DEFECTIVES.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 July 1924, Page 4

DEFECTIVES.

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY. SITTING RESUMED IN DUNEDIN. DUNEDIN. July 7. The Committee of lquiry into mental defectives and sexual utlenees satin Dunedin again this morning. ]>r Mar;hall MacDonald said that it. was impossible to consider tlie disposal of the feeble-minded without going into the question of reorganisation of the whole of tho machinery for dealing with the insane, because, iu his opinion. it was in this Dominion ineffective and inadequate. Most of tile mental hospitals were not suited for the purp;j,c. They were overcrowded and understaffed with medical men, and it was licit passible to carry out proper classification, lie would like to point out that the most urgent need at present wits that of provision for borderline cases. . There should he special hospitals with specially trained physicians and wiin trained nurses for the treatment of such a class ot case as acute mclnn- ; ehalia. 'I hat class of ease was essentially a curable one. hut because such eases were suicidal they could not he kept- in geneial lio-pitais, and even in Seai lift'. where very praiseworthy efforts had been made to treat voluntary cases lii what was known as the “cottage." cases of acute melancholia had to he placed in tho main building. Dr MacDonald said that he would like to eii'iphasise the importance of training medical graduates ill mental diseases. That principle was recognised in all modern medical schools. In New Zealand, training in mental diseases was limited to one week spent in Seadiff. where they saw eases of gloss and advanced mental disease. Students received practically no training in early diagnosis and treatment ol mental conditions. Wit'n regard to sexual offenders against women and children. Dr MaoI Pm.a Id said he thought that they should be segregated. He was not in favour of compulsory operation in these cases. It would be all right where the patients were willing to he oper l Led on, hut he would not rc;o;.iinond compulsory operation, lor two reasons. Due reason v.'as that tho operation could not foresee the result « f his opera lion, and if death or insanity were to result a Judge or Magistrate would hesitate about recommending such procedure again, llis other reason was that an operation would not be an effective remedy. Dr MacDonald went on to give a ease In his experience to show that sterilisation had not had the desired died. He .supposed that there were about 1 or *2 per cent of the children horn in New Zealand mentally deficient. No one was sure of tho figures, hut he thought that there was about UK) children who were mentally deficient horn annually in the Dominion. About a quarter of these were low-grade imbeciles, and found their way ultimately into mental hospitals, and lor these he would have no hesitation in recommending sterilisation. That was tin operation short of de-sexing the patient. U would not he absolutely preventive. but would he fairly satisfactory. Dr MacDonald thought that the most effective way of dealing with the higher-grade imbeciles would he to have a notification by school teachers and bv social workers. These children could he collected and placed in a special school like that in Otekaike. Ilf did noli regard alcohol per se as a rammon cause of insanity. He would rather say that alcoholism was one of Ihe symptoms of neuropathic inheritance. About 1C per cent, of feebleminded. said Dr MacDonald, became (h'liiiquents; that wii- ‘2 percent, of the general papulation and 10 per cent, of the prison p> •■.nidation. |)r Mai Donald said he was utterly opposed to teaching the sex question in .'(drools. |1 would he likely to result- ill mote harm to ihr teacher than in good to the children. ’I he duty of instructing children in these matters rested with the parents.

Dr Kenneth It o'- s stressed the need for an institution apart from the mental hospital to house border-line eases. This would relieve Seadiff and allow proper treatment to he given there and and proper < lassificalion of the acutely insane. Feeble-minded were divided into two types —idiots and imbeciles. The lower grade wa.-. not of much danger lo the c.iminunity. tut the higher grade provided persons who committed petty crimes and prostitutes. The high-grade imbeciles were often difficult lo recognise, and often they Were iii.il found mu until they reached t lie Police ('min or until a girl became pregnant. He suggested the esiahlishmcui of ti mental clinic.

In reply to questions. Dr lie's said he thought the only thing for sexual perverts wa> absolute permanent '('gre-

at ion. I)r Stuart Moore said there appeared

lo he no proper provision at present

for the cere and treatment of such (••isos as aimless thieves. It would he more economical to the community if such cases were permanently segregated and studied by pyschologicnl and

other methods with a view to cure and more or less complete liberty. Ordinary school curriculum tended to produce neurosis in some sub-normal children. ami so rendered them less aide than would otherwise lie the case to light their way in the world. Sub-nor-mal persons might suffer from iieuro-is thill could he alienate-'I or even cured by psycho-analysis or some other method There va- danger of normal children suffering from neurosis being regarded a' sub-nos mill or even in severe cases of being menial defectives. The -ame was true of adults. Neurosis was one of the mosl crippling ailments to which Immunity was liable: it was mil curable by suggestion, but was often curable by psycho-analysis. Further researc h was needed to determine exactly what conditions were hereditary. Neurosis, which was apt to he mi-taken for fccble-inindedne-s or subnoi'inality might appear to lie hereditary when in fact if was transmitted, largely if not wholly by tlie presence in tlie eovinniiiicm of a child of neurotic parents. The best- method of treatment of l"oblc-iniinIedness and of neurosis which was apt to he associated with

abnormal intelligence, was prevention: that involved (1) preveiilion of venereal disease and then efficient treatment ; improvement in the environment. of tile proper method of, and prated ni for. treatment of border-line eases of insanity. Insanity of brief duration, ab-lailoli'iii or drug addiction (v. liieb was usually either neurosis or p .yelnisi.). and til neurosis; (3) prevention of goitre, which, if allowed to de-n-lop. would giv- in a crop of cretins: (!) voluntary stei iii-atioii should lie offered to feeble-minded and sub-nor-mal. but sanction of the operation should be in ilia bands of a judge or on the advice of medical experts. The general principles on which the ret-oni-Uicndation should be tarried out should lie earcluily considered and determined only after tarcfii! study. Further research was needed (1) to determine v.imt conditions were .hereditary: ttf) to understand pyschulogy anti treatment, (a) of alcoholic, (b) of neurotic. (3) of murall.v-ilcfcctivc and of sexual perverts. .Medical students should receive much more thorough instruction in p.syi biatry ; they .should reioi.o also a course of lectures bv a

medical man who was a pyscholugisi in normal and al.norni: d ptyt •liologv. At present medical students became U'lalifieil with almost no instruction in sex matters.

{sexual perversion was n different problem from that of mental degeneration, and be thought it altogether misleading in consideration of either of these two subjects to have them bracketed together. Sexual perversion, if severe. was difficult to euro. Intt was

sometimes curable by pysclio-analysK. The tendency to it. or perversion itself. if severe, was difficult to cure, but was often overcome by the patient by 1 development of curable, but maybe so- 1 vore neurosis. He did not think that an operation was likely to cure the de- ; torrent, treatment must lie retained by study and I r.atmcat of these people should be offered to them, at any rate, selected eases while they were undergoing deterrent treatment. i Tn the prevention of the. sub-normal, be believed that the proper care of the mother during pregnancy and the early years of her children’s infancy was a factor of some importance; the com- !

nion practice winch prevailed of mothers consuming impoverished foods during pregnancy and lactation mast he regarded as a source of sun-normal-ity iu children and this was a fairly simple problem to deal with. Alexander M’Murray Paterson gave evidence based on his experiences iu the care of hoys in .Scotland, Australia and New Zealand. Lengthy evidence was given by Miss Rnlstrom, matron of tlie Cavershain Industrial School, who quoted a largo number of cases of feeble-minded girls who had como under her notice ; she expressed a desire that her evidence should not he published. Tho committee will leave to-morrow morning for Christchurch, where further evidence will be taken and where several institutions will lie inspected: then it will proceed to Nelson to inspect the special srlmol. and will afterwards go to Wellington lo take final evidence.