Evening star., 1933-01-25
Director Bates of y. S. Pris-
ons Bureau, Winthrop Lane
and Others Heard.
new ORGANIZATION
FACING DIFFICULTIES
Lacks Equipment to Study Indi-
viduals for Specific Treatment,
Says DR.. johnson.


ing parole authorities discuss for five
hours yesterday and last night the best
methods by which criminals can be re-
turned to society and made ready to
take their places In communities as
useful American citizens.
The members Of the board, Isaac
Cans. civic leader; DR.. Loren johnson,
prominent psychiatrist, and DR.. Emmett
Scott, secretary of Howard University,
were attentive listeners at the meeting
in the Y. w. C. A., which was sponsored
by the Family Welfare Committee OF
the Council of Social Agencies, and had
as its topic, Parole, With Special Ref
erence to the District of Columbia"
Among the speakers were Sanford
Bates, director of the United States Bu-
reau Of Prisons; Winthrop d. Lane,
director Of the New Jersey State Divi-
sion Of Parole. and Ray L. HUFF, parole
executive Of the Bureau Of Prisons. DR..
johnson himself made speech, point
ing out the difficulties facing the re-
Gently created board, which, he said.
lacked the equipment to study the cases
Of individual offenders and recommend
specific treatment. In the audience
were District Commissioners Crosby and
Reichelderfer, Police Chief Ernest w.
Brown and Detective Chief Frank s. w.
Burke
Supervision Pivotal Point.
Adequate supervision Of the criminal
after he has been released from the
penal institution, to insure that he does
not again break the laws Of society, was
the pivotal point around which the ad-
dresses and discussion revolved.
Bates, the first speaker. said the
only successful parole system must
necessarily embrace a period, after re-
lease, in which the prisoner can set
up his residence in a community under
enforced supervision. and an attempt
made TO carry the prisoner over from
the restricted atmosphere Of the prison
to the freer atmosphere OF the COM
munity." He declared there are three
indispensable needs In any successlui
parole system-personnel, facts ana
supervision"
politicians and expect parolet service,
he asserted. You must have persons
of better er-than-average intelligence. for
character remolding comes as near Dc
ing an impossibility as anything can be.
"As for the second essential before
any attempt can be made to act, you
must have the facts. You must know
when the moment has arrived that a
man has served just long enough and
not too long: you must know the mans
physical attributes, his mental makeup
and his psychological reaction.
"The parole system which overlooks
supervision Is not a parole system at all.
II supervision is not given careful con-
sideration, the Judge might as well have
fixed the minimum sentence in the BE-
ginning"
Parole System Defended.
Discuseing the value of the parole
system, Bates said that even II 1900
out Of 5000 prisoners granted parole
returned to lives Of crime, L am pre-
pared to contend that even those fig
ures don't prove the failure of the pa
role system"
How can it be proved that the other
100 would not have relapsed If it had
not been for the parole system?" he
he asked.
Lane, who followed Bates, explained
for the benefit of the District Parole
Board members the system now IN op-
Grafton in New Jersey, by which all
paroles are recommended by the Clas-
sification Committee in each OF the
penal institutions, the committees be-
ing composed Of the leading Omcials
and professional men attached to the
institution.
Supervision of the offender, after
parole, Is accomplished by a state
wide organization and periodic reports
are made on the parolee's status,
whether he has reunited with his fam
lily. has job and whether he shows
any inclination whatever to relapse
into crime, Lane said.
Our conception of parole work, "
he told the gathering Of social work.
ers, rs effective social case work. The
parole officers are instructed to regard
the prisoners whole family as his
clients and to try to adjust the Of
ender's life so that he will be a use
ful citizen"
Classification Of Criminals.
DR.. johnson classified criminals as
Cd "the emotionally unstable, who are
dumped into the wastebasket Of the
psychopath; (2) the very distinctly
feeble minded, who are easily led, and
90 the reformable group, the first Of
tenders"
Il can visualize" he continued, "a
society Of some time in the future In
which the individual with the emo
tional twist can be placed in an insti-
tuition where he can be given special
study and sent back to society a normal
person. ! can visualize q world where
the feeble-minded can be given special
treatment and built up and returned to
society In normal condition.
1.-The reformable-those first Offend
ers-should not be allowed to mingle
with the emotional or the recidivists." 7"
What all criminals need, according to
the psychiatrist, is work, play, love
and worship" These, he added, could
be and should be supplied by the penal
institutions as part of their corrective
system.
He said all the factors which his
board had to consider led him to won-
der whether punishment does not have
Q deterrent effect" He added that the
psychiatrist has certain definiate ideas
upon the deterrent effect of punish
ment." DR.. william A. White, super
intendent Of st. Elizabeth's Hospital,
who took part in the discussion follow
ing the scheduled addresses, explained
that the psychiatrist definitely IS op-
posed to the principle Of punishment,
believing it only serves to "activate the
aggressive instincts and make the
criminal even more dangerous"
Hun, discussing the topic, "Mobilizing
Resources for Parole" declared that
"every existing agency in this commu-
nifty should be made available to the
good parole system"
Capt. M. M. Barnard, superintendent
of District penal institutions, following
m, Iy,,ff'S thau,o ascorfnd that fhere are
today IN the Lorton Reformatory be-
tween 200 and 800 prisoners who never
should have gone there; probation
would have been far better for them"
District Supreme Court Justice. Jeaso