DRINK MADNESS.

WHAT HAPPENS IN INEBRIATE REFORMATORIES.

A TERRIBLE PROBLEM.

Painful in the extreme is the report of Mr. R. Welsh Branthwaite, the inspector under the British Inebriates Acts for the year 1905. He describes the connection between alcoholism and insanity with the relentless detail and the psychological force of a Maxim Gorky. "It will be well to bear in mind." he says, "three very important points— first, that all cases, in addition to actual drunkenness, have been convicted over and over again of offences resulting from their habits, such as disorderly conduct, assault, wilful damage, theft, attempted suicide, or neglect of children; secondly, that with few exceptions, all have been sent to and fro between Police Court and prison for many years as ordinary offenders before being specially dealt with as inebriates; and, thirdly, that up to the present the importance of affording drunkards an early enough chance of reformation, has not been, sufficiently realized. In these circumstances it will scarcely be surprising to find that many committals are in the lowest possible state of unimprovable degradation, and that it has become necessary to set apart some of our institutions as little better than moral refuse heaps for the detention of the hopelessly defective at the lowest possible cost to the country."

—"Born to Insanity."—

Upwards of 62 per cent, of the committals of habitual drunkards are found to be insane or defective in varying decree. It is certain, in the opinion of the inspector, that the large majority of inmates of the inebriate reformatories were either actually insane during their Police Court history, or in a state bordering on insanity. ''I am satisfied," continues the inspector. ''that the majority of our insane inebriates have become alcoholic because of congenital defect or tendency to insanity, not insane as the result of alcoholism. It is morally certain that many of these lunatics might have been prevented from becoming insane if they had been taken charge of, restrained from drunkenness, and properly treated earlier in their career. . . . Perhaps the most conclusive evidence of congenital defect from a scientific point of view is the presence of certain physical signs of arrested or distorted development. Many instances of stunted growth can be found among our inebriates, abnormally small heads, mis-shapen heads, and case after case of developmental arrest or irregularity in upper and lower jaw. . . . Common in women is the heavy, repulsive masculine type, with a tendency to violence and brutality, beady eyes, square jaws, and dull, flabby, expressionless face. . . . In, short, the same physical abnormalities are to be found in defective inebriates as are present among idiots and imbeciles, only in less degree, because the defect is less severe."

And here is a fearful picture of those who require constant supervision: — "They are always restless, uncertain, excitable, and ready to take umbrage on the least provocation, or on flimsy pretexts which would not be considered provocation by reasonable beings. A glance, a word, an innocent action, not intended to give offence, is construed as contempt, vituperation, or meditated attack, and is resented accordingly. These inmates, always full of grievances, are constantly hatching schemes to obtain 'justice,' they never allow a member of the visiting committee, or the inspector to pass without a lengthy interview full of complaints, and they are eternally writing to the Secretary of State to appeal for the redress of imaginary wrongs. There is usually no sign of sorrow for the disorderly results of their inebriate habits, both the drunkenness and disorder being denied or justified. Drunkenness is justifiable, prostitution is justifiable, crime is justifiable, any course they choose to adopt is justifiable, so long as they can show (to their own satisfaction) some 'reason' for such conduct."

— The Frenzy Stage. —

This is during their quieter moments. When they give way to one of their recurrent outbursts of uncontrollable anger— "The mad fit while it lasts is not pleasant to witness — utter abandonment in passion, wanton destruction of anything handy, unmeasured violence against all who happen to be near (especially if they attempt to restrain), absence of all sense of decency, and use of the vilest possible language, are some of its chief characteristics. A large number of persons, now under control in reformatories, subject to these passionate, impulsive attacks, only need the possession of a lethal weapon at such times to cause injury, even death, to any person against whom their anger is directed. In fact, many of them have served years of punishment for violent assaults or at tempts to kill, and at least two have been sent to penal servitude for manslaughter since leaving reformatories — one woman for killing her husband during a drunken quarrel, and another for contributing to the death of her child by violence. The physical demand for something to moderate restlessness and excitability, or cause temporary oblivion during the early stages of an attack of mad passion, accounts for their resort to alcohol; or, during an attack, the same ungoverned impulse which prompts them to the committal of other unreasonable notions prompts them to drink madly, regardless of result. How to keep these excitable inmates at any regular occupation gives rise to constant perplexity. The restless craving for change and excitement, which always possesses them, effectually prevents their ever becoming adept at any useful work. "So much for the persons who are found most difficult to control; it now becomes necessary to turn our attention to the quieter section of defectives. Suspicion and delusions of persecution are as common among the quiet as among the violent, only, the reiteration of wrongs by the quiet defective leads to tears, depression and despair, not to excitement. Intelligence generally, in these cases, is of an extremely low order. The mental vacuity which is met with in defective inebriates only varies in degree from the more conspicuous inattentiveness of idiots and imbeciles. Untruthfulness is also a marked symptom. Much difficulty is met with in enforcing habits of personal cleanliness in these cases. The word 'morality' has no meaning. The pilfering, hiding, and hoarding up of apparently useless trifles, a recognised trait in imbeciles and feeble minded persons, are common among the quieter section of defective inebriates."

—Prison Treatment Useless.—

Mr. Branthwaite says that it is hardly realized how potent ordinary disease and ill-health are in the making of inebriates : in a few cases it has been possible to trace the connection between inebriate habits and accident. The hardening effect of gaol life upon habitual drunkards is fully realized by these whose duty it is to deal with such persons; repeated short sentences have no deterrent influence over the confirmed inebriate. Imprisonment of drunkards is useless, says the inspector; "an absolute waste of public money." "Cannot prison be avoided altogether in the majority of cases?" he asks. The committal of habitual drunkards to prison, he concludes, has proved useless and inhumane, because it leads to moral degradation, causes or increases mental defect, and removes all hope of reformation. The only chance of reformation depends upon their early committal to special medical treatment and avoidance of prison routine. Chronic drunken recidivists,"irreclaimables," should be committed to reformatories for full terms.— Daily News.


The Register 4 January 1907,


[This analysis may be applicable to neo-fascists, and modern social misfits; a la London riots.
But can anyone reform a tory?]