matrimonial
Courts
have
to
face.
After
an excellent
lunch
served
in
the
Y.M.C.A.
Canteen,
for
which
we
were
duly
grateful,
the
Conference
re-
assembled
under
the
chairmanship
of
Mr.
C.
W.
Bourne,
J.P.,
Chairman
of
the
Wimbledon
Bench,
for
an
hour’s
general
discussion
on
the
many
points
which
had
arisen
in
the
course of
the
morning
session.
These
were
finally
summarised
at
the
end
of
the
afternoon
in
a
series
of
propositions
meeting
with
varying
degrees
of
assent.
It
was
felt
that
the
divergences
of
opinion
would
not
justify
their
being
published
as
the
findings
of
the
Conference,
but
we
propose
to
discuss
them
in
still
more
detail
later
and
thus
to
offer
our
contribution
towards
the
building-
up
of
a
sound
technique of
conciliation.
Last,
but
not
least,
our
third
speaker
of
the
day,
Mr.
Reginald
Pestell,
of
the
Marriage
Guidance
Council,
rounded-off
the
Conference
by
adding
to
our
discussion
of
the
&dquo;mechanics&dquo;
of
conciliation
a
survey
of
the
more
personal
and
intimate
factors
of
the
work,
the
actual
diagnosis
and
treatment
of
marital
disharmony.
He
emphasised
for
us
again
the
all-importance
of
seeing
the
problem
as
it
really
is,
of
getting
the
parties
concerned
to
see
it
and
to
accept
it,
so
that
they
may
accept
the
solu-
tion
which
must
be
founded
on
it,
rather
than
resting
content
to
try
to
impose
a
settlement
according
to
arbitrary
principles
without
regard
for
the
real
nature
of
the
conflict.
He
discussed
the
various
aspects
of
the
marriage
relationship
and
the
importance
of
examining
every one
of
them
for
possible
difficulties,
since
there
may
be
conflict
in
more
than
one;
and
finally
he
examined
the
question
as
to
when
one
should
refer
a
problem
for
expert
help.
On
one
point
above
all
there
was
complete
agreement-
that
the
Conference
was
very
well
worth
while,
in
that
it
had
set
us
both
talking
and
thinking
harder
than
ever
on
this
very
vital
subject,
and
there
could
be
no
doubt
of
the
sincerity
of
our
thanks
to
all
those
who
had
made
it
possible.
BRITISH
SOCIAL
HYGIENE
COUNCIL
A
two-day
Conference
was
held
on
January
16
and
17
last,
at
the
Institution
of
Civil
Engineers,
Westminster,
London,
S.W.I.,
by
the
British
Social
Hygiene
Council
(Inc.)
and
Town
and
Country
Planning
Association.
The
subject
was
&dquo;The
Family
at
Work
and
at
Play,&dquo;
and
the
Chairmen
for
the
different
sessions
were
Mr.
Gilbert
McAllister,
M.A.,
M.P.,
Mr.
Hugh
Linstead,
O.B.E.,
M.P.,
and
Professor
Winifred
Cullis.
Over
five
hundred
people
attended
the
Conference,
including
a
representative
of
the
National
Association
of
Probation
Officers,
and
among
the
subjects
discussed
were &dquo;Education
for
Family
Life,&dquo;
&dquo;Parent-Teacher
Co-operation,&dquo;
&dquo;Industry
and
Educa-
tion,&dquo; &dquo;
Work
and
the
New
Town
Plan,&dquo;
and
&dquo;
Community
Centres,&dquo;
etc.
Quite
the
most
interesting
contribution
to
the
Con-
ference
was
that
made
by
Dr.
Frazer
Brockington,
the
Medical
Officer
of
Health
for
the
West
Riding
of
York-
shire.
He
spoke
on &dquo;Problem
Homes,&dquo;
and
gave
some
very
interesting
facts
and
figures
obtained
as
the
result
of
research
and
investigation.
Dr.
Frazer
J3rookin,-torl
stressed
the
point
that
he
feels
the
time
has
come
wen
some
definite
steps
should
be
taken
by
way
of
legislation
in
order
to
give
the
authorities
some
means
of
coping
with
this
serious
problem.
He
suggested
that
the
first
step
should
be the
registration
of
such
families
or
homes
with
the
Health
Authorities
in
order
to
see
the
number
of
such
homes
in
each
area
of
town.
They
could
then
be
kept
under
some
form
of
observation
or
supervision
in
order
to
ascertain
what
the
main
cause
of
their
being
a
&dquo; problem
home,&dquo;
and
what
steps
could
be
taken
to
improve
their
condition,
and
if
they
are
willing
and
able
to
maintain
the
improvement.
(Continued
on
page
111)
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