The Presdent's Address to Annual Conference, Scarborough
| DOI | 10.1177/026455054900502202 |
| Published date | 01 July 1949 |
| Date | 01 July 1949 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
282
THE
PRESDENT’S
ADDRESS
TO
ANNUAL
CONFERENCE,
SCARBOROUGH
In
his
presidential
address
to
the
National
Conference
at
Scarborough
on
Sunday,
May
1,
1949,
Lord
Feversham
paid
a
tribute
to
the
retiring
chairman,
Mr.
Farmer,
and
welcomed
the
new
chairman,
Mr.
W.
C.
Todd.
He
also
offered
a
word
of
welcome
&dquo; as
a
fellow
Yorkshireman &dquo;
to
the
new
secretary.
He
proceeded
to
refer
to
the
speech
made
the
previous
evening
by
the
Home
Secretary,
with
its
important
statement
about
the
extension
of
after-
care
work
which
will
involve
additional
duties
for
probation
officers.
Lord
Feversham
said
he
intended
to
base
his
remarks
mainly
on
the
recently
published
Home
Office
and
Ministry
of
Education
Memorandum
on
Juvenile
Delin-
quency
(H.M.S.O.
2d)
which
revealed
how
juvenile
crime
had
grown
in
recent
years,
but
also
showed
a
commend-
able
determination
by
the
responsible
authorities
to
gain
local
interest
in
the
problem
by
the
calling
of
confer-
ences
in
all
parts
of
the
country.
That
the
responsibility
could
not
rest
alone
with
the
young
offenders
was
obvious
and
the
effort
to
bring
together
all
interested
organisa-
tions
and
individuals
emphasised
this.
These
local
con-
ferences
would
provide
an
opportunity
for
probation
officers
to
do
two
things-to
contribute
to
the
collection
of
accurate
material
and
facits,
about
the
causes
of
juvenile
delinquency
and
the
increase
of
crime,
and
to
collaborate
with
others
in
kindred
social
work
in
the
treatment
of
the
problem.
The
Criminal
Justice
Act
had
provided
grounds
on
which
many
social
workers
could
come
together
to
attack
the
problem
and
make
the
right
advances.
The
unique
contribution
of
the
probation
office
could
be
made
in
the
ways
indicated
by
a
recent
article
by
Mr.
G.
E.
Neve
in
&dquo; Probation &dquo;
and
Lord
Feversham
com-
mended
that
article
to
the
study
of
all
present,
as
it
CHAIRMAN’S
NOTES—(Continued)
stage
than
hitherto
in
matrimonial
disputes.
I
am
sure
that
your
Lordships
will
agree
that
the
sooner
they
intervene,
the
better.
I
think
that
that
statement
gives
the
Right
Reverend
Prelate
what
he
wants,
and
that
he
and
I,
at
any
rate,
are
at
one
in
attaching
the
greatest
importance
to
the
work
that
these
probation
officers
are
doing.
He
may
rest
assured
that
there
is
nothing
in
this
Bill
that
is
going
in
any
way
to
limit
that
work.
By
the
alteration
of
the
rules
which
I
have
indicated,
I
hope
that
not
only
will
their
work
not
be
restricted
or
limited,
but
that
it
will
be
greatly
extended.&dquo;
* *
*
By
the
time
these
notes
appear,
the
provisions
of
the
Criminal
Justice
Act,
1948,
relating
to
probation
will
have
been
implem6nted.
There
will
no
doubt
be
many
diffi-
culties
and
queries
arising
as
the
provisions
of
the
Act
are
put
into
effect,
and
we
seek
to
carry
out
our
duties
in
conformity
with
the
Rules
made
under
the
Act.
Do
not
forget
that
your
particular
experience
may
be
of
value
to
other
members
of
the
Association,
and
the
Secretary
will
welcome
any
information
relating
to
the
working
of
the
Act.
W. C. TODD.
would
remind
probation
officers
that
they
had
to
con-
tribute
by
no
new
theory,
but
by
the
best
possible
practice,
if
they
were
to
obtain
good
results.
Discussing
the
increase
in
crime,
and
particularly
juvenile
crime,
the
president
mentioned
three
important
contributory
factors.
These
were,
the
high
rate
of
separ-
ation
and
divorce
cases,
the
high
proportion
of
sub-
normal
people
and
of
those
with
low
average
intelligence
who
just
could
not
cope
with
modern
life,
and
the
lack
of
responsibility
consistent
with
the
widespread
influence
of
changing
moral
standards.
Lord
Feversham
pointed
out
that
whereas
in
1900
there
were
500
divorces
in
this
country,
there
were
in
1948
50,000
and
if
this
continued
there
would
by
1960
be
another
half
million
broken
homes.
Given
an
average
of
even
one
child
per
home
this
would
leave
us
with
an
enormous
problem
of
unhappy
child-
hood
with
its
consequent
results
in
anti-social
behaviour.
In
dealing
with
the
sub-normal
element
in
the
popula-
tion,
Lord
Feversham
mentioned
a
pre-war
report
from
the
Ministry
of
Education
which
showed
that
in
London
the
number
of
retarded
children
amounted
to
10
per
cent.
of
the
school
population.
In
poor
and
overcrowded
districts
like
Rotherhithe,
Lambeth
and
Southwark
the
number
rose
to
nearly
20
per
cent.
whereas
in
more
prosperous
districts
like
Dulwich
or
Hampstead
it
sank
to
barely
1
per
cent.
&dquo; It
is
not
easy &dquo;
said
Lord
Fever-
sham,
&dquo; to
separate
the
effects
of
bad
home
conditions
from
the
results
of
family
inheritance.
Often
the
child’s
dullness
is
attributed
to
bad
environment
when
in
point
of
fact
it
is
inherited
from
dull
parents
who
have
drifted
into
that
environment
and
have
often
contributed
to
make
it
what
it
is.
On
the
other
hand,
cases
of
family
resemblance
are
often
taken
as
examples
of
heredity,
when
the
similarity
is
due
to
the
fact
that
brothers
and
sisters
have
been
brought
up
under
similar
conditions.
....
Delinquency
is
an
accident
which
by
its
anti-social
character
has
attracted
attention
upon
a
child
or
adolescent
but
one
finds
identical
behaviour
problems-
which
by
pure
chance
have
escaped
the
intervention
of
the
police-among
children
and
adolescents,
presenting
the
same
defects
of
character
and
mental
defects
as
among
those
apprehended
as
delinquents.
This
category
has
the
same
need
of
treatment
as
those
who
have
actually
offended,
in
order
to
prevent
them
becoming
delinquents.
When
we
take
this
into
account
we
see
even
more
clearly,
the
size
and
seriousness
of
the
problem.&dquo;
The
remainder
of
Lord
Feversham’s
speech
is
given
in
full :
I
come
to
the
last
heading
of
the
deep-seated
causes
of
juvenile
delinquency.
This
is
described
as
&dquo;
the
wide-
spread
influence
of
changing
moral
standards.&dquo;
I
want
to
say
something
on
this
because
not
only
does
it
affect
the
people
on
whose
behalf
we
work,
but
it
also
affects
our
own
outlook
and
driving
power.
Recently
our
notions
of
how
man
should
live,
what
he
should
aim
at
being,
have
been
challenged
by
other
notions
based
on
scientific
development
and
materialism.
These
currents
of
opinion
which
seriously
threaten
civilisation
itself,
and
of
which
two
shattering
wars
are
the
symptom,
run
very
deep.
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