"c74ff4ed-fefd-4a80-af8a-a1ee8155e13e"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE."@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1198198"@en . "Sessional Papers of the Province of British Columbia"@en . "British Columbia. Legislative Assembly"@en . "2016-02-29"@en . "[1928]"@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcsessional/items/1.0226053/source.json"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " FINAL REPORT\nOF THE\nROYAL COMMISSION\nON\nMENTAL HYGIENE\n(Appointed under the \" Public Inquiries\nAct \" by Order in Council dated\nDecember 30th, 1925)\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\nPage.\nAppointment of Commission 3\nGENERAL REPORT:\nIntroduction and General Observations 4\nRecommendations 5\nAcknowledgments 6\nAPPENDICES: \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\nA\u00E2\u0080\u0094Vancouver School Board Statistics 8\nB\u00E2\u0080\u0094Summary of the Problem 9\nC\u00E2\u0080\u0094The General Role of an Institution for Mental Deficients 11\nD\u00E2\u0080\u0094Mental Deficiency in England 13\nE\u00E2\u0080\u0094Fate of Mentally Deficient Children 15\nF\u00E2\u0080\u0094Mentally Defective Delinquents 16\nG\u00E2\u0080\u0094Marriage of Defectives 17\nH\u00E2\u0080\u0094Sterilization and Parole in California 18 Appointment of the Commission.\nFrom Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia,\nNovember 18th, 1925.\nOn the motion of the Hon. Mr. Sloan, seconded by Dr. Rothwell, it was Resolved,\u00E2\u0080\u0094\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nWhereas, in accordance with the provisions of the \" British North America Act,\" the\nProvince of British Columbia is maintaining a Mental Hospital:\nAnd whereas the number of persons treated in the said Mental Hospital and its branches\nis increasing to an alarming extent:\nAnd whereas 66 per cent, of the inmates of the Mental Hospital are not Canadian-born and\n90 per cent, not natives of this Province:\nAnd whereas it is necessary to provide for the erection of further buildings to house the\nincreasing number of patients :\nAnd whereas the cost to the people of this Province for the maintenance of the mentally\nafflicted is now over $750,000 per annum, exclusive of capital charges:\nAnd whereas the treatment and care of subnormal and mentally deficient children has also\nbecome an urgent and very serious question:\nNow, therefore, be it Resolved, That a Select Committee of this House be appointed to\ninvestigate and report upon the following matters:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(1.) The reasons for the increase in the number of patients maintained in the Provincial\nMental Hospital and branches thereof:\n(2.) The causes and prevention of lunacy in the Province generally:\n(3.) The entry into the Province of insane, mentally deficient, and subnormal persons:\n(4.) The care and treatment of subnormal children:\n(5.) All such other matters and things relating to the subject of insanity, especially\nas they affect the Province of British Columbia, as the said Committee may deem\npertinent to their inquiry.\nThe Resolution was carried unanimously.\nFrom Votes and Proceedings, November 19th, 1925.\nWith the leave of the House, on the motion of the Hon. Mr. Sloan, seconded by the Hon.\nMr. Manson, it was Resolved,\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThat under and by virtue of the terms of the Resolution unanimously passed by this\nLegislature on November 18th, 1925, a Select Committee of this House, consisting of Messrs.\nRothwell, Odium, W. A. McKenzie, Hayward, and Harrison, be appointed to investigate and\nreport upon the following matters:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(1.) The reasons for the increase in the number of patients maintained in the Provincial\nMental Hospital and branches thereof:\n(2.) The causes and prevention of lunacy in the Province generally:\n(3.) The entry into the Province of insane, mentally deficient, and subnormal persons:\n(4.) The care and treatment of subnormal children:\n(5.) All such other matters and things relating to the subject of insanity, especially as\nthey affect the Province of British Columbia, as the said Committee may deem\npertinent to their inquiry.\nThat instruction be given to the said Committee to report its findings and recommendations\nto this House; and that the said Committee shall have power to call for the attendance of\npersons, the production of books, papers, and to do all things necessary in carrying out a full\ninquiry.\nThe members named proceeded with their inquiry as a Special Committee of the\nHouse, and on December 17th, 1925, asked permission to continue their investigations and to report at the next Session of the Legislative Assembly. On December\n30th, 1925, they were accordingly appointed Commissioners under the provisions\nof the \" Public Inquiries Act.\"\nAn interim report was submitted on February 28th, 1927, when the Commissioners were directed to continue their studies for another year, paying special\nattention to the subject of Mental Deficiency. Report of Commission on Mental Hygiene.\nTo His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor in Council:\nMay it please Youe Honour :\nSince submission of an interim report dated February 28th, 1927, your Commission has proceeded with its inquiry as directed and now begs to submit its second\nand final report.\nThe work of the Commission during the past year has been largely concentrated,\nas planned, on the problem of mental deficiency. However, inquiry into the other\nfields of mental abnormality, particularly having regard to the latest developments\nin methods of prevention and cure of the insanities, has not been neglected. Nothing\nessentially at variance with the conclusions contained in the first report has been\nfound, and the report therefore may be regarded as covering the ground as fully\nas can well be done by a Commission of this nature.\nIt is desirable again to stress the necessity of making a clear distinction between\nthe two broad classes of mentally abnormal persons:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(a.) The insane. Insanity is a disease of a normally developed mind, and\nis susceptible of cure in a large percentage of cases. It does not\nmanifest itself, as a rule, until adolescence or later.\n(&.) The mentally deficient. Mental deficiency, mental defect, feeblemindedness (the terms are generally synonymous), is a condition of\narrested mental development usually obtaining from birth or an early\nage. It is not curable. The afflicted person always remains a child\nin mentality, but its condition may be helped greatly by training\nwhich will develop such manual ability as the individual may possess.\nBroad inquiry in the field of mental deficiency has shown that in recent years\nthere has been, among experts in all parts of the world, a definite trend away from\nthe alarmist attitude common about the opening of the present century. The\npercentage of the general population afflicted by mental deficiency is not increasing.\nMoreover, it has been learned by experience that, if mental deficients are diagnosed\nwhen they are young, if they are given training suited to individual needs, and if\nthey are supervised in the community when they leave school, the majority will\ngive little trouble to society.\nThe key-note of a constructive programme for mental deficients is training,\nand nine-tenths of deficient children can be trained with greatest advantage in\nthe public-school system. The problem, therefore, is educational rather than\nmedical.\nThere will always be a small proportion of mental deficients of such low grade\nas to require custodial care, but even of these most can benefit by simple training\nwhich will teach them habits of cleanliness and perhaps enable them to wash,\ndress, and feed themselves. Beyond that they cannot go. Also there will always\nbe a small proportion who, because of their defect, are unsocial and cannot be\nallowed at large with safety to themselves or to the community.\n.Neglect of mental deficients leaves them free to cause grave social evils by\ntheir delinquencies and depredations, and to produce children who, in turn, may\nbe a like charge on the community. Under proper treatment and by continuous ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE. G 5\ncare and training it is possible to make them acceptable, happy, and to some extent\nuseful members of society.\nPartial surveys in this Province\u00E2\u0080\u0094borne out by experience elsewhere\u00E2\u0080\u0094indicate\nthat 2 per cent, of school-children are incapable of benefiting by the ordinary school\ncurriculum. It may therefore be safely assumed that there are 2,000 children in\nBritish Columbia who require special instruction. Their presence in the ordinary\nclass-room is not only of little use or benefit to themselves, but is a heavy and\ncostly handicap on all others.\nAccording to general practice, the term \" idiot\" is used to denote mental\ndeficients with a \" mental age \" of 3 years or less; \" imbecile \" is used to indicate\nindividuals with a mental age of from 3 to 7; while the terms \" moron \" and\n\" feeble-minded \" are applied to those whose mental ages are from 7 to 11 years.\nIdiots and imbeciles are generally recognizable for what they are. The higher-\ngrade morons, however, are not so readily recognized. They are the great social\nmisfits. They contribute out of all numerical proportion to pauperism, delinquency,\ncriminality, promiscuity, and illegitimacy. As children they are \" backward.\"\nThey are slow in learning to walk and talk; in school they are from two to four\nyears behind other children of the same age. Shamed by their failure to progress\nwith their fellows, they eventually drop out of school and go into the world\nunequipped to meet the demands made upon them as citizens. Adults in years\nand size, it is not generally realized that they are not responsible for their actions\nand their failures; and it is, therefore, not strange that they so often find themselves\nin the gaols, reformatories, and houses of refuge.\nDealing with these unfortunates in this way is exceedingly costly, to say\nnothing of the great waste of human material that is involved.\nYour Commissioners recognize the threefold nature of the problem:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(a.) The custodial treatment of low-grade idiots and imbeciles:\n(6.) The vocational training of higher-grade mental deficients:\n(c.) The protection of the public against those of the latter class who\nhave dangerous anti-social instincts.\nAnd we therefore recommend:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n1. The appointment of a Provincial Psychiatrist whose duties shall be those\nof:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(a.) Active medical and administrative head of the proposed Psychopathic\nHospital:\n(5.) Adviser to the Provincial Government on matters connected with\nmental hygiene.\n2. The establishment of a Psychopathic Hospital in the largest centre of population, as recommended in the previous report of this Commission.\n3. The establishment of special classes for mentally deficient children in all\nschool centres having a school population of 500 or more, on the general plan of\nsuch classes now being operated in Vancouver, Victoria, and other Canadian cities;\nand provision for a special grant from Provincial funds to the local school authority\nequal to one-half of the extra cost of such special classes above the cost of ordinary\nschool classes of the same grade.\nL The establishment, as required, and near the principal centres of population,\nof vocational schools specially adapted to the training for remunerative occupation G 6 BRITISH COLUMBIA.\nof suitable graduates from the special classes; with Provincial grants for their\nestablishment and maintenance.\n5. The eventual establishment of a Provincial Training School for Mental\nDeficients, to care for:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(a.) Mentally deficient children from centres where the establishment of\nspecial classes is not warranted by the school population:\n(&.) Special problem cases, from all centres, who are not suitable for\nadmission to the special classes in the public schools.\nThis Provincial Training School should not be extended to provide for low-\ngrade cases requiring purely custodial care. These should be sent to a suitable\nsub-unit at the Provincial Mental Hospital.\nThe Training School should:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(a.) Be reasonably near the principal centre of population:\n(&.) Be established on rough land suitable for clearing, and for farming\nand gardening when cleared:\n(c.) Be built on the cottage system.\n6. The creation, through general publicity and educational work among the\nsocial-service organizations of the Province, guided and directed by the social\nactivities of the Psychopathic Hospital, of a proper public sentiment toward the\nmentally handicapped which will eventually open to those suitable therefor avenues\nof remunerative employment, and so ensure many of them adequate care and\nsupervision in the community when they graduate from the training school for\nmental deficients and go out to face the task of making their own way in the world.\n7. The enactment of a special Mental Deficiency Act defining those who should\ncome within its purview and the methods to be applied in their care and treatment,\nbasing such legislation on recent Acts of other Canadian Provinces and the English\n\" Mental Deficiency Act\" of 1913 and amendments.\n8. The enactment of legislation providing for a carefully restricted and safeguarded measure of permissive sexual sterilization of certain suitable and definitely\nascertained cases of mental abnormality, as set out in the previous report of this\nCommission, with the object that such cases may be permitted safely to return to\ntheir normal place in the community.\n9. The acceptance by the Provincial Government of the generous offer of the\nCanadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene to aid in prevention and treatment of mental abnormality in this Province, by:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\n(a.) Contributing the sum of $2,500 annually for a period of five years for\nresearch in mental hygiene at the University of British Columbia, or\nelsewhere in the Province under auspices of the University, provided\nthe Provincial Government will contribute an equal sum:\n(&.) Arranging for a special course of training at suitable centres on this\ncontinent, on the basis of a Rockefeller scholarship without cost to the\nProvince, for the man to be selected as Superintendent of the proposed\nTraining School for Mental Deficients.\nThe Commissioners desire to place on record their sincere appreciation of the\naid extended to them in the course of their inquiry by many individuals and organizations, among whom may be mentioned:\u00E2\u0080\u0094 ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE.\nG 7\nThe Seguin Society, recently organized in Vancouver to befriend the feebleminded.\nThe Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene, with headquarters at\nToronto, which placed at the Commission's disposal the resources of their organization and arranged for a personal survey of its problems by their Medical\nDirector, Dr. C. M. Hincks, resulting in much valuable counsel and advice, and also\nfor the visit of Mr. I). M. LeBourdais, Director of the Division of Education, who\nhas been of great assistance to this Commission and has addressed many meetings\nthroughout the Province on the subject of mental hygiene.\nThe United States National Committee for Mental Hygiene, New York, which\nhas supplied the Commission with much valuable information, including expert\nadvice on some of its special problems, in addition to large quantities of literature\non every phase of the subject and detailed plans of representative institutions in\nthe United States.\nThe Canadian National Child Welfare Council.\nThe American Association for Study of the Feeble-minded.\nThe Central Association for Mental Welfare, London, Eng.\nOfficials of the Department of Institutions, State of California, and especially\nDr. F. O. Butler, Superintendent of Sonoma State Home, Eldridge, Calif.; and\nDr. Paul Popenoe, Pasadena, Calif.\nOfficials of the Vancouver School Board, and especially Miss A. Josephine\nDauphinee, Supervisor of Special Classes, and Miss R. A. Kerr, Psychologist.\nMembers of the medical profession of Vancouver and Victoria, and especially\nDr. J. G. McKay, Assistant Medical Director of the Canadian National Committee\nfor Mental Hygiene, Vancouver; Dr. W. A. Dobson, Vancouver; and Dr. F. C. Bell,\nSuperintendent of Vancouver General Hospital.\nIn conclusion, the Commissioners wish to record their profound sorrow and\nsense of loss in the death of their former fellow-Commissioner and Chairman, the\nlate Dr. E. J. Rothwell, M.L.A. His zeal in the cause of mental hygiene and his\nintimate knowledge of the subject were of the greatest value in all deliberations\nand his death has proved a serious handicap to the work of the Commission.\nThroughout the year the members of the Commission have served without\nremuneration of any kind.\nAll of which is respectfully submitted.\nP. P. HARRISON.\nW. A. McKENZIE.\nR. HAYWARD.\nVICTOR W. ODLUM.\nVictoria, B.C., March 9th, 1928. G 8 BRITISH COLUMBIA.\nAppendix A.\nVancouver Statistics showing Need of a Training\nSchool for Mentally Deficient Children.\nOfficers of the Psychological Department of the Vancouver City School Board having supervision of the Special Classes for subnormal children submitted to this Commission some time ago\nevidence gathered from data contained in departmental records for the school-year 1924-25.\nA check of more recent records has shown that the figures for that year are still fairly representative of existing conditions. It should be noted that the figures given cover only ithe City of\nVancouver proper, and do not include surrounding municipalities now embraced in the designation Greater Vancouver.\nSummarized, these figures show :\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nCases in Special Classes needing institutional care, or supervision and\nsocial control 121\nCases not in Special Classes, representing an average number of new cases\nannually 30\nAccompanying this statement was the following explanation of the data on which these\nconclusions were based:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\" A Training School for the Feeble-minded, if established upon the modern and enlightened\npolicies for such an institution, would serve two purposes:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\"(1.) It would afford permanent protection for persons unable to care for themselves\nin the community:\n\"(2.) It would provide supervision for those who, after training, might be considered\ncapable of caring for themselves with only occasional oversight.\n\" With these two functions the Training School would not only prove a haven for many of\nthe feeble-minded population who cannot be adjusted outside, but would also check the increase\nin mental defect and thereby deal with one of the menacing social and economic problems with\nwhich the Province is faced.\n\" With these two functions of a Training School in mind, the files of the Special Classes were\ngone over carefully and three lists of children made.\n\" The first list was composed of children who, in the light of mental development, school\nachievement, and social reactions, are considered as needing permanent care in an institution.\nOf the 289 children enrolled in Special Classes for the year, thirty-six were placed in this list.\nOf these, five were excluded from school as incapable of profiting even by special class-work.\nSeveral others are under consideration for exclusion in the near future. The children on this\nlist are high-grade imbeciles or low-grade morons. Almost all are capable of some training in\nmanual work. In an institution they could do routine work of real value, toward self-support.\nThe parents of this type of child invariably desire more than custodial care for the child and\nonly send him to a custodial institution under circumstances which make it impossible to keep\nthe child at home.\n\" The second list of children contains those of higher intelligence than the first list. For\nthem training in an institution during the adolescent period is desirable either because of\ntemperament trends in themselves which made adjustments difficult, or because of lack of home\ninfluences calculated to train them into socially acceptable habits. In this list there are thirty-\neight children.\n\" The third list contains children belonging to feeble-minded families. In many cases these\nchildren are of a disposition to work steadily at some suitable and simple work and to care for\nthemselves in a simple environment. They have not the mentality, however, to meet situations\nof any complexity and should not shoulder the responsibilities of parenthood. Belonging as they\ndo to defective families, the taint is almost certain to be passed on to their children.\n\" If the Province adopts the policy of sterilization these children should be sterilized. There\nare on this list, which is conservative, forty-seven children. ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE. G 9\n\" The three lists together total 121 children of the 289 in Special Classes. These lists\ncannot be considered complete for the city as a whole as there are some schools not represented\nin the Special Classes.\n\" In addition to children attending the Special Classes there are other cases coming to the\nattention of the department. Nine children were excluded from schools as of too low grade\nintelligence to profit by instruction. These were imbecile children. Thirteen others were tested\nwhose intelligence was so low as to make institutional care appear desirable, either permanently\nor temporarily. More extensive knowledge of these thirteen cases would be necessary before\nplacing them in the three classifications mentioned above.\n\" Among delinquents examined for the Juvenile Court, Salvation Army, etc., seven cases\nwere so defective that permanent care is the only possible means of preventing them from continuing their delinquent careers. From outside the city three imbeciles were brought for\nexamination.\n\" The cases outside of special classes can be considered about an average of annual new\ncases. During the seven and a half years since the clinic has been open (to June, 1925), we\nwould judge, fifty to seventy-five imbecile children have been excluded from Vancouver schools.\"\nOn February 6th, 1928, this statement was supplemented with the following:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\" Regarding your request for recent data on mental deficients, the former figures will still\nstand, with the addition of thirty-odd imbeciles.\n\" For feeble-minded delinquents, the percentage of 8 to 10 per cent, of our Special Class\ngroup remains fairly constant. This means from twenty-five to thirty per year, distributed\nbetween the Girls' and Boys' Industrial Schools, and occasional ones (naming three) to the\npenitentiary.\"\nAppendix B.\nMental Deficiency.\nA GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM, AUTHORIZED BY THE U.S. NATIONAL\nCOMMITTEE FOR MENTAL HYGIENE.\n1. Feeble-mindedness is a condition of arrested mental development existing from birth or\nan early age, in consequence of which the person affected is unable to direct his affairs with\nreasonable prudence, or to perform his duties as a member of society in the position of life to\nwhich he was born.\n2. Feeble-mindedness is not due to poverty or the lack of opportunity for training and\neducation, but in all cases is the result either of such accidental causes as injuries or various\ndiseases, occurring at birth or at an early age\u00E2\u0080\u0094conditions which may happen to the best of user is hereditary.\n3. In probably two-thirds of instances, feeble-mindedness is of hereditary origin, is the\nresult of defective germ plasm, the expression of defective family stocks which transmit this\ncondition from generation to generation in accordance with the well-known laws of heredity.\n4. Feeble-mindedness is not curable. It is the result of incomplete brain development) of\nabnormal brain conditions; once feeble-minded, always feeble-minded. G 10 BRITISH COLUMBIA.\n5. Feeble-minded persons are especially prolific and reproduce their kind with greater\nfrequency than do normal persons, and through such reproduction provide an endless stream\nof defective progeny which are a serious drain on the resources of the nation.\n6. Facts are now at hand from State-wide surveys and intensive studies which indicate that\nfeeble-mindedness is one of the largest single factors in hereditary pauperism, juvenile vice and\ndelinquency, adult crime and vagrancy, the spread of venereal disease, and the like.\nTwenty-seven to thirty per cent, of the inmates of State prisons throughout this country\nhave been found feeble-minded; 30 per cent, of the inmates of training-schools, reformatories,\nwork-houses, homes of refuge, and the like, have been found feeble-minded.\nThe one outstanding and most important factor that complicates any programme for the\nprevention of venereal disease is the high frequency of feeble-mindedness among prostitutes.\nOf 243 women studied at the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women, which group included\nthe women in the institution in whose histories there had been commercialized promiscuous\nsex immorality, 49 per cent, were found mentally defective.\nOf 300 prostitutes examined by the Massachusetts Vice Commission, the mental defect of\n50 per cent, was so pronounced as to warrant their legal commitment to an institution for the\nfeeble-minded.\nReports of studies of various groups in connection with the Municipal Court of Boston\nshowed that 58 per cent, of the chronic and habitual drinkers were found feeble-minded; 30 per\ncent, of the women arrested for immoral conduct were found feeble-minded; 25 per cent, of the\nindividuals arrested for larceny were found feeble-minded; 36 per cent, of vagabonds were\nfound feeble-minded ; 23 per cent, of shoplifters were found feeble-minded.\nIn a study of mental defect in the State of Georgia, 40 per cent, of the inmates of the\nalmshouses were found feeble-minded; 40 per cent, of the inmates examined in county gaols;\n17% per cent, of the male inmates of the State Prison and 42 per cent, of the women inmates\nof the State Prison Farm; 43% per cent, of the immoral women examined in Courts, venereal\nclinics, stockades, and the like; 17 per cent.,of the \" run of the mine \" of the Juvenile Court; 15\nper cent, of the inmates of the Fulton County Reformatory for Boys; 24 per cent, of the State\nReformatory for Boys; 27 per cent, of the inmates of the Training School for Girls; 29 per\ncent, of the children in orphanages\u00E2\u0080\u0094all these were found 'feeble-minded.\nFinally, 3 per cent, of the children in the public schools of Georgia were found mentally\ndefective. It is these who form the grist for the mills of our future Courts, gaols, reformatories,\nand State prisons to grind; it is these defective children that form the backbone of the vast\nprocession of paupers, prostitutes, and vagrants of to-morrow.\n7. \" There is one sensible and really efficient measure that can be carried out, and that is\nto dam the stream near its source. As far as criminality in the feeble-minded person is concerned, there need be no criminality if the feeble-minded person as such is reckoned with early.\"\n8. The late Dr. Walter Fernald (the great Massachusetts authority) said: \"The key-note of a\npractical programme is to be found in the fact that those defectives whose defects are recognized while\nthey are young children, and who receive proper care and training during their childhood, are as a\nrule not especially troublesome after they have been safely guided through the period of early\nadolescence.\"\nHere we have the basis of an adequate State programme for handling mental defect. We\nmust recognize the needs of the mental defective while he is a child, educate him according to\nhis capacity, make him industrially efficient, teach him to acquire correct habits of living, protect\nhim from evil influences,- and when he has reached adult life continue to give him the friendly\nhelp and guidance he needs. These advantages should be accessible to every feeble-minded\nperson in the State. ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE. G 11\nAppendix G.\nGeneral Role of an Institution for Mental\nDeficients.\nBy Earl W. Fuller, M.D., Superintendent, Pennhurst State School,\nPennsylvania.\nIt is my belief that every one who works in institutions for mental defectives has found that\nthe average citizen knows nothing about mental defectives, or what is done for their betterment\nand care.\nThe layman is not the only one who is lacking in this knowledge. Very few physicians are\nfamiliar with the accepted methods of diagnosis of this condition and the great majority of\nmedical men, social workers, and special class teachers have absolutely no knowledge about the\ninstitutional methods or aims.\nSome consider an institution as a gaol in which the patient is to be kept for life, and that\nthe inmates are at least a serious menace to society. Others believe that the mental defective\nis absolutely hopeless and the most that can be done for him is to keep him clothed, fairly well\nfed, and see that he has a place to sleep. While, as a matter of fact, the above ideas apply to\nsome inmates of every institution, they come far'from applying to all.\nEvery institution has a small group of delinquent patients. In most cases these delinquents\nhave been the victims of some brighter person or persons and are delinquent because of improper\nacquaintances or training. The idea that all mentally defective girls are \" a menace,\" I believe\nis absolutely wrong. Most subnormal girls are potential prostitutes, but only because of their\ninability to say no to the approaches of the normal man or boy, and not because of any overdevelopment of the sex element in their mental or physical make-up.\nWhen a proper environment, away from the temptations of the normals, can be found, these\nso-called delinquent girls and boys usually react like others of their mentality. . . .\nThe helpless or hopeless group for which but little can be done is also found in every\ninstitution. They consist of those of very low mentality and the paralytics. These are the only\ngroups in the Institution that can be given only custodial care.\nThe school department of an institution is also greatly misunderstood. Most citizens believe\nthat academic work is all that there is to any school, and when an institution bears the name\nof school the average individual expects that by the use of some secret process of teaching, which\nthe mental defective placed in the school will receive, it will be only a question of time before\nthe patient shows marked improvement or even cure.\nOn numerous occasions parents visiting their children have been disappointed to find the\nchild working at some manual occupation such as shoemaking, carpentry, or farm-work, and then\ndemanded of the superintendent the reason why their boy was not in school. At times it is\nextremely difficult to convince these parents that the boy is receiving the best school instruction\npossible for him, and that the school department does not include all the school-work, but every\ndepartment in which patients are employed is carrying on an excellent type of teaching.\nWhen institutions for this type of humanity were first started the idea was to cure the\nmental defective by special types of academic and other teaching, and it was believed that if\nsufficient time was taken and sufficient patience used, the case could be brought to, or near to,\nnormal. It took many years for us to learn that the patient's mentality could not be improved\nby any amount or kind of teaching, and that the best treatment that mentally defective individual\ncould receive is to give him as much academic knowledge as he would later make use of and as\nmuch manual training along the line he is best fitted for as he is capable of receiving.\nThe younger and lower grades of children of course need habit, form, and sense training;\nand those whose training and behaviour are not acceptable to society need behaviour-training\nas well as the manual and vocational instruction. . . . G 12 BRITISH COLUMBIA.\nIn an ideal institution the patient is admitted to an observation ward, where he is bathed\nand a complete physical examination made of him, and where he is retained until there is no\npossibility of his bringing into the institution any contagious disease or vermin. As soon as\nhe has become accustomed to his new environment a mental examination is made. This examination is not only the Binet tests, but performance and school tests and an inquiry into his\npersonality and a thorough examination into any peculiar mental traits that are brought out\nduring the psychiatrists' interviews or the notes made on him by the attendants on duty in the\nreception ward. The correctable physical defects receive immediate attention. When the child\nis ready to leave the observation ward, he is brought before a staff meeting and his case\nthoroughly discussed by not only the physician, but by the psychologist, teachers, and supervisors.\nHe is then ready to be assigned to a ward of children who are approximately of his own mentality and age and his training is started. The history, examinations, and conclusions reached\nat the staff meeting give the first clues as to what that training should be.\nIf the child is below school age or grade, the training must of necessity be elementary and\nconsist principally of teaching the patient to care for his bodily needs, dressing himself, etc.\nIf the case is of school grade the academic work suitable to his mentality, also manual training,\nis started. If the case is above school age, but his academic school-work has been neglected, he\nshould receive enough instruction in academic subjects to give him as much knowledge as he\nwould use, but training along vocational lines should be principally considered. . . .\nWhen the training has been completed the next step is an attempt to return the case to the\ncommunity. Of course this is practicable only for the higher-grade cases. In some instances\nthe homes of the patients' relatives are of such a character that it is advisable to parole the\ncase directly to their home. However, in the majority of cases, the next step should be taken\nthrough the boys' or girls' colony. The boys or girls who successfully live in colonies are\nexcellent material for parole when suitable homes can be found for them.\nThere have been many objections to the parole of mental defectives, but you should stop to\nconsider the fact that no State has sufficient institutional accommodation to care for all applicants, much less all the mental defectives in the State (even if such a thing were desirable),\nand every State has thousands of mental defectives living useful, uneventful lives in the\ncommunity. The release of a well-trained institution case is not adding to the burden of the\ncommunity in any sense, but is really easing the community load by giving the community: a\nself-supporting worker and making room in the institution for a mental defective who is in need\nof the institutional training. . . . ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE. G 13\nAppendix D.\nMental Deficiency in England\u00E2\u0080\u0094Summary of\nthe Law and Administration.\nThe existing system of dealing with mental deficients in England and Wales is the result\nof the findings of a Royal Commission appointed in 1904 which pursued its studies for four years\nand reported in 1908. The drafting legislation took upwards of two years, and the Mental\nDeficiency Bill did not pass Parliament and become law until 1913. Necessary organization and\nprovisions for enforcement of the law were just getting under way when the war came and the\nwork was seriously interfered with. Since the war the financial condition of the country has\nproved almost as great a handicap as the war itself. Local Authorities, on whom the bulk of\nthe responsibility falls under the Act, have been distressingly short of funds. Consequently,\nmany of these Local Authorities have neglected their statutory duty almost entirely, while even\nthose with the greatest desire to live up to the Act have fallen far short of its requirements.\nThe \" Mental Deficiency Act\" of 1913, and the system it seeks to set up, is probably on a\nbroader scale than anything of the kind ever before attempted anywhere. It goes to the very\nroot of the problem by providing that there should be \" ascertainment\" of every mental deficient\nin the community and the system set up for this purpose is quite elaborate. Local education\nauthorities, with the co-operation of social agencies, the police, and others, are expected and\nrequired to report any case of suspected mental deficiency to the Local Authority, which is then\nrequired to ascertain, by expert examination, the true condition.\nThe Local Authority is then required to make suitable provision for every \" ascertained \"\nand registered case. Institutional care and training is supposed to be provided for every case\nrequiring it, and there is also elaborate provision for \" supervision \" in the community for cases\nthat are not regarded as requiring segregation in an institution. All certified cases must be\nreported to the Board of Control, which is the central authority for England and Wales, under\nthe Home Office, and which exercises general supervision of everything connected with mental\ndisease and mental deficiency, including regular inspection of all institutions of every kind.\nIn addition to the requirements of the \" Mental Deficiency Act,\" there is provision in the\n\" Education Act\" for a complete and compulsory system of special schools and special classes\nfor mentally deficient children of school age. These do not come under the purview of the\n\" Mental Deficiency Act \" unless they are reported for certification by the local educational\nauthority.\nINSTITUTIONS FOR MENTAL DEFICIENTS.\nThe Local Authority has a good deal of latitude as to the kind of institution to which any\ncase may be sent. There are provided for in the Act and in actual operation in large numbers :\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(1.) State institutions\u00E2\u0080\u0094for defectives of dangerous or violent propensities, established\nand maintained by the Board of Control.\n(2.) Certified institutions\u00E2\u0080\u0094provided wholly or partially by various philanthropic\nsocieties or associations, or by the local authority itself. In many cases these\nare aided, both as to construction and maintenance, by Government grants dispensed by the Board of Control.\n(3.) Certified houses\u00E2\u0080\u0094in which mental defectives are received by the owner thereof for\nhis private profit, and in respect of which a certificate has been granted by the\nBoard of Control.\n(4.) Approved homes\u00E2\u0080\u0094in which defectives are received and supported wholly or partly\nby voluntary contributions or for private profit, and in respect of which approval\nhas been granted by the Board of Control. G 14 BRITISH COLUMBIA.\n(5.) Poor-law institutions\u00E2\u0080\u0094in which supposedly harmless but mostly helpless defectives\nare still kept in considerable numbers. Few of these institutions are suited to\nthe purpose and the Board of Control is urging Local Authorities to concentrate\nthis class in one or two of their respective poor-law places, and bring these places\nup to a better standard for this particular work.\nSUPERVISION IN THE COMMUNITY.\nFrom all English literature on mental deficiency, including the annual reports of the Board\nof Control and the Central Association for Mental Welfare, it is apparent that in England, as\nin the United States, there is a definite trend towards the belief that a very large proportion of\ndefectives do not really need permanent care in institutions, but can successfully occupy some\nsort of place in the community, under proper supervision. This applies not only to those who\nmay have had some training in an institution, but also to many who have not had this training.\nLicence.\u00E2\u0080\u0094 (This is the official English term for what we know on the American continent\nas \" parole.\") The principal use of this form of care is to test the ability of patients in institutions to live outside without harm to themselves or the community. Suitable cases are those\nwho, in the course of several years' training, have established good habits and some measure of\nself-control; who have not recently displayed erotic, unstable, or violent tendencies; and who,\nin the higher grades, have been trained to do some useful work. In all cases satisfactory\nenvironment is essential. Licence may in some cases lead to complete discharge and in others\nto guardianship under the Act, or to some form of supervision, but any patient under \" licence \"\nis still under full legal control and may be brought back to the institution at any time for\ncause shown.\nGuardianship.\u00E2\u0080\u0094This form of care is of use for higher-grade defectives who, whether on\nlicence, in institutions, or elsewhere, have shown themselves able to live safely in the community,\nbut who require some measure of support or control. It may also be used for low-grade cases\nas an alternative to institutional care or supervision where the home conditions are good or\nwhere suitable guardians are available, and may be found useful in those cases where a small\nregular payment enables parents to provide proper care for the defective at home.\nSupervision.\u00E2\u0080\u0094Supervision provides for the regular friendly visitation of defectives and\nensures reports being sent to the local authority in the event of conditions and requirements\nchanging so as to render institutional care or guardianship desirable.\nIn Great Britain there is far greater organization of voluntary agencies aiding the mentally\nunfortunate than is yet known in Canada or the United States. Over there the public seems\nto realize some responsibility devolving upon itself; here, so far, the disposition seems to be to\nleave the whole business to the Provincial or State Government. In England regularly organized\nmental-welfare societies, with a governing association, undertake all kinds of voluntary work,\nincluding visitation and supervision, provision of occupational training centres and of permanent\nindustrial centres for the defective who can earn a living under this supervision, but cannot\nget along in the ordinary competitive conditions of the labour market. They undertake this\nwork for mental defectives, just as other similar organizations undertake \" after-care \" of cases\nof mental disease discharged from mental hospitals or allowed out on \" licence.\" Such a development may reasonably be looked for in Canada as time goes by. In Vancouver the recently\norganized Seguin Society has for its present chief object the securing of institutional accommodation and training, but is already looking forward to the day when it can undertake such work\nas has been described. ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE. G 15\nAppendix E.\nThe Fate of Mentally Defective Children.\n(From Report of Birmingham, Eng., After-care Sub-committee.)\n(The Lancet, January 14th, 1928.)\nDuring the last quarter of a century over 4,000 Birmingham children have been pupils at\nspecial schools for mental defectives, and a remarkable survey of their after-history has now\nbeen issued.\nOf 4,052 whose career was investigated, the following was ascertained:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nDied 239\nLost sight of 564\nDoing remunerative work 1,618\nSoldiers 18\nTransferred to ordinary elementary schools 374\nTransferred to other schools such as industrial and schools for the deaf.... 34\nIn institutions for mental deficients (including 36 in asylums) 405\nAt poor-law and other institutions 156\nDismissed from special classes on account of physical or mental disability 269\nAt home, and said to be useful there 536\nAt home, and said to be useless 39\nExcluding those who died or are untraced, these children may be tentatively assigned to\nthree main groups :\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(1.) Those who seem to be socially efficient and self-supporting to a reasonable degree.\nAmong these may be placed the 1,618 paid workers and the 18 soldiers. It also seems\nreasonable to include the 174 children transferred to elementary schools, together with some,\nsay 20, of those who were sent to other special schools, and perhaps half of the 536 who are\ndescribed as \" useful at home.\" This makes a total of 2,098.\n(2.) Those suited for institutional care.\nThese include the 405 in institutions for mental defectives, the 156 in other institutions, the\n269 dismissed as incapable from special schools, and the 39 useless at home. In this group the\ntotal would be 869.\n(3.) Those that might be left at home under supervision, although socially inefficient.\nThis would include the remaining half of those who are \" useful at home \" and the remaining\n14 of those transferred to special schools, and gives a total of 282.\nThus of the 3,249 cases definitely ascertained, 2,098 (64 per cent.) are presumably satisfactory; 869 (26 per cent.) are only suitable for institutional care; and 282 (9 per cent.) belong\nto the intermediate class and might remain at home under supervision. Appendix F.\nMentally Defective Delinquents.\n(From Report of the Departmental Committee op the British Home Office on the\nTreatment of Young Offenders, March, 1927.)\n\" It is important that young offenders who are mentally defective should be provided for\nin institutions suited to their infirmity, and that they should not be sent to approved schools,\nBorstal, prison, or other institutions for the treatment of normal offenders.\n\" The ' Mental Deficiency Act, 1913,' gave effect to this principle and provided machinery\nby which offenders of this class could be dealt with either at the time of trial or by subsequent\ntransfer. We hope that the improved methods which we have recommended for the observation\nof young offenders will ensure that all those who are mentally defective at the time of trial will\nbe dealt with as such by the Courts under the ' Mental Deficiency Act.'\n\" Unfortunately the intention of Parliament cannot be realized owing to the lack of accommodation. The war made it impossible for several years for Local Authorities to fulfil the\nobligations imposed upon them, especially in view of the then financial position. The ground\nthus lost has never been recovered, and although the temporary difficulties which arose owing to\nthe war can no longer be pleaded in extenuation, practically no progress is being made to grapple\nwith the problem.\n\" It is not any part of our function to consider the problem of mental defect as a whole, but\nso far as the question concerns young men and women who are falling or have already fallen\ninto crime, the present position is a grave injustice to the unfortunate persons concerned and a\nserious menace to the public interest. We desire to draw attention to the unsatisfactory position,\nand to the paramount importance of coping with it.\"\nIn a summary of conclusions the following recommendation is made:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\" Immediate steps should be taken to cope with the serious lack of accommodation for mental\ndefectives.\" ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE. G 17\nAppendix G.\nMarriage of Defectives.\n(From the 1927 Report of the Board of Control for England and Wales.)\nThere can be no two opinions as to the undesirability of defectives marrying who have been\ncertified as unable to manage themselves and their affairs or as needing care, supervision, and\ncontrol. To place such persons in control of others, especially of helpless children, is the height\nof unwisdom and the negation of the aims of a civilized community. The increasing numbers\nof defectives under guardianship and of those allowed out on licence (parole) brings this question\nprominently before us, and serious consideration should be given to the possibility of any useful\nlegislative action to improve methods of supervision outside an institution and to the cultivation\nof a public opinion which would help and not hinder the carrying-out of any preventive measures.\nThe procreation of children by unmarried defectives, deplorable as it is, has not as a rule the\nsame evil consequences to the children as the marriage of defectives. In the former case the\nchildren are generally brought up apart from their parents and at the present day are given the\nchance of as full development as possible both morally, physically, and mentally. On the other\nhand, those who are the offspring of married defectives remain under the control of persons who\nare incapable of taking care of them, and they are consequently exposed to the hardships, neglect,\nand ill-treatment that the mental condition of their parents renders inevitable.\nIt has been suggested that it be made a punishable offence to marry or connive at the\nmarriage of any person known to be certified as a mental defective under the \" Mental Deficiency\nAct,\" but if the law were so altered it is very doubtful if public opinion is sufficiently informed\nto enforce it. We have instances where a Local Authority and visitors have suggested the\ndischarge of feeble-minded women in order that they might be married; and, if a girl has become\npregnant, public opinion would generally approve of her marriage and disapprove of her recall\nto an institution.\nOne Local Authority tells us they have knowledge of six defectives where petitions have\nbeen dismissed by the Judicial Authority in order to allow the defectives to get married, and\nalso of two others where the petitions were dismissed in order to allow two pregnant defective\ngirls to marry. These instances seem to show that public opinion has not yet realized that\nthe upbringing of children by defectives should be prevented as far as possible.\nMuch might even now be done to prevent the marriage of defectives by a more careful\nselection of the persons to whose care they are entrusted, and we particularly desire to point\nout the danger of licensing (paroling) cases of marriageable age to their parents or of placing\nthem under the guardianship of their parents. Many parents do not recognize that their\nchildren are defective, or even if they do, they believe the best thing for them to do is to marry.\nWe have instances where parents have failed to report intimacies with the opposite sex, and\nhave deliberately encouraged marriage. This is not so likely to occur when the defective is\nliving with a suitable guardian. G 18\nBRITISH COLUMBIA.\nAppendix H.\nSterilization and Parole in California.\n(Summary of Survey by Paul Popenoe.)\n( Note.\u00E2\u0080\u0094A general survey of the question of sexual sterilization was contained in the previous\nreport of this Commission. It noted that the State of California had carried on permissive\nsterilization of certain of the mentally abnormal in State institutions for a number of years and\non a larger scale than any other known community. At that time there had been no investigation\nof the after-life of sterilized persons released on parole from California Institutions, and therefore\nno accurate data on which to base conclusions as to what influence sterilization may have on the\ncondition and behaviour of the sterilized individual. Following is a summary of the results of\na survey made within the past year into the records of sterilized patients paroled since 1911\nfrom the largest institution for mental deficients in California. This summary is from the report\nof Mr. Paul Popenoe, a well-known investigator, who was the active director of the survey.)\nIn the course of a study of results of eugenic sterilization in the California State institutions,\nfinanced and directed by E. S. Gosney, a philanthropist of Pasadena, and in consultation with\nan advisory committee composed of authorities in many different fields, abstracts were made of\nthe records of 605 patients (mostly between 15 and 25 years of age with mean Intelligence\nQuotient .60) who have been sterilized at the Sonoma State Home for the Feeble-minded,\nEldridge, Cal.\nThese represented two-thirds of the total number of sterilizations performed there since\n1911. The remainder had not been out of the institution at the time of our investigation, hence\nthey could contribute little to this study, one of the principal objects of which was to determine\nwhat influence, if any, the fact of sterilization exerts on the behaviour of persons paroled.\nWith the hearty co-operation of the State Department of Institutions, of the Superintendent\nand staff of the Sonoma State Home, and of probation and parole officers and social workers\nthroughout the State, an attempt was made to get adequate histories of these sterilized patients,\nthe office files being supplemented by interviews and correspondence with County and State\nofficials elsewhere, particularly the probation and parole officers who had supervision of the\ncases. The information given by officials and correspondents was checked and verified from as\nmany separate sources as possible. The investigation extended over a period of eleven months.\nWe then classified the patients as to success by an arbitrary standard, adopted merely for\nthe purpose of this study. If a patient was well-behaved, self-supporting or supported from a\nlegitimate source, and apparently happy, the experiment was considered \" successful.\" In other\nwords, success on parole meant primarily, for us, that the interests of society were as well\nprotected as if the patient had remained at Eldridge. The interests of the patient were of course\nequally well protected; better, if it be assumed that most patients prefer freedom outside to\nsegregation inside the walls of even the best institution.\nOn this basis the history of our 605 cases is as follows:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMales.\nFemales.\nNumber.\nPer Cent.\nNumber.\nPer Cent.\n78\n1\n28\n37\n38\n42.06\n0.55\n15.38\n20.33\n20.88\n189\n18\n97\n71\n48\n44.68\nDoubtful _\t\n4.25\n22.93\n16.79\n11.35\nTotals\t\n182\n100.00\n423\n100.00\nThose \" omitted \" had not been out of the institution, unless merely for an occasional brief\nholiday with relatives. A few who had died or left the State were added to this group. ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE. G 19\nIf we had no record of a patient within a year prior to the beginning of our investigation,\nwe marked him, or her, \" unknown \" unless the previous report was bad, in which our verdict\nwas \" unsuccessful.\" Thus we assume that, if a patient was bad, he had not since become\ngood; but that, if he was good, he may since have become bad.\nThe object of thus weighing the scales against the patient, so to speak, is to take the most\nunfavourable view, in order not to let ourselves be deluded into making a more favourable\nreport than we should. In other words, we want to know the worst; to get the irreducible\nminimum of success.\nTo form a just idea of the facts, one must leave out of account the unknown and the\nomitted and recalculate the percentages. To make the picture as simple as possible, we have\nalso divided the doubtful equally between the successful and the unsuccessful. On this basis\nthe results of parole are :\u00E2\u0080\u0094\u00E2\u0096\u00A0\nMales. Females.\nPer Cent. Per Cent.\nSuccessful 72.89 65.35\nUnsuccessful 27.11 34.65\nThe probable error in the case of boys is 4.29 per cent, and in the case of girls, 2.30 per cent.\nSo far as the facts are known, and in the light of our definitions, we feel justified in saying\nconfident y that at least two-thirds of the patients on parole have succeeded.\nIn none of the failures among the boys (save one doubtful case of exhibitionism) was there any\nsexual element, and none of them gave evidence of being likely to become a focus for the dissemination of venereal diseases.\nOf the seventy-eight successes among the boys, twenty-five were placed with relatives or\nfriends to do odd jobs or help around the home; twelve others are doing ranch-work or\ngardening; the remaining forty-one successes are engaged in all sorts of unskilled or semiskilled labour, they are wholly or mostly self-supporting, and are an asset to the community\nfrom an industrial point of view.\nOf the 107 boys actually tested on parole with known results, there are only twenty-one\nwhose freedom was incompatible with public welfare.\nOf the girls successful on parole, twenty-five are now occupied in the management of their\nown homes. Eleven of these have a total of forty-five children which they had borne legitimately or otherwise before sterilization; the rest of them have married since. There have been\nat least 100 marriages among the sterilized girls; many of them continue to work, as they have\nno children to keep them at home, so we are grouping them with the other employed girls.\nOf the ninety-seven unsuccessful girls, only nineteen cases represent the \" sex problems.\"\nMany of them did good work, but all of them lacked inhibitions. Altogether there are among\nthe failures about twenty-five cases in which sexual delinquency was evident. This is 8.22 per\ncent, of the 304 female cases about which anything is known.\nBearing in mind the fact on which we have insisted throughout, that the Sonoma figures\ncannot be contrasted closely with those of other institutions, we yet feel justified in drawing\nthe conclusion that it is possible to parole a large number of sterilized boys or girls and to get a\npercentage of successes that compares favourably with any series of unsterilized cases of equal size\nfound elsewhere.\nWe have found no evidence that sterilization plays any part in the failure of patients on\nparole. It does play some part in their success, for it enables marriage without fear of\noffspring; and this is the most feasible way of stabilizing many girls and a few boys. If they\nmarry happily, we count it a success, whereas the same marriage in a State that does not\npractise sterilization must be counted a failure from a eugenic point of view.\nWe were especially anxious to find whether any with weak inhibitions regarded sterility\nas encouragement to illegitimate sexual experiences. In addition to diligent inquiry, we sent\na questionnaire to the parole and probation officers of the State, to the secretaries of the\nAssociated Charities, and others likely to be brought into contact with such girls, asking among\nother things:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\" Have you known of any cases where the fact of sterility, with consequent absence of all\nfear of pregnancy or bastardy, seemed to have acted as an incentive to promiscuity, adultery,\nor other anti-social conduct that would not have occurred had it not been for the sterilization?\nIf so, how many and what was the nature of the conduct? \" On this point twenty-two answers were received, from persons who had observed a total\nof 2,154 women (some duplicates) over periods ranging up to fourteen years. The answer to\nthis question was negative except in two cases. One man replied: \" One case\u00E2\u0080\u0094promiscuity,\nfemale.\" Another man: \" Not definitely, although in two or three cases there seemed to be\nsuch tendencies.\" We ourselves learned of two cases in which girls who had previously been\npromiscuous had spoken of their present advantage in freedom from possible pregnancy.\nAssuming that these cases are all different, we have a suggestion of half a dozen in a series\nof more than 2,000 female sterilizations\u00E2\u0080\u0094for our inquiries covered the insane as well as the\nfeeble-minded. In the two cases we ourselves found, the girls had been extremely promiscuous\nbefore sterilization, and their conduct afterward, far from being worse, was vastly better than\nbefore, since they were under supervision. Moreover, as soon as they showed signs of irregularity they were restored to custodial segregation.\nNo cases of this sort were found among 3,000 sterilized men.\nUnder the conditions in which sterilized feeble-minded patients have been paroled in\nCalifornia, such parole does not tend to increase the amount of promiscuity in the population,\nbut greatly decreases it.\nSUMMARY.\n1. Of the sterilized feeble-minded paroled in California, about whom anything is known,\ntwo-thirds have satisfied a reasonable definition of success.\n2. The average length of time spent on parole by the subjects of this study was, twenty\nmonths.\n3. Little or no association is found between the success on parole and age, intelligence,\neconomic status, family history, or length of time spent outside the institution.\n4. Those who have not been delinquent before commitment have a slightly better chance\nto succeed on parole.\n5. One in twelve of the girls on parole became sexually delinquent. (Nine in twelve of\nthese girls had been sexually delinquent before sterilization.)\n6. There was no instance of sexual delinquency among the boys on parole.\n7. Among 2,000 feeble-minded and insane women sterilized, five or six were reported to\nconsider their infertility as a possible asset, in freeing promiscuity from the fear of pregnancy.\n8. No such instance was found among 3,000 men sterilized.\n9. Sterilization favours the permanent stabilization of many paroled feeble-minded girls\nthrough marriage.\n10. As practised in California, parole of the feeble-minded after sterilization has not tended\nto increase the amount of promiscuity in the community, or favoured the spread of venereal\ndiseases. On the contrary, it has helped greatly to reduce both.\n11. As practised in California, sterilization is a valuable adjunct to a system of parole for\nthe mentally defective.'\nVICTORIA, B.C. :\nPrinted by Charles F. Banfield, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.\n1928.\n\u00E2\u0099\u00A6,500-428-1523"@en . "Legislative proceedings"@en . "J110.L5 S7"@en . "1928_V01_11_G1_G20"@en . "10.14288/1.0226053"@en . "English"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "Victoria, BC : Government Printer"@en . "Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy or otherwise distribute these images please contact the Legislative Library of British Columbia"@en . "Original Format: Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Library. Sessional Papers of the Province of British Columbia"@en . "FINAL REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON MENTAL HYGIENE (Appointed under the \"Public Inquiries Act\" by Order in Council dated December 30th, 1925)"@en . "Text"@en . ""@en .