Child Guidance Council
News and Notes
Since the outbreak of war, the Council’s offices have removed to 23 Queen Square, Bath, where Dr Gordon’s direction is thus conveniently carried on alongside his other duties in that area, despite changed conditions. The services of the Accountant, with one part-time clerical assistant, have been found sufficient to carry on the purely clerical work.
All clinics were circularized, and of the forty-three clinics recognized by the Council in England and Wales, twenty-five were found to be functioning, only those in London and Southampton having closed. Since then, the Tavistock Clinic, removed to Westfield College, has opened its children’s department, and the London County Council has opened three ” North London children s clinics. It is hoped that some of the London clinics may re-open shortly.
The Council has been obliged to cancel its Autumn Course at Newcastle and its Plans for future Courses, and on the outbreak of war the training of Fellows in Psychiatry and Psychology, who were appointed last June, was abandoned, the London Child Guidance Clinic being closed.
The more specifically ” war ” contribution of the Council to meet the needs of children is conducted to avoid overlapping through the Joint Mental Health Emergency Committee. The Council is paying the salary of four fully trained field workers, and part of the Committee’s administrative expenses. The Reports of these workers show that their services are appreciated by Local Authority officials in Helping to adjust billeting and other difficulties, and in one instance the establish- ment of a clinic has been brought nearer by a definite proposal placed before, and passed by the Bradford Education Committee, which has a reasonable likelihood of success.
Other items of news are that regular monthly meetings of the Acting Executive (appointed in July) have been held, and a full Executive was held to discuss policy in January. The Annual General Meeting and Dinner has been cancelled; Sunderland will shortly open a Joint Education Committee and Mental Hospital Child Guidance Clinic, and are about to appoint a psychologist to complete their ” team and the Council has made a grant towards the running costs of a new unit at Cambridge with the object of providing training facilities for the Mental Health Course at the London School of Economics now at Cambridge and of serving the needs of children evacuated to that area.
In general, the first four months of war has shown without doubt that child guidance is as firmly established as before the war, and that despite the fact that there are some clinical workers perforce idle in London, it is only the difficulties of organiza- tion in a new situation, and the drain on finances that prevent their employment. While it appears that much the same proportion of children are in need of treatment, and that the majority of children are as yet undisturbed by changed conditions, the few who have given trouble are recognized by the Authorities as in need of psychological methods of treatment or assistance, and child guidance is probably more, not less, recognized as an essential part of medical and educational school services.
Occupation Centres?The Present Position
A recent questionnaire issued by the Central Association for Mental Welfare to Authorities and Voluntary Associations responsible for Occupation Centres, has revealed the fact that seventy Centres (in thirty-four areas) have been closed since the beginning of the war, the majority of these being in Evacuation or Mixed Areas. In twenty-two areas some form of Home Teaching has been substituted which ensures at least that the displaced children are not left completely without occupation. Dorset’s Home Training Scheme includes a system of Group Teaching under which ten classes have been organized, each class consisting of four to six children, meeting in the front parlours of certain of the homes which have been readily made available by the parents. In Middlesbrough, temporary provision is made for the children in the home of the Supervisor, who takes a group on alternate days, so that each child attends for half the normal time.
Out of the sixty-four areas from which replies have been received, thirty-one reported that their Centres were still open, although in a few instances certain restric- tions have had to be imposed. In only three areas (Lancashire, Essex and Middlesex) has there been any organized scheme for the group evacuation of Occupation Centre children.
Mental Treatment Clinics
An enquiry has recently been made by the National Council for Mental Hygiene as to the number of out-patient mental treatment clinics which are remaining open during the war period, and from returns made it is gratifying to note that in England and Wales 174 out of 180 clinics are continuing to hold treatment sessions, in nearly all cases under normal arrangements. Two new clinics have been opened and the establishment of others is also contemplated in the near future. A list of these clinics has been compiled with particulars of days and times of sessions and informa- tion concerning them may be obtained on application to the Council.
The general recognition of the vital need for maintaining psychiatric services during the present emergency, and for ensuring that facilities are available for early treatment of persons suffering from mental and nervous disorders, is significant of the change in public opinion since the early and difficult days of the mental hygiene movement. The strain of war conditions and the drastic and far-reaching changes in the life of the community which these have brought about render essential the continuation of these services.
The necessity for early and efficient treatment during service of men in the fighting forces has been emphasized in the report recently published by the Conference convened by the Minister of Pensions to advise the Government as to the general principles for dealing with cases of nervous breakdown. The recommendations made for treating cases of neuroses instead of discharging them from service and also those ln regard to the examination of recruits for enlistment, are measures which should tend not only to add to the efficiency of our fighting forces but eliminate much of the waste in man-power which occurred during the last war owing to lack of experience ?f psychological disabilities and an organized method of treatment.
National Council for Mental Hygiene
The National Council for Mental Hygiene is arranging to hold a course of lectures for the general public at St. Stephen’s Hall, Bournemouth, on Mondays at 8 P.m. from February 5th to March 11th inclusive. The subjects to be discussed are: ” Mutual Understanding between Peoples and Nations ” Reactions to Strain and Danger “, ” Wartime Problems of Parents, Teachers and Children “, The Tranquil Mind”, “The Prevention of Nervous Breakdown”, and “The Psychology of the Dream The speakers will include Dr E. A. Bennet, Helen Boyle, Dr Grace Calver, Dr Doris Odium, Dr J. Burnett Rae, and ^r- H. C. Squires.
Tickets, price 2s. for each lecture, or 10s. for the Course, may be obtained in advance from The Secretary, N.C.M.H., 76-77 Chandos House, Palmer Street, ondon, S.W.I. Special terms are arranged for members of the Council and for schools and social workers.
A course of six lectures on ” Psychological Problems in Wartime “, arranged by le National Council for Mental Hygiene, will be held at the Royal College of Nursing r?rn 5.30 to 6.30 p.m. on Thursdays, starting February 8th. Fees, 7s. 6d. for the course, Is. 6d. single lectures. Particulars may be obtained from the Director in * e Education Department, The Royal College of Nursing, la Henrietta Place, Cavendish Square, London, W.l.
Further lecture courses are being arranged by the National Council for Mental ygiene, particulars of which may be obtained from the Secretary.
Cental Health Training Course
^ in the last number of Mental Hygiene a note appeared on the organization of 6 Mental Health Training Course since the outbreak of war. The London School conomics, at present established for full-time students at New Court, Peterhouse, rnbridge, now invites applications for Commonwealth Fund scholarships for the WelJ1011 The Feversham Committee Report stressed’the need for more -qualified psychiatric social workers and the first months of the war have shown r y that this need has grown, rather than diminished. There is no doubt that a workers trained in mental health will be wanted, not only for emergency fa ‘rCeS m connecti?n with evacuation and with mental patients for whom ordinary who11SS ^aVG keen curtailed, but for clinics which are dealing with those individuals o will inevitably suffer from nervous strain due to war conditions.
0 Undertake training for this type of work may be regarded therefore as a real rrtl constructive national service. ^1
Mental Health Emergency Committee
Up to the present, the work of this Committee has been mainly concerned with the alleviation of emotional problems amongst evacuated children, on the lines indicated in an article printed on another page.
The following Mental Health Social Workers are giving assistance with billet- ing problems in Reception Areas:?
Miss Addis (Northampton), Miss Cullen (Brighton), Mrs. Henshaw (Bradford), Miss Keir and Mrs. Shawyer (Reigate and Guildford), Miss Orr (Caernarvon), Miss Stephen (Cheltenham), Miss Leslie (Oxford). In Henley a worker (Mrs. Rhees) gave valuable help in organizing a hostel for difficult children.
The Ministry of Health is giving sympathetic support to the activities of the Committee and now that some of the more pressing problems connected with evacu- ated children have been dealt with, it is hoped that work for adults may be under- taken. A letter published in The Times of January 4th, signed by the chairman of the Committee (Mrs. Montagu Norman), drew attention to the services which Mental Health workers (psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers) are able to offer in helping to ” prevent and alleviate mental breakdown in a time of emergency “.
The Committee is appointing in each of the eleven Civil Defence Regions into which England and Wales are divided, a Regional Representative to whom enquiries on social problems connected with Mental Health or on individual cases may be referred. So far eight appointments have been made, and it is hoped that the com- pleted list may be published in our next issue. Meanwhile, the list of appointments made up to date may be obtained from the Secretary, Mental Health Emergency Committee, 24 Buckingham Palace Road, S.W.I.
On the State of the Public Health*
Sir Arthur McNalty makes no mention of Mental Health matters in the body of his report this year but in his introduction on the state of the Public Health which deals with the question of the reality of human progress, he writes:
” Unfortunately, in many respects, the transition for a generation born in a more leisured age has been too abrupt and speedy. The central nervous system of man is dragged at the chariot wheels of modern progress; it is made to work not necessarily more efficiently, but at a more rapid pace; it is exposed day by day to demands upon its attention, claims on its vitality and shocks and vicissitudes, which the nervous systems of our forefathers never knew and which we as children barely envisaged. This concentration of labours which would have sufficed for a week of a past age into the short space of twenty-four hours, of necessity causes increased strain on the nervous system. The world gets through an increased amount of work in the shortest possible time; but the penalty is paid in ‘nervous breakdowns’; neurasthenia and other manifestations of nervous fatigue.
Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health for the Year 1938.
” The mental health of a nation is of equal importance to its physical health, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that State medicine must pay increased attention to the prevention and treatment of nervous fatigue. But as with other forms of disease the causes are complex. It is a social and economic as well as a medical problem.”
It is to be hoped that the Health Authorities really mean what they say ln the last paragraph for so far preventive medicine has been lamentably one- sided.
In the reconstruction period after the war, whenever that comes, all those interested in and cognisant of the problems of mental health will have to strain every nerve to persuade Health Authorities both central and local to implement what their Chief Medical Officer has declared to be increasingly apparent, but which might already have become abundantly apparent if these Authorities had had eyes to see and ears to hear.
The L.C.C.’s Mental Health Services in Wartime
In a report made to members of the London County Council from which we have permission to quote, covering the period from the outbreak of war to October 3lst, 1939, there is an interesting section on ” Mental Health Dealing with the effect of the war on admissions to Mental Hospitals, the report states;
” … during the week immediately following the declaration of war, the number of patients admitted to London County Mental Hospitals, on reception orders was 100, whereas in the corresponding week of 1938 the number had been 62… . Since the end of the week following the declaration of war, the average number of admissions has been 19 per cent, less than the pre-war average. Probably the sudden increase at the beginning of September was attributable to nervous tension supple- mented no doubt by a proper anxiety on the part of relieving officers to get the observation wards in London as free as possible of patients likely to be in danger if enemy activity should begin.”
It is reported that the Council intend to administer the Mental Deficiency Acts as fully as possible, and despite inevitable congestion, it is hoped that there will be lnstitutional accommodation available for urgent new cases. The Occupation Centres were closed on the outbreak of war, but all those defectives whose relatives desired it (a total of 303) were removed to institutions as ” places of safety though some have since returned home; fifty-one high-grade girls from South Side Home ^lt;h the Superintendent and staff, were transferred to one of the Council’s Cental Hospitals where they have given excellent service on the domestic side of the Work.
Evacuation of Mental Hospital Patients
In answer to a question in the House of Commons, Mr. Elliot, Minister of ealth, has stated that under the hospital emergency scheme, not more than 200 Patients had been discharged from Mental Hospitals, and in every case careful lnvestigation had been made of all the relevant circumstances, including the home conditions. He further stated that the Board of Control were reviewing the arrange- ments for the care and supervision in wartime of individuals living in the community who were suffering from mental disorder.*
Prisoners and Mental Health
It is recorded in the Report of the Commissioners of Prisons for 1938,f that during this year the number of prisoners certified as insane in local prisons was 97, as compared with 121 the previous year; 309 remand prisoners were found by Medical Officers to be insane (compared with 291 last year) and were dealt with by the Courts; 26 were found by juries to be insane on arraignment, and 22 were found to be guilty but insane.
In addition to these cases, 2,779 men and women were remanded to prison for observation and reports to the Courts on their mental condition (compared with 2,777 in 1937).
Under the Mental Deficiency Act 1913 (Section 8), 233 defectives were reported to the Courts, this representing an increase of 81 on the previous year’s figures. Whilst undergoing sentences of imprisonment in local prisons, 30 defectives were certified, 25 of whom were removed to institutions by order of the Secretary of State under Section 9 of the Act.
Attention is called to the striking increase in the number of reports on Young Prisoners on remand in Wormwood Scrubbs Prison, and the following interesting table is given:?
1936 1937 1938 Total number of medical reports sent to Courts .. .. .. 317 496 572 Reports sent without request from Courts 41 84 110 Reports sent on request of Stipendiary Magistrates .. .. .. ? ? 254 Reports sent on request of other Courts .… .. .. ? ? 208 Number of Courts requesting Reports ? 68 77
Of the cases on which reports were requested, 17 per cent, proved to be either mentally defective or insane, and 11 per cent, of the cases on whom reports were sent without being requested were mentally defective.
Referring to the recommendation made by Dr W. Norwood East and Dr. Hubert in their report on ” The Psychological Treatment of Crime ” that a ” special institution for the care, study and treatment of a selected group of criminals ” should be created, Dr Methven, Medical Commissioner, comments:? ” Such an institution would be expensive to build and to maintain, but I am convinced that it is necessary and its cost justified. The institution would have to be * Lancet, 21.10.39. t H.M. Stationery Office, 2s. carefully planned and would require very anxious consideration before details could be fully worked out. It is true, as the authors point out, that the psychological treatment of crime is in its infancy; nevertheless, provided a sound basis could be found for the selection of cases likely to prove suitable for treatment, it should prove a most promising infant.”
It is recorded with satisfaction that the Prison Commissioners had arranged f?r Dr Hubert to continue his work as psycho-therapist at Wormwood Scrubbs and that authority had been obtained to engage a woman medical psycho-therapist for work with women and girl offenders, the work to be carried out at Holloway Prison.*
Oliver Plunket Epileptic Colony
The first Annual Report of the Oliver Plunket Epileptic Colony, conducted by the Brothers of St. John of God, has just been issued. This is the first colony of the kind to be opened in Eire, and the Report devotes a good deal of space to the discus- sion of epilepsy in general and of the special disabilities of the epileptic. The first batch of boys was admitted in September 1938, and a year later there were 47 in residence, three short of the maximum number which can be provided for. The chief occupations have been farming and gardening, boot repairing, tailoring and carpentering. All these activities are necessarily in the initial stages, but a good beginning has been made and foundations laid for steady development and Progress.
It is estimated that to deal adequately with male epileptics in Eire, a colony of some 200 beds is needed, and it is proposed to erect temporary buildings as the demand for admission increases until more extensive permanent provision can be made.
Copies of the Report of this gallant pioneer effort can be obtained from the Rev- Brother Prior, Oliver Plunket Epileptic Colony, Hollywood Rath, Mulhuddart, Co- Dublin.
Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency
The Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency announces that it has ound it possible to continue the provision of training for those who desire to qualify ?r the University of London Diploma in Social Studies, and the second year course ?f twenty-four lectures began on January 2nd, 1940.
Dr Hermann Mannheim is the lecturer for the first series, taking as his subject Social Structure related to Penology and Criminology The second series will c?nsist of twelve general lectures on ” Social Structure ” by a lecturer whose name WlU be announced later.
The lectures will take place weekly on Tuesday evenings at the Institute, Portman Street, London, W.l. Copies of the syllabus and applications for admis- Sl?n can be obtained from the General Secretary. We understand that, owing to the war, this appointment has not yet been made.?Ed.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.