CHILDREN, Delinquent. A delinquent child is one who commits an act which would be counted a crime, if performed by an adult. In most States of the United States, children who are declared incorrigible, knowingly asso ciate with vicious persons or frequent vicious places, are classed as delinquents.
to the year 1823, juvenile criminals were tried in the criminal courts, associated with adult criminals, and received like punishment with them; but in that year, the New York House of Retuge was established. Children sentenced for crime were sent to the house of refuge, where they became the wards of the board of trustees, who were given authority to release them on parole when they gave evi dence of reformation.
From this beginning grew up the juvenile reformatory system of the United States. Gradually the idea of punishment retreated into the background and the idea of guardian ship, training and reformation came to the front. Sentences for fixed terms gave way to commitments for an indefinite period, to be de termined in accordance with the child's prog ress in character and self-control.
In 1855 the Ohio State Reform School was built at Lancaster, on the cottage plan, without prison bolts, bars or walls. "Elder brothers' took the place of guards. The boys were treated as pupils rather than prisoners. From that time the cottage system gradually found favor until it is now in general use. The early cottages were built for 50 to 60 children each. The size of cottages has gradually decreased until cottages for 25 to 30 children are com mon. The Children's Village at Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., the State Agricultural School at Indus try, N. Y., and the Thorn Hill school near Pittsburgh, Pa., have cottages for 20 children each, and the cottages recently built for the New York Training School at Yorktown Heights are designed for only 16 boys In the most modern institutions for delin quent girls, each cottage is a complete domes tic unit, with its own dining-room, kitchen and laundry. In some institutions, every girl has a separate room, while in others a part of the girls sleep in dormitories, and the rest in single rooms. It is generally recognized that separate rooms should be provided for at least a part of the girls.
There has been a steady advance in the quality of employees in juvenile reformatories. Men and women of the highest character and attainments are now sought for superintend ents because it is recognized that the task calls for a high degree of talent and training. In many reformatories, there has been a corre sponding advance in the quality of subordi nates, particularly cottage managers, and teachers of industries, and in the school of let ters. In schools for delinquent boys, it is common to have a man and wife in each cot tage, the wife serving as house-mother, and the husband being employed in the school or in the shop or on the farm and acting also as house father. In schools for delinquent girls, each cottage has a house-mother and in some schools there is also a housekeeper or assistant. These house-mothers are now chosen with great care, with reference to their intelligence, refinement, devotion, patience and tact.
The school for girls at Sleighton Farm, Darling, Pa., employs for the most part, as caretakers, teachers and cottage mothers, young women who are college graduates. The Home School for Girls at Sauk Centre, Minn., prefers as cottage mothers mature women of intelligence and motherly spirit.
All managers of juvenile reformatories at tach great importance to vocational education. Many reformatories have endeavored to pro vide instruction in tailoring, shoemaking, farm ing, sewing, dressmaking, cooking and other branches of housekeeping through the ordinary domestic tasks of the institution under instruc tion of ordinary employees. Experience has demonstrated that this method of instruction is ineffective, especially in large congregate in stitutions. In cottage institutions, with small groups, domestic science can be taught in the regular work of the cottages, but even under those conditions, special, trained teachers are needed to supplement such teaching. In boys' schools, special teachers must be employed for carpentry, blacksmithing, farming and so forth, in order to attain any practical success in voca tional training.