Duke psychiatrist says
Juvenile 'justice system' has littleof either
By David Williamson
"The juvenile justice system" in North
Carolina is practically a contradiction in
terms because there's very little justice
and next to no system to it, a Duke child
psychiatrist believes.
Dr. Harold J. Harris said in an interview
that no state agency and very few private
citizens are willing to accept
responsibility to see that problem
children get the treatment they need.
"Youngsters who are retarded,
psychotic, autistic or physically
handicapped all have active lobbies and
rightfully so," Harris said. "But children
who get into trouble with the law are
primarily thought of as "bad kids." They
are unpopular, and there is no Jerry Lewis
putting on telethons to raise millions of
dollars for them."
Harris is an associate professor in the
Division of Child Psychiatry.
Colonial roots
Outlining the history of juvenile justice
in the United States and in North
Carolina, he said the current "system"
has its roots in colonial times when
children who got into trouble could be
indentured for a lifetime.
"Amazingly, that law remained on the
books in North Carolina until 1919," he
said.
Juvenile courts and training schools
arose out of the nation's need for a more
humane way of coping with the large
numbers of poor immigrant children who
were roaming the streets in the 1800s
stealing food and clothing, he said. The
previous method involved shutting
youthful offenders up with adults in jails
and prisons, a practice which has yet to be
completely eradicated.
"The fundamental idea was excellent in
1899 when the first juvenile court was set
up in Chicago, and it's still an excellent
idea," Harris said. "But typical of what has
happened to these kids is that the services
have never been funded adequately, and
the system is by and large a failure
because those who run it are flooded with
many children they don't really
understand."
Not illegal for adults
The psychiatrist said youngsters who
are particularly victimized by the system
in North Carolina and other states are the
status offenders. These are children
whose offenses are such that had they
been committed by adults, they would not
be against the law.
Examples are running away from
home, truancy and being "undisciplined."
VISITING FROM IRAQ—M.K. Al-Khateeb fleft), Iraq's top diplomatic offical in this country,
visited Duke recently to meet with Dr. William G. Anlyan, vice president for health affairs, and
discuss mutual interests between the medical center and medical schools in Iraq. The diplomat
was accompanied by Dr. Urabi Mustafa (second from right), chairman of the Department of
International Studies at Shaw University, and Dr. Kelly Ingram, a professor in the Duke Divinity
School. The visit included a tour of the medical center. (Photo by Lewis Parrish)
Although there are no exact figures,
Harris said experts believe these children
make up about half of the young inmates
in America today and a third of the
children held in North Carolina. In many
cases, their behavior is a reaction to
broken homes, sexual abuse by adults or
alcoholic parents.
The psychiatrist said that until 1969,
North Carolina sent more children to
training schools per capita than any other
state. Reports of child abuse and
conditions at the institutions, including a
major study done by Duke law students,
"would make your hair stand on end," he
said.
Alternatives to 'junkyards'
The alternative to locking children up
in training schools, which have too often
been little more than "juvenile
junkyards," are what is called
"community-based alternatives." These
include temporary foster homes, group
homes, therapeutic camps and specialized
treatment.
"It's encouraging that the last state
legislature appropriated $3 million for
therapeutic camps and $1 million for
other community-based alternatives," he
observed, "but there is a lot more that
needs to be done."
Harris said a growing number of
concerned citizens, including doctors,
lawyers, judges and lay people, are
forming child advocacy commissions in
North Carolina and other states to help
agencies serve children more effectively.
Child Advocacy Commission
The Durh am Child Advocacy
Commission, which the psychiatrist
helped to found in 1973, is North
Carolina's oldest. Although there has
been periodic opposition from
bureaucrats trying to protect their
traditional "territories," Harris said, the
commission has been increasingly useful
in coordinating the services that are
available.
"In the past, a child has practically
needed a passport to get from one agency
to another within the same county," he
said. "We're trying to stop that
nonsense."
This assessment of the juvenile justice
system was the topic of a talk entitled
"Malice in Blunderland," which Harris
gave during Medical Alumni Weekend in
November.
§
Six new faculty members named
Provost Frederic N. Cleaveland has
announced six appointments to the
medical center faculty.
Dr. Elisabeth June Fox has been
appointed associate professor of
anesthesiology. Appointed assistant
professors were Drs. Michael E. McCrory
in radiology, Sandra Preissig in
pathology, Kwan-sa You in Pediatrics and
Elizabeth K. Steinbock in medical
psychology. Dr. Sharyrv A. Endow will
become assistant professor of
microbiology and immunology June 1,
1978.
A native of England, Fox received
medical and surgical degrees from King's
College Hospital Medical School,
University of London, in I055. She was a
resident in anesthesiology at Duke, 1963-
65.
McCrory holds an A.B. degree from
Princeton University and an M.D. from
Tufts University, granted in 1969 and
1973, respectively. He completed
residency training at the Medical College
of Wisconsin in June of this year.
Preissig completed internship and
residency requirements at Duke, 1972-
75, and for the past two years has been on
the faculty of the University of Texas
Health Science Center, San Antonio. She
earned a B.A. from Vanderbilt University
in 1968 and an M.D. from the University
of Tennessee in 1971.
You holds a B.S. from Seoul National
University and a Ph.D. from Brandeis
University, awarded in 1966 and 1971,
respectively, and has done postdoctoral
research at the University of California at
San Diego.
Steinbock, a 1972 graduate of
Brandeis, earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees
at the University of Oregon, in 1976 and
1977, respectively. She has recently
completed a psychology internship at the
V.A. Hospital in Portland, Ore.
Endow was awarded M. Phil, and Ph.D.
degrees by Yale University in 1972 and
1975, respectively. A 1970 graduate of
Stanford University, she currently is
conducting research in Edinburg,
Scotland under a National Institute of
Health fellowship.
Gratitude expressed
The Elon Clark Family wishes to
extend its appreciation and thanks for
the help, the many kindnesses and the
expressions of sympathy extended
during the illness and upon the death
of Helen Clark.
Endowment sought for student mission projects
Intercom
is published weekly by the Office of Public
Relations, Duke University Medical
Center, Box 335.4, Durham, N.C: 27710.
Joe Sigler
Director
John Becton
Editor
Primary contributors: William Erwin,
Comprehensive Cancer Center medical
writer; Ina Fried, staff writer; Parker
Herring, public relations assistant; Edith
Roberts, staff writer; David Williamson,
medical writer.
Circulation: Ann Kittrell.
A special fund has been set up to
provide travel and expense funds for
Duke students who want to undertake
mission projects in other countries.
Several members of the Duke
community have provided seed money
for the Duke Student Foreign Mission
Endowment Fund, and organizers are
seeking further help in estabhshing the
endowment.
"In accordance with university
regulations, the endowed monies for this
fund must have reached at least $10,000
within a 10-year period to avoid
dissolution into general university
endowment funds," according to Bob
Parkerson, a first-year medical student.
"Consequently, donations to the fund
are needed and greatly encouraged from
all interested individuals and
organizations," he said.
Donations should be marked
specifically for the Duke Student Foreign
MTssion Endowment Fund and sent either
c/o Duke University Chapel or c/o Office
of Gift Records, 2127 Campus Dr.,
Durham, N.C. 27706.
All students from within any school or
college of the university are eligible for
application to the fund.
Those interested should contact the
Office of the Minister to the University
for applications.
A committee composed of various
members of the Duke community will
review applications to determine which
projects are most suitable for funding.
This committee also will assist students
in choosing project sites if necessary.
For further information concerning the
fund, contact Helen Crotwell, associate
university minister, Duke Chapel, or Bob
Parkerson, Box 2839, medical center.
AOA inducts new members
Twenty-two new members have been
inducted into the Duke chapter of Alpha
Omega Alpha, honor medical society.
Students inducted from the medica)
school's class were Stuart Adler, David
Browning, John Fitz, Jean Guyton, Lisa
Kaufman, Mary Markert, Bruce
Schirmer and Margaret Walsh.
Inducted from the senior class were
Kim Boekelheide, Thaddeus Dunn,
Margaret Dydek, E. Wilson Griffin,
Anton Nielson, Celeste Robb-Nicholson,
Carlton Sexton, Peter Sims, Matthew
Stern and John Wood.
Dr. Catherine M. Wilfert, associate
professor of microbiology and pediatrics,
was elected from the faculty.
Duke medical school alumni inducted
were Glenn C. Newman '39
tposthumous), R. David Daniel '42 and
Lowell S. Miller '45.