The Mazengarb Report of 1954, formally titled the ''Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents'', resulted from a New Zealand ministerial inquiry (the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents). The report gained its name from the inquiry chairman,

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

Ossie Mazengarb. The Report, its origins and its significance still remain key items in the mythology of 1950s New Zealand social history. This is not to deny the importance of the Report; however, its real significance has been obscured by inaccurate accounts in popular histories and newspaper and magazine articles. It is frequently cited as an example case of

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...

in New Zealand.

The Petone incident

On 20 June 1954, shortly after her mother and stepfather had reported her as missing, a 15½-year-old girl turned up at the local

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

in the former

Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zea ...

borough of

Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...

. The report details from page 11:

She stated that, being unhappy at home with her stepfather, she had'' ..' been a member of what she called a "
Milk Bar A milk bar is an establishment that primarily sells dairy-based foods and beverages, often at affordable prices, and typically provides seating for customers. Their specific form and offerings can vary significantly by country. History The ...
Gang", which '' ..' met "mostly for sex purposes"; she '' ..' was worried about the future of its younger members, and desired the police to break up the gang.

Shortly after, following a police round up of some of those named, a

ensued in New Zealand, in which the above incident played no small part among several others, including a

milk bar A milk bar is an establishment that primarily sells dairy-based foods and beverages, often at affordable prices, and typically provides seating for customers. Their specific form and offerings can vary significantly by country. History The ...

murder in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

(which resulted in one of the last

executions Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

in New Zealand.)

The Inquiry

A review of New Zealand newspapers of the time reveals reports of "youths charged with indecent assault upon, or carnal knowledge of" underage females. The inquiry's report notes this occurred " nthe second week of July 1954". After an outbreak of

among the public and in newspaper media, the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

appointed the ''Special Committee'' on 23 July, and it started its work only four days later, on 27 July. With what some contemporary commentators considered unreasonable alacrity, the Committee began hearing evidence on 3 August in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, completing its hearings in Auckland on 10 September. Barely ten days later, on 20 September, the Committee had reported; ''

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'' records that the responsible

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

had already sent the report to the Government Printer for printing before its actual tabling in Parliament. Unusually for an inquiry report of that era, the report became one of the biggest jobs for the Government Printer at the time. It was noted that postal staff complained of the weight when carrying out another unusual task: distributing copies of the report to every household in the country.

Conclusions and recommendations

The report came up with 27 conclusions and about 20 recommendations.

Conclusions

Among the conclusions, in summary: * ''1 to 4 and 26'' dealt with sexual

immorality Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to ...

, noting that "immorality has been rganised, and the unfairness that the authorities could charge boys for indecent conduct, but not girls. * ''5 to 9'' urged a tightening of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

-laws. * ''10'' urged a "closer bond between school and home". * ''11'' discounted the contribution that

co-education Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

al schools had made to "sexual delinquency". * ''12'' urged tighter administration of a school leaving-age of 15. * ''13'' recommended notifying school principals of students under government care. * ''14 and 21:'' "The school is not the proper place for fully instructing children about sex." However, the report characterised schools as good places to "listen to addresses or see appropriate films". It also claimed (''21'') that police found in many incidents that many youths were either "too ignorant" about sex, or knew too much about it. * ''15'' appears to attack the previous Labour government's state-housing scheme, recording the belief that "the new housing developments" contained large numbers of young children without the good modelling of older people and organisations. Similarly, ''16'' says that despite community-groups doing their best, "facilities for recreation and entertainment will not cure juvenile delinquency". * ''17'' placed some blame on parents' allowing consumption of alcohol at "young people's parties" (without specifying the age of the said young people). * ''18 and 19'' noted the opinion that parental neglect left children feeling unloved, something the Committee believed conducive to delinquent acts. * ''20'' appears to blame high wages of the time for discouraging the careful use of money (and thus, the Committee concluded, discouraging self-reliance). * ''22 and 23'' addressed the state of

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and of family life: the "present state of morals in the community has indicated the value of a religious faith" and stated that a decline in family life resulted from a lack of respect for the "worth" of religious and social boundaries. * ''24'' blamed "new concepts" coming about due to the destabilising effects of

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contraceptive Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

liberalisation and increasing popularity of sexual relations before

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

. * ''25'' conveyed the unanimous recommendation that minors should not have access to

s. * ''27'' urged that the Government take more preventive measures in the field of

child welfare Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

Recommendations

The recommendations covered legislative proposals, administrative suggestions and even "parental example". Highlights included: * Crime: ** ''Research:'' That long-term research into 'all aspects' of

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior younger than the statutory age of majority. These acts would be considered crimes if the individuals committing them were older. The term ...

should begin. ** ''Suggested legislative changes:'' That the legal system should have the ability to charge both girls and boys (implying underage persons) with indecent conduct. Additionally, if children are summonsed, their parents should be similarly compelled to attend court, and that courts should have the power (if the parent's behaviour was said to have "conduced" the child's offending) to order that parents pay fines and court costs and that parents give an assurance of the child's "future good behaviour". (Other sanctions suggested by the Committee included suspending social-security benefits relating to the child.) ** ''

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:'' That policewomen's duties and training should include dealing with 'girls involved in sexual offences'. ** ''Social welfare:'' That

should become an autonomous service under the Minister of

Social Welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

. * Censorship: ** ''Print publications:'' That tightening of

laws should occur to take into account "undue emphasis on sex, crime or horror". Additionally, that distributors of print publications be registered, with the spectre of cancellation of this licence to print or distribute should they distribute "objectionable publications" under proposed legislation. ** ''Films and other publications generally:'' That the film-censorship office within the

Department of Internal Affairs The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA; ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling laws; registering births, ...

should finish gazetting some regulations as already authorised. Overall, that they and other censorship authorities should liaise regularly to maintain "a uniform interpretation of public opinion and taste". ** ''Radio:'' That the New Zealand Broadcasting Service make sure the ''crime must never pay'' become "more prominently featured" in its radio-dramas, and that a "married woman" be "immediately"' appointed to its "auditioning panel". *Education: ** ''Schools:'' That the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

consider the best way to deal with "problem pupils in post-primary schools". ** ''Community groups:'' That the Department of Education consider allowing "responsible organisations" use of "school grounds and buildings" in areas with "a lack of facilities for recreation and entertainment". ** ''Housing:'' That the Department of Education consider requesting the setting aside for schoolteachers of some houses in "housing settlements". ** ''Parental example:'' That "new laws" and "stricter administration" might "allay the well-founded fears of many parents", but that the risk existed that parents might relax "their own efforts". "Wise parenthood implies firm control and continual interest in the doings of sons and daughters", the Committee advised, but also said that parents' own conduct would be the "best example for the '' ..' rising generation".

Follow-up

NZ Juvenile Delinquency Committee report 1955

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

responded to the Mazengarb Report with a special select committee appointed on September 28, 1954. Its report (

AJHR New Zealand official publications are frequently quoted by their abbreviation; they include those listed below. Past copies of most by year or session are held in bound volumes in major public libraries. AJHR, AtoJs, or Appendix to the Journal o ...

1955, I-15) was due to be issued on October 1, 1955.

References

External links

A facsimile copy of the report
archived at ibiblio.org {{Authority control Mazengarb Report (1954) Mazengarb Report (1954) 1954 in New Zealand Youth in New Zealand 1954 documents Commissions and inquiries in New Zealand