Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/387

* JUVENILE FORMS. 355 JUVENILE OFFENDERS. Tirious stimuli are able to cause their produc- tion at any time in the plant's life histoiy. (See Leaf.) It is possible that the so-called juvenile forms are not hercditarv only, but are the pro- ducts of external stimuli active in the plant's ontogeny. BEEDLISG PLANT OF ACACIA. Showing juvenile (and supposedly ancestral) basal leaves. The leaf-like structures above are stems (phyl- lode»). JUVENILE OFFENDERS. A term applied to those violators of the criminal code who have not yet reached the age of full responsibility. There is no general agreement as to the upper age limit, but recent legislation in the United States tends to fix this at sixteen. Until very recently no special provision was made for juvenile offenders apart from older criminals except that there has long existed a tendency toward leniency in punishing them. The humanitarian movement of the last century led to great interest in the welfare of children. It was felt that they were in the formative period and should be trained rather than punished. This belief has to-day become general, and all efforts are directed toward making useful men and women out of juvenile offenders. It is not claimed that there will be success in every case, for while the existence of the moral imbecile is admitted, and therefore some of the juvenile delinquents are not susceptible to reform, yet the vastly greater number who have been de- ])raved by a vicious environment may, it is rec- ognized, be morallv improved by proper methods. An examination of the juvenile offenders in Eng- Lnnd revealed that, as compared with normal chil- dren in average homes, they were under-developed, physically and menially, and a much larger per- centage were orphans or half orphans. The same is doubtless true elsewhere. Juvenile delinquency has seemingly been on the increase, and this has caused a growing interest in the problem. The early institutions for juvenile offenders were modeled after those for adults. With the found- ing of the 'Raulies Haus' at Hamburg in 18."53, and the Colonie Agricole at ilettray, France, in 1839, which introduced the cottage plan and man- ual training, a new system was born. This sys- tem has found its greatest development in the United States. The first special institutions, the House of liefuge. New York, 1824, and Philadelphia, 1828, were under private management, but received subsidies from the cities. The earlier institutions were generally located in the cities and supported by them. Later schools are under public control. The principle underlying the most advanced treatment of juvenile offenders is that bad en- vironment rather than innate tendencies is respon- sible for their delinquency. The remedy is to change the environment or to train the child to obedience and respect for law and order in an institution, then place him in a good environ- ment. The child for whom institutional treat- ment does not seem necessary is not merely ad- monished and sent home, but is put in the care of a prohntion officer, who undertakes to supervise the child. The heme is visited; school attend- ance is assured; a position is found; work with residence away from home is pl'ocured; board is paid out of public or private funds, as may seem best. The child must report to the officer, and the attempt is made to make him feel that the officer is a friend. If the conduct is not satisfac- tory the child may be brought again to the court to be sent to a reform school. The probation of- ficers may be volunteers or may be paid from private or public funds. The boarding out of juvenile offenders has been successfully carried on in several States, particularly in Pennsyl- vania and JIassachusetts. It has been possible to find many free homes for these children. JIany of the institutions place out numbers of the chil- dren sent to them. To secure the best results, the system requires care in selecting proper homes and constant supervision. For those who must be sent to institutions there now exist, in addition to the older type. State institutions known as reform or industrial schools, ^[ost of these are in country districts. They are built generally upon the cottage sys- tem. Tlie children live in groups in cottages in- stead of in masses in one large building. This enables a better classification to be carried into effect. It is thought to have a better influence on the children, since it is more home-like. In all the reform schools great emphasis is laid upon manual training, and it has happened more than once that these were the best equipped schools in the States in which they were situated. With the transfer to the country, barred windows and heavily bolted doors have disappeared. The cot- tage system is very expensive if carried out in the city. Even city institutions are now being removed into the country. Another important change is the doing away with fixed sentences. Xo one can tell how long a course of training a given child will require. Commitment for short periods of days or weeks is useless. The tendency now is to commit the child until majority, the coiirt retaining power to discharge at any time, but the question of dis- charge being generally left to. the institution. Even after discharge the child is watched over by probation or parole officers. This indeterminate sentence is a powerful stinuilus to the child to behave well, and thus discipline in large measure takes care of itself. Corporal punishment is generally abandoned in the better schools. There