ONE of the most difficult problems that faces organized society to-day
is the disposal of delinquent children, and in order to meet this
problem, the Juvenile Court system has been established in the United
States, and by a law approved March 11, 1915, the Juvenile Court system
was introduced into Porto Rico to take effect on June 1, 1915.
Up to within recent times juvenile offenders have been subjected to the
same laws and the same penalties as hardened criminals, and there is no
doubt but that a great many boys and girls who had broken some law or
local ordinance, often through carelessness or ignorance, were placed in
detention houses with older criminals and in this way became accustomed
to the criminal classes and frequently were induced to enter upon a life
of crime.
The prevailing idea of criminal law is to punish the offender for the
offense committed against the laws of the state. Modern social science
teaches that it is unfair to boys or girls of tender age to visit a
punishment of this sort upon them, especially when it may lead to a
continuance of crime, rather than to an avoidance of it in the future.
Consequently, with the introduction of the Juvenile Court system the
cases are taken out of criminal procedure and placed under the
jurisdiction of courts of equity. The trials are usually informal,
although the child has a right to a trial by jury in case he is accused
of a serious offense, and he has the right to legal counsel, if he so
desires. These rights, however, are very seldom exercised, inasmuch as
it is coming to be recognized that the judges represent an actual
attempt to do what is best for the child and do not represent in any way
the prosecuting power of the state.
The principal figure in a Juvenile Court is the judge of the court, and
wherever it is possible to do so, men especially trained in juvenile
psychology should be appointed to this office. A knowledge of children
and an understanding and appreciation of their feelings is necessary on
the part of the judge, and he should be a person of sufficiently
magnetic personality to win the sympathies of the children and to enable
him to gain their confidence. To what an extent the influence of a
single man may reach in the case of juvenile offenders and how far his
influence may prevent crime among children, is well seen in the case of
Judge Lindsey, of Denver, Colorado.
The second official in the court is the probation officer, who is under
the authority of the judge, makes the necessary investigations when
cases are reported to him, and presents the facts in the case to the
judge of the court. He also must look after the children who have passed
through the court to see that the sentences of the court are carried
out; and if the children are placed on probation under the guardianship
of relatives or friends, he must make visits sufficient in number and
often enough so that he can be sure that the best interests of the
child are being safeguarded, and if he finds the case to be otherwise,
to report the facts to the judge of the court.
As the financial situation in Porto Rico did not permit the
establishment of a completely new judicial system, it was decided to
appoint the judge of each of the seven district courts of the Island to
act as judge of the Juvenile Court. The prosecutors and municipal court
judges are also probation officers _ex officio_, and the justices of the
peace and others appointed by the district judges may be asked to serve
as special probation officers. The Juvenile Courts in Porto Rico have
original jurisdiction over juvenile offenders, and any case appealed
from the Juvenile Courts may go directly to the Supreme Court of the
Island. The courts are courts of record and the judges have authority to
set the dates and places when and where sessions of the court will be
held, to summon witnesses and compel them to appear in court. The
jurisdiction of the Juvenile Courts in Porto Rico extends to all
children under 16 years of age who are accused of any crime whatsoever,
and it also applies to all people under 21 years of age, if they have
ever been under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court before they were
16. The Juvenile Court also has jurisdiction over adults who have been
responsible for the abandonment of children or who have contributed in
any way to the delinquency of the child.
Of course, this situation is not an ideal one for the best working out
of the problems that confront a Juvenile Court system. In the first
place, it is practically impossible for men who act as criminal judges
or criminal prosecutors to adopt the attitude so necessary for the
fulfillment of the work of a juvenile court officer, as their training
has been such as to influence them to believe that the prisoner is an
offender and that violations of the law must be punished with sufficient
severity to prevent a repetition of the offense on the part of the
prisoner, and to serve as a warning for others who might be tempted to
commit the same offense. The Juvenile Court officer, on the other hand,
should regard only the best future interests of the child, and the
question with him should not be as to whether a proper punishment may be
inflicted for what the child has done, but as to how the future conduct
of the child may be bettered after a due consideration of all the
influences of heredity and environment in each particular case.
From July 1, 1915, to January 1, 1916, a total of 164 cases came before
the Juvenile Courts. Of these, three cases were girls accused of petty
larceny, and two were charged with being abandoned. The remaining 159
cases were boys. The cause given in nearly every case for the bad
conduct of the children was one of the four following:
1. Lack of parental authority.
2. Bad environment.
3. Ignorance.
4. Poverty.
Of the total number, 83 boys were accused of larceny, 25 were abandoned
children, 18 were accused of fighting, 9 were accused of gambling, 7
were accused of breach of the peace, 4 were accused of attempts at
larceny, 3 were accused of stoning buildings, and the rest were accused
of various minor offenses.
An investigation of the home conditions of these boys brings out some
pertinent facts in connection with the influence of a broken home upon
the actions of the children. Of the total number of cases presented, 21
lived with their parents, 54 lived with their mothers, 23 lived with
their fathers, and 22 lived with relatives, 13 lived with guardians, 13
had absolutely no homes and existed as best they might, with no
permanent dwelling place, while 8 lived with friends. Thus we see that
in the great majority of cases the children came from homes where they
lacked the guidance and authority of at least one parent. Only 50 of the
164 had attended school, and only 15 had succeeded in passing the third
grade in the public schools. Of the total number, 85 were illegitimate
children, and 15 did not know whether their parents were married or not.
It is estimated that the city of San Juan alone has 500 homeless
children and that there are at least 10,000 children in the Island who
have absolutely no home and who are entirely without the influence of
parental control. Doubtless, a great majority of these children are the
result of illegitimate unions. What that means to the future of Porto
Rico can very easily be imagined when we consider that they are growing
up absolutely without control and without respect for authority of any
sort. In very few cases do they attend the public schools, and they
must remain in this homeless condition, living as best they can,
stealing or begging, when honest means of obtaining food do not avail.
Thus they grow up learning the vice that can be found among the most
poverty-stricken and criminal classes with whom they associate, and
forming a group of people with criminal tendencies, and in their turn
causing to be produced another generation of children who will be
handicapped by the environment and the training which their fathers have
received. The Government should colonize these homeless children on
government lands where they may be taught a trade and where an attempt
should be made to give them some idea of what life may mean to the
educated, industrious citizen. The results would more than justify the
necessary expenditure of money.
The Juvenile Court in Porto Rico has three means at its disposal for
taking care of children that fall under its jurisdiction. It may send
them to the Reform School at Mayaguez, in case they are boys. (There is
no Reform School for girls in the Island.) It may also send them to one
of the two charity schools in existence, or it may place them under the
supervision of a friend or relative who must respond to the probation
officer for their good conduct. The Reform School at Mayaguez will
accommodate only 100 inmates, and as these are usually required to
complete a rather long term of years in the institution, the number of
vacancies occurring in the school each year is very small. The charity
schools, both for boys and girls, are also overcrowded, and there is
very little chance of the Juvenile Court being able to send any of its
cases to either of these institutions. As a result, special wards have
been prepared in the Insular penitentiary, and the most serious cases
are assigned to these wards until such a time as there is a possibility
of their being placed in the Reform School. An attempt is made to give
the inmates of these special wards industrial work and some academic
instruction, and they are kept absolutely separate from adult prisoners.
Of the 164 cases mentioned, the following disposition was made of the
children: 34 were sent to correctional institutions (most of these were
sent to the special wards in the penitentiary), 38 were placed under the
care of their mothers, 24 were placed under the care of their fathers, 9
were placed under the care of both parents, 8 under the care of friends,
12 under the care of guardians, 17 under the care of relatives, and 6
were sent to the charity schools.
The problem of juvenile offenders is more acute in Porto Rico than in
the United States, due to the fact that there are more opportunities
open in Porto Rico for juvenile offenders than are to be found, possibly
with the exception of the largest cities, in the United States. The
early physical development of the tropics adds to the difficulties of
the situation, and also the temptations that surround homeless children
even at a comparatively early age. In addition to this, we have many
instances of consensual marriages, which offer a temptation to even the
very young to lower the standards of morality and to become careless
regarding the marriage relation. The large number of poverty-stricken
and homeless undoubtedly contributes a great deal to physical as well as
mental and moral degeneration, and the combination of these factors may
perhaps account for the large number of weak-minded and insane that we
find at large in the majority of the towns of the Island. In addition,
promiscuous sexual relations undoubtedly contribute to this degeneracy,
and if active steps are not taken to prepare these homeless children for
better living and to enable them to earn an honest living, they will
serve as the propagators of another generation of equally homeless,
pauperized, and degenerate citizens.