Crime and Mental Health
| DOI | 10.1177/026455053400101902 |
| Author | Royal Highness Prince George |
| Date | 01 April 1934 |
| Published date | 01 April 1934 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
29I
CRIME
AND
MENTAL
HEALTH.
HIS
ROYAL
HIGHNESS
PRINCE
GEORGE
at
the
Annual
Meeting
of
the
SOUTH
AFRICAN
PROBATION
ASSOCIATION
IN
JOHANNESBURG.
IN
the
course
of
his
South
African
tour,
crowded
with
~L
engagements,
His
Royal
Highness
Prince
George,
found
time
to
attend
and
speak
at
the
Annual
Meeting
of
the
recently
formed
South
African
Pro-
bation
Association.
The
occasion
is
of
special
interest
to
the
National
Association
of
Probation
Officers
for
between
the
British
and
the
South
African
Associations
there
exist
special
bonds
of
fellowship.
The
probation
meeting
was
the
only
function
of
its
character
that
His
Royal
Highness
was
able
to
attend
in
an
itinerary
of
which
every
waking
hour
was
filled
with
important
public
engagements.
On
the
Prince’s
arrival
at
the
meeting
all
the
members
of
the
staff
of
the
Johannesburg
probation
office
had
the
honour
of
being
pre-
sented
to
His
Royal
Highness
who
made
references
to
his
personal
interest
in
probation
work
in
England.
In
his
speech
the
Prince
stressed
the
importance
of
mental
hygiene
in
the
community’s
efforts
to
elimin-
ate
crime :
&dquo;
The
problem
of
crime
is
a
sad
one
when
looked
upon
from
the
point
of
view
of
the
offender,
and
a
troublesome
one
when
looked
at
from
that
of
the
State,
and
I
think
that
no
solution
of
the
problem
is
possible
until
the
community
under-
stands
the
close
association
between
crime
and
mental
and
physical
health.
&dquo;
Criminal
offenders
may
be
regarded
as
abnormal
and
will
respond
to
the
right
treatment
if
they
can
obtain
it.
If
they
cannot
obtain
it,
they
more
often
than
not
become
habitual
criminals,
and
the
Courts
mete
out
to
them
treatment
that
serves
no
useful
purpose.
&dquo;
One
of
the
greatest
difficulties
that
you
must
be
up
against
is
to
be
able
to
provide
occupations
for
men
who
have
been
discharged
from
prison.
&dquo;
I
believe
I
am
correct
in
saying
that
occupational
therapy
is
one
of
the
most
important
forms
of
treatment
when
dealing
with
this
problem
of
individuals
who
are
really
mentally
sick.
&dquo;
Man
is
a
creature
who
must
have
something
to
do,
and
you
will
agree
with
me
that
if
a
man
has
no
desire
for
occupation,
whether
such
is
work
or
what
is
usually
spoken
of
as
amusement,
that
man
is
unusual
in
his
-outlook.
&dquo; To
deprive
a
man
of
either
work
or
recreation
is
to
give-shall
I
say ?-a
lopsidedness
to
life,
while
to
deprive
a
man
of
both
may
enshroud
him
in
gloom.
&dquo; Now
this
last
remark
is
all
the
more
serious
when
there
is
added
to
it
a
state
of
anxiety
for
the
future,
which
a
man
who
has
served
a
term
in
prison
must
possess.
&dquo;I
have
no
time
to
do
more
than
stress
this
side
of
your
work,
and
I
now
wish
your
labours
all
success.
I
hope
that
among
them
you
will
give
mental
hygiene
a
prominent
place,
as
I
feel
strongly
that
its
importance
should
never
be
overlooked.&dquo;
In
presenting
the
annual
report
of
the
Association,
the
Chairman,
Cap-
tain
W.
Urquhart,
M.C.,
explained
that
the
association
had
been
formed
to
assist
the
probation
officers,
those
officials
of
the
depart-
ment
of
justice
who
were
the
spear-
head
of
the
attack
on
antiquated
methods
of
treating
offenders,
and
pioneers
in
the
scientific
treatment
that
was
connoted
by
the
word
&dquo; Probation. &dquo;
As
a
result
of
the
splendid
pioneer
work
of
such
men
as
Bishop
Furse
(now
Bishop
of
St.
Albans),
Mr.
Justice
Feetham
(now
Judge
Presi-
dent
of
Natal),
the
Hon.
Patrick
Duncan
(now
Minister
of
Mines),
the
Earl
of
Feversham,
the
late
Dr.
Marius
Moll,
Mr.
Harry
Norman
and
others,
the
probation
system
in
the
Union
of
South
Africa
stood
for
the
sound
common
sense
admini-
stration
of
justice,
the
protection
of
society,
and
the
re-education
of
the
offender
by
reason-
able
treatment.
The
greatest
resources
of
the
probation
service
were
concentrated
upon
the
juvenile
offender.
In
a
report
of
the
year’s
work
of
the
probation
staff
it
was
shown
by
Mr.
C.
H.
Olivier,
the
senior
probation
officer
for
the
Witwatersrand,
that
more
than
3,000
cases
were
investigated
for
the
Courts,
and
that
1,100
offenders
were
subsequently
committed
to
supervision
on
probation
orders.
It
was
a
matter
for
regret
that
over
and
above
the
3,000
persons
submitted
to
investi-
gation
the
Courts
continued
to
deal
with
a
number
of
offenders
by
suspension
of
sentence
without
committing
them
to
the
supervision
and
guardianship
of
the
probation
officers,
and
without
even
referring
them
to
the
probation
officers
for
investigation
before
sentence
was
passed.
A
special
feature
of
the
probation
system
on
the
Witwatersrand
was
the
exceptional
services
rendered
to
the
Court
by
members
of
the
medical
profession,
the
names
of
no
less
than
m
medical
specialists
appearing
as
consultants
and
practioners
in
addition
to
that
of
(Continued
on
page
3oz )
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