Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents | Page 7

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 indictable offences reported to the police are "cleared
up", whereas in New Zealand 64 per cent of indictable offences are
"cleared up". A comparison which takes this and all other relevant
factors into account could probably place this Dominion in a much
more favourable light.
Whatever inferences may be drawn from the statistics presented in this
report--whether juvenile immorality has increased or not--any nation is
wise that, from time to lime, surveys its moral health.

V. A Change of Pattern In Sexual Misbehaviour
When this inquiry was mooted all members of the Committee heard the
oft-repeated comment that sexual delinquency was not new--it had been
going on through the ages and always would go on. Many people also
said "You cannot make people moral by Act of Parliament".
Although there is some truth in each of these statements the Committee
does not feel that the matter should be dismissed in that way. First,
such an attitude is not a desirable one to adopt when seeking a remedy
for a social evil. Secondly, the continued existence of a vice, however
far back it may be traced, is not a reason why special measures should
not be used to deal with it when it assumes considerable proportions.
Intemperance and dishonesty have always been apparent. But there
have been times when these vices have reared their heads in new ways
and in new circumstances which have compelled action by the
Legislature. The consumption of alcohol by persons in charge of motor

vehicles is but one illustration of the way in which an old vice may
become such a great evil in altered circumstances that stern measures
have to be taken. Stealing was reprehended in the Ten Commandments,
and so was covetousness. Theft was always punishable at common law;
but, soon after company promotion became a feature of our commercial
life in the latter part of the nineteenth century, firm action had to be
taken by the Legislature to protect the public from the effects of a
misleading or fraudulent prospectus.
Similarly, in this matter of improper sex behaviour among children, it
is not merely its extent, but certain features in its new pattern, which
command attention. These features are:
=(1) Younger Groups now Affected=
Immorality appears to be more prevalent now among younger groups in
the community. In the Hutt, and also in Auckland, most of the cases
were of boys and girls whose ages ranged from twelve to fifteen years;
but some of the young girls also associated with boys several years
older than themselves.
=(2) Precocity of Girls=
In former times it was the custom for boys to take the initiative in
seeking the company of girls; it was conventional for the girls to await
any advances. Nowadays, girls do not always wait for an advance to be
made to them, nor are they as reticent as they used to be in discussing
intimate matters with the opposite sex. It is unfortunate that in many
cases girls, by immodest conduct, have become the leaders in sexual
misbehaviour and have in many cases corrupted the boys. At one
school there were 17 children involved--10 of them were girls of an
average age of 13.2 years and 7 boys of an average age of 15 years.
Another disturbing feature is that in the case of boys more than half
were committing their first offence, whereas only one-fifth of the girls
were offending for the first time. The Committee has not overlooked
the fact that the offending girls may themselves have been corrupted by
a male in the first place. But the fact remains that four-fifths of the girls
involved in the particular cases that prompted this inquiry had an

admitted history of prior sexual misconduct.
The following extract from the evidence of a headmaster is impressive
of this new feature:
... We have not the same worry about boys as we have about girls. The
worst cases we have