Report of the Royal Commission on the care and control of the feeble-minded, Volume VIII.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-minded.
Date:
1908
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Royal Commission on the care and control of the feeble-minded, Volume VIII. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    I -General State of the Feeble-minded or Imbecile. Uncertiticd imbecile, feeble- minded and defec' live persons — conid. 21142, 21143. 21188, 21189. .John Macj)herson, Vol. III. p. 31, c. 1. Carswell, Vol. III. p. 01, c. 1. Clarkson, Vol. 111. 22008-22009. llussell, Vol. III. p. 180, e. 1. ('louston, Vol. III. p. 201, e. 1. Allan, Vol. 111. 2.')054. Fyfe, Vol. Ill, p.‘ 235, c. 2, 24725. Sntlierlainl, Vol. Ill, 24818, 24825. The Scottish Lunacy Law was not sufficient, he thought, to deal with 21135-40. mentally defective ])ersons wlio were not at present regarded as certifiable, tliougli under the Lunacy Acts in Scotland certification was much more easily obtained than in England, alike in the case of insanity and in that of imbecility and other forms of mental unsoundness ; a new Act was required to deal'with the uncertifiable cases. Dr. John Maepherson, one of the Commissioners in Lunacy, referring to children, considered that if two new institutions were erected, between “ 800 and 1,000 children of a more or less educable type would be provided for, and the present state of matters would be greatly ameliorated or perhaps wholly miti- gated.” He argued in favour of “ a wider recognition of insane conduct as a sign ^2i387 of insanity and as a basis of certification,” but “ unfortunately,” he said, “ the 2i38s! medical profession as a whole did not take that view of it as yet, and they re- fused to certify many of these cases, moral imbeciles or defectives,” who are perhajis the most dangerous of any of the defectives. Dr. Carswell, Certifying Physician in Lunacy to the Glasgow Parish Council, said :— “ There exists a large class of feeble-minded persons who do not come within the scope of exifsting lunacy legislation, the character and degree of whose mental infirmity is not easily defined, and for whose proper control and care no satisfactory provision exists, although they are never- theless a burden upon the community, })cing found in special schools, industrial schools, refor- matories, poorhouses, prisons and similar institutions.” 929. Dr. Clarkson, the Medical Officer of the Scottish National Institution for the Education of Imbecile Children at Larbert, said that he did not think that there were many idiots uncertified and unknown to the authorities, but there were a good many imbeciles, pretty low grade imbeciles. Sir James Alexander Russell, a member of the District Board of Lunacy in Edinburgh, said :— “ Ihifortunately, a good many persons of unsound mind who would be the better for being certified, in their own interests and in that of the public, are in practice excluded from the benefits of the lunacy laws. This arises firstly from the existence of a restricted idea in the minds of the public and of ordinary medical practitioners as to the amount of unsoundness which justifies certification. It is common to hear an expression such as that so-and-so is insane, but not bad enough for certification : secondly, from a natural reluctance on the part of friends to formallv admit the existence of insanity and so put a life-long stigma upon the patient, and thirdly from the danger of actions at law, which, although seldom successful, are always costly to the defendants. Dr. Clouston, the Physician Superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, says of the feeble-minded who have been sent to the asylum, especially the young women, as certified patients, that “ through conversation with the patients themselves and through the inquiries by nurses and the information supplied by parents and relatives, and from bodily indications where they have had children, I have come to the conclusion that such persons in a large city arc subject to overwhelming temptations and pressure towards sexual immorality. ” “ I am strongl}' of opinion that a proper care of feeble-minded girls would appreciably diminish the immorality, especially of our large cities, and would cut off one of the supplies of future im- beciles and criminals. During my long experience, I have now seen many cases of the grand- children of imbeciles who were themselves insane or epileptics.” 930. Mr. R. S. Allan, the Chairman of the School Board for Glasgow, said he was “ afraid that his evidence did not quite agree with some evidence that the Com- mission had received as to the actual danger. The girls, he believed, were exposed to the very greatest danger, and a great deal of care was necessary to prevent their going wrong.” Mr. T. A. Eyfe, Sheriff-substitute of Lanarkshire, thought “ that in the interest of the community as a whole, it was necessary that the liberty of the subject should be interfered with drastically, in the case of imbeciles, habitual inebriates, confirmed adult criminals, and the like. In tie case of young persons of feeble-mind, the present state of the law was weak. I agree with those w'ho think that feeble-mindedness even short of insanity should be certifiable, in the same way as scarlet fever or any other infectious disease, and then the local authority should have ])ovver to deal with tie patient in the general interest if the patient is not able to be treated satisfactorily at home.” 931. Dr. Sutherland, Deputy Commissioner in Lunacy for Scotland, supported Dr. Clouston’s general conclusion. He said : “ The imbecile woman who is certified is perfectly well protected, but a great many feeble-minded women who are not certified are not protected ” ; and in support of this view he sub- mitted statements regarding eight or nine parishes, giving the histories of certain feeble-minded women and their offspring. 36G