Introduction to the study of the dependent, defective and delinquent classes and of their social treatment / [Charles Richmond Henderson].

  • Charles Richmond Henderson
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Introduction to the study of the dependent, defective and delinquent classes and of their social treatment / [Charles Richmond Henderson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    machinery of relief and control. Sanitary science and medical science are tributary to our study, yet each covers only a section of the field. Without boasting that the name of science can yet be fairly claimed for sociology, we may safely affirm that such a subject as ours cannot logically be treated elsewhere, and that, if success has not yet crowned their hopes, the sociologists are sincerely working at the foundations of a method which is essential to any satisfactory solution of every single problem which engages the interest of every community. 5. Definitions and Classification. — “Dependents” are those who, from any cause, exist by means supplied by the voluntary acts of the community, by gifts from public funds or private sources. We shall discuss “defectives” so far as their infirmi- ties make them dependent on the community. “Delinquents” are persons who derive their support, at least in part, by imposing an involuntary burden or sacrifice upon the community, and whose hurtful acts are forbidden by law. We adhere to this grouping, in the face of adverse criticism, for practical reasons. It is made the basis of actual social arrangements, as census reports, and the divisions of functions of charities and correction in public administration. It is admitted that these groups are secondary formations and very complex in composition, and that other methods of classification are better for some purposes. But they are actual and definable groups, recognized by common observation and fixed in habits of thought and speech. The group of dependents, as defined, is composed of mingled elements, and its members stand in varied relations to society, as they differ in nature, disposition, and ability. Some are unfor- tunate, and their dependence is accidental; as, for example, old persons who have been industrious and frugal but late in life have lost friends and means. Others bear the marks of the pauper spirit, the willingly dependent. The epithet “pauper” has several meanings, and may imply
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