CARE OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19161, 18 November 1927, Page 14

CARE OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES.

an interesting report. DR. T. G. GRAY'S PROPOSALS. [THE PRESS Special Service.] WELLINGTON, November 17. The Hon. Mr Young, Minister for Health, has received from Dr. Theodore G. Gray, Inspector General ot Mental Hospitals, the first portion oi his report on the tour of investigation which he recently made in the United States Canada, Great Britain, and the Continent, The twe main fields of en,vere the problems of mental deficiency and modern methods m the care and treatment ot the insane and the first part of the report now submitted to the Minister deals mainly with the problems of mental deficiency Di Gray says that while there is little difficulty in recognising the more f*ross tvpe of mental deficiency, such as the imbecile and idiot, there is a very larce class, the members of which are socially inadequate, but who do not come within the definitions embodied in the present Mental Defectives Act. The latter class is dealt with in England under the designation of _ moral imbecile." There are many objections to this designation, for which Dr. Gray proposes to substitute the name social defective," with the following definition: "Persons in whose case there exists mental deficiency associated with, or manifested by,. antisocial conduct, and who require _ State supervision and control for their own protection or for the protection of others. "This definition applies particularly to that large and difficult group _ W which the defect apparently lies, primarily, not in tlie intellect, but in the emotions, and manifests itself in dasorders of conduct," says the report. "Mental deficiency should ■not be ,rei garded so much as a disease entity} but rather as a social problem. ' No Cure for Mental Deficient "There is no cure for mental deficiency in the indiyidual, and uo panacea will remove it from the country, but I believe that we can gradually assume control of its incidence and diminish the economic burden it imposes on the community, provided we take certain measures to be detailed hereafter. ''lt is necessary at this preliminary stage to interpose an earnest word of warning. In each of the thirteen countries I visited I found, a growing public interest in eugenic matters, and, as often happens when a scientific matter has an intimate popular application, this interest was sometimes accompanied by much uninformed enthusiasm and clamour for the institution of measures purporting to effect a dramatic removal of the menace. There ; is no universal .'best system' in this, or the allied problem of dealing with the insane, and each country must evolve its own method, guided and restricted by its own peculiar racial, geographic, and economic situations. "'We have much knowledge. Wo have more theory. Let us ; in the meantime, be content to build, on a sure, safe, and broad foundation of proved essential facts." Dr. Gray emphasises the necessity for a thorough psychiatric examination of each feeble-minded person. He strongly deprecates the grooving tendency to depend upon so-called "intelligence tests," which he regards, ratheI.', 1 .', as tests of the opportunities which the child has had of acquiring' knowledge, rather than as a test of innate intelligence. A Central Body. "The most important preliminary necessity in any scheme for the cure of feeble-minded persons is the taking of a census, and the compiling of a register," states Dr. Gray. "I am of the opinion that this duty should be carried out by a central co-ordinating and registering authority—the Eugeniog Board. My experience in England and on the Continent was that dual control considerably impairs the efficiency of any scheme such as this. In New Zealand at the present time these matters are dealt with, not only by Government Departments such as the special schools branch of the Education Department, the prisons, and the mental hospitals, but also by various private, imperfectly co-operating organisations. There are frequent differences of opinion between medicaj' men, teachers, psychologists, and judicial authorities as to the disposal of cases. "I am satisfied that unification of control is of paramount importance, and that this could best to Attained by the creation' of a. Board—the Eugenics Board, whose function could be broadly defined as being the social control of the feeble-minded. This control would involve the administration of all special schools, day and residential, but the special classes attached to day schools should be strictly reserved for genuine retardates, as determined by the officers of the Eugenics Board, and should be conducted as heretofore by the Education Department. "There is a large class of higher grade defectives of the so-called moral imbecile and moron type, whose departure from the normal is manifested W the moral and emotional planes, rather than in an obvious defect of intelligence. These people, along with many who may be considered more or less as border-line cases, are to he found in institutions for yoimg folk of delinquent and anti-social tendencies, and it is desirable on all grounds that the care of these classes should be included in the duties of the Eugenics Board. The peculiar problems and difficulties j of these children could thus be adjust- j ed on broad, humane, ana common- j sense lines, unhampered on the one j hand bv mental hospital or prison as- j sociation, and, free from the somewhat rigid pedagogic requirements and traditions of a Department whose func- j tion. after all, is the education of nor- j mal children i