Reform or Punishment?

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 120, 11 August 1927, Page 10

Reform or Punishment?

The Problem of the Degenerate Present Prison System Not Effective PERSONALLY I have never yet seen a compete cure in the case of a real sexual pervert. From personal experieuee I have found that years of imprisonment in some cases has not only failed to effect improvement, but has actually turned them out worse than when they came in.”

SERVICE on the staffs of his Majesty’s prisons over a period of 41 years, during which time he rose from warder to Controller of Prisons, was the experience on which Mr. Michael Hawkins, ex-Controller-General of Prisons, based the above opinion given to a SUN representative yesterday. Giving evidence in 1925 before a committee of inquiry on mental defec-

tives and sexual offenders, Mr. Hawkins stated that, in his opinion, such offenders should be given indeterminate sentences and kept in separate institutions until such time as experts considered they could be released with safety. He was now more than ever of that opinion. Further, he considered that if necessary they should be kept apart for the rest of their lives. At the present time one of the greatest difficulties confronting prison officials is how best to prevent sexual depravity among a certain section of prisoners. As Controller-Gen-eral of Prisons that was his greatest

worry. Up to the present almost constant supervision had been the only remedy possible. It had been well carried out, and from his own experience he knew that the contamination of other prisoners through association with perverts was only a remote possibility. The setting apart of the New Plymouth prison for sexual offenders of the worst type was a step in the right direction. What was wanted though, were separate institutions staffed by trained men and women. The work should certainly not be left to non-experts as at present. Until such time as a suitable svs tern could be instituted he considered that the situation could be dealt with to a certain extent by the introduction of mental experts, whose services could be placed at the disposal of the courts, and who could also supervise the treatment of such offenders. Evidence in a similar strain was given by Mr. Hawkins at the 1925 inquiry. Dealing with his evidence the report stated that the pessimistic view, unfortunately, was fully confirmed by the records of cases examined by the committee. “Long terms of imprisonment, though combined with the lash, have proved quite ineffective as a deterrent, even to the individual concerned, and still less to other addicts, if for no other reason than that each individual cherishes the conviction that he will not be found out.” Although complete segregation opens up a big queston on the score of expense, it is the only way of tackling a problem that is growing in magnitude every year. It will prove a sound business proposition and the sooner it is done the easier will be the task, said Mr. Hawkins. Failing a cure, said Mr. Hawkins, a man suffering from smallpox or leprosy would not be released from an institution merely because he had been there a few years. Experience proved that not only did offenders come out of gaol worse than when they went in, but also that sexual degeneracy from the point of view of contamination, was a dangerous disease. “The present system is ineffeo tive,” concluded Mr. Hawkins: “more money will have to be spent, and spent at once.”