Juvenile Delinquency in 1855
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055500701107 |
| Published date | 01 September 1955 |
| Date | 01 September 1955 |
| Subject Matter | Juvenile Delinquency in 1855 |
THE
BITER BIT.
TRAINEE REPORTS
ON
TRAINER.
TO
WHOM
IT
MAY
CONCERN:
I
have known
this
person..
.
.
since she came into my
employment as
a
supervisor. During the time she was
under my care,
I
was able to ascertain certain details
of
her character and assess the value of her work.
Certain facts and details have, however, been brought
to
light,
which
I
feel, for
the
good of society at large,
must be mentioned. The intelligence of this person
does not fall far below the norm, but there are distinct
signs
of
mental degeneration, which should be carefully
watched.
One tendency, which
I
feel
I
must mention,
is
her
utter disregard of the value of money. This,
I
think,
should be immediately looked into, and
I
would advise
that she should be sent to some week-end school in
London as soon as possible, in
order
to stop her extrava-
gant spending and open-handedness. On many
occasions she
has
spent her money quite recklessly,
giving away quite substantial sums, and also borrowing
considerable amounts
off
me. This latter action,
I
feel,
is
most deplorable.
If
such behaviour continues,
it
may be that in the near future she may have to resort
to assistance from the State.
As
is
very necessary for her work, she has often been
employed as my chauffeur, and
I
have on many occasions
been concerned as to her safety. She overtakes traffic,
and especially pedestrians, with no regard for life
or
limb. and
I
feel
it
is
due to her cultivating a friendship
with
the local police force that she has not been sum-
monsed.
I
hesitate to think of the consequences of her
driving in an area where she
is
not known, and have
indeed noticed her reluctance to
do
so.
At
her
work
I
found her to
be
fairly
sattsfaetory,
but
her general tendency was to allow others to
do
it
for her,
and
I
cannot but mention my concern
as
to what may
actually be done when she
is
left to her own devices.
She has encouraged a lack of responsibility towards work,
and has twice persuaded me to take time
off
from my
employment.
At
one stage
I
returned to the omce
from
a
certain piece of work rather more rapidly than
perhaps was usual, and
this
has been a source of
concern to her ever since.
Coupled with this encouragement
of
shirking,
I
found
that she had
a
careless attitude towards life
in
general,
and no clear demarcation was visible between her work
and her leisure. She has waved to complete strangers,
including myself, giving me
a
lift
in her car without
seeing any credentials
or
papers, Her thoughtlessness
of others has often been shown
by
a
disregard of either
health or safety, and before now
I
have been soaked to
the skin
by
rain being blown
in
through the open window
of her car. This thoughtlessness
has
been frequently
displayed in many ways, and
is,
in
my
opinion, a major
flaw in her character.
I
And
it
difficult
to
express my feelings about the three
months
in
which
I
have known
my
supervisor, the
period has certainly been one
of
the most remarkable
ones In my career, and
I
shall not forget
it
easily. The
above details must,
I
feel in all fairness, be published
for
the beneAt of future employers, but in general
I
would say that her character and behaviour are satis-
factory, and providing one
is
capable of stanrling the
Strein, no harm can come of one’s employing her.
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
IN
1855
We
are
glad
to
be allowed to reprint the
following
extract
from
the
Journal of
the Royal Society
of
Arts,
May 13th,
1955,
by
kind
permission
of
the Society
FROM
THE
R.S.A.
JOURNAL
OF
1855
Volume
111:
May
2nd,
1855
From
a
paper on Juvenile Crime as
it
Affects Commerce,
and the Best Means of Repressing
It,
by
Jelinger
Symons. B.A. one
of
Her Majesty’s Inspectors of
Schools.
At
Parkhurst Prison there
is
a preliminary proba-
tionary stage, which is quasi-penal.
I
say quasi-penal.
because there
Is
no
other correctional discipline than
that which consists in being conflned to cells with books
for somewhat less than two hours, chiefly during meal
times, the rest of the day being spent in school and
exercise, together
with
the other boys in the same ward.
This continues for four months. After
this
they pass
immediately into the industrial wards, where nearly
the whole day
is
occupied in useful industrial labour.
They dine, work, and have short intervals for recreation
together. Spade husbandry, cattle tending, brick-making,
baking, carpentering, painting, blacksmith’s work,
flax-dressing, tailoring, shoemaking and washing, con-
stitute the employments in which they are instructed
by
skilled persons. Warders constantly superintend
them. The chaplains pray
with
and address them
collectively for half-an-hour every morning, and speak
to them individually occasionally. Each prisoner has
instruction in school about nine hours in the week
(which
is
too little), and every evehing the most
deserving lads are allowed
to
read
or
write,
or
converse
together in the schoolroom, for one hour before evening
prayers.
Each
boy
has
access
to
the chaplain at
Pleasure. Punishments are administered also for oRences
committed in the establishment, with the sanction of
the
goveronor, and rewards are given chiefly
by
means of
good
conduct and labour marks which
are credited in money earnings
to
each inmate.
Order, neatness, regularity, cleanliness and obedience,
are enforced under a quiet,
but
exact, discipline.
The system of industrial training
is
one of the
most perfect in England.
It
is
the
life-spring of
the whole process of reformation. The governor and
the chaplains attribute much of the success which
attends the institution, to
this
element.
It
is
certainly
peculiarly adapted to the correction of those abnormal
and desultory
habits
which are the great charm and
characteristic of vagabond and criminal life. Nothing
will thoroughly eradicate
this
bane, short
of
systematic
labour. Compulsory and habitual industry
is
indispens-
able to the cure
of
a disease in which idleness
is
incarnate, and of which
it
is
often the
root.
c
1271
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