RAISING JUVENILE DELINQUENTS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF SASKATCHEWAN'S CHILD WELFARE LAWS, 1905-1930. A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Masters of Arts In the Department of History University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan By Kimberly Anne Marschall ©Copyright Kimberly Anne Marschall, April 2003. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Masters of Arts Degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this make it available for I further that University may freely inspection. agree permission for or copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole in part, for scholarly purposes may be the or who work in their granted by professor professors supervised my thesis or, absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying, publication, or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. or to of Requests for permission to copy make other use material in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of History University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5A5 ABSTRACT Hidden stories of child abuse and child neglect haunt Saskatchewan's past. The inability of authorities to effectively and sympathetically help children in need of protection is also part of the province's past. Between 1905 and 1930 the provincial government initiated its responsibility for child welfare through the Children's Protection Act and subsequent legislation. The legislation established a Department of Neglected and Dependent Children and appointed officials who oversaw the administration of child welfare within the province. Although the legislation eventually eliminated discriminatory provisions for boys and girls and provided measures to ensure Catholic and Protestant children maintained their religion, its silence on the cultural diversity of children within the province allowed for middle-class goals of Canadianization to dominate child welfare policies. The government also failed to provide adequate provisions for provincial funding of the scheme. The legislation assigned financial responsibility to resource-stricken municipal governments and local organizations reliant on charitable donations, resulting in variable policies and the availability of resources in jurisdictions across the province. The incomprehensive child welfare scheme in Saskatchewan allowed for the inequitable treatment of children in Saskatchewan between 1905 and 1930. Analysis of the treatment available for male and female juvenile delinquents reveals the discriminatory policies of Saskatchewan's child welfare system based on middle-class goals of Canadianization and conformity to appropriate gender roles. Juvenile delinquents challenged middle-class ideals through the commission of illegal ii acts under the Canadian Criminal Code. However, juvenile delinquents were only part of a of children care and to middle­ larger group requiring special protection preserve class expectations for the future of the province. The "making" of children into good citizens meant moulding them to middle-class expectations regarding gender roles, ethnicity, religion, and class. Overall, English, middle-class ideals dominated the development of Saskatchewan's child welfare scheme. Although the government eliminated differential treatment under statute laws, unwritten policies and individual players created discrepancies in the treatment of boys and girls. The decentralized nature of Saskatchewan's child welfare system between 1905 and 1930 allowed inconsistent standards and the differential treatment of children. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and Dr. D. De foremost I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Brou, whose patience, guidance, and support have been the key to the completion of this thesis. I would like to thank of Secondly, the other members my graduate committee, Dr. L. and Dr. D. as well as the of members from Smith Miquelon support many other faculty the History Department at the University of Saskatchewan who have offered me guidance. Financial support from the University of Saskatchewan's, College of Graduate Studies Scholarship has granted the monetary support enabling me to focus my attention on I am for the advice of the staff of the Saskatchewan my thesis. grateful helpful Archives in both Saskatoon and Regina, the University of Saskatchewan Archives, and the University of Saskatchewan Library Special Collections Department. Finally, I would like to thank Jeff Marschall, Greg Kelly, and Randi Kelly for all of their encouragement and To all the who have aided me in some or support. people way another on this project, thank you. iv DEDICATIONS of This work is dedicated to all four generations my family for their inspiration and never would have finished this unwavering support. I project without your continuous encouragement and gratuitous babysitting. TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE i ABSTRACT..............................................................................•..........................ii ACKN0WLEDGEMENTS iv DEDICATIONS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF CHILD WELFARE. CHAPTER TWO 21 HARVESTING NEGLECTED AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN IN SASKATCHEWAN, 1905-1930. CHAPTER THREE 61 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD BAD BOY: THE CANADIANIZATION OF DELINQUENT BOYS IN SASKATCHEWAN, 1905-1930. CHAPTER FOUR 87 THE LITTLE SISTERS OF MISFORTUNE: PROTECTING DELINQUENT GIRLS IN SASKATCHEWAN, 1905-1930. CHAPTER FIVE 113 CONCLUSION. BIBLIOGRA.PHY 122 TABLES AND APPENDICES TABLE 1 56 1923 INSPECTORS' WORK TABLE 2 65 NATIONALITY OF ALLEGED DELINQUENTS AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN, SASKATCHEWAN, 1920-1921 APPENDIX 1 118 PHOTOGRAPHS vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF CHILD WELFARE One night in the fall of 1917 a train bound for Gainsborough, Saskatchewan left the Saskatoon railway station at 11 :25 p.m. with a little girl on board. Although she was only eight-years-old, her parents felt she was capable of making the trip alone. The girl reached Pasqua at eight o'clock the following morning and arrived in Estevan at noon. She waited until nine o'clock the next morning for the final train. Just after lunch, the girl stepped off the train and reunited with her baby brother, her father, and her 1 after a stepmother separation of four years. Records do not reveal her reaction to her and their same family response to seeing her. The is true of the fear and apprehension she experienced, not only on the long and lonely train ride, but also during the events to that afternoon. The details of her her are leading up feelings along journey missing, such as how she suffered emotionally and physically when her stepmother repeatedly abused her, and when the Superintendent of Neglected and Dependent Children of Saskatchewan intervened and took her away from her family farm in a patrol wagon. Her interactions with other children while at the Children's Aid Society of Saskatoon and her experiences in foster homes are also missing from records. While her emotions are unknown, archival evidence reveals the path of her I Saskatchewan Archives Board (SAB), William Melville Martin Papers: Social Welfare: Child Welfare, 1916-1922,40421-4 journey, through some of the darkest times of her young life. Looking at correspondence between various government officials and her parents relates her individual story. In 1913, her stepmother used a leather strap from a horse harness to teach her disobedient daughter a lesson. The stepmother beat the girl's face until it was black and blue. A hired man in the household reported the girl's injuries to the police and the Superintendent of Neglected and Dependent Children of Saskatchewan intervened. In a letter to child welfare workers, the stepmother defended her actions towards the girl, who at the time of the incident, was only two and a half years old: Her father had idolized her so she needed a mother who could both love her and train her as well ....her insubordination was great enough for an eighty year old person and as persuasion and gentle treatment would not always answer I had to resort to corporal punishment at times. [A]nd as she had such an extremely fine skin, and had never exercised herself whatever except to sock herself in a chair and run to and fro a little in the house, she could not be slapped without showing marks as my hands are not fleshy. [A]nd her father would be annoyed about it so occasionally she got a few slaps on the side of her head, but she had such a thin skull [that bruises] showed after a few days in a discoloration around one eye but she did not feel worse for it and even seemed brighter in intelligence.' A.S. Wright of the Saskatoon Children's Aid Society inspected the situation and immediately apprehended the child fearing that if he "left the child there an hour longer [he] would have been neglecting [his] duty.I" However, Wright left an infant boy in the home and did not use available criminal measures against the stepmother. Four years later, the family petitioned for the girl's return, and despite concern of the stepmother's 2 Ibid., 40403-4 3 Ibid., 40409 2 "mental deficiency," the members from the Children's Aid Society of Saskatoon granted the request. In their opinion, the girl was significantly older and her removal successfully taught the parents their lesson." Although the girl's story did not end after leaving the train's platform, the Saskatchewan government transferred all correspondence with her family to the Superintendent of Dependent Children in Manitoba because the family moved to that province. The train ride is the last record that the Saskatchewan child welfare workers have of her experiences.