Arizona republican., 1921-02-25

are examined in the mental clinic. as they leave for their home towns be- fore an examination can be given them, but of 466 girls so examined during the past year 30 per cent were mental defectiyes. Many of these, although unmarried, had had two or three chill dren before they were 20. In view of their past experience with girls of this type, the probation officers believe that they should be placed in colonies for the feeble minded.
 But il a girl has a pretty face, it is awfully hard to get a judge to do this, said Dr. Bingham, the psychiatrist. And many of our high grade morons looking. Some of them can write their names well enough, too, and answer 1 questions with apparent intelligence during the brief interval they are on the witness stand. So the judge IS often misled It is very discouraging, it just means that in a comparatively short time she will be back on our 1 hands, with another baby. And. of course. the poor babies are just as baA 1 if not worse, than their mothers. It is merely feeble -mindedness repeating it. self.'
 When a girl is of normal intelligence, however, with a fairly stable nervous system, the probation officers turn to her environment to discover the causes ! of her wayward tendencies. With the great majority of girls the environment is obviously to blame. Their homes are crowded tenements, their parents too strict. or else immoral, and they have practically no opportunities for healthy recreation. The girls cared for At Waverley are nearly ali Jf the type you would see in a factory or tenement house or a commercial dance hall The matron estimated that at least third if.f fani,. n that the other two thirds had foreign born parents.
 l The Girls Environment
 While each girl. in sense, represents a different problem. she usually falls 1 into one of three classes. She is either 1 a girl who rebels against the harsh and unsympathetic attitude of her parents; one who has developed wayward ten l dencies through the dance hall, or one | who has been encouraged to immoral ity in her own home.
 Some girls with foreign born parents have a particularly difficult time at home Their mothers are wholly in capable of comprehending the American woman's attitude of independence. and raise 8 row if their daughters do not spend their evenings at home, em- broidering. If a girl in some of the foreign colonies stays out until II o'clock at night, according to the pro-
 
 beating when she gets home and to be accused of serious misdemeanors.
 My mother said I was a bad woman so many times" explained one of the girls who came to Waverley, that thought I might as well be one"
 Perhaps the most pathetic and diff ficult problem with which the proba- [ tion officers have to deal is that of the girl who is taught to be immoral in her own home.
 We usually send girls of this type up to Hillcrest farm for the summer - and let them live in the open air as much as possible and try to make them forget their past experiences. Then, if they are too young, we place them in boarding homes, or. if old enough, find them positions that will make them in- dependent. The court sees that the parents are properly disciplined.
 "Oh the work is much more hopeful than you would think" the matron con- cluded cheerfully. It's surprising how well the girls get along. Sometimes we get a hard case like that dark, pretty