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11 DECEMBER 2009
NO 1525
Historical
' Girls' Approved Schools have to fulfil a number of roles and staff are under pressure to take these upon themselves. Some of these roles can be played at the same time, whilst others are conflicting, but invariably each school places different emphasis on the part these separate roles play in the life of the school. Broadly speaking they cover the following:
The punitive role
Punishment is bound to enter into the set-up of any Approved School from
the very fact that girls are removed from their own homes and have been
committed by a Magistrate's Court. The general public expect schools to
be punitive, so often does the immediate public in the vicinity of a
particular school. Parents expect it, and the girls themselves expect
it. It is much easier for those who have been committed for an offence
against the law to understand why they are being punished than those who
have been committed for 'care or protection'. Society has no communal
moral standards to offer and consequently these girls feel that they are
being 'punished' unfairly. It is difficult for the girls to see their
term of committal as anything but a punishment, and their main desire
is, therefore, to 'get it over quickly'. They are not prepared for a
comparatively long training in self-discipline.
Life in an Approved School is to a certain extent geared to punishment. A Punishment Book is kept. Each school has its detention room for the isolation of unruly members and absconders. Each school must have its 'Rewards and Privileges' Scheme which purports to set out the extent to which good behaviour can be rewarded, but in effect gives the extent to which bad behaviour can be punished by the denials of privileges.
However much a school may try to bring the emphasis away from punishment, it is still there, to a greater or lesser degree.
The protective role
Fear pressures staff to be protective. Fear of girls absconding with all
the probable consequences — contact with society and its corrupting
influence, possible pregnancy, the contraction of venereal diseases.
Fear of public opinion and fear of Authority are both very real. Returns
of abscondings have to be submitted to Home Office, and there is always
the fear of disapproval if there is a large number to report. They are,
therefore, normally treated as something to avoid if possible, and to
punish. Society makes it clear that it wants protection from 'this kind
of girl' so that contact with community life is difficult. Some schools
are able to form more contacts than others, but freedom is generally
limited, sometimes leading to over-protection to such an extent that
girls are unable to cope with sudden freedom on release.
The educative role
Schools are under strong pressure to teach and instruct, and this often
takes precedence over all other roles. Each school must present its
Training Scheme for approval. Many girls are, of course, of school age,
and therefore education is of primary importance. On the whole Girls'
Approved Schools are very successful in their education programmes. Some
few places are able to send girls to outside schools in the vicinity,
but for the most part education is arranged on the premises. Classes
being small, each girl is able to have individual attention and help.
Some girls are committed because of school truancy or a failure to fit
in to the ordinary education system. These usually settle down in these
small classes very well and are able to achieve some success. Some girls
arrive in a state of almost complete illiteracy, but after a while are
able to read and write adequately and calculate sufficiently to meet
day-by-day needs. Teachers are able to bring a new range of interests
into their teaching, so that the girls' general outlook is broadened.
Opportunities are given to take up many varied activities, such as those
provided by the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. New experiences gained
in this way are invaluable. It is true that these activities often bear
no relation to the life that the girls will live on release, and may be
said to be contributing to the protective role, because everything is
laid on and provided for the girls without their using very much
initiative themselves. On the other hand there is some emphasis on
vocational training, and particular use is made of domestic science in
training for home making. This bears in mind the fact that girls marry
and take upon themselves the responsibilities of family life within a
comparatively short time of leaving school.
The therapeutic role
Some schools have a particular emphasis on psychiatric help, while
others have no help of this kind available. All schools have, however,
their proportion of mentally disturbed girls, and it is a matter of
grave concern that there are insufficient establishments provided by the
Ministry of Health to cater for all girls needing specialist help.
Adequate help cannot be given to these in an ordinary Approved School
set-up. Some schools are trying to cope with mentally disturbed girls
who have actually been rejected by the Mental Health Department because
of difficult behaviour given in their adolescent units.
Staff are able to help the girls through minor emotional disturbances, in fact the therapeutic role is a very important one, a major task of all staff being to form good adult/girl relationships and to help the girl to adjust to group living. Often the fact that a girl knows she will be settled in one place for a specific period is therapeutic, especially if before this she has been seriously disturbed because of constant removal from one place to another. Some girls have, in fact, found that the period of committal has been longer than their stay in any one place previously.
The redemptive role
Every school has some emphasis on redemption, perhaps those with a
religious foundation more than others. Some present a very strong
Christian ethic, both in their teaching and by demonstration in everyday
living, because of the pressure of individual beliefs and a desire to
pass them on to others. All schools present moral values which they hope
the girls will acquire, most of them above anything they have been able
to achieve before, and sometimes far above the girls' potential. There
is pressure to give religious training. A service has to be held each
day. Most schools have a Chaplain, and Sunday attendance at Church is
compulsory. How much help all these amenities give depends very much on
the persons involved and their ability to establish relationships with
the girls. Sometimes the approach is unrealistic especially as many
girls have had no previous experience of church attendance and little
idea of the meaning of worship and prayer.
The restorative role
Families of the girls pressure the school into this role as also do
current policy, and the desire of the girls themselves. Parents, who are
often responsible for the girls' committal, from the time of admission,
press for their return home. Sometimes this is because of monetary
obligations, and the girl is constantly reminded of these throughout her
stay. Attempts are sometimes made to place a girl away from her family
on release and to help her to live an independent life. Blood ties, are,
however, very strong, and before the end of her period of supervision,
she is usually pressing to go home. Schools who have Social Workers are
fortunate in being able to prepare at an early stage for rehabilitation
and can often do a great deal towards the improvement of family
relations. Contact with families is, however, restricted by home leave
which is only thirty-three days a year, and the fact that some schools
are geographically situated in places difficult to reach by public
transport.
KATHLEEN LEWIS
Lewis, K. (1966).Conflicting roles of girls' approved
schools. The Anti-social Child in Care, 14. Annual Review of
the Residential Child Care Association. pp. 63-66.
