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Page 28
FOOTNOTES:
[26] The Questionnaire on the Deserted Family (see p. 395 sq. of
Richmond's Social Diagnosis) has already been mentioned as suggesting
lines of investigation. It will also be found useful at the stage of
summing up knowledge gained and seeing in what direction it points.
[27] The state of New York is an exception, as it grants only limited
divorce for desertion.
[28] See p. 57.
[29] See p. 132 sq. concerning court reconciliations.
[30] See Baldwin, Wm. H.: "The Most Effective Methods of Dealing with
Cases of Desertion and Non-support," _Journal American Institute of
Criminal Law and Criminology_, November, 1917.
[31] See p. 169 sq.
[32] See p. 127.
VII
THE DETAILS OF TREATMENT (Continued)
There remains a fourth classification under treatment, of cases which
demand even more individualized care and therefore more extended comment
than those just considered.
4. Man's Whereabouts Known; Man Willing to Return.--Here the question
to determine is whether it is going to be a desirable thing for the man
to re-enter the home and, if so, when. This does not always lie within
the power of the case worker to decide; the couple may and often do
resolve their differences for the time being without reference to her
opinion. But she can often hasten, defer, or even prevent the
reconciliation. Careful consideration must be given the elements
involved: What causes probably operated to bring about the rupture in
family relations? If there have been other desertions what does their
history show? Is the man's willingness to return a sign of real change
of heart and purpose, or is he merely afraid of punishment? Are his
habits such as to make him a fit inmate of the home? Is he capable of
supporting the family? Can any adjustment of temperaments be made which
will lessen incompatibility? Is the wife willing to have him return?
What are her motives? Has she enough firmness of character to carry out
a plan to which she has agreed? These are only a few of the questions to
which the social worker needs to know the answer, if the decision is to
be a wise one.
If none of the elements is present in the home out of which family life
can be reconstructed, if the man's self-indulgence and cruelty have been
proved beyond any doubt, or if affection is dead or never existed, then
the decision may have to be that no reconciliation be attempted. In many
cases the question then is how best to protect the woman and children
against the man's forcing his way upon them. Court intervention is
usually necessary here, if it has not already taken place; and a first
step is to have the husband placed under a court order to give separate
support and to stay away from his home.[33] The wife should be armed
with a warrant for his arrest, which can be served by the policeman on
the beat if the man appears. Such a man usually considers that his
proprietorship of the home and the family is not affected by his absence
or even by court orders, and when fortified by liquor he is likely to
force his entrance into the home and perhaps do harm. The protection of
the warrant is not absolute; in such cases as this it ought later to be
reinforced by a legal separation. Social workers avail themselves of
this resource far less than they should. It controverts the principles
of no religious sect and gives all the protection of absolute divorce
(including the payment of alimony) to the woman and children. To the
children it is likely to give more protection than divorce; for in the
event of the divorced husband's remarriage the children of the second
wife have prior rights over those of the first, and legal separation
makes this impossible by preventing the remarriage of either party.
Proceedings for a legal separation cannot usually be started if a man is
on probation, but may be while he is undergoing imprisonment. It should
be said that, after a separation, claims for non-payment of alimony
cannot, in many states, be pressed in a court of domestic relations but
must go to a civil court. This is usually more expensive and less
satisfactory.[34]
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