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The types of arrangement for mental examination may be classified as follows :
(i.) Centres forming part of the Court organisation, a method adopted for 15
juvenile courts in the United States and in Toronto.
(ii.) Centres connected with State Institutions for the feeble-minded or insane.
These are utilised in 46 courts in the States and by some of the Courts in 3 of the
Canadian provinces.
(iii.) Centres separately maintained by the City or County authorities ; these
are utilised in four courts of the State.
(iv.) Centres in connection with Universities or Colleges ; the facilities of 17
of the Universities in the States are utilised by 22 Courts, and to some extent the
corresponding services are rendered in certain places in Canada.
(v.) Centres for the study of sub-normal or abnormal children in connection
with the elementary school system of the district; these are utilised for 14 courts
in the State and at 2 at least of the Canadian provinces.
(vi.) Clinics connected with mental hygiene societies.
(vii.) Other methods. According to the report of the Washington Children's
Bureau, 31 courts of the United States utilised the services of psychiatrists or
psychologists, but gave no explanation of their connection or identity ; 13 Courts
stated they utilised teachers, nurses, or probation officers who had had some
experience in mental testing; and 269 Courts reported mental examinations by
general practitioners, but afforded no evidence that these practitioners had special
knowledge of mental disorders or defects. In only 14 States of the Union was
there no report of any mental examinations at all.
It did not prove possible to obtain exact information as to the proportion of
court cases that received full and detailed mental examination. It seems probable
that, as a rule, only those children were examined who had been referred by the
Judge, or in whose case the parents, teachers, probation officers, or others had
suggested some mental abnormality. In Toronto, out of 1,733 children brought
before the Court, 472 were reported upon by the medical officer, who, in addition,
reported on 378 adults against whom proceedings had been taken in the Juvenile
Court on account of some neglect or misconduct in relation to children. In Buffalo,
249 out of 892 delinquent children were reported upon in the course of a year, and
in New York 966 out of 10,061. The clearest statement as to the limitations is
shown in an extract from a report of the Chicago Juvenile Court:—
" It has never been possible to have all the children examined in full
detail owing to the large numbers concerned. (There being over 3,000 delinquents
and over 2,000 dependants considered in each year, as well as some 17,000
cases per annum, which are dealt with without formal court record.) At one
time an attempt was made to have a psychiatrist at court to give elimination
tests to all children brought in for hearing, but the children were found to be
abnormal, nervous, and excited at the Court hearing, and the practice was
abandoned. At present all children who are placed in the detention home
even for a day are given brief tests designed to eliminate those who are
definitely not feeble-minded. These tests are given by the teachers in the
detention home school, and are graded by the two psychiatrists employed by
the Institute for Juvenile Research, and stationed at the detention home.
The child deemed by this test to be defective is given a thorough examination
by the psychologist, and if any abnormality of the age score is observed, he is
also given a psychiatric examination either at the detention home or at the
institute for juvenile research.
The diagnosis of the case, together with a recommendation for treatment,
is reported to the Court at the hearing."
In each Court, however, the medical officers appear to have dealt with other
children brought before them by the probation officers or the Judge, so that the