BOYS AND GIRLS IN BORSTAL INSTITUTIONS. [To THE EDITOR or
ran " SPECTLT011."]
Sie,—Lord Lytton having been obliged to resign the Chairman- ship of the State Children's Association owing to his appoint- ment as Governor of Bengal, may we, as Vice-Chairmen of the Association, ask the publicity of your columns for the-follow- ing abstract of correspondence between the Prison Commis- sioners and the Association with regard to boys and girls in Borstal Institutions?—We are, Sir, &c.,
MORE BENTINCE. GEORGE TOULMIN. LEWIS HARLAN.
"The attention of the State Children's Association having been drawn to the punishments, recorded in the Prison Com- missioners' Report for 1920-21, in the Borstal Institution for Girls at Aylesbury, the Executive Committee addressed a letter to the Commissioners pointing out that much general anxiety was felt as to the punishments of solitary confinement and the use of handcuffs, which appeared to be greatly in excess of the numbers for 1918.
The letter, which assured the Prison Commissioners of the Association's good will and sympathy in their task, continued:— 'We know how extraordinarily difficult are the cases of the girls at Aylesbury both from moral and physical •reasons, but experience proves that violent conduct cannot be remedied by means of violent repression. We submit that the.object of the modern treatment of young offenders—viz., to maim good and useful citizens of those who have shown anti-social activity— cannot le brought about by repression imposed froin without, but only by awakening in each offender those spiritual forces which are the-root of reformative impulses.'
In their reply the Prison Commissioners expressed apprecia- tion of the motives prompting the Association's letter, and stated that they shared its general views as to the treatment of young offenders. They explained that a number of the girls sent to Aylesbury during 1920-21 had been leading wild and dissolute lives under war conditions, and their treatment pre- sented extraordinary difficulties. The punishraentsin question had already been the subject of a special inquiry. Of the 33 cases in which the body belt with swivel handcuffs had been employed 23 concerned 8 girls who were mentally deficient, and were removed to a special institution at the earliest opportunity. The other 10 cases were of 10 girls who were influenced by the atmosphere of violence which spread in the Institution owing to the presence of the mental deficients. With regard to the 74 cases of confinement to cells the Com- missioners stated that as the result of recent consultations between themselves and the governors and medical officers of all the Borstal Institutions, an attempt is being made to do without the punishment of confining to rooms altogether, and to rely entirely on the prospect of loss of privileges and reduc- tion in grade for maintaining the standard of conduct.' The number of restraints at Aylesbury from the end of March, 1921, to January 27th, 1922, was 3 only, -and those of confinement to cells 15, as compared with the 33 and 74 recorded above.
In thanking the Prison Commissioners for their courtesy in supplying detailed information, the Association congratulated them upon the reform which has been initiated in Borstal Institutions regarding the abolition of confinement to rooms as a form of punishment.
' Many of the girls at Aylesbury probably have little but evil memories on which to brood during such solitary confine- ment, and we submit that the only hope of producing a healthier state of mind is not to remove them from whatever distractions the routine of their life allows, but to provide them with occupations which will interest them and call out their creative instincts. We speak especially of the girls because the more active life of the boys in trade •training and in sport gives them greater opportunities for self-expression. For boys as for girls, however, violent repression or confine- ment to cells most often defeats the end hoped for.'
To the Association's inquiry as to whether an expert examination could not be made into the mental condition of boys or girls committed to Borstals before their reception intq those institutions, the Commissioners replied that they had issued a circular impressing on all medical officers of prisons the necessity of making very careful reports to the Courts of Justice on all young offenders of Borstal age committed for trial or remanded for inquiries. No such persons should, in their opinion, be recommended for Borstal training as are incapable of mental progress and of receiving trade instruction. The Commissioners have instituted reception classes at Feltham for boys and at Aylesbury for girls. All inmates on first reception under sentence to a Borstal Institution are placed in one of these classes for such time as will enable their conduct to be observed and their mental condition to be tested by modern scientific methods. Should an inmate be considered unfit for Borstal training, the case is specially con- sidered with a view to early discharge, either on licence or on remission of sentenoe." The Commissioners,' the letter con- cludes, 'are quite in agreement with your Association's obser- yations as regards the treatment of girls, and they endeavour to provide them, equally with the boys, with opportunities to learn industries and with such occupations and recreations as will improve physique and stimulate mental activity.'"
[As our readers are aware, most of these reforms have been long advocated in the Spectator. It is therefore with the very greatest satisfaction that wo here chronicle their partial accomplishment. To one arrangement which seems to us unsatisfactory we should like to draw our readers' attention. Though it is of course, an unbearable state of affairs (for all parties) that mentally deficient boys and girls should be placed under the Borstal discipline, we do not think that " early discharge either on licence or on remission of sentence," as suggested, quite meets the case, and that boys-and girls who are admittedly mentally deficient, and have proved criminal tendencies, should be set completely at liberty will, we fear, result in the birth of more illegitimate and defective children and in further offences against society. Mr. Harold Cox, in our issue of February lath, deals with the possibility of a method Which would do away at least with the first difficulty. But the setting up of special institutions would, of course, deal more completely with the problem.—ED. Spectator.]
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