1954
NEW ZEALAND
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE
ON
MORAL DELINQUENCY
IN
CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
_Laid upon the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave_
BY AUTHORITY: R.E. OWEN, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, WELLINGTON.--1954
20 September 1954.
The Right Honourable the Prime Minister,
Wellington.
Sir,
Having taking into consideration the matters referred to us on 23 July
1954, we submit herewith the report and recommendations upon which we
are all agreed.
Accompanying the report, for purposes of record, are four volumes
containing the evidence of the witnesses who appeared before us and a
large file of the submissions which were made in writing.
We have the honour to be, Sir,
Your Obedient Servants,
O.C. MAZENGARB, Chairman.
R.A. BLOODWORTH }
J. LEGGAT }
G.L. MCLEOD } Members.
Lucy V. O'BRIEN }
J.S. SOMERVILLE }
F.N. STACE }
_The Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and
Adolescents_
CHAIRMAN
Dr OSWALD CHETTLE MAZENGARB, Q.C.
MEMBERS
Mrs RHODA ALICE BLOODWORTH, J.P. (_Children's Court_).
Mr JAMES LEGGAT, E.D., M.A., _Headmaster, Christchurch Boys' High
School_.
Dr GORDON LOGIE MCLEOD, LL.B. (N.Z.), M.B.Ch.B. (N.Z.), D.P.H. (Eng.),
_Director, Division of Child Hygiene, Department of Health_.
Mrs LUCY VERONICA O'BRIEN, _Vice-President of Women's Auxiliary of
Inter-Church Council on Public Affairs: Arch-Diocesan President,
Catholic Women's League_.
Rev. JOHN SPENSER SOMERVILLE, M.C., M.A., _Chairman of the Inter-Church
Council on Public Affairs_.
Mr FRANCIS NIGEL STACE, B.E.(Elec.-Mech.), B.E.(Mech), _President, N.Z.
Junior Chamber of Commerce_.
SECRETARY
LEN JOSEPH GREENBERG, O.B.E., J.P.
_Contents_ _Page_
I. Preliminary Observations--
(1) Sensational Press Reports 7
(2) Press Reports from Overseas 8
(3) A World-wide Problem 9
II. Order of Reference and Procedure followed 10
III. Narrative--
(1) The Hutt Valley Cases 11
(2) Cases in Other Districts 13
IV. Has Juvenile Immorality Increased?--
(1) Difficulties of Comparison in Absence of Statistics 13
(2) Unreliability of Available Statistics for Comparative 14
Purposes
V. A Change of Pattern in Sexual Misbehaviour--
(1) Younger Groups Now Affected 18
(2) Precocity of Girls 18
(3) Organization of Immorality 19
(4) Recidivism 19
(5) Changed Mental Attitudes of Girls and Boys 19
(6) Homosexuality 20
VI. Searching for the Cause 20
VII. Some Visual and Auditory Influences--
(1) Objectionable Publications 21
(2) Films 23
(3) Broadcasting 25
(4) Press Advertising 26
(5) Television 26
VIII. The School--
(1) Teacher and the Child 27
(2) Co-education 28
(3) School Leaving Age 29
(4) Relations with the Child Welfare Division 30
(5) Sex Instruction in School 30
(6) "New Education" 31
IX. Community Influences--
(1) Housing Development 31
(2) Recreation and Entertainment 35
(3) Liquor and Gambling 36
X. The Home Environment--
(1) Feelings of Insecurity: The Unloved Child 37
(2) Absent Mothers and Fathers 39
(3) High Wages 40
XI. Information on Sex Matters--
(1) When Should This Information be Given? 41
(2) Who Should Give This Information? 42
(3) The Source of Information 42
XII. The Influence of Religion on Morality--
(1) The Need for a Religious Faith 43
(2) The Need for Religious Instruction 44
(3) The Need for Family Religion 44
XIII. The Family, Religion, and Morality--
(1) The Importance of the Family 44
(2) The Place of the Family in the Legal System 45
(3) The Sanctions of Religion and Morality in Family Life 46
(4) The Moral Drift 46
XIV. Changing Times and Concepts--
(1) Contraceptives 47
(2) The Broadening of the Divorce Laws 48
(3) Pre-marital Relations 48
(4) "Self Expression" in Children 49
(5) Materialistic Concepts in Society 49
XV. The Law and Morality--
(1) History of the Law Regarding Morality 50
(2) Protection of Women and Girls from Defilement 51
(3) Consent as a Defence 51
(4) Weaknesses in the Law 52
(5) Proposed Reforms 54
XVI. Child Welfare in New Zealand--
(1) History of Legislation 54
(2) The Children's Court 55
(3) Corporal Punishment Abolished 57
(4) Defects in the Act and its Application 57
(5) Changes Proposed 60
XVII. Summary of Conclusions 63
XVIII. Recommendations--
(1) Proposals for Legislation 66
(2) Proposals for Administrative Action 67
(3) Parental Example 68
XIX. Appreciation 68
Appendix A: Table of Sexual Offences for Which
Proceedings Were Taken in New Zealand 69
Appendix B: List of Witnesses, Submissions, and
Order of Appearance 70
_I. Preliminary Observations_
=(1) Sensational Press Reports=
In the second week of July 1954 various newspapers throughout the
Dominion featured reports of proceedings in the Magistrate's Court at
Lower Hutt against youths charged with indecent assault upon, or carnal
knowledge of, girls under 16 years of age.
The prosecuting officer was reported as saying that:
The police investigations revealed a shocking degree of immoral
conduct which spread into sexual orgies perpetrated in several
private homes during the absence of parents, and in several
second rate Hutt Valley theatres, where familiarity between
youths and girls was rife and commonplace.
He also stated that:
... in many cases the children came from excellent homes.
A few weeks previously reports had appeared in the press of statements
made by a Child Welfare Officer and a Stipendiary Magistrate that
juvenile delinquency (meaning delinquency in general and not only sexual
delinquency) had more than doubled in recent years, and that in many
cases the offenders came from:
... materially good homes where they are well provided for.
Such statements naturally provoked a good deal of private and public
comment throughout the Dominion. The anxiety of parents deepened, and
one leading newspaper asserted editorially that:
It is probably quite safe to assert that nothing that has
occurred in the Dominion for a long time has caused so much
public dismay and so much private worry as the disclosure of
moral delinquency among children and adolescents.
There is room for difference of opinion as to whether or not the ensuing
public discussion of sexual offending was desirable. On the one hand it
provoked many conversations on the subject between children themselves
and a noticeable desire to purchase newspapers on the way to and from
school. On the other hand the focusing of attention on the existence of
the peril to school children caused many parents, temporarily at any
rate, to take a greater interest in the training and care of their
children than they might otherwise have taken; it caused some heads of
schools to arrange for sex instruction; and it also resulted in a public
demand that something should be done to bring about a better state of
morality in the community.
Following hard upon the newspaper reports of these cases in the Hutt
Valley there was the news that two girls, each aged about 16 years had
been arrested in Christchurch on a charge of murdering the mother of
one of them. It soon became widely known (and this fact was established
at their subsequent trial) that these girls were abnormally homosexual
in behaviour.
There were also published in the press extracts from the annual report
of the Justice Department to the effect that sexual crime in New Zealand
was, per head of population, half as much again as the sexual crime in
England and Wales. The reasons why the Committee does not accept this
statement at its face value are stated later under Section IV (2).
=(2) Press Reports from Overseas=
In view of the fact that the happenings in the Hutt Valley were reported
in all New Zealand newspapers, and by many newspapers in Australia and
Great Britain, the Committee points out that the increase of sexual
delinquency is not confined to any one district or any one country.
It cannot be too strongly asserted that the great majority of the young
people of the Hutt Valley are as healthy-minded and as well behaved as
those in other districts, whether in New Zealand or elsewhere. It just
happened that, through the voluntary confession of one girl in Petone,
many cases were immediately brought to the knowledge of the police.
In the absence of comparable statistics from other countries, the
Committee can merely quote from some of the reports received in New
Zealand at about the same time that the Hutt Valley cases were reported.
(_a_) _England_
In Monmouthshire last year there was an increase of 88 per cent
in sexual offences. The biggest increases recorded were for
indecent assault on females--132 in 1953, compared with 75 in
1952--and for offences against girls under 16 years of age. In
his annual report the Chief Constable states that this shocking
record is a further indication of the general lowering of moral
standards ...--_The "Police Review" (London), 19 February 1954._
(_b_) _New South Wales_
POLICE UNCOVER WILD TEENAGE SEX ORGIES
Detectives have uncovered evidence of an amazing sex cult in
which a bodgie "high priest" and a number of pretty teenagers
indulged in wild orgies in a Sydney suburb.
It is alleged that the "high priest" made the girls participate
in lewd rituals, swear a profane oath on "the bodgies' bible"
and worship at a "bodgies' altar".
Following these sensational allegations, four men were
arrested. Police expect to arrest another seven. Disappearance
of the 15-year-old daughter of a respected Erskineville family
started the police investigation which uncovered the sex cult.
Both the girl and the "high priest" undressed, and, as she lay
on a bed, he compelled her to engage in grossly obscene acts
with him.
Then, while the "high priest" performed a gross act of
indecency, the girl swore the "widgies' oath" on the "bodgies'
bible".--_Sydney "Truth" 27 June 1954._
(_c_) _South Australia_
ADELAIDE POLICE SEIZE TEENAGERS IN SWIFT RAIDS
In a series of lightning raids Port Adelaide police have
arrested six teenagers who they claim are members of a sex cult.
Vice Squad detectives say the cult indulged in sex and drug
parties. The Port Adelaide Police Chief Inspector, G.E.
Mensfort, said that when the cases came to Court he suspected
revelations similar to those in the Hutt Valley, which recently
shocked New Zealand. A number of teenage youths have already
appeared in Port Adelaide Police and Juvenile Courts on carnal
knowledge charges ...--_Telegram in the "Dominion", 30 July
1954._
(_d_) _London_
MANY GIRLS IN BAD COMPANY
One black spot in an otherwise more optimistic report by the
Police Commissioner on crime in London is a disturbing increase
in the number of 17-and 18-year-old girls who are coming under
the notice of policewomen on their beat, says the _Daily
Mirror_.--_N.Z.P.A. to "Evening Post", 2 September 1954_.
=(3) A World-wide Problem=
There have been waves of sexual crime in various countries at various
times.
Juvenile delinquency itself has been the subject of much research
(especially in the United States) during the past fifty years. But
although such offences as indecent exposure and sexual assault by
juniors have been included in published figures, no special mention has
been found by this Committee of the aspect of sexual delinquency now
being discussed in New Zealand. What is entirely new in New Zealand (and
probably in other places, too) is the attitude of mind of some young
people to sexual indulgence with one another, their planning and
organization of it, and their assumption that when they consent together
they are not doing anything wrong.
Clergymen and publicists in various parts of the world have been
declaiming about illicit sexual practices and their effects on young
people, but this is the first time that any Government has set up a
Committee to sift the available data on sexual misbehaviour with a view
to finding the cause and suggesting a remedy.
While this report was being typed there appeared in the local
newspapers the following telegram despatched from London on September
14:
INQUIRY INTO VICE WAVE IN BRITAIN
A Government committee, including three women, is to open
tomorrow a searching probe into Britain's homosexuals and
prostitutes, to decide whether the country's vice laws should be
changed.
The Government's decision to set up the committee followed
public alarm at the vice wave in Britain, highlighted by a steep
increase in homosexual offences.
The Home Secretary, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, has charged the
committee with considering the law and practice relating to
homosexual offences and the treatment of persons convicted of
such offences, and offences against the criminal law in
connection with prostitution and solicitation for immoral
purposes. According to the police, prostitutes in London alone
have soared to a record of more than 10,000. Convictions for
sexual offences exceed 5,000 a year, compared with the immediate
pre-war total of 2,300. The figures for male homosexual offences
have bounded even more sharply.
The extent of juvenile immorality in New Zealand may have been greatly
magnified abroad. If the good name of this Dominion has been sullied by
these reports, the Committee hopes that any damage may be repaired by
setting out the facts in their true perspective and by demonstrating
that we can, and will, do something in the interests of morality which
may also give a lead to other countries.
_II. Order of Reference and Procedure Followed_
On 23 July 1954 a Special Committee was appointed by the Government with
the following Order of Reference:
_To inquire into and to report upon conditions and influences that
tend to undermine standards of sexual morality of children and
adolescents in New Zealand, and the extent to which such
conditions and influences are operative, and to make
recommendations to the Government for positive action by both
public and private agencies, or otherwise._
The Committee held its first meeting on Tuesday, 27 July, to determine
points of procedure and to make arrangements to hear all who desired to
make submissions. There were placed before the Committee files of
letters which had been written to Ministers of the Crown, and hundreds
of newspaper clippings, relating to this topic. Some days were occupied
in the sorting and reading of this material in anticipation of the task
which lay ahead.
The Committee commenced the hearing of evidence at Wellington on
Tuesday, 3 August. It sat in Christchurch for the convenience of people
in the South Island on 31 August and 1 September, and in Auckland from 6
September to 10 September.
Altogether 145 persons (18 on more than one occasion), appearing either
in a representative capacity or as private individuals, were heard. In
addition, 203 written submissions were made by interested organizations
and private persons, and a large volume of relevant correspondence,
addressed direct to the Committee, was considered. A list of the persons
who appeared before the Committee and of the organizations or societies
which made either written or oral representations is attached.
It should here be observed that the Committee, not having the powers of
a Commission of Inquiry, could not summon witnesses before it. All
officers of the Crown, and all public agencies from whom information was
sought, were helpful. Much of the evidence, however, was secondary or
hearsay evidence. The Committee had not the power to trace some of the
stated facts back to their source.
It was thought undesirable to interview any of the children involved in
recent happenings. Reliance had to be placed on information regarding
each individual made available by the police and Child Welfare Officers,
and, in some cases, by the heads of their respective schools. Similarly,
there was much secondary evidence of indecent behaviour and of other
facts said to have been derived from reliable sources. The absence of
direct evidence on some of these matters, however, did not prevent the
Committee from looking at the problem in its broad general aspects, and
from reaching conclusions which could not be affected by a closer
scrutiny of some of the individual matters narrated to the Committee.
_III. Narrative_
=(1) The Hutt Valley Cases=
Before proceeding to examine the extent of sexual laxity among children
and adolescents it is convenient to narrate the factual happenings which
caused this problem to assume such large proportions in the public mind
in July and August last.
On the 20th day of June 1954 information was sought from the police
concerning the whereabouts of a girl 15-1/2 years of age who was missing
from her home at Petone. A few hours later this girl called at the
Petone Police Station. She stated that, being unhappy at home with her
stepfather, she had, since the previous Christmas, been a member of what
she called a "Milk Bar Gang" which (in her own words) met "mostly for
sex purposes"; she had "become tired of the sex life", was worried about
the future of its younger members, and desired the police to break up
the gang. She gave the names of other members of the gang to the police.
By interviewing persons named by this girl, and then interviewing others
whom they in turn named, the police were able, without difficulty, to
obtain admissions and evidence of sexual misconduct by 65 children.
The procedure followed was for the parents to be visited at their
residences by a constable in plain clothes, told the nature of the
inquiry, and informed of the desire of the police to interview the
children at the police station. When a parent and child attended at the
time appointed the parent was informed that, either through a sense of
shame or fear of the parent, the child might not make a full disclosure
of the facts known to her. Some parents consented to their children
being interviewed alone; others desired, and were allowed, to remain for
the questioning. After each interview the parents were permitted to read
the statements of their children and to sign them before the children
themselves were asked to sign.
The disclosures thus made, immediately recalled certain similar
occurrences in the same district during October/November 1952. It
speedily became apparent that the 1954 situation was much more serious
in that there were approximately three times as many children dealt with
and that three of the children had been involved in the earlier trouble.
For purposes of comparison the Hutt Valley cases are set out as follows:
Girls involved 6 17
Girls pregnant 2 ...
Boys involved 11 37
Boys over eighteen ... 5
Charges laid 61 107
Committed to care of State 3 girls 5 girls
1 boy
Placed under supervision 3 girls 4 girls
7 boys 7 boys
Admitted to probation 1 boy 6 boys
Admonished and discharged or otherwise
dealt with 3 30
Dismissed in Children's Court ... 3
Acquitted in Magistrate's Court ... 1
Acquitted in Supreme Court ... 3
(One boy appeared in both Supreme Court and Magistrate's Court; thus
showing 60 persons dealt with.)
=(2) Cases in Other Districts=
It cannot be supposed that sexual misbehaviour was confined to the Hutt
district. Similar environmental conditions obtain in other districts. It
was reliably stated in evidence at Wellington that if a girl elsewhere
were to carry her story to the police similar revelations would be made
there.
In Auckland matters came to the knowledge of the Committee which do
cause grave concern. Here again the Committee was not engaged on a
fact-finding mission, but was seeking to evaluate the evidence in a
broad way.
It appears that, a few weeks before the Hutt cases were reported, the
headmaster of an intermediate school informed the police of a case of
theft of money by a schoolboy who was found to have £22 in his wallet.
In the course of their inquiries into this the police were started on a
train of investigation into sexual practices of children on their way
home from school, at the homes of parents, and elsewhere. As a result,
about 40 boys and girls in the 12--15-year-old group (but including also
a girl of 9 years) were implicated. In addition to this, there were two
cases before the Court in which several girls had given evidence of
their agreement to sexual intercourse with older men. One of the accused
men has recently been sentenced to a term of imprisonment, while the
other is still awaiting trial. As this latter case, and also a charge of
murder against a boy aged 14, are still _sub judice_, the Committee is
unable to comment on any of the factors involved.
This much may, however, be said that, from the police, welfare officers,
a headmaster, and social workers in Auckland, the Committee learned of
an accumulation of sordid happenings occurring within a short space of
time which people who regard themselves as men of the world could
scarcely believe possible in this Dominion.
No submissions were presented to the Committee that sexual offending by
juveniles in the South Island had increased to any alarming extent. Such
cases as were mentioned to the Committee followed previously recognized
patterns.
_IV. Has Juvenile Immorality Increased?_
=(1) Difficulties of Comparison in Absence of Statistics=
In seeking to ascertain whether immorality among children and
adolescents has increased or is increasing it should be pointed out that
there are not any statistics available either in New Zealand or
elsewhere from which reliable guidance may be obtained. Sexual
immorality is, by its very nature, a clandestine vice. Any available
figures can comprise only such things as detected offences against the
law, or registration of ex-nuptial births, or births which have
resulted from pre-marital intercourse. Figures are not available
concerning immoral acts which do not become the subject of a criminal
charge.
Charges of unlawful carnal knowledge or indecent assault arise, for the
most part, from complaints made by females. From feelings of chivalry or
other reasons it is not in the nature of the male to inform on the
female. The common experience is that a charge of sexual impropriety
comes from information supplied by the female. So long as a girl is
prepared to be silent, the offenders remain unknown. As with older
people, so also with children.
Whether sexual laxity has been increasing must be a matter largely of
impression based, perhaps, upon inference from certain known facts. On
this matter there is room for a wide divergence of opinion. If
policemen, teachers, or social workers in the Hutt district had been
asked in June of 1954 whether immorality had increased there, they would
probably have replied that the wave of 1952 had receded and matters were
back to normal. Yet a month later that district had achieved an
unenviable, and even unfair, reputation in this respect.
Sad to relate, the cases in respect of which the police took action in
the Hutt do not represent the full extent of known sexual immorality
among juveniles there. This is shown by the following pieces of
evidence:
(_a_) The office bearers of one Church gave to the Committee
particulars of several recent cases which had come to their notice
in the ordinary course of their social welfare work (two of them
girls who had become pregnant before their sixteenth birthdays).
These were cases which had not been investigated by the police. It
was also the conclusion of these Church officers that the cases
which had been revealed to them were far outnumbered by those
which were not so revealed.
(_b_) It was quite obvious to the police officials who made the
investigations in July that no useful purpose would be served by
extending their inquiries further.
=(2) Unreliability of Available Statistics for Comparative Purposes=
The previous section was written to show the difficulty of obtaining a
comparison between vice at one period and that at another. This section
is to indicate the difficulties which arise in making comparisons (even
when figures are available) between different sections of the people at
different times and between different groups of people.
_(a) Sexual Crime Among Adults_
No inference can be drawn from any comparisons between sexual crime of
adults and sexual misbehaviour among children. The Committee did,
however, examine the statistics of sexual crime in New Zealand to see
if there was any marked increase which might throw light upon the
conduct of children. From the annual reports which had been submitted by
succeeding Commissioners of Police it collated the figures of sexual
crime. The table as prepared is set out in Appendix A to this report. A
perusal of that table will show that the increase of sexual crime in the
years 1920-1953 is not any greater than might reasonably have been
expected having regard to the increase in population. In other words,
the rate has remained constant. But the great increase in the number of
indecent assaults on females (from 175 in 1952 to 311 in 1953) did call
for special investigation. At the request of the Committee, these
figures were broken down into the several districts in which the crimes
had occurred and, as a result, it appeared that there had been an
astonishingly big increase in the Auckland district. The Committee has
had two separate explanations of this. In the first place, it was
explained that the apparent increase was due to a change in the method
of compiling the returns in Auckland. On reference to Auckland officials
the Committee was informed that the method of compilation had not been
changed. Whether or not this type of crime increased substantially
throughout the Dominion in one year must, for the present, remain
undetermined.
_(b) Statistics of Juvenile Delinquency_
The figures compiled for the Committee by the Superintendent of the
Child Welfare Division show that:
(i) There was a substantial increase in juvenile delinquency
during the Second World War.
(ii) After the war was over, the rate settled down to something
like the pre-war rate.
The following is a fair selection of these figures (alternate years
being taken):
_Number of Offences and Rate per 10,000 of
Complaints of Children Juvenile Population
Year Out of Control, etc. 7-17 years 10-17 years_
1934 1,653 53 73
1936 1,786 57 79
1938 2,447 77 105
1940 2,464 79 107
1942 2,421 79 107
1944 2,493 84 113
1946 1,786 60 83
1948 1,589 51 74
1950 1,464 46 66
1952 1,883 56 78
1954 2,105 56 81
In making comparisons it should be noted (as explained later) that
during recent years the Department has undertaken much preventive work
which may account for a return to the pre-war rate in spite of the
existence of other factors leading to an increase in delinquency.
_(c) Juvenile Delinquency in Maoris and Non-Maoris_
Another illustration of the care required in the use of statistics is
afforded by a comparison as between Maori and non-Maori offenders in the
10-17-year-old group. (For the purpose of these figures "Maori" means of
the half-blood or more).
For the year ended 31 March 1954 there were 565 Maori delinquents, or 28
per cent of the total number of juvenile delinquents. During this same
period there were 1,433 non-Maori offenders, or 72 per cent of those
delinquents. But the Maori offenders came from 10 per cent of the
juvenile population, whereas the non-Maoris came from 90 per cent of
that population. On that basis juvenile delinquency among Maoris was
three and a half times that among the rest of the child inhabitants of
New Zealand.
The Committee has been unable to arrange for a dissection of the figures
to ascertain whether there was a bigger percentage of sexual offenders
among young Maoris than among other sections of the people. A
considerable portion of offences may come from factors inherent in the
culture and traditions of the Maori and their difficulty in conforming
to another mode of living.
_(d) Children Under Control or Supervision_
It is interesting to find that after the war there was a steady decline
in the number of children committed to the care of the State, or placed
under supervision, until the year 1953. This is shown by the following
table:
_Year Ended_ | _Under Control or_
_31 March_ | _Supervision_
|
1934 | 7,259
1936 | 7,272
1938 | 7,403
1940 | 8,043
1942 | 8,221
1944 | 8,531
1946 | 8,048
1948 | 7,267
1950 | 6,525
1952 | 6,088
1953 | 6,177
1954 | 6,283
There would have to be reservations in any inferences drawn from these
figures. For instance, the decrease may have been due to extra
preventive work done by welfare officers. The earlier reduction or the
later increase in the number of children placed under care or
supervision may have been affected by the varying recommendations of
Child Welfare Officers or the decisions of Magistrates. Finally, is the
slight increase from 1952 to 1954 something to cause concern?
_(e) Comparison Between New Zealand and England_
Almost coincidentally with the publication abroad of reports of
immorality in the Hutt district and of juvenile murders in New Zealand,
an extract from a brochure of the Justice Department was published. This
extract was to the effect that, in relation to population, there were
one and a half times as many adults convicted of sexual offences in this
Dominion as there were in England and Wales. That statement results from
a comparison of the figures in the two jurisdictions, but it may create
a wrong impression unless it is remembered that in England only 47 per
cent of the indictable offences reported to the police are "cleared up",
whereas in New Zealand 64 per cent of indictable offences are "cleared
up". A comparison which takes this and all other relevant factors into
account could probably place this Dominion in a much more favourable
light.
Whatever inferences may be drawn from the statistics presented in this
report--whether juvenile immorality has increased or not--any nation is
wise that, from time to lime, surveys its moral health.
_V. A Change of Pattern In Sexual Misbehaviour_
When this inquiry was mooted all members of the Committee heard the
oft-repeated comment that sexual delinquency was not new--it had been
going on through the ages and always would go on. Many people also said
"You cannot make people moral by Act of Parliament".
Although there is some truth in each of these statements the Committee
does not feel that the matter should be dismissed in that way. First,
such an attitude is not a desirable one to adopt when seeking a remedy
for a social evil. Secondly, the continued existence of a vice, however
far back it may be traced, is not a reason why special measures should
not be used to deal with it when it assumes considerable proportions.
Intemperance and dishonesty have always been apparent. But there have
been times when these vices have reared their heads in new ways and in
new circumstances which have compelled action by the Legislature. The
consumption of alcohol by persons in charge of motor vehicles is but one
illustration of the way in which an old vice may become such a great
evil in altered circumstances that stern measures have to be taken.
Stealing was reprehended in the Ten Commandments, and so was
covetousness. Theft was always punishable at common law; but, soon after
company promotion became a feature of our commercial life in the latter
part of the nineteenth century, firm action had to be taken by the
Legislature to protect the public from the effects of a misleading or
fraudulent prospectus.
Similarly, in this matter of improper sex behaviour among children, it
is not merely its extent, but certain features in its new pattern, which
command attention. These features are:
=(1) Younger Groups now Affected=
Immorality appears to be more prevalent now among younger groups in the
community. In the Hutt, and also in Auckland, most of the cases were of
boys and girls whose ages ranged from twelve to fifteen years; but some
of the young girls also associated with boys several years older than
themselves.
=(2) Precocity of Girls=
In former times it was the custom for boys to take the initiative in
seeking the company of girls; it was conventional for the girls to await
any advances. Nowadays, girls do not always wait for an advance to be
made to them, nor are they as reticent as they used to be in discussing
intimate matters with the opposite sex. It is unfortunate that in many
cases girls, by immodest conduct, have become the leaders in sexual
misbehaviour and have in many cases corrupted the boys. At one school
there were 17 children involved--10 of them were girls of an average age
of 13.2 years and 7 boys of an average age of 15 years. Another
disturbing feature is that in the case of boys more than half were
committing their first offence, whereas only one-fifth of the girls were
offending for the first time. The Committee has not overlooked the fact
that the offending girls may themselves have been corrupted by a male in
the first place. But the fact remains that four-fifths of the girls
involved in the particular cases that prompted this inquiry had an
admitted history of prior sexual misconduct.
The following extract from the evidence of a headmaster is impressive of
this new feature:
... We have not the same worry about boys as we have about
girls. The worst cases we have are girls, and it is quite clear
some of them are an absolute menace. They have dragged boys into
this sort of thing. In general the girls are far worse than the
boys.
=(3) Organization of Immorality=
These immoral practices have been _organized_ in a way that was not
evident before. For example, a boy of 17-1/2 years, trusted by his
parents with the charge of their home, abused the trust by arranging
sexual parties on three successive weekends for groups of several girls
and boys. There was also the case of a girl of 14 years who invited a
girl of the same age to her home during the absence of her parents for
the express purpose of having intercourse[1] with her brother aged 15.
This improper use of a parent's home has also occurred in other
districts.
=(4) Recidivism=
The second outbreak of Hutt Valley cases revealed that two boys, one
girl, and one family had become involved in misbehaviour within eighteen
months of their previous offences. In another district three-quarters of
the boys concerned had previously been before the Court as delinquents,
though not all for sexual offences.
=(5) Changed Mental Attitude of Girls and Boys=
Perhaps the most startling feature is the changed mental attitude of
many young people towards this evil. Some offend because they crave
popularity or want to do what their friends are doing. Some assert a
right to do what is regarded by religion, law, and convention as
wrongful. It was reported that some of the girls were either unconcerned
or unashamed, and even proud, of what they had done. Some of the boys
were insolent when questioned and maintained this attitude. The
Committee has not overlooked the fact that in some cases this attitude
may have been due to a defensive reaction.
The recent disclosures caused one headmistress of a city college to
arrange for sex instruction to be given by a lady doctor to various
forms. The girls were invited to submit written questions for the doctor
to answer. Having read the questions, the doctor commented that she must
have prepared the wrong lecture--it should have been for an older group.
A transcript of the questions was produced to the Committee. They were
inquiries which one would assume might be made by young women who had
married or were about to marry. Whether these young girls were sincere
in their questioning of the doctor, whether they wanted to exhibit
advanced knowledge, or whether they were endeavouring to create a
sensation, the fact remains that they had in mind aspects of sex which
were well in advance of their years.
This change in the mental attitude of offending children was further
exemplified by evidence that, in one series of cases in Auckland,
records were kept, and there was some competition between girls
concerning the number of immoral acts in which they were involved. The
Committee were shocked to hear from the police that one girl claimed a
total of 148 instances in her favour.
=(6) Homosexuality=
The Committee has read reports from Great Britain of an increase in
homosexual practices there. Recent New Zealand happenings might be taken
to indicate a similar increase in this country. The Committee has made
no investigation of these matters, but considers it wise to remind
parents that sexual misbehaviour can occur between members of the same
sex.
The conclusion of the Committee is that the above pattern of immorality
is of a kind which was not previously manifest in New Zealand. It cannot
be dealt with on the footing that it has always been with us. The
attitude of mind shown by those who have planned and organized sexual
parties, and sometimes caught others within their net, is something
which demands serious consideration. The subject cannot be dismissed in
the light, airy way of those people who, without any adequate knowledge
of the facts, have been saying that there is nothing new about the
sexual misbehaviour of young people and that nothing can be done to
improve matters. The situation is a serious one, and something must be
done.
_VI. Searching for the Cause_
Many have been the views expressed as to the reasons for this immorality
and the suggested remedies. After considering the evidence, after
reading much literature on the subject, and weighing up all the
suggested factors, the view of the Committee is that the matter is not
capable of simplification by regarding any, or even all, the causes
suggested and discussed below as being the main cause. In seeking to
remedy the evil it must steadily be borne in mind that we have not only
to deal with the immediately apparent causes. Letters to the press,
letters to this Committee, and many of the submissions made reveal a
failure to dig below the surface or to look beyond the factors which
came immediately to the mind of the writers or those which, from
personal experience, appeared to them to be the decisive or motivating
factors.
The way in which the Committee approached a consideration of this
problem was to distinguish between those causes which appeared to be the
precipitating causes and those which it regarded as predisposing causes.
The precipitating causes are those which are closely related in time or
circumstance to the actual misbehaviour. The predisposing causes are
those which create an emotional maladjustment in a person and thus
induce a susceptibility to the precipitating cause. For instance, a
semi-nude figure or a song with a double meaning will not incite a
properly instructed adolescent to sexual misconduct. But if by parental
neglect or failure to control a young person is predisposed to
anti-social conduct, there is danger in any form of suggestiveness.
The Committee has carefully considered many suggested causes (whether
precipitating or predisposing) and now sets out its views on those which
merit special mention.
If, as the Committee believes, immoral behaviour should be regarded as a
phase or facet of juvenile delinquency, the same influences which tend
to incite other anti-social behaviour are in operation here.
Much has been written in textbooks, in journals, and in various
scattered articles about the causes of juvenile delinquency. What
applies in other communities, and in other aspects of juvenile
delinquency, must apply with much the same force in this Dominion as
elsewhere, and to the sexual deviant as to all other juvenile
delinquents. In searching for the real or substantive cause it must be
borne in mind that juvenile delinquency, of the type now being
considered, is a new feature of modern life and a facet of juvenile
delinquency which does not appear to have engaged the attention of
research workers.
The state of affairs which has come about was uncertain in origin,
insidious in growth, and has developed over a wide field. In searching
for the cause, and in suggesting the remedies which may be applied, the
Committee must not be thought to be laying the blame on any one section
of the community more than another.
_VII. Some Visual and Auditory Influences_
=(1) Objectionable Publications=
There has been a great wave of public indignation against some
paper-backed or "pulp" printed matter. Crime stories, tales of "intimate
exciting romance", and so-called "comics" have all been blamed for
exciting erotic feelings in children. The suggestiveness in the cover
pictures of glamour girls dressed in a thin veiling often attracts more
attention than the pages inside.
Immorality would probably not result from the distribution of these
publications, unless there were in the child, awaiting expression, an
unhealthy degree of sexual emotionalism. Some of these publications are,
possibly, more harmful to girls than to boys in that girls more readily
identify themselves with the chief characters. One striking piece of
information which was conveyed to the Committee was that the girls under
detention in a certain institution (the greater number of them had had a
good deal of sexual experience) decided that various publications were
more harmful than films because the images conveyed by the printed
matter were personal to them and more lasting.
The Committee has been deluged with periodicals, paper-backed books, and
"comics" considered by their respective senders to be so harmful to
children and adolescents that their sale should not be permitted. But,
while all the publications sent are objectionable in varying degrees,
they cannot be rejected under the law as it at present stands because
that law relates only to things which are indecent or obscene.
An Inter-departmental Committee set up in 1952 to report on worthless
and indecent literature similarly found that, while publications
intended for adults are controlled by the Indecent Publications Act
(which in the opinion of that Committee, was adequate providing the
public initiated action under it), comics and other publications outside
the scope of that Act might be objectionable for children.
When considering comics it is essential to appreciate the difference
between the traditional comic, intended exclusively for children, and
the more modern style which is basically designed for low-mentality
adults. Both styles and variations of them circulate widely in New
Zealand among children and adolescents. In general, however, younger
children buy, and even prefer, the genuine comic which is not harmful
and may even be helpful. Adolescents, and adults also, are attracted by
comic books that have been denounced by various authorities as
anti-educational, and even pernicious, in moral outlook.
The Inter-departmental Committee recommended that all comics be
registered and that it be made an offence to deal in unregistered
comics. There are strong doubts whether the adoption of those proposals
would provide a satisfactory solution. Once registration were obtained
(which would be almost automatic on application) much damage might be
done by the distribution of a particular issue before registration could
be cancelled.
Surely a simpler, faster, and safer procedure would be to make initial
registration more difficult and subsequent deregistration more speedy.
Amendments recently made to the laws of various Australian States should
result in a general improvement in the standard of publications
distributed in Australia, and consequently in New Zealand. On the other
hand, this tightening of the law may induce distributors to dump in New
Zealand publications for which they have no longer a market in
Australia.
A banning, rather than a censorship, of printed matter injurious to
children should be the subject of immediate legislation for three
reasons:
(_a_) To prevent the Dominion being used as a market to offset any
trade lost in some Australian States;
(_b_) To encourage the efforts of those people who seek to lead
children through good reading to better things; and
(_c_) To let publishers know that the time has passed when
publications likely to be injurious to the minds of children and
adolescents may be distributed by them with impunity.
In order to meet the situation, it would be desirable for the Government
to promote special legislation along the lines of the Victorian Police
Offences (Obscene Publications) Act 1954.
The Victorian legislation is particularly effective since not only does
it widen the definition of "indecent" and "obscene", and enables the
police themselves to institute proceedings for breaches of the Act, but
it also compels all distributors to be registered. Then, should a
distributor be convicted of an offence, he may be deregistered, and in
that case would be unable to distribute any other publication whatever.
Despite frequent reference to distributors dumping objectionable
publications on a newsagent or bookseller, who has to accept the bad
before he can get the good, the Committee has not received any definite
evidence of this practice occurring in New Zealand.
=(2) Films=
The cinema is the only field of entertainment in New Zealand where
official supervision in the interest of juveniles is exercised by a
public servant with statutory powers. The Government Film Censor
interprets his role chiefly as one of guiding parents. On occasions he
bans a film; more often he makes cuts in films; most often he recommends
a restriction of attendance to certain age groups. The onus is then on
parents to follow the censor's advice, on theatre managers to adhere to
his rulings, and on the Government to see that the law is enforced.
It is not part of the censor's duty to see that his rulings are
observed. A survey taken in 1952 revealed that about one-quarter of all
films advertised in the press were advertised with wrong certificates.
Reliance upon such incorrect advertisements therefore deprived parents
of the protection which the legislature intended for them.
Few prosecutions have ever been taken for such offences, and it is even
doubtful whether, if they were taken, convictions would be recorded.
Some regulations (essential for this purpose) under the 1934 Amendment
Act have never been gazetted; nor have any under the 1953 amendment.
Although the censor receives few specific complaints, and although film
distributing and exhibiting interests state that they are complying with
the spirit of the unwritten law, the following undesirable practices
irritate a large section of the thinking public:
_(a) Publication of Grossly Extravagant Posters and Newspaper
Advertisements_ in which sex and sadism are often featured. The
theatre managers concerned state most definitely that nothing more
than genuine showmanship is behind this.
_(b) Screening of Inappropriate Trailers on Unsuitable Occasions:_
By their very nature, trailers are difficult to censor adequately
and, because of their origin and intent, are designed to have an
exaggerated impact upon audiences. Trailers of the worst type,
however, are sometimes shown at special children's sessions.
_(c) Mixing "A" and "U" Certificate Films:_ In the words of the
exhibitors, this is done "to obtain balanced programmes".
_(d) Admitting Children and Adolescents to Films With Restricted
Certificates:_ It is difficult for theatre managers to determine
the age of their patrons, and the warning notice of restricted
attendance exhibited at the theatre may have little effect. Should
the age be queried when entry is sought, an incorrect answer will
probably be given. Worst of all, perhaps, should the presence of
an accompanying adolescent or adult be required, there is always
the danger of undesirable strangers taking the place of a _bona
fide_ parent or friend.
_(e) Misbehaviour in Theatres:_ Once inside a darkened theatre,
children, adolescents, and undesirable persons may behave
improperly and the manager may have difficulty in exercising
control.
* * * * *
Appropriate steps recommended are:
(i) The gazetting of the outstanding regulations empowered by the
1934 and 1953 Amendment Acts.
(ii) The provision to the maximum extent possible of
non-restricted or "U" programmes for children's sessions.