City Congratulated: “One of the First Authorities to Recognize the Problem”: Mrs. Pinsent. who is Chairman of the Board of Control, made a most able speech on colony life and training for the mental detectives. She congratulated the city on its enlightened public spirit. It was pleasant, she said. to report that the City of Stoke-on-Trent was one of the first local authorities to recognise the problems of the mentally deficient, and to provide some accommodation of their own. No doubt the experience they had gained at the Cloughs Institution, at Newcastle. would be valuable in the working of this larger scheme. They had great opportunities, said Mrs. Pinsent, of securing the happiness and usefulness of the future occupants of the Hall. The lot of the mental defectives left to fend for themselves in the world was a very hard one indeed. They were often made to feel their infirmity, even by their own parents. and many of their anti-social reactions and bad habits need never have been if they had received early care and attention. For that reason, she wished to ask them to admit all their colonists as young as possible: Dangers of Monotony: Most of their colonists would necessarily have to regard that as their permanent home. Possibly 5 per cent. might improve sufficiently, after long training, to take their place in the community. There were two things that could make institution life miserable—monotony and idleness. People talked a good deal about taking away the liberty of the individual, but a good many years’ experience had taught her that, given plenty of variety in work and play, the feebleminded did not feel the intense craving for personal liberty. The measure of liberty possible in the colony was quite enough to make them happy. They must never be idle or bored, and the well-run colony would have workshops and occupations which could supply the needs of all the colonists. Time must never hang heavy; in other words, when they were not at work they must be at play, speaking of the need for adequate classification, Mrs. Pinsent said that so many people made the mistake of thinking that mental defectives were all of one class and that they could be herded together in common dormitories. They must separate the higher-grade defective from those of the lower grade, for the former were often acutely sensitive of being classed with Imbeciles and idiots.
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive
Referenced
GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949