Juvenile delinquency (1955)

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY 23 STATEMENT OF REV. RAYMOND I. LINDQUIST, PASTOR, HOLLY- WOOD FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Mr. LiNDQUisT. We are trying* in the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood to meet that very situation that was brought up by a person in this audience today: In other w^ords, a preventive approach, but along with that we have a rehabilitation program. We have a Sunday school numbering about 6,500; naturally in that .group we draw many boys and girls who are potential juvenile delinquents. We have made a study of the membership of our Sunday school in terms of jjarental background, and in 1 of our groups we find that 52 percent of the group comes from broken homes. Now, this program indoctrinating the youth of our country with deep and abiding faith in God and in country and in themselves, too, Senator, we find that helps them, gives them the kind of foundation that will overcome the background of a broken home. Among the 79 young men that we have studying for the Christian ministry right now, many of them come out of broken homos, but they have overcome that initial difficulty because of the kind of program that they have. We use a club approach for the week-day activities. You spoke a little while ago. Senator, of the fact that the church today is no longer expected to be of a simply a 1-day a Sunday alfair and at cur institution we are constantly working every day in the week. We have now 27 different clubs for boys and girls. And in these clubs we find that 50 percent of the memberships comes right out of the community and outside of the boundary of our cliurcli and Sunday school religionships. And because of this we find that the preventive method of helping, combined with the rehabilitation program, work out pretty well. I can cite, for example, a number of cases Chairman Kefauver. Reverend, just tell us of your experience and what you know. Mr. LiNDQUisT. Yes; just this last week we had a certain call, a call from a certain school in our area, where 2 fifth-grade boys had gotten into a great deal of difficulty; 1 of them on the way home from school had gotten into a fight with another boy and had completely disfigured him. That boy is in the hospital and will be for some time. But, we have already sent one of our members to tliat school, and he is very quietly studying this boy on the playground and in the school. He will quite accidentally meet up with him today or tomorrow\ He will invite him over to our week-day activities program, and espe- cially to our skating rink. AVe have just built a $12,000 skating rink. The boy will get started there. We will give him a little.job, perhaps repairing skates. From that he will go into a club, perhaps into the King's Men or 1 of the other 27 clubs, but tlie point that we try to accomplish, to get another boy, an older boy, interested in him to pal up with him to prove to him that somebody really cares that he amounts to something. AVe have learned that as soon as the boy finds out he is wanted, somebody cares for him, he begins to respond, and he wants to measure up to what that other fellow thinks of him. Chairman Kefauver. You mean, Reverend Lindquist—I have foiir children so I know something about it—that he is going to look u]) to someone, whether it is a Dillinger, a racketeer, or a good person? They are going to find someone to look up to and emulate ?