THE JUVENILE OFFENDER.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 March 1921, Page 11

THE JUVENILE OFFENDER.

WHEN CRIME BEGINS Lecturing on the importance of health conditions in regard to juvenile delinquency, Dr. W. A. Potts, medical adviser to the Birmingham Justices, said crime nearly always began at an early age, and the most important person to be considered was the juvenile delinquent. Crime was a form of contact, and the organ of contact was the mind. How could we possibly conclude the real guilt of an offender unless there was\an examination of his mind? For some time past there had been in Birmingham a mental and scientific examination of certain offenders. Nearly 37 i per cent, of the cases he had examined Qiere showed mental defect to be the cause of the crime. Classifying mentally defective people as idiots, imbeciles, and feeble-minded, Dr. Potts said the latter were the greater source of danger Many cases of crime could also be accounted for as the result of physical suffering—such as consumption—or through a combination of this with mental defectiveness; and it was necessary that there should be individual examination of the offender He emphasised the importance in regard to juveniles, of keeping a strict watch over sexual conditions, the absence of this resulting in much narm. There must be proper social development. It had been showh that among juveniles who lived in the vicinity of public parks, crime was not so prevalent as among those who lived a distance