Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders: Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of Health

By New Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders

"Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders" by New Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Dec 2, 2019
• ISBN: 4057664599957

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New Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders

Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders

Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of Health

Published by Good Press, 2022

[e-mail]

EAN 4057664599957

Table of Contents

PART I.—INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL.

Section 1.—Origin and Scope of Inquiry.

Section 2.—Two Distinct Questions.

PART II.—PROBLEM OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED.

Section 1.—A Menace to Modern Civilization.

Section 2.—Heredity v. Environment.

Section 3.—Illustrative Cases of Hereditary Degeneracy.

Section 4.—Elements of the Problem.

Section 5.—Estimates as to Numbers of Mental Defectives.

Section 6.—Study of Feeble-minded and Delinquent Children.

Section 7.—Method of dealing With Mental Defectives in New Zealand.

Section 8.—Children's Courts.

Section 9.—Policy for the Future.

Section 10.—The Question of Sterilization.

Section 11.—Segregation.

Section 12.—The Question of Expense.

Section 13.—Immigration.

Section 14.-summary of Findings and Recommendations.

PART III.—SEXUAL OFFENDERS.

Section 1.—Scope and Origin of the Inquiry.

Section 2.—Seriousness of the Evil.

Section 3.—Types of Offences.

Section 4.—Suggested Remedies.

Section 5.—Scientific Treatment and Segregation with Indeterminate Sentence.

Section 6.—Summary of Recommendations.

APPENDIX.

PAST MISTAKES IN IMMIGRATION.

THE HEALTH OF SCHOOL-CHILDREN.

Extract from the Report of the Director of the Division of School Hygiene, 1924.

SEXUAL OFFENDERS IN NEW ZEALAND.

SOME ILLUSTRATIVE HISTORIES.

PART I.—INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL.

Table of Contents

Section 1.—Origin and Scope of Inquiry.

Table of Contents

For a considerable time there has been a growing feeling of anxiety among the public owing to the number of mental defectives becoming a charge upon the State, and also the alarming increase in their numbers through the uncontrolled fecundity of this class. Furthermore, owing to the frequency of sexual offences, many of a most revolting character, there was a strong demand that some action should be taken to prevent further acts of this nature; it being suggested that the law should be altered to make it possible for surgical operations to be performed upon these offenders.

The North Canterbury Hospital Board considered the need for action in this matter so great that they set up a Committee to go into the question and take evidence, which was done, and various recommendations were made to the Government.

A perusal of departmental files reveals that many persons and social bodies have urged upon the Government the desirability of setting up a Committee or Commission of Inquiry to go into this subject.

The Minister of Health duly considered the representations made, and appointed the following Committee to inquire into the question:—

The Hon. W. H. Triggs, M.L.C. (Chairman).

Sir Donald McGavin, Kt., C.M.G., D.S.O., M.D. (Lond.), F.R.C.S. (Eng.).

Sir F. Truby King, Kt., C.M.G., M.B., B.Sc. (Public Health) (Edin.).

J. Sands Elliott, Esq., M.D., Bac. Surg. (Edin.), Chairman of the Council of the British Medical Association (New Zealand Branch).

Miss Ada G. Paterson, M.B., Ch.B. (N.Z.), L.M. (Dublin).

C. E. Matthews, Esq., Under-Secretary for Justice and Controller-General of Prisons, &c.

J. Beck, Esq., Officer in Charge, Special Schools Branch, Education Department.

The function and duty laid upon the Committee was as follows:—

(1.) To inquire and report as to the necessity for special care and treatment of the feeble-minded and subnormal, and to propose the general means by which such care and treatment, if any, should be provided.

(2.) To inquire and report as to the necessity for the treatment of mental degenerates and persons charged with sexual offences, and to recommend forms of treatment for the various types of cases.

The Minister of Health expressed his desire that the Committee should hear such evidence and representations on the above-mentioned matters as might be necessary fully to inform the Committee on the questions referred to it, and further suggested to the Committee that the various organizations and persons likely to be interested should be notified that the Committee would, at a certain place and date, hear any evidence they might desire to tender.

The following places were visited and inspected by the Committee: The Myers Special School, Auckland; the Waikeria Prison Reformatory; the Tokanui Mental Hospital, Waikeria; the New Plymouth Prison; the Boys' Training-farm, Weraroa; the Point Halswell Reformatory for Women, Wellington; the Special School for Girls, Richmond, Nelson; the Mental Hospital, Nelson; the Mental Hospital, Stoke, Nelson; the Te Oranga Home, Burwood, Christchurch; the Paparua Prison, Templeton; the Special School for Boys, Otekaike; the Caversham Industrial Home for Girls, Dunedin; the Borstal Institution, Invercargill.

Sittings were held at various centres in New Zealand, and a large number of witnesses were examined, as shown in the following table:—