Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents | Page 6

increase of sexual crime in the years 1920-1953 is not any greater than might reasonably have been expected having regard to the increase in population. In other words, the rate has remained constant. But the great increase in the number of indecent assaults on females (from 175 in 1952 to 311 in 1953) did call for special investigation. At the request of the Committee, these figures were broken down into the several districts in which the crimes had occurred and, as a result, it appeared that there had been an astonishingly big increase in the Auckland district. The Committee has had two separate explanations of this. In the first place, it was explained that the apparent increase was due to a change in the method of compiling the returns in Auckland. On reference to Auckland officials the Committee was informed that the method of compilation had not been changed. Whether or not this type of crime increased substantially throughout the Dominion in one year must, for the present, remain undetermined.
(b) Statistics of Juvenile Delinquency
The figures compiled for the Committee by the Superintendent of the Child Welfare Division show that:
(i) There was a substantial increase in juvenile delinquency during the Second World War.
(ii) After the war was over, the rate settled down to something like the pre-war rate.
The following is a fair selection of these figures (alternate years being taken):
Number of Offences and Rate per 10,000 of Complaints of Children Juvenile Population Year Out of Control, etc. 7-17 years 10-17 years 1934 1,653 53 73 1936 1,786 57 79 1938 2,447 77 105 1940 2,464 79 107 1942 2,421 79 107 1944 2,493 84 113 1946 1,786 60 83 1948 1,589 51 74 1950 1,464 46 66 1952 1,883 56 78 1954 2,105 56 81
In making comparisons it should be noted (as explained later) that during recent years the Department has undertaken much preventive work which may account for a return to the pre-war rate in spite of the existence of other factors leading to an increase in delinquency.
(c) Juvenile Delinquency in Maoris and Non-Maoris
Another illustration of the care required in the use of statistics is afforded by a comparison as between Maori and non-Maori offenders in the 10-17-year-old group. (For the purpose of these figures "Maori" means of the half-blood or more).
For the year ended 31 March 1954 there were 565 Maori delinquents, or 28 per cent of the total number of juvenile delinquents. During this same period there were 1,433 non-Maori offenders, or 72 per cent of those delinquents. But the Maori offenders came from 10 per cent of the juvenile population, whereas the non-Maoris came from 90 per cent of that population. On that basis juvenile delinquency among Maoris was three and a half times that among the rest of the child inhabitants of New Zealand.
The Committee has been unable to arrange for a dissection of the figures to ascertain whether there was a bigger percentage of sexual offenders among young Maoris than among other sections of the people. A considerable portion of offences may come from factors inherent in the culture and traditions of the Maori and their difficulty in conforming to another mode of living.
(d) Children Under Control or Supervision
It is interesting to find that after the war there was a steady decline in the number of children committed to the care of the State, or placed under supervision, until the year 1953. This is shown by the following table:
Year Ended | Under Control or 31 March | Supervision | 1934 | 7,259 1936 | 7,272 1938 | 7,403 1940 | 8,043 1942 | 8,221 1944 | 8,531 1946 | 8,048 1948 | 7,267 1950 | 6,525 1952 | 6,088 1953 | 6,177 1954 | 6,283
There would have to be reservations in any inferences drawn from these figures. For instance, the decrease may have been due to extra preventive work done by welfare officers. The earlier reduction or the later increase in the number of children placed under care or supervision may have been affected by the varying recommendations of Child Welfare Officers or the decisions of Magistrates. Finally, is the slight increase from 1952 to 1954 something to cause concern?
(e) Comparison Between New Zealand and England
Almost coincidentally with the publication abroad of reports of immorality in the Hutt district and of juvenile murders in New Zealand, an extract from a brochure of the Justice Department was published. This extract was to the effect that, in relation to population, there were one and a half times as many adults convicted of sexual offences in this Dominion as there were in England and Wales. That statement results from a comparison of the figures in the two jurisdictions, but it may create a wrong impression unless it is remembered that in England only 47 per cent of the