Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir

MENTAL DEFECTIVES AND SEXUAL OFFENDERS ***

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1925. NEW ZEALAND.

MENTAL DEFECTIVES AND SEXUAL OFFENDERS.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY APPOINTED BY THE HON. SIR MAUI POMARE, K.B.E., C.M.G., MINISTER OF HEALTH.

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_Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave._

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CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMITTEE.

HON. W. H. TRIGGS, M.L.C., Chairman.

SIR DONALD MCGAVIN, Kt., C.M.G., D.S.O., M.D. (Lond.), F.R.C.S. (Eng.), Director-General of Medical Services, Defence Department.

SIR FREDERICK TRUBY KING, Kt., C.M.G., M.B., B.Sc. (Public Health) (Edin.), Director Division of Child Welfare, Department of Health.

J. SANDS ELLIOTT, Esq., M.D., Bac. Surg. (Edin.), Chairman of the Council of the N.Z. Branch of the British Medical Association.

MISS ADA G. PATERSON, M.B., Ch.B. (N.Z.), L.M. (Dublin), Director Division of School Hygiene, Department of Health.

C. E. MATTHEWS, Esq., Under-Secretary for Justice and Controller-General of Prisons, &c.

J. BECK, Esq., Officer in Charge Special Schools Branch, Education Department.

Secretary: J. W. BUCHANAN, Esq.

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CONTENTS.

PART I.--INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL. PAGE

Section 1.--=Origin and Scope of Inquiry=: Mental Deficiency, Increase of; North Canterbury Hospital Board and others suggest Inquiry; Committee, Personnel; Nature of Inquiry; Places visited and inspected; Sittings, Date and Place of; Witnesses examined, and Work done; Appreciation of Services rendered; Value of Memoranda supplied by Sir George Newman, Secretary of State for the United States, Dr. E. S. Morris (Tasmania), Dr. Helen MacMurchy (Ottawa), and Dr. Eric Clarke (Toronto); Secretarial Services 2

Section 2.--=Two Distinct Questions=: Mental Defectives and Sexual Perverts, Comments on 5

PART II.--PROBLEM OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED.

Section 1.--=A Menace to Modern Civilization=: Feeble-minded, Danger of Unrestricted Multiplication; Lothrop Stoddart's Views; American Army, Psychological Test of; Results and Deductions 5

Section 2.--=Heredity= _v._ =Environment=: Genetics and Heredity; Heredity and Environment, Aspects reviewed; Degenerate Families, Life-histories; Dr. Macgregor, Deductions from his Report; Degenerate Stocks imported, Effect of; Environmental Factor, Importance of; Pre-natal and Post-natal Care, Value of; Housing Problem; Relationship of Impaired Nutrition, Debility, and Disease to Impaired Control; Dietetics and Child Welfare; Picture-shows, Effect on Children, and Recommendations; Venereal Disease Committees' Report as to Effect of Syphilis, &c.; Director Division of School Hygiene, Attention drawn to Report; Excessive Competition, Effect on School-children 6

Section 3.--=Illustrative Cases of Hereditary Degeneracy=: Juke Family; Kallikak Family; New Zealand Cases cited; Sir Robert Stout's Comments 7

Section 4.--=Elements of the Problem=: Basic Phases, Registration, Educational Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children, Oversight and Supervision; Educational Curriculum for various Groups; Residential Schools; Farm and Industrial Colonies for Segregation 11