Chapter 5

Not all available literature on this subject is of equal quality. Several religious organizations already have publications suitable for the members of their respective denominations. The Committee is also informed that the Federation of Parent-Teacher and Home and School Associations, in conjunction with several experts, is now in the course of publishing pamphlets suited to different age groups.

The barrier between parent and child can be lifted by meetings where talks are given and films shown. Heads of schools, in conjunction with Parent-Teachers' Associations could invite, on separate occasions, mothers with their daughters, fathers with their sons, or both parents together. The special value of such gatherings would be to enable those with adolescent children to do what they regret having avoided doing in earlier years.

It will be argued that, whatever is done to help parents, there will still be a proportion likely to baulk at giving the information. Some may even remain indifferent. There could be no objection to some unaccompanied girls or boys attending the meetings for parents and children. The Committee states its views on sex instruction in schools elsewhere in the report. It is stressed here that sex instruction given in the absence of the parents may well increase the number of parents who neglect what should be a jealously guarded privilege.

In conclusion, parents should remember that, even though adolescents may appear to possess a great deal of knowledge, it may be factually inaccurate and, above all, may require putting into correct perspective. This applies particularly to the older adolescents who have been involved in criminal charges. That group may have practical experience of the mechanics of sex; what they require is a more wholesome outlook on the intimate relations of man and woman.

_XII. The Influence of Religion on Morality_

A common element in many of the statements made to the Committee is a desire for a better spiritual basis in our society on which a sound code of morals may be built.

=(1) The Need for a Religious Faith=

The consensus of opinion before the Committee is that there is a lack of spiritual values in the community. This is not merely because the majority of people do not go to church, but because of the general temper of society and standards of morality. Most people would affirm some sort of belief in God, but are unable to relate it to their daily lives.

It may be a matter of argument that morality is dependent on religion, but the structure of western society and our codes of behaviour have, in fact, been based upon the Christian faith. If this faith is not generally accepted, the standard of conduct associated with it must deteriorate.

Signs are not lacking that people are turning away from a purely materialistic conception of life, and seeking a more spiritual basis for conduct.

The recent disclosures in the Hutt Valley indicate a largely nominal church affiliation in most of the cases under review. Although it was stated that thirty-six per cent of the offenders attended church or Sunday School regularly, and that sixty-four per cent had never attended or had ceased to attend, closer examination of the individual cases would be required before any deduction could be drawn from the figures given to the Committee. It is, however, safe to assume that there was little religious teaching; and it is unfortunately true that there was a failure to observe moral standards. The acceptance of the Christian position cannot fail to promote good conduct in all fields including the relationship between the sexes.

=(2) The Need for Religious Instruction=

The Committee considers that the Nelson system of religious teaching in schools should be encouraged and developed. In so far as the basic philosophy of education in New Zealand may not be religious, the Committee notes that a conference between the Department of Education and the New Zealand Council for Christian Education is being arranged.

Church activities among youth affected were criticized on the grounds that they appealed only to the "good boys and girls", or to those who already belong to a church. This situation presents a challenge which needs to be met, and it will demand, in particular, a consideration of how young people are to be encouraged to spend their time on Sundays.

=(3) The Need for Family Religion=

As family life is vital in this inquiry something must be said about religion in the home. It is clear that, other things being equal, a home with a real religious atmosphere is a good safeguard against immorality, and a sound background for moral teaching, particularly for the development of knowledge about sex.

The practice of family religion is to be strongly endorsed.

_XIII. The Family, Religion, and Morality_

=(1) The Importance of the Family=

From all that has been above written it will be seen that there is not any one cause of the sexual delinquency among children which has provoked this inquiry. There are many predisposing and precipitating causes. If there be any common denominator in the majority of cases studied by the Committee it is lack of appreciation by parents of their personal responsibility for the upbringing and behaviour of their children or, if they do appreciate their responsibility, they are unable to guide them correctly and to maintain control of them. This finding is in harmony with the current of public opinion expressed in the statements that "it all comes back to the parents" or "the parents are to blame". That much cannot be gainsaid.

But what is the root cause of this failure or inability on the part of present-day parents? This is an aspect of its assignment to which the Committee has paid great attention.

It should be made quite plain that the Committee does not subscribe to the view that the sexual immorality which has recently been brought to notice is entirely of the pattern which prevailed in former generations. Nor can the Committee be content with platitudinous recommendations as to how this immorality among young persons may be kept in check within the existing processes of the law. It is the view of the Committee that during the past few decades there have been changes in certain aspects of family life throughout the English-speaking world leading to a decline in morality as it has generally been understood. A remedy must be found before this decline leads to the decay of the family itself as the centre and core of our national life and culture.

=(2) The Place of the Family in the Legal System=

The emphasis which the Committee places upon this section of its report calls for a statement of the place of the family in English law.

The family (meaning thereby the father, mother, and children) from time immemorial has had a definite and recognized status in our national life--a place which it has not always occupied or enjoyed in other cultures and other systems of law. There is in our culture an air of sanctity about the home where parents and children dwell. The rights of a parent against any intrusion into his family affairs have been expressed in such statements as "A man's house is his castle".

Our law of domestic relations centres upon the home. When the Legislature or the law-courts have interfered in the conduct of a home it has only been because one member of the family has failed to discharge the duties which an individual is required to perform towards other members of the family or towards society. Speaking generally, the rights and duties of individual members of the family have been preserved and enforced in our statute law. Illustrations are to be found in the Infants Act, the Destitute Persons Act, the Child Welfare Act, the Family Protection Act, and the Joint Family Homes Act.

The policy of English law is, and always has been, to keep the family together and to uphold the rights of parents. Those rights have correlative duties attaching to them. It is the failure of some parents to perform those duties which has now become a matter of grave concern.

The irony of the situation is that this slipping of parental responsibility has occurred contemporaneously with the granting of financial and other help to parents. Family allowances and State homes should be concomitants of an increased sense of responsibility. Despite all that the State has done, and is doing, for families, the moral standards of the community have somehow been undermined. Is this because of a general lowering of the moral standards of adults? Is the attitude of children towards sexual matters a direct reflection of the thoughts and conduct of their elders? To borrow the words of a Jewish proverb "the apple never falls far from the tree". It has been firmly urged upon the Committee that there has been a "breakdown of the moral order and moral standards". That may be putting the matter too strongly, but there can be no denying the fact that the sanctions of morality today are not as strong as they were, say, forty or fifty years ago.

=(3) The Sanctions of Religion and Morality in Family Life=

Up till early in this century the chief sanctions operating in society were those dictated either by religion or by wisdom and past experience, i.e., religious sanctions and moral sanctions. The standard of religious morality is that which is prescribed in the Bible, interpreted perhaps in different ways by different denominations at different times. The standard of conventional morality is that which has been handed down from generation to generation. There have at times been differences between the religious standard and the conventional standard. For instance, the Church has always reprobated adultery, but even as late as the nineteenth century society accepted, without very much concern, the conduct of a man who had both a legal wife and a mistress. Despite those occasional differences between the religious standard and the conventional standard, our system of morals has been based on the standards of Christianity.

=(4) The Moral Drift=

During last century it was strongly urged by some scientists that a religion based on faith was untenable. Man, it was contended, should accept only what could be proved by reasoning from observed facts. Once again there emerged, particularly in scientific and literary circles, the belief that there could be a code of morals entirely devoid of religious content.

This intellectual standpoint helped to undermine the authority of the churches. The views of the scientists were not the cause of, but undoubtedly did accelerate, the drift from organized religion.

There is evidence of the effects of beliefs developed during the present century in another field of learning, that of psychology. On the one hand, it is held that there was in former days suppression of the natural development of human personality and, on the other, that a great deal of misery has been caused by feelings of guilt. Ill health, even mental illness, has been attributed to these two factors.

Between the two world wars much of the material of the new psychologists began to drift into circulation in so-called popular editions. Doubtless much of the writing was from reputable sources, but the new views, good in origin, began to suffer as had religious faith in the past from poor exponents.

A desire for scientific accuracy is understandable, a wish to understand the working of the human mind wholly commendable, but many people whose loose behaviour was instinctive, rather than inspired, now had apologists for their conduct. The moral drift had become moral chaos.

_XIV. Changing Times and Concepts_

Since the beginning of the twentieth century the undermentioned aspects of a changed social order have become evident. It is not within the province of this Committee to make an appraisal of the tenets implicit in any of them. Ecclesiastics may preach against the sins involved; opposition may arise to the philosophy of education; commercial and professional interests may inveigh against the inroads of the State, but this Committee is concerned only in their effects on the sexual behaviour of young people whose habits and characters are being affected. It is now necessary to examine them.

=(1) Contraceptives=

Perhaps the first major shock to "respectable" society regarding sex was when it became known, soon after the beginning of the First World War, that the Army authorities were distributing "condoms" to troops about to go on leave. Probably this was the first recognition by the New Zealand Government of contraceptives. This decision by the Army was accepted by society, not without misgivings, on the basis that it was much more important to guard against the spread of venereal disease than to endeavour to enforce continence among the troops. Society was obliged to choose between two evils, and it chose what it regarded as the lesser. Contraceptives thereafter came into common use, are now purchased by a majority of married couples, and by many unmarried persons. Their acceptance by the married has posed some problems which have required the attention of the Courts in England. It was not foreseen, when they came into use, that questions would arise as to the validity of certain marriages where one party used contraceptives to avoid having children.

The Committee has found a strong public demand that contraceptives should not be allowed to get into the hands of children and adolescents. Whatever views may be held concerning the use of contraceptives by older people (married or unmarried) no responsible father or mother would countenance their possession by their young sons and daughters.

The Committee is unanimous that adolescents should not buy or have contraceptives in their possession.

=(2) The Broadening of the Divorce Laws=

The subject of divorce was very fully discussed in the Houses of Parliament in England, in New Zealand, and elsewhere after the First World War.

If parents are unable to live happy lives together or to become reconciled after differences have arisen, the interests of the children may be improved, or may be worsened, by a legal separation or a divorce. Tension in the home may be just as big a factor in the causation of delinquency as a divorce or separation of the spouses.

Juvenile delinquency in all its forms is frequently associated with homes where the marriage is broken either by a divorce, separation, or discord. It is not so much the separation as the tension which precedes and succeeds it that results in children getting out of control.

The matter is noted here solely because, if parents cannot agree together, they are less likely to discharge their duties to their children. Greater is the responsibility which rests upon them in these unhappy circumstances. If parents are unwilling to shoulder the extra burden caused by the break-down of their marriage, some action by the State may be required if it seems likely that children may suffer.

=(3) Pre-marital Relations=

One aspect of the moral drift is the number of people who entertain the nebulous idea that it is somehow not wrong to have pre-marital relations or to live together as man and wife without marriage.

Such a view is opposed to all the ideas of chastity which are inherent in our morality. Apart from that, an irregular sex relationship may be psychologically[6] disadvantageous.

However much adults may desire a good moral standard to be observed by children and adolescents, they have no right to expect it unless they conform to proper moral standards themselves.

=(4) "Self-expression" in Children=

Early in this century psychologists said that the repressive influences of early discipline were stultifying to the development of the child. They advocated that the child's personality would mature better if uninhibited. This has been interpreted by many people to mean that you should not use corrective measures in the upbringing of children and that their natural impulses must not be suppressed. Some of these people have even thought it wrong to say "No" to a child.

People brought up in this way have now become parents. It is difficult for them to adopt an attitude to their children which does not go to extremes either way. As a revolt against their own upbringing, they are either too firm in their control or too lax. Children brought up in both of these ways have been featured in the case notes of delinquent children placed before the Committee.

=(5) Materialistic Concepts in Society=

Education, medical and hospital treatment, industrial insurance, sickness and age benefits, and other things are all provided by the State, when the need arises, without direct charge upon the individual. The virtues of thrift and self-denial have been disappearing. Incentive does not have the place in our economy which it used to have. The tendency has been to turn to the State for the supply of all material needs. By encouraging parents to rely upon the State their sense of responsibility for the upbringing of their children has been diminished. The adolescent of today has been born into a world where things temporal, such as money values and costs, are discussed much more than spiritual things. The weekly "child's allowance" is regarded by some children as their own perquisite from the benevolent Government.

The dangers inherent in this materialistic view is that many young people who could profit from further education do not feel a sufficient inducement to continue study. They leave school too soon, and the broadening influences which could come from further education in the daytime, or the evenings, is lost to them. In the result, these young people, having too much interest in material things, and not enough in the things of the mind and the spirit, become a potential source of trouble in the community.

One suggestion made to the Committee was that saving and thrift should be encouraged, or that this might be enforced through the Children's Court in cases where it is found that offenders have fallen into criminal immorality through having more money than suffices to pay the reasonable necessaries of life. While the powers of the Children's Court might be extended or used for this purpose in extreme cases where adolescents are brought before the Court, the best help can come from wise action by parents to prevent their powers of direction and control being undermined through young persons having too much freedom and too many of the material things which are not necessary for their well-being.

_XV. The Law and Morality_

=(1) History of the Law Regarding Morality=

At no time in the history of the British Commonwealth have Parliaments or the law-courts endeavoured to impose a system or code of morality on the people. Men are not required by the governing powers to observe the moral law, any more than they are required to attend Divine worship. But Parliament, in the shaping of legislation, and the Judges in the administration of justice, have frequently had regard to that indefinable sense of right and wrong which becomes implanted in the human breast. Furthermore, the law, while not coercing any one into following a particular course of moral conduct, has, nevertheless, always been careful to restrain people from acting in such a way as may cause offence to those who do observe the principles of religion or of morality.

Offences against religion (for example, blasphemy and disturbing public worship), and offences against decency and morality (for example, indecent exposure, indecent publications, and prostitution) are strongly reprehended.

In determining what conduct on the part of an individual should be condemned the law has always endeavoured to maintain a balance between freedom of the individual and the rights of the community not to be harmed by the exercise of that freedom.

The law is not interested in sin, or even immorality, but it is vitally interested in the effects of them. A person may stay away from church, but he must not scoff at the Holy Scriptures. He may bathe in the nude, but not at a public beach or near where persons are passing. A human model may be posed for an artist, but must not be exhibited in a shop window.

One other feature of the law regarding morals is that there are some things which adults are not restrained from doing but which the law will not suffer to be done by minors. Common examples are found in the restraints which are imposed on children smoking, or entering upon premises open for "drinking" or betting.

Similarly, through reason and experience, the law has found it necessary to set some limits on the right of an individual to do what he likes with his own person. The community has an interest in the life of every citizen. More particularly may this be said to be so when the State spends much money on the education and health of the people. Suicide has always been wrongful; attempts at suicide are therefore punishable, partly because the State has an interest in maintaining human life, and partly because suicide is a result of sin and a breach of morality.

=(2) Protection of Women and Girls from Defilement=

At common law the woman was always regarded as the mistress of her own person. Consent was therefore a defence to a charge of rape. The Legislature subsequently interfered for the good of society and in the interests of morality by legislating against abortion, against soliciting for the purpose of prostitution, against the keeping of brothels, and against procuration for the purpose of carnal knowledge.

The next development of consequence in the law on this matter was in the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885 (England). This statute, which was subsequently followed in New Zealand, made it a criminal offence to have carnal knowledge of girls. The penalties were graded according to the ages of the girls involved.

As an indication of the seriousness with which the law, by successive stages, has regarded sexual offences it is convenient here to summarize the penalties set out in sections 212 _et seq._ of the Crimes Act (N.Z.).

Rape Imprisonment for life. Attempted rape Imprisonment for 10 years. Carnal knowledge of girl under 10 Imprisonment for life. Carnal knowledge of girl 10 to 11 years Imprisonment for 10 years. Attempted carnal knowledge of girl under 12 years Imprisonment for 7 years. Carnal knowledge of girl 12 to 16 years Imprisonment for 5 years. Indecent assault on female Imprisonment for 7 years.

The above are the maximum penalties. The modern tendency is to inflict much lesser punishment upon an offender, to grade the punishment having regard to such matters as the damage done, the past history of the offender, and the prospect of reform.

=(3) Consent as a Defence=

The consent of a girl under 12 years of age cannot be raised as a defence to any defilement charge.

But where the girl is over 12 and under 16 her consent may be raised as a defence if:

(_a_) The girl is older than or of the same age as the person charged; or

(_b_) It is made to appear to the jury that the accused is under the age of 21 and had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of or over the age of 16 years.

The law on this point is not uniform throughout the Commonwealth. In Victoria the defence of consent is available only when the girl is older than, or of the same age as, the accused (_vide_ Crimes Act 1928, Vict. 3664, sec. 45). The Committee has been officially informed that this law (most rigid when compared with the defence of consent available in this Dominion) has been working well since it was first enacted about fifty years ago.

In England the defence of consent is available to any accused under the age of 23 years, but only on the first occasion on which he is charged with the offence.