activities in which every inmate must participate unless excused on account of physical disability. This example could be duplicated in a number of the most efficient of our correctional institutions.

It was long ago discovered that boys and girls in correctional institutions are often very limited in their ability to play games, indicating that in many instances delinquency is due to the fact that they have had little opportunity for wholesome play and that crime is often but the manifestation of a play instinct that has been misdirected. In the introduction of recreation for adult prisoners, fundamental humanitarian considerations have been deciding factors. The recognition of a high death-rate from tuberculosis and of an abnormal incidence of insanity among prisoners who were confined for thirteen continuous hours out of each twenty-four in the cell-block helped to secure the introduction of the wholesome recreational features which mark the administration of many modern reformatories.

The reason for this willingness to give practical consideration to this use of recreation is found not only in the stirring of new humanitarian impulses and in the desire to revise our systems of caring for delinquents in the light of the newer social motives, but also in the great interest which has been manifest in recent years in the study of the hidden motives of human conduct as embodied so fully in the new behavioristic psychology, with which the play movement has been in closest sympathy.

Gaining attention first in the study of child life and development, and given a practical demonstration because of the eager recognition of the fact that modern civilization had been giving little to the child while it robbed him of much of his valuable heritage of a rich and varied play life, play has been accepted by the psychologist as making a remarkable contribution to the enrichment of life and the shaping of behavior. Because it ministers so fully and so normally to the emotional and instinctive side of life whose demands are so often thwarted in a machine-made civilization, it has extended its influence over every age and interest group until now, as never before, the value of recreation as a factor in normal living is fully recognized. What more natural then, than that recreation which was winning its place in the life of men, women, and children at the same time that the leaven of new ideas was at work among the students of crime and its punishment, should have found its way inside of the walls of prisons and of reformatories?

And can we justify the experiment? Visits to scores of institutions of all sorts in a number of states reveal the fact that those who are in the positions of administrative responsibility are eagerly calling for all of the ideas and the practical help which they can get. In spite of criticism that is often ignorant, and of economy measures that in many instances have hampered efficiency, the demand in institutions of every grade and class is for more recreation and not less. If wardens, keepers, superintendents, and matrons know anything about what the institutions really need, there is no doubt about the place that recreation now holds as an accepted part of institutional régime. The reason for this is threefold: health, training, and discipline.

Recreation has made a real contribution to health of body and of mind. In many institutions the "prison pallor" is gone. Flabbiness of nerve and of muscle have been greatly diminished. Habits of physical activity are learned just as other habits are learned, by practice. Perversions which thrived in the midst of physical laziness have been vanishing before the stimulus of vigorous activity. Those who go to their cells at night with bodies physically tired and with nerves relaxed enjoy wholesome sleep.

holesome activities create an interest which banishes morbidness and encourages the blimation of balked and thwarted instincts and emotions. Better far that a group ould be participating in or eagerly anticipating an exciting baseball game than occupyg minds with the petty gossip, intrigue, and perversions of the old order.

The recreational interests in an institution may form a vital part of the training rogram, and may send a person forth to normal life with broadened interests and with esources for the leisure hours. We have long recognized the responsibility of the istitution to give its inmates training for economic competence. However imperectly we may have practiced it, we have held to the theory that any person who is eleased should have some ability that the world needs. Until recreation programs were ntroduced, however, we gave little if any thought to his leisure. Very often the first ffender finds himself involved in some sort of wrongdoing because of a misuse of his eisure, and recidivism is most often due to the same cause. A job is essential to the ecuring of a parole; are we thinking sufficiently of the off-hours of the paroled person? The well-rounded recreation program provides a large group of interests, not merely ›hysical, but social and aesthetic, self-expressive, artistic, and educational, recognizing he value of any interest which may become a part of a broad program for culture and or character training.

Recreation also offers the opportunity for training in social adjustment. The nstitutional inmate is too often "yellow"; he is a quitter or one who has never ❝played he game of life on the level." He may, especially if he is young, learn through recreaion those lessons of self-discipline and self-control which probably could not be taught nim in any other way, certainly not by any abstract teaching while he is inside of the institution. The relation of recreation to discipline depends entirely upon the idea of what constitutes discipline. It has nothing in common with the old lock-step, ruleof-silence. However, to that type of discipline which is built upon a respect for the rights of the individual as a part of and subordinate to the greater right of the group, recreation can make and is making a striking contribution. It does this by building up the sense of team play and loyalty, by giving an outlet for surplus energy which far too often in institutions of all sorts can be released only by infractions of rules, and by giving a vitalizing interest to life instead of making it merely a matter of dull routine where "nothing matters very much.”

"Honor" systems are best introduced through the recreation activities. In one state prison where definite hours of recreation are provided the inmates say with pride "no rules are ever broken on our time."

With very few exceptions, the inmates of institutions of every sort are temporarily detained. The real problem then is to so handle them that they may most readily and effectively fit into normal life when their stay in the institution is done. This aim is accomplished best by those institutions which, regardless of any handicaps of inherited theories that are antiquated or of imperfect equipment which is inadequate, and in spite of the criticisms that arise from selfish interest about as often as from ignorance, go steadily ahead with their great human task, supremely concerned with their human material.

To such institutions a recreation program that is wisely planned and efficiently administered is proving a valuable aid in institutional efficiency and when we have educated our public to realize that recreation is not simply the provision of a "good time" but has large social and spiritual values we may expect to see criticism vanish and a wider and more effective use made of recreational activities.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS OF A WOMAN'S REFORMATORY

Anna M. Petersen, Connecticut State Farm for Women, Niantic

The administrative problems of a woman's reformatory are manifold. They are of a great many types and may be interpreted from a great many angles, but after carefully sifting them they seem to fall into four relative classes, namely: those which involve the public, those which involve the board of directors, those which pertain to the staff, and those which pertain to the inmates. They are cited inversely in the order of their importance, for in the final analysis the work is done for the good of the inmates and their interest is the one that should be uppermost in the minds of all these four groups.

The first group of problems which we will consider are those pertaining to the public. These fall into two general classes. Perhaps we had better stop a moment to explain what we include in the group called the public. There is first the general public which may be divided into, on the one hand, the unintelligent or uninformed public who knows nothing about social problems in general or institutional work in particular, and on the other, the intelligent or informed public which is cognizant of social conditions and has a mild interest in reformatory work. Next we have social agencies with private or public subsidies who are doing relief work or investigative work of one kind or another. In this connection may also be cited the police department of the state because it comes in contact with most of the wards that enter institutions. Another group that is included in the public are the judges who commit the women to the reformatory. Still another group are the legislators who appropriate the funds for the support of the institution. The problems that confront us with regard to this whole group fall into two classes, the educational and the financial.

Usually the individuals in this group designated as the public understand nothing about the institutions of their state. A few realize that they are contributing to the support of them, so naturally their interpretation is in terms of finance. How much does it cost to support the institution? What is the money being used for that the citizens contribute through the taxes? These are the questions that the public is most concerned with. The problem of securing money in amounts sufficient for the needs of a growing institution and the development of it along progressive lines is a grave one but is one that must be met if the work is to be done for which the institution was established. Large sums of money must be appropriated to establish the physical side of the organization and other sums of money must be secured to provide the staff which forms the other part of the organization. And the financial problem does not end there but extends to the securing of funds for upkeep and reconstruction in accordance with new ideas and always the maintenance of the wards under our care.

In order to get this financial problem solved we must have education of the public. The various groups in this class must be given a working knowledge of the nature of the criminal, his needs, and the equipment necessary for his rehabilitation. In other words, they must know more than the dollar and cents end of the work. This can be accomplished through the newspapers, by moving pictures and lectures and by practical demonstration of the work itself both in the institution and outside.

The public should be urged to visit the institutions in the state. Compulsory visitation of the institutions by judges, social workers, and all others who deal with the wards of the state should be enacted by all state legislatures. No intelligent parent

A child off to boarding school without visiting it or finding out if it is a suitable send the child in question. When the law steps in to replace parental control ; the same responsibility upon one or more of the persons whom this legislation ffect.

tory a

nce heard Newton D. Baker say that ignorance bred intolerance and that with on came knowledge, sympathy, and tolerance. It is a well-known fact in busiit if you get a man to buy a share of stock he immediately becomes interested in lertaking and wants to know more about it. So with philanthropic enterprises. ment a person contributes something he feels a partnership in it and seeks knowlbout it. Thus it would seem that one of the administrative problems of an ion is the education of the public and so secure the financial backing that makes her problem with regard to this group.

e next group with which we will deal is variously named the board, or committee, mission, or managers, or trustees, or directors. In relative position they stand y between the public and the institution. They are of the public and yet of the tion so that little will be said of the problems in connection with this group as re covered for the most part by one or other of the groups mentioned. Suffice y that the greatest problem in this connection is to secure the appointment of a of persons to act as directors or trustees who have a genuine interest in human who believe in reformative work and who are willing to give the necessary time to idy of the work, so that they can give wise counsel, hearty support, and intelligent ration to the superintendent whom they have placed at the helm. Further, this must function in harmony and as a whole. It must have a knowledge of the ples of penology and must understand thoroughly the purpose and province of stitution, but must not interefere with the details of the running of the institution. →y determine upon a policy after a mutual understanding of the problems, but d not attempt to carry out the details of it.

Boards of directors should avoid the fatal attitude of inviting the criticism of the tes and officers against the superintendent or her policy. The board should ct organization and should encourage the members of the staff to feel that loyalty o-operation are paramount. They should see that provision is made for officers to way for study in order that they may be progressive and enthusiastic in their work. in their province to secure financial backing for the institution and to further the ation program for the public.

The next group of problems is those which have to do with the staff. These probare perhaps the most serious as upon the staff depends the morale of the institution. superintendent of a reformatory must know the details of all the work under her rvision but she must select others to take care of these details in order to conserve time for critical work, new enterprises, etc. The most serious problem that any erintendent has to meet is to secure the right kind of officers. The qualifications t be of the highest but usually the salary is not sufficient to be able to get or to keep ons of the caliber desired. The idea is fast vanishing that a social worker is a glorimissionary on half-pay. Those engaged in social work have taken the yoke of ice upon their shoulders. They are their "brother's keepers." But the "servant orthy of his hire," and until compensation is made commensurate with the qualificais demanded will this problem even approach solution. We all admit that a teacher he most important influence in a child's life next to its parents if they are the right

kind. If they are the wrong kind, the importance is paramount. The inmates of an institution are a special group and need special treatment, hence there is need of the best teachers obtainable. The qualifications of a good officer (and all officers are teachers) run something like this: she must be intelligent, refined, and cultured; she must be patient, just, kind, sympathetic, and good-natured; she must be dignified but have a capacity for fun; she must have teaching ability along her own lines; she must have common sense, loyalty, insight into human character, and, above all, she must love human beings and believe in the potentiality for good in all; she must be able to forget the wrongs done by the wards with whom she comes in contact. All this, and more, we expect of the average worker in an institution and in return pay her the munificent sum of $40 or $50 per month. So long as this condition exists shall we have this problem.

Given a person with the right qualifications, there is still the problem of training her. This should be done in a uniform and well-regulated way. There should be established schools for the training of social workers other than case workers. Though many superintendents prefer to train their own workers rather than to take those who have been trained to similar work in another institution, yet there are certain fundamentals that could be given in a course of instruction. They should be taught the theory and practice of criminology, of applied psychology, and of social service.

The problem of keeping good employees after they are secured is another trying one. The work they are engaged in is arduous and never ending. Every effort should be made to make the hours conform as nearly as possible to the eight-hour day. They should be given frequent relief from duty. Entertainments, picnics, and opportunities for self-expression, other than those employed every day in their contact with the girls, should be furnished. Staff meetings to discuss ways and means of public welfare will do much. There should be someone appointed to look after the schedules of the officers and to adjust matters of relief for them—someone to look after their comfort and happiness. A disgruntled employee is not an asset anywhere and least of all in an institution where she is in contact with others twenty-four hours of the day. It confuses and retards the development of the wards to come in contact with disloyal officers, because one of the underlying reasons for their coming to the institution lies in the fact of their disloyalty and the following disorganization of all their forces.

This brings us to the last group of problems-those pertaining to the inmates. Because there are so many types of inmates in a reformatory for adults and the problems of administration are common to all in varying degree we will only enumerate the classes which have to be cared for. They are as follows: girls between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one who are in manifest danger of falling into habits of vice, inebriates, drug addicts, venereal cases, mothers with babies, expectant mothers, persons committing felons or misdemeanors. There is no limitation as to age, color, marital status, degree of delinquency or mentality, so our classification includes normal delinquents, menta defectives, epileptics, psychopaths and neurotics, moral deviates, sex perverts, and a the conditions resulting from the grafting of one or more of these defects on one or mor of the others.

The problems in connection with this group may be divided into intra-mural an extra-mural. Our intra-mural problems begin with the advent of the girl in the institu tion. The laws of Connecticut establishing the institution which we repre that the millimus of each case be accompanied with as full a history of