® A 7/ Cornell University Library HQ 805.L71 some general aspects of famiW 3 1924 014 051 688 •3111 ■aog fiMiiss Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014051688 Reprinted from Social Hygiene, Vol. VI, No. 2, April, 1920 Copyright 1920 The American Social Hygiene Association, Inc. 105 West 40th Street, New York, N. Y. Publication No. 292 SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY DESERTION WALTER H. LIEBMAN President, National Desertion Bureau The family is the oldest of our social institutions. It preceded nations, and the law of domestic relations is older than that of civilized society/ And yet, in spite of its antiquity, the scientific study of the family as a social institution has, untU recent years, been sadly neglected. The reason for now approaching such study in a scientific spirit is not far to seek, as Professor Willy- stine Goodsell points out in A History of the Family as a Social and Educational Institution: The machinery of family life seems out of joint. Far from running smoothly, it has forced itself upon public attention by its creaking friction until its maladjustments can no longer be ignored. The insta- bility of the family is revealed by the marked increase in divorce among all classes and in desertion among the poor. The recognition of the importance of the study of the family is now universally recognized by social workers. Professor Edward T. Devine, in an article on "Individual and Family Welfare," appearing recently in The Survey, says: The family, among social institutions, is unique, and nowhere is its unique character more evident than in its relation to social work. In fact, it would not be diflBcult to conceive nearly all social work as falling under the three categories: that which contributes directly to family welfare; that which supplements the family; and that which provides a substitute when the family failg. Desertion and Divorce In Social Hygiene for October, 1919, the following note appears on "The Increase of Divorce": In its third report on divorce covering the decade from 1906 to 1916 the United States Census Bureau shows that there has been a steady 197 198 SOCIAL HYGIENE increase. In 1870, the American divorce rate was 28 per 100,000 population; in 1880, it was 39; in 1890, it had grown to 53; in 1900, it took a bound to 73; and in 1906 it had reached 84. But now, according to the figures just available, it amounts to 112. The somewhat startling ' fact is that, in less than fifty years, the divorce rate of the United States has jumped from 28 per 100,000 to 112. The chaotic condition of our divorce laws has done much to undermine and disrupt our homes. Agencies interested in ad- justing marital differences have often found themselves helpless in adjusting the case of a deserted wife and children, where the husband and father produced a decree of separation or divorce obtained by him in another state. At times, the decree would act as a complete bar in an action for support instituted in behalf of the deserted wife; frequently it would be successfully intro- duced as a defense against a request for extradition based upon the charge of child abandonment. Scores of deserted women are divorced each day without any knowledge on their part of the proceedings instituted against them in another state. How many of these women and their children, left destitute, fall a burden upon our organized charities, and upon the hos- pitality of relatives or friends? The following tragic story of a deserted woman was told at the National Desertion Bureau: "My husband left me eight years ago at Kishineff, Russia. He wrote me for a few years after coming to America, then stopped. I gathered enough savings through unceasing effort during the past five years to come here, only to discover that my husband secured a divorce at Cleveland, Ohio, remarried, and is living with his new wife and children at New Britain, Connecticut. Two of our four children were slaughtered at the massacre in Kiev, Russia, in 1905. We are here helpless. What can you do for me and my poor children?" was the pitiful plea of this unfortunate woman. Her case involved technicalities of the law impossible to surmount. Under the "full faith and credit" clause in the United States Constitution, all states, with the exception of New York and three others, recognize a decree of divorce as valid even though it was obtained by mere service SOME GENERAL, ASPECTS OF FAMILY DESERTION 199 through publication. This method of serving notice seldom results in the defendant- wife's actually getting notice. New York would disregard such decree obtained against one of its residents. However, in the case cited, Connecticut recognized the decree as binding upon it, for which reason the complaint of the appli- cant charging her husband with non-support was not entertained by the courts. The Desertion Bureau was determined to have the case reopened, if possible, in the courts of Ohio, but it was found that no relief was afforded. Parish v. Parish, 9 Ohio Rep. 534-, was a case in point. The husband in that case obtained a judgment of divorce without the wife's being aware that an action had been instituted. She sought to reopen her case, urging that a husband guilty of corruption and fraud should not be entitled to retain the fruits of his rascality and thus deprive the wife of her good name. The court, however, , decided that a decree severing the bonds of matrimony, although admittedly obtained by fraud and false testimony, could not be set aside after the expiration of the statutory period of six months, which had already elapsed. The statute expressly provides that "no appeal shall be obtained from the decree, but the same shall be final and conclusive." The court, in its opinion, said: This statutory provision is nothing more than a legislative recogni- tion of the princijale of pubHc policy which has been repeatedly con- firmed by the courts, that a judgment or decree which affects directly the status of married persons by sundering the matrimonial tie and thereby enabling them to contract new matrimonial relations with other innocent persons, should never be reopened. Such a course would en- danger the peace and good order of society and the happiness and well- being of those who, innocently relying upon the stability of a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, have formed a connection with the person who wrongfully, perhaps, procured its promulgation. The little Russian family, too, suffered innocently, but society and the law could do nothing for them. Uniform Marriage and Divorce Laws Under the liberal divorce laws of many of the United States, divorce is almost optional with either of the parties, and fraud 200 SOCIAL HYGIENE has frequently become legalized. But now that the power of amending the United States Constitution is being more sictively exercised, it is not unlikely that the long-continued efforts of the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws to have Congress amend the constitution with respect to divorce, will avail. The proposed amendment seeks to give Congress the power to establish uniform laws on the subject of marriage and divorce. Although the notorious abuses springing from conflicting matrimonial laws of the various states, more than any other consideration, led to the establishment of the National Conference' of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the subject of marriage and divorce has received less satisfactory and effective attention than any to which the commission has given serious thought and effort. The difficulties are insurmountable, save through a federal statute, after amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The difference of sentiment between South Carolina, where divorces are not granted, and South Dakota, where they are procured for trivial cause, or between New York and Massachu- setts, can scarcely be compromised to make possible the adoption of similar laws by all the states. For a cooperative statute to be of real service, it would have to be of uniform application and force. The exceptional laws of a few of the states occasion most of the existing difficulties. It would be comparatively easy to frame a statute embodying the substantial sentiment of three fourths of the states, and it would appear feasible to procure the ratification of an amendment authorizing Congress to act. The proposed amendment should be zealously advocated, because it offers the only practical method of doing away with the world- wide scandal of American marriage and divorce law, and the serious implications and complications which their abuse, as against women and children, involve. This article will treat of that phase of family disruption due to desertion, and of the communal aspect of the problem which confronts social agencies, rather than the individual aspect reflected before the divorce courts. some general aspects op family desertion 201 Nature and Extent of Desertion Problem ' Desertion is variously known as the poor man's divorce or the poor man's vacation. The rich man resorts to the divorce court. The poor man takes the law into his own hands.'' There are no reliable or complete statistics as to the amount of desertion. Divorce court records show that it is the most frequent cause for divorce in the United States, but no safe conclusions may be drawn from such figures. The cause assigned in the pleadings is not always the real reason for seeking to untie the matrimonial knot, and "desertion" is the readiest and most convenient excuse which may be presented to the court. The reports of social agencies indicate that 12.5 per cent of dependency is due to desertion. Twenty per cent of the children committed as public wards to private orphan asylums in the city of New York and elsewhere are the children of deserting fathers. The statistics, although incomplete, are sufficient to show that family desertion is so frequent and extensive as to require careful consideration and investigation, with a view to preventive and corrective treatment. Apart from the economic burden imposed upon a community which is called upon to support a deserted family, the social and moral effects upon the members of the family, especially the children, are indeed alarming. I Desertion threatens the stability of the home and depletes the moral vitality of the family, often directly affecting the children, whose conceptions become warped by the conduct of their father. Many deserted mothers try partly to provide for their children and are often employed for meager wages in unwholesome occu- pations, to the detriment of their own health; their children are, in consequence, often undernourished, neglected, and without the proper safeguards of parental supervision. One out of every two inmates of reformatories or industrial schools comes from a broken home. The children are committed for offenses of truancy, neglect, or juvenile delinquency.! The census statistics indicate that the wife deserts more fre- quently than the husband. Thus, in 1916, 23,082 out of a total of 74,8^93 divorces granted to wives, or 36.8 per cent, were for desertion, while 16,908 out of a total of 33,809 divorces granted 202 SOCIAL HYGIENE to husbands, or 50 per cent, were caused by desertion.' But these figures are misleading. Judges, lawyers, and social workers in touch with the problem know that the assigned reason for the divorce, namely, desertion, is but a convenience and a subterfuge. The more reliable statistics gathered by social agencies refute the inference that might otherwise be drawn from the census figures and demonstrate that desertion by the wife is not a very important social problem. Of 499 desertion cases which came under the care of the New York Charity Organization Society between 1906 and 1908, only 14 were deserted men. Of approxi- mately 2500 warrants issued during 1919 by the Domestic Rela- tions Court of the City of New York, only 20 were for women. Of the 9065 desertion cases handled by the Chicago United Charities from 1909-1915 inclusive, only 11 were cases of deserting women. Of the 9900 cases handled by the National Desertion Bureau from 1911 to 1920, in only 11 was the wife found to be the deserter. Dr. Earle E. Eubank's "A Study of Family Desertion" sum- marizes the matter thus : L/ Between male and female on this point seems to be a difference of temperament. Where domestic affairs go wrong the woman is inclined io find relief in tears and upbraidings; the man seeks to escape from the scene. Whether this distinction would manifest itself in this way if desertion were as easy for one as for the other, is a question. The fact is that at present desertion is not equally convenient to both. Social conventions, physical structure, the burden of children, and economic dependence are definite barriers which tend to hold the wife in the home, however much she may desire her freedom, Causes of Desertion /To determine the causes of desertion is as complex and difficult a problem as to determine the causes of marital unhappiness generally. ( Here, again, statistics are incomplete and unreliable. Court statistics are not illuminating, for the reasons before stated. It would require the joint services of a social worker and psychiatrist in each particular case to discover the deter- mining cause or causes, since there may be more than one. SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY DESERTION 203 ^It was at one time thought that unemployment played a chief part, but in the experience of social agencies, it plays a subordinate part. It may be said generally that a deserter evades his moral and his legal responsibilities, not because he cannot provide for his family, but because he prefers to provide for some one else, or because, for any of a multitude of reasons, he finds his home dis- tasteful. /The major causative factors contributing to desertion in modern society may be said to fall under the four following heads: (a) sexual,; (b) economic; (c) psychological; (d) psycho- pathic; (e) hygienic. I The following are typical cases under each of these categories (taken from the records of the National Desertion Bureau) : (a) Sexual. Mrs. X. filed a complaint against her husband, who, she alleged, abandoned her and their two children in destitute circum- stances and .eloped with her friend, Mrs. Y., a widow. The Bureau located X. in Boston, whence he was duly extradited. He pleaded guilty to the indictment. When interviewed, pending sentence, the following facts came to light: Mrs. X. was sexually imresponsive toward her husband, who, after a time, became increasingly attentive to Mrs. Y. Strange to say, Mrs. X. acquiesced in and even encouraged these intimacies, with resultant complications. The Bureau's psychiat- rist concluded after examination of the parties that Mrs. X's attitude was due entirely to the sexual incompatibility of husband and wife. The facts were thereupon presented to the court, which suspended sentence, upon the promise of the defendant to provide for the separate maintenance of his dependents. The court appreciated the fact that X. was not essentially vicious. For three years he has abided by the court's order of support. (b) Economic. A deserter once stated, in his own crude way, that he left his family because of despair: he had to work hard; troubles beset him; a child took sick; and not knowing which way to turn, he took a leap into the dark and escaped. The wife solicited help from the relief agencies; one child was sent to a public hospital and the two others to a private orphanage, while the complaint of abandonment was referred to the Desertion Bureau. The man was located at Charleston, South Carolina. This was his second offense; he was indicted for abandonment, extradited, and convicted. Upon being interviewed at the Tombs, he told the Bureau's representative that his desertion was due primarily to lack of steady employment, and that only fear of prosecution prevented him from writing home. He was contrite. 204 SOCIAL HYGIENE pleaded for another chance, promising to receive and support his family and never to desert again. Sentence was suspended and the defendant was placed upon probation for a term of five years. He was helped to obtain employment and in a very short while the home was completely rehabilitated. In the struggle for existence, the load gets heavier and heavier all the time, and then there comes to many the sudden desire to run away from it all and start afresh. They are prompted, perhaps more frequently than people believe, by the hope that they can better themselves by a •fresh start and return to make those dependent upon them happy for life. A strange mixture of folly and cowardice ! (c) Psychological. Once a family man wrote a little improvised diary, of which the following is an excerpt: "This is the third time I wanted to go away. When Mary was out with the babies, I stuffed a few things into a handbag. I stepped out into the hall. Silently I crept down five rickety flights of stairs. On the ground landing a neighbor saw me and I stiffened up with fright. On the stoop I saw the janitor and my wife's cousin. I would be seen by them if I walked out with a valise, I thought. Perhaps I would redden or be nervous or act peculiar. So I unpacked the things and went into the cafe where I played cards." This is the story of a man who came back. It throws a light on the mental processes of such a man : the merest incident changed his intent. (d) Psychopathic. But there are men who are degenerately vicious. The case of Z. is illustrative. Z. had a wife and seven minor children. Although he was always able to provide for his family, he constantly endeavored to shift his responsibilities upon a charitable organization, giving one excuse or another. The wife had been so accustomed to short periodic abandonments that soon she was thoroughly pauperized. She would insist upon relief, although her husband was home or about thte home. After much patience, it was finally decided to indict Z. under the child abandonment law. The circumstances were unusually aggravating, in consequence of which the court imposed the maximum sentence, not less than one year or more than three, upon the defendant, and, in addition, fined him $1000. It was then discovered that Z. had over $1000 in an out-of-town bank. When interviewed at Sing Sing by a representative of the Desertion Bureau, he refused to relinquish any part of the money in exchange for his freedom. The money was finally attached and Z. was permitted his freedom. His last statement was that he could not under- stand why his wife and children could not work and thus maintain SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY DESERTION 205 themselves. He was not thankful for his freedom. He sulked and said he would rather spend his life in jail than do anything for his little ones. "No one," he said, "has ever done anything for me." Soon after his release, he escaped to a foreign country. An examination of Z. by a competent psychopathologist would have disclosed a positive connec- tion between physical and mental deficiency in his make-up. (e) Hygienic. B., a native of a small village in the interior of Russia, arrived in America seven years before his family. During the interim, he acquired some of the outward mannerisms and customs of his Amer- ican friends. He ate in restaurants, was used to an occasional napkin, and his enforced solitude threw him into local theaters and dance-halls, night schools and labor circles, and thus created his social background. When his wife arrived, he tried to "Americanize" her after his own fashion, but she, good woman, imbued with old-world ideas, huddled in an East Side tenement trying to make both ends meet on her hus- band's meager earnings, was unequal to the task. Time deepened the chasm between them. She could not depart from the slovenliness of her home and her person. Result — desertion. The man was subsequently located. Hygienic conditions in the home were improved, thanks to the patient efforts of a social agency which became interested in the rehabilitation of the family. A reconciliation was later effected. This case may be paralleled in thousands of instances. A man with no resources for his leisure hours, a woman whose life is narrowed to hard work, children fretful and clamorous, all confined within a few small, dreary rooms — that is the condition in thousands of tenements throughout the great cities. It varies from day to day and in place to place only in being a little more squalid or a little more disagreeable. It is out of such dull domesticity that the desertion of families fre- quently arises. Treatment for Determining Causes It is extremely important for the social investigator to deter- mine the chief contributing causes, to make a family diagnosis, as it were, so as to insure proper treatment. A psychiatric laboratory is an important part of any modern scientific desertion bureau. Courts in Chicago, Boston, and in other cities use the psychiatrist in suspicious cases. Until there is a more general and intensive application made of the psychiatric clinic, the causes of desertion will remain uncertain. "206 social hygiene Corrective Treatment Only in recent years have social agencies approached the problem in a scientific spirit. We read the following in the report ■of the National Desertion Bureau for the years 1912-1915: In 1905 the Charity Organization Society of New York City presented a report "Family Desertion," covering a descriptive study of the characteristics and circumstances of 574 cases of deserters and their families. In submitting the reasons for not attempting reconciliations or arrangements for support given in 383 cases, the report stated "that in 223 cases of these, the address of the men was unknown, and the man was out of reach -either because his address was unknown or because he had left the country, or was in prison or out of the state." Thus in sixty per cent of the number of cases investig?.ted the definite address of the deserter was a mystery, "and it must be admitted that there was really no indication on the record that efforts had been made to find it." The very frank- ness of the report indicates that but a sporadic attempt was made to locate the deserter and that "there was little disposition to take the trouble of bringing the man to court, unless there was some prospect of benefiting the family thereby, and that in general the estimation in which the man was held made it seem hardly worth while to look for him." This almost apathetic resignation reflects the social indifference which prevailed only a decade ago. It did not occur to the f ramers of the quoted report that the work of locating family deserters was socially important, and that this work required a technique as ■elaborate as the machinery of the law in ferreting out thieves and major criminals. As a result, the opportunity for family desertion was ample, and the chances for detection and conviction few. The abandoned families were thrown on public and private charities. Altogether the toll was heavy on philanthropy, but the city cheerfully paid the bills, and the private charities could only shrug their shoulders. The attitude of the social worker has changed in recent years. However, prosecuting attorneys and public authorities generally are not yet alive to the grave importance of the problem and are still unwilling, in many jurisdictions, to invoke the authority of the law in procuring, extraditing, and seeking the punishment of the delinquent parent. The old view that desertion is a private affair in which the public has no concern is very slow to give way to the new view which regards the sanctity of the family life as the very foundation stone of modern civilization. The prosecut- ing attorneys make these claims: (1) that the process of extradi- tion is too costly to the municipality or to the county; (2) that the wife of the defendant often refuses to prosecute and thus turns the trial into a farce; (3) that very few of the extradited offenders would, in fact, go to jail, and that it is useless, as well as extravagant, to bring back men only to return them to their families. All these objections are unsound. It is more costly SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY DESERTION 207 to allow the public to maintain a deserted family than it is for a city or a county to pay the expense of bringing back a deserter from another state. The second objection can be obviated by using reasonable care in the selection of cases for prosecution. A properly organized desertion bureau will not prosecute men whose wives want them to return. Such deserters may be induced when found, to return to their families or to enter into some arrangement for their support. As to the third objection, it is not true that a suspended sentence is a waste of public funds. Deserters released under suspended sentence must, as a general rule, file adequate bonds guaranteeing the support of their fami- lies. Further, they are kept under the watchful eye of probation officers and any breach of the condition under which they are released automatically results in their recommitment to jail. The fact that many deserters who are extradited become recon- ciled to their families is certainly not a valid reason for refusing to undergo the expense of procuring such extradition. I Extradi- tion ought, of course, only to be resorted to in the case of vicious offenders upon whom moral suasion has no effect. \ A reasonable number of prosecutions in each jurisdiction will act as a deterrent to many men who might otherwise desert. Preventive Treatment — ^Municipal Desertion Bureaus f Experience indicates that there is more desertion in the cities than in the country districts. I Cities in which the problem has become serious should establish municipal desertion bureaus. In the light of the tremendous savings to private charities effected by private desertion bureaus, it is difficult to understand why the opportunity of effecting a similar saving to taxpayers and of assisting in the solution of a vexatious social problem has not been more generally availed of by public officials. The evil of family desertions, with its resultant dependency and demoraliza- tion of family life, should be handled by public authorities in the interest of an enlightened public policy. The principle is pre- cisely similar to that which induces the state to organize boards of child welfare to take care of the widow and the orphan. The deserted wife has an equal claim to public consideration. 208 SOCIAL HYGIENE In 1916, Leonard M. Wallstein, then commissioner of accounts of the city of New York, published a report on "Deserted and Abandoned Children; a Test of the Value of Enforcing the City's Rights Against Child Deserters." He states that the records of the Department of Public Charities show that the percentage of children committed to institutions by reason of the desertion of either parent, or both, was 21.8 per cent in 1912 and 22.82 per cent in 1913, and that on that basis, "disregarding the fact that the percentage of abandoned children is annually increasing, it may be stated that the city expends annually for the maintenance of abandoned children not less than $707,691.60." Apart from the economic waste, the cost in broken homes and broken hearts is diflficult to estimate; The commissioner selected fifty-three cases at random and investigated each one as thor- oughly as if he were charged with the duty of locating and prose- cuting family deserters, and came to the conclusion that: 1. Delinquent parents can be compelled, in a reasonable proportion of cases, to contribute to the support of their children; 2. A feasible method of dealing with such cases can be developed; 3. Such a method, if adopted, would warrant the necessary expendi- tures on the part of the city. He recommended that upon one of the city departments there be imposed the duties of a desertion bureau, and further says, of the result so far obtained: A repetition of such results each month for one year would mean a direct annual saving to the city of $22,152, in addition to the indirect saving effected by the probable discouragement to willful desertion which would follow upon the city's becoming known as a vigorous prosecutor of delinquent parents. It is the indicated discouragement to willful desertion that interests us particularly, since we are not concerned with the financial side of the question alone. Those who have studied the problem are convinced that a municipal desertion bureau, honestly and vigorously administered, would be the most eflBca- SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY DESERTION 209 cious method of controlling and checking the financial and social waste resulting from family neglect. T hf. Family C ottrt The first step which a desertion bureau must take when a case is reported to it is, of course, to find the deserter. The various methods of locating the runaway spouse have hardly a place in the present discussion. Assume that the deserter has been located. The social worker or oflScial must then determine from all the facts in his possession, whether a reconciliation can be effected and, if so, whether it is advisable. If the reconcilia- tion cannot be effected, or if it is deemed inadvisable, then an arrangement should be made by which the deserter agrees to support his family and so prevent their becoming community charges. If the deserter refuses either to become reconciled or to make such arrangement for support, the law must be invoked. In this connection it may be interesting to say a few words about a new and recent development in court procedure, namely, the organization of what is known as "the family court." "The family court" has its origin in the recognition of the fact that not the individual, but the family, is the unit of society, and that certain so-called crimes, misdemeanors, and delinquencies can no longer be treated by the ordinary and existing judicial proc- esses, but that they require special care and treatment. The first fruit of this policy was the establishment some twenty years ago of the juvenile court. The next development was the domestic relations court, and within very recent years we have developed the idea of a comprehensive "family court," with complete legal and equitable jurisdiction in all family matters. The following resolutions, adopted by the National Probation Association at its annual meeting in 1917, present the need, objects, and purposes of such a court: Be It Resolved, That the National Probation Association recommends the organization of family courts, the term "family court" to supersede the present courts known as courts of domestic relations. That the family courts be given jurisdiction in the following classes of cases : (a) Cases of desertion and non-support; (b) paternity cases, known also as bastardy cases; (c) all matters arising under acts pertaining to the juvenile court, known in some states as the 210 SOCIAL HYGIENE children's court, and all courts, however designated in the several states, having within their jurisdiction the care and treatment of delinquent and dependent children and the prosecution of adults responsible for such delinquency or dependency; (d) all matters pertaining to adoption and guardianship; (e) all divorce and alimony matters. That these courts be under the direction of a single judge except in jurisdictions where- , the work of the court is so great as to require more than one judge for the convenient and proper disposal of the matters coming before the court. That in these cases the court have special divisions, to which are assigned certain classes of cases; the court as a whole to be under the supervision and direction of a presiding judge. That such courts be provided with ample probation departments upon which shall be conferred power to make all investigations, medical, pathological, social, pyschological, or otherwise which shall be considered necessary, and that in pursuance of this work there be provided psychopathic laboratories sufficiently equipped to conduct the necessary scienti- fic investigations. That all cases involving children and intimate family relations be conducted as privately as is consistent with the law and the constitutional rights of the individual, and that publicity concerning abnormal family conditions be discouraged. That the procedure in the family courts be informal and summary, so far as it may be consistent with positive law, and that such civil as well as criminal jurisdiction be con- ferred on the courts as will enable them to deal with all cases so as to effect the adjustment of individual and family conditions without legal formality or delay. Our jurisprudence has not as yet developed a broad social concept, which seems so necessary in dealing with the manifold problems of the poor family in trouble with the law, whether it is because of juvenile delinquency, non-support, abandonment, illegitimacy, separation, guardianship, or other family trouble. The "family court" could deal with all of these complaints and maladjustments as a whole, justly, expeditiously, and without, cost to the poor litigants. \Family difficulties can best be treated through scientific method and a technique based on a thorough knowledge of all the elements in the family problem and by their proper coordination. | Too often legal effort has been dissipated by fragmentary treatment of problems, by ignoring the relationship that holds between dif- ferent phases and aspects. This applies with special force to the problems of the family. Only a court with a comprehensive vision and control can deal adequately with the family as a unit. Social, Service and Probation Those who have studied the subject believe that there are two necessary adjuncts of such a court. The first is a social service SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY DESERTION 211 department in charge of social workers having no police authority or function whatsoever; the second, an adequate probation ser- vice to deal with recalcitrants. Desertion cases, wherever pos- sible, should be treated without formal judicial procedure; when a deserted wife comes to the court for advice or aid, she should ' not be interviewed by a judicial or probation officer, but by a court social worker of judgment, experience, and tact. It is the experience of the National Desertion Bureau that seventy-five per cent of the cases which are referred to it result in family reconciliations or arrangement for support, without judicial procedure. The Municipal Court of Philadelphia reports, a similar experience. Only when the social worker has failed in his efforts at reconciliation, should the case be presented to court,, so that the matter can be treated judicially. Educational Treatment Miss Colcord, in her book entitled Broken Homes, says: "One very fundamental claim can be made concerning marital ship- wrecks; namely, that the way to prevent many of them would have been to see that the marriage never was allowed to take place." I It is, of course, true that many marriages are entered into with- out the realization on the part of the contracting parties as to the real meaning and obligations of marriage, i Proper ethical and hygienic instructions in the school and in the home would have a great influence in preventing many unhappy and ill- considered marriages; just how many, it is, of course, impossible to say. iCommon law or unceremonial marriages should be for- bidden. Barriers should be erected against hasty and undesir- able marriages. iThe chief element, however, in preventive treatment of desertion is a fundamental knowledge of all matters pertaining to sex and a proper ethical conception of marital and parental duties on the part of those eligible for marriage. I Professor Goodsell ends her valuable study with this eloquent appeal : 212 SOCIAL HYGIENE And so this chapter would close with a plea that parents and teachers bend their efforts to secure sounder knowledge, truer ideaUsm, a firmer self-control for the yoimg men and women of our land who are to be the husbands and wives, the fathers and mothers of the coming generation. Only thus can we get at the root of the disease that is sapping the vigor of married life; only thus can we combat the tendencies that are making still further for the disintegration of the family. And when wfe recall what this institution has accomplished for the good of the social body in the past, we may well put forth our best efforts to preserve it. For what substitute for the monogamic family as the nursery of individ- uality has society yet evolved.? What other form of organization so •completely secures the proper maintenance and training of the young.'' What other type of sex relationship has done so much to nourish the more spiritual phases of sex passion? In an age of domestic unrest ■every thoughtful man and woman should inform himself or herself on questions concerned with the family institution and exercise such influence as he or she may possess to deepen the respect in which it is held by the public in general, as well as to bring about needed reforms in its operation. Summary In taking a survey of the treatment of family desertion, it will be found that some of its evils can be obviated or at least lessened by the following measures: (1) A federal marriage and divorce statute with concurrent uniform legislation by the states; (2) the prevention of hasty and ill-considered marriages; (3) proper ethical and hygienic instruction, both in school and home, as to marital and parental duties; (4) the creation of desertion bureaus, preferably municipal, in charge of desertion experts; (5) a rational and vigorous enforcement of the law on the part of district attorneys and public authorities; (6) the creation of "family courts" with full jurisdiction in all family matters and with prop- erly organized social service and probation departments, working in conjunction with psychiatric clinics. ■IlL.tJifc^i.1 Social Service IN "The Family Court" Social Service = IN = "The Family Court" A paper read before The National Conference of Jewish Social Workers, ' ^ Atlantic City, May 29, 1919, by f WALTER H. LIEBMANN, President of the National Desertion Bureau, Inc., N. Y. C. Social Service in "The Family Court. The topic before you for discussion, "The Family in the Court," immediately suggests the "Family Court". That subject has re- ceived some attention from social workers, but by no means all the attention which it merits and very little of the publicity which it should have. The "Family Court" had its origin in the recognition of the fact that not the individual but the family is the unit of society and that certain so-called crimes, misdemeanors and delinquencies could no longer be treated by the ordinary and existing judicial processes, but that they required special care and treatment. Thus was initiated the movement to supersede the traditional individualistic point of view by a definite social policy. The first fruit of this new policy was the establishment some twenty years ago of the Juvenile Court for the primary purpose of removing the child charged with delin- quencies from the contaminating influences of the ordinary police court or court of criminal jurisdiction. That original idea has been extended and developed until juvenile courts have become what Judge Hoffman calls "child saving institutions". The Domestic Relations Court was the next development along the lines of the family court and within very recent years a compre- hensive "Family Court," with complete legal and equitable jurisdic- tion in family matters, has found favor in the thought and inclusion in the recommendations of jurists and social reformers. In 1917 a committee of which Judge Hoffman of the Domestic Relations Court of Cincinnati, Ohio, was chairman, presented an in- structive report to the National Probation Association. The basis of that report was an investigation made by Bernard Flexner and Roger Baldwin on juvenile delinquency, in which report the authors conclude, as follows : "Heretofore the emphasis has been placed on the child in court ; with a wider conception of the law it will in future be placed on the family in court. In short, the court will undertake to deal more effectively with the family which produces the neglected or delinquent child, who is merely a chapter in the larger and more complicated problem. This change contemplates a legitimate extension of the present court's functions. It will be vested with both equitable and criminal jurisdiction and will deal with all charges against minors, with neglected children and with all cases such as divorce, adoption and so forth, in which the custody of chil- dren is in question. It will likewise embrace within its jurisdiction all violations of law where children have been wronged, such as child labor laws and compulsory attend- ance laws. It follows, as a matter of course, that it will have jurisdiction over all cases of adults who contribute in any way to the conditions of delinquency or neglect in children." The Conference adopted the following resolutions : "BE IT RESOLVED, That the National Probation Association recommends the organization of Family Courts, the term 'Farnily Court' to supersede the present courts known as Courts of Domestic Relations. "That the Family Courts be given jurisdiction in the following classes of cases: (a) Cases of desertion and non-support; (b) paternity cases, known also as bastardy cases ; (c) all matters arising under acts pertaining to the Juvenile Court, known in some States as the Children's Court, and all courts, however designated in the several States, having within their jurisdiction the care and treat- ment of delinquent and dependent children and the prose- cution of adults responsible for such delinquency or de- pendency; (d) all matters pertaining to adoption and guardianship ; (e) all divorce and alimony matters. "That these courts be under the direction of a single judge except in such jurisdictions where the work of the court is so great as to require more than one judge for the convenient and proper disposal of the matters coming before the court. That in these cases the court have special di- visions, to which are assigned certain classes of cases; the court as a whole to be under the supervision and direction of a presiding judge. "That such courts be provided with ample probation departments upon which shall be conferred power to make all necessary investigations, medical, pathological, social, psychological or otherwise as shall be considered necessary, and that in pursuance of this work there be provided psychopathic laboratories sufficiently equipped to conduct the necessary scientific investigations. "That all cases involving children and intimate family relations be conducted as privately as is consistent with the law and the constitutional rights of the individual, and that publicity concerning abnormal family conditions be discouraged. "That the procedure in the Family Courts be informal and summary so far as it may be consistent with positive law, and that such civil as well as criminal jurisdiction be conferred on the courts as will enable them to deal with all cases so as to effect the adjustment of individual and family conditions without legal formality or delay." Judge Hoffman's committee reported again to the National Pro- bation Conference of 1918, commenting on the spreading of the idea of the "Family Court" in spite of the lack of extensive publicity. It is said in the report that the principle of the Juvenile Court is to save the child by whatever means it has at command and that the principle of the Juvenile Court is the foundation upon which the "Family Court" must be constructed. The committee submitted the following recommendations on the organization of family courts : "First. That an active educational campaign be con- ducted by the members of this Association for the estab- lishment- of these courts throughout the country. This can be accomplished through the newspapers and other publications and by the aid of clubs and societies interested in social wQrk. We believe that the necessity for these courts and their purpose should be presented to the public. Local sentiment must be created before any progress can be made. "Second. While local conditions may demand some changes in the plans for the family court as provided in the resolution contained in the report of 1917, we feel that the leading principles contained in the resolution should be fol- lowed and insisted upon by social workers. "Third. That the court may have a fixed, definite and certain policy governing its proceedings and work, we recommend that the judges of these courts be appointed or elected for a term sufficient in length of time to afford the opportunity to develop the social service program necessary in carrying out the work for which the court is designed. The rtitation of judges, such as preyails in some of our larger cities, should be discouraged, so far as it applies to family courts, as it has been abundantly shown in juvenile and domestic relations courts that this principle has been productive only of chaos and constant conflict in the work incident to these courts. "We further recommend that judges of fhese courts be selected because of their especial knowledge and infor- mation concerning social service work, as well as their at- tainments in knowledge of the law. "Fohrth. That an immediate effort be made in all jurisdictions to obtain probation forces in the divorce courts, for the purpose of investigating the alleged grounds for divorce, and the home conditions and environment of the children of the parties in the divorce action, and for supervising the homes and children after the decree is granted." My peculiar interest in this topic lies in its bearing upon the treatment of the deserted and abjuidoned wife, and, while I agree with the conclusions in the report as to a proper organization of the juvenile division of the court, I want to sound this warning, and that is, that the greater interest in the child should not result in the neg- lect of the adult. The Juvenile Court is, of course, an important part of any "Family Court," but not necessarily the main part. It is well to remember that juvenile delinquency is frequently trace- able to adult delinquency, but adult delinquency never to juvenile delinquency. The present system of treating these problems which still ob- tains in many of our large jurisdictions results in chaos and social waste. Instances without number could be cited from the experience, of the National Desertion Bureau; a few will suffice: i/ A husband neglects and abuses his wife. He is summoned to the Domestic Relations Court, where an order is entered against him requiring him to provide for his family. The wife tells the judge that she fears bodily harm and wants her husband to keep away, but the court is powerless to impose such an order. A few days later the wife returns to court, having been assaulted in the mean- time by her husband, and is referred to the Police Court. There the Judge is inclined to regard both the complainant and the de- fendant as a quarreling couple and hearing that the matter has already been before the Domestic Relations Court, he declines to assume any jurisdiction other than to reprimand. Later, when the assault is repeated and the husband is again brought before the Police Magistrate, he is sentenced to the Workhouse for ten or twenty days. The wife is temporarily reheved for that period, only to expect him back again when the sentence ends ; and while this sort of thing does not continue indefinitely, it does occur with suf- ficient frequency to break down the physical, mental and moral fibre, not alone of the wife, but of the other members of the family. A "Family Court," with the proper and necessary equitable jurisdiction, would have had the power to order separation where the safety and self-respect of the wife and children were threatened and the moral, mental and physical breakdown of the family would not have oc- curred. While it is true, of course, that the wife had a right to go to a civil court of higher jurisdiction and ask for a separation, such a course was not within her financial ability and secondly, if it had been, the process would have been too slow to answer the need for summary action. Again, we have the case of a mother whose six-weeks-old baby was taken away from her by her husband, who refused to return the infant to her, although the Court urged him to do so. He was represented by an attorney who knew his client's legal rights and knew also that the Court of Domestic Relations had no right to re- store to the mother the custody of her infant. The case was re- ferred to the National Desertion Bureau. Two days later the man was before the Supreme Court on a writ of habeas corpus, and after being severely reprimanded he was ordered forthwith to return the baby to its mother. A properly organized "Family Court" with neces- sary jurisdiction could have ordered the return of the infant in the first instance without subjecting the mother to the necessity of resorting to the Supreme Court and suffering the anguish of mind which she did suffer while the baby remained in the possession of a worthless father. In New York, the Juvenile Court and the Domestic Relations Court are frequently called upon to assume jurisdiction in cases in- volving the same family. For instance, the Juvenile Court has the power to take a child from parents because of juvenile delinquency, but has not the right to enter direct order for the support of the children thus committed as public charges. Resort must be had to the Domestic Relations Court and a new and separate proceeding ini- tiated against them. A properly constituted "Family Court" could assume immediate and full jurisdiction. The problem of the neglected and delinquent child and the de serted family is so closely interwoven that unless the court can en- ter into the consideration of all the phases of the case, its judgment is merely patchwork. The family, instead of being dealt with piece- meal, should be dealt with as a unit. Miss Rippen, the former Chief Probation Officer of the Philadelphia Municipal Court, says: "No delinquent family can be chopped up and treated successfully from the standpoint of such individual mem- bers as are brought before our courts." She further says that in six months' time no less than 705 cases were opened in either the Domestic Relations Court or the juvenile divisions of the Philadelphia Municipal Court, which were already known to the other. I believe enough has been said to show the necessity for a "Family Court" with complete civil, equitable and criminal juris- diction. Opinions may differ as to the method of organizations of such a court. Should there be one judge or should the work of the court be subdivided into logical divisions presided over by different judges? What should be the extent of the jurisdiction of such a court ? Should it embrace separation and divorce cases ? These are controversial questions into which it is not necessary to go at the pres- ent time. What we are concerned with, however, is not so much the method of the organization of the court, as we are with the treat- ment to be accorded to the people whose misfortunes bring them into the court. How, for example, are you to greet the deserted wife who comes into court with her burden of grief and woe ? Per- sonally, I believe that this institution, although called a court, should, in the first instance, function as a very necessary part of that social service system which you here have helped to create and develop. The first contact should be, not with a judicial or a probation officer, but with a social worker of judgment, experience and tact. Wherever possible, the case should be treated without judicial procedure. In- vestigation, a resulting knowledge of the difficulty, helpful advice and constructive assistance should precede and, wherever possible, completely take the place of judicial trial and probation. That is the principle upon which the National Desertion Bureau, which owes its existence to this Conference, proceeds. Seventy-five per cent of the cases which are handled by the Bureau result in family reconcilia- tions or arrangement for separate support without judicial procedure. The appeal to court is resorted to only when all other efforts at reconciliation have failed. I am informed that such a system is in successful operation in the Philadelphia Municipal Court; that so-called interviewers, who are essentially social service workers and not probation officers, dispose of seventy-five per cent of non- support and desertion cases without judicial procedure or probation and I am also informed that a similar social service department system has been initiated in the Chicago Municipal Court. I do not want to be understood as criticising in any way the probation service which is attached to these courts. My point, how- ever, is that a sharp distinction should be drawn between social ser- vice and probation. Contact with a probation officer, who is too often associated in the mind of the alleged offender with a police officer and whose primary function is invariably to deal with some- one already declared a delinquent, results often in a feeling of dis- grace and humiliation, which is easily avoided if the contact in the first instance is with someone having no quasi-police function or authority whatsoever, but who is vested only with moral authority, consideration and kindness. Members of a family should not be placed under or come in contact with a probation system when they come to court for advice and assistance. Social workers by train- ing and experience are social adjusters competent to deal with cases of social maladjustments and equipped to point out and effect the necessary adjustments. I believe that the. modern probationary of- ficer is similarly equipped to do social service work, but I maintain that when the case first comes to court a social worker, and not an - officer having police authority, should take charge of it. Let me repeat: I do not want to derogate from the excellent social results which are the by-products of the modern probation sys- tem, nor do I wish to have you infer that such social co-operation is not potential for even better results. What I want to reiterate is that probation work should not become operative in any given case until the subject has been declared a delinquent; in other words, the family should receive social treatment before penal treatment and should not come in any contact with probation work, as such, until the case has definitely reached the stage for judicial action and treatment. The main thought that I want to leave with you, therefore, is that the chief adjunct of the new "Family Court" is a social service department as the first aid for preventive and curative treatment. And, now, how should such a department function? There are probably many and various answers to this question. I hope I may be pardoned for again referring to and placing before you the ex- perience of the National Desertion Bureau, which has been engaged in work of this character for many years, and has, as we claim for it, perhaps immodestly, developed a technique which can safely be followed by the social service department of a "Family Court." There are certain special social considerations which must prevail : Briefly stated, the procedure of the National Desertion Bureau is the following: The applicant (wife) is originally interviewed by a social service worker whose training and experience in this class of cases assures a thorough analysis of the facts and a correct clas- sification of all of the elements in the given problem. The next step is a separate interview with the husband by the same social worker for the purpose of checking off the state- ments of the wife and dovetailing the two stories into a coherent account, relatively free from fundamental contradictions. The cardinal policy of the Bureau being rehabilitation of fam- ilies, the third step is a study of the data in order to determine whether or not in the given instance an attempt at reconcilation is the proper course to pursue. Too often it is taken for granted that a reconciliation is advisable in all cases. This is gratuitous and con- tradicted by experience ; but once the Bureau concludes that a recon- ciliation is the proper course and adequate solution, no effort is neg- lected to bring this result about. The decision as to the treatment in any given case is not arrived at until both husband and wife have been jointly interviewed, their attitude and reactions studied in rela- tion to the causative factors of the disharmony. Thus where eco- nomic factors largely entered into the problem, reconciliation (based on helping the man to procure work) is a more practical course than in cases where the pathological factors are present. In cases where reconciliation is inadvisable or where the attempt to reconcile fails, the Bureau endeavors to effect an amicable arrange- ment for support based on the earning capacity of the husband; where evidence tends to show the inability of the man to make ade- quate provision for his family, partial support is arranged for, aug- mented by aid from a relief society. For the remaining cases, those of obstinate or vicious offenders, men who make a practice of neg- lecting and deserting their families and who disclose an utter lack of responsibility, summary and exemplary treatment is the only alternative and at this point the legal machinery of the court is called in to function. Up to that point every step taken was in line with a definite social program and policy, with a view to exhausting every facility for family reunion. Much progress has been made in the treatment of juvenile d^- , linquencies and kindred family crimes and misdemeanors ill recent years. The old political police judge is rapidly disappearing and judges responsive to the social importance of their problems are presiding in these courts. The probation system is developing and improving. There is, however, still opportunity for greater progress and reform. I place niy hope and faith in the trained, intelligent and sympathetic social workers, the men and women who take up the work, not primarily for the sake of i>ecuniary reward, but because they are animated by a larger spirit of social usefulness to enter into- the ranks of a noble profession. But while we approach this problem through ideal motives, we must come to quarters with it through scientific method and a tech- nique based on a thorough knowledge of all the elements in the problem and their proper co-ordination. Too often social effort has been dissipated by fragmentary treatment of problems, by ignoring the relationship that holds between given phases and aspects. This holds with special force and applicability to the problems of the family. Only the worker with a comprehensive vision and a mind trained in co-ordinating data can deal adequately with problems arising from disintegrated families. Let us remember that, in the last analysis, we are aiming in these cases to effect family rehabilitation. We are trying to restore to the people who come and who, unhappily, will continue to come into these courts, that feeling of hope, self respect and independence without which life must, indeed, be a burden. A properly admin- istered "Family Court" is one of the best social and legal instruments we have with which to work intelligently, sympathetically and effect- ively in our efforts to build up the broken home and the place for the social worker is in the social service department of such a court. Respectfully submitted, WALTER H. LIEBMANN Atlantic City, N. J., May 29, 1919.