These our Children
- Author:
Arthur Collis and Vera E.
Poole. Gollancz. 8s. 6d.
It will be remembered that the Curtis Committee drew attention to the fact that it was precluded from dealing with children suffering from neglect in their homes, and that subsequently this question was raised in Parliament.
No one is better equipped to deal with it?in so far as it is concerned with poverty and slum conditions?than members of Family Service Units whose former book, Problem Families presented such an unforgettable picture of the surroundings and lives of people written off in despair by other social agencies as unhelpable.
In this new publication, emanating from the same source, the problem is dealt with from the standpoint of the slum child?in relation to the home in which he lives, the streets in which he finds his diversion, the play centre, club and play ground which he frequents, and the school which seeks to educate him. A final chapter, “What of the Future?” discusses possible lines of action, stressing the following recommendations :
(1) That the Government should institute an investigation to ascertain the extent of the problem and to provide a full-scale picture of its exact nature. Such a survey should include suggestions as to methods which might be adopted for the re-education of parents accused of neglect.
(2) That a new Child and Family Welfare Service should be set up, empowered to deal with all children (whether of school age or under) and acting as a clearing centre for cases of ill-treatment, neglect, behaviour difficulties and delinquency. The Service should be staffed by specially trained and experienced field workers in direct contact with the parents and children concerned.
The number of children living at slum level in whose lives this book seeks to arouse interest, is happily small if expressed in terms of a percentage of the whole child population, but it presents a problem which has eluded all the lines of approach so far tried and which?despite the increasing number of social workers and Local Authority officials who are continually in and out of slum homes and who have a real desire to help, is still no nearer solution.
Only a resolute attack on a wide front can deal with it effectively, and it is urgent that such an attack should be planned soon. For as long as these conditions exist they involve :
” the stunting and thwarting of young lives, heartbreak and tragedy for many, and a denial to children of all that is best in life.” In the solution of the problem, the contribution of the psychiatrist the psychologist and the mental health social worker, is needed equally with that of trained personnel from other fields, and only by united action will a solution be found.
To the complacent optimist who?comparing the amenities of the welfare state with the horrors of child labour in the days of the industrial revolutioncongratulates himself that such things can no longer happen here, this book may come as an unwelcome shock ; to the social worker baffled by his inability to rescue children from physical, mental and spiritual squalor, it will come as a challenge and an incentive. By all responsible citizens it should be read and discussed, and if a stimulus to thought and action is needed, no more effective awakener of the social conscience can be prescribed. A.L.H.
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.