,,social ,,work ,,series  ,,broken      
,,homes  ,a ,,study ,,of ,,family       
,,desertion ,,and ,,its ,,social        
,,treatment  ,by ,,joanna ,c4 ,,colcord 
,,superintendent ,,of ,,the ,,charity   
,,organization ,,society ,,of ,,the     
,,city ,,of ,,new ,,york  ,,new ,,york  
,,russell ,,sage ,,foundation #aiai     
,,copyright1 #aiai1 ,,by ,,the ,,russell
 ,,sage ,,foundation  ,,wm ,f4 ,,fell   
,,co ,,printers ,,philadelphia          
,,preface   ,no less thoughtful a critic
 of men and manners than ,joseph ,conrad
 has remarked recently that a universal 
experience is exactly the sort of thing 
which is most difficult to appraise     
justly in the individual instance4 ,the 
saying might have been made the motto of
 this book1 for in its pages ,miss      
,colcord--with all the eagerness of the 
newer school of social workers1 bent    
upon understanding1 upon making         
allowances--seeks that just appraisal to
 which ,conrad refers4 ,marital         
infelicities and broken homes are not   

universal1 fortunately1 but some of the 
human weaknesses which lead to them are 
very nearly so4  ,to one who brings a   
long perspective to any theme in social 
work1 ,broken ,homes suggests the       
successive stages through which the art 
of social case work has progressed4     
,twenty years ago the editor of this    
,series was responsible for the         
following sentences in an annual report3
 ,one of our most difficult problems has
 been how to deal with deserted wives   
with children4444 ,one good woman1 whose
 husband had left her for the second    
time more than a year ago1 declared     
often and emphatically that she would   
never let him come back4 ,we rescued her
 furniture from the landlord1 found her 
work1 furnished needed relief1 and      
befriended the children2 but the drunken
 and lazy husband returned the other    
day1 and is sitting in the chairs we    
rescued1 while he warms his hands at the
 fire that we have kept burning4  ,the  
passage belongs to the first and what   

might be termed the muddling along      
period of dealing with family desertion1
 but the fact that boards of directors  
actually were willing to print such     
frank statements about their own        
shortcomings was a sign that the period 
was drawing to a close4  ,this first    
stage was succeeded by a disciplinary   
period1 in which earnest attempts were  
made to enact laws that would punish the
 deserter and aid in his extradition    
whenever he took refuge across a state  
line4 ,laws of the strictest1 and these 
well enforced1 seemed for a while the   
only possible solution4  ,then          
gradually1 with the unfolding of a      
philosophy and a technique of helping   
people in and through their social      
relationships1 a new way of dealing with
 this ancient and perplexing human      
failing was developed4 ,this third way  
involved a more careful analysis of     
relationships and motives1 a greater    
variety in approach1 an increased       
flexibility in treatment1 a new faith1  

perhaps1 in the re-creative powers      
latent in human nature4 ,but it is      
unnecessary to enlarge upon a point of  
view which these pages admirably        
illustrate4 ,desertion laws continue to 
serve a definite purpose1 as ,miss      
,colcord makes clear1 but no longer are 
they either the first or the second     
resort of the skilful probation officer1
 family case worker1 or child protective
 agent4  ,just after the ,russell ,sage 
,foundation published a treatise on     
,social ,diagnosis two years ago1 a     
number of letters came to the author    
urging that a volume on the treatment of
 social maladjustments in individual    
cases follow4 ,but this second subject  
is not yet ready for the large general  
treatise4 ,a topic so new as social case
 treatment must be developed aspect by  
aspect1 preferably in small1 practical  
volumes each written by a specialist4   
,this is such a volume1 and ,miss       
,colcord breaks new ground1 moreover1 in
 that her book illustrates the whole    

present trend of social work as applied 
to individuals4  ,grateful              
acknowledgment should be made to the    
social case workers who have furnished  
valuable contributions to the body of   
data gathered for the present study4    
,miss ,colcord wishes mention made of   
her especial indebtedness to ,miss      
,betsey ,libbey1 ,miss ,helen           
,wallerstein and ,miss ,elizabeth ,wood 
of ,philadelphia2 ,mr4 ,c4,c4 ,carstens 
and ,miss ,elizabeth ,holbrook of       
,boston2 ,mrs4 ,a4,b4 ,fox and ,mr4     
,j4,c4 ,murphy of ,buffalo2 ,miss       
,caroline ,bedford of ,minneapolis2 ,mr4
 ,stockton ,raymond of ,columbus2 ,mrs4 
,helen ,glenn ,tyson of ,pittsburgh2    
,mr4 ,arthur ,towne of ,brooklyn2 ,mr4  
,e4,j4 ,cooley1 ,mr4 ,charles ,zunser1  
,mr4 ,hiram ,myers1 and ,miss ,mary ,b4 
,sayles of ,new ,york4 ,many others not 
here mentioned were untiring in         
answering questions and furnishing      
needed information4  ,,mary ,e4         
,,richmond ,editor of the ,social ,work 

,series ,,new ,,york1 ,may1 #aiai4      
,,contents                              
,,page    ,i4 ,,introduction            
#g   ,,ii4 ,,why ,,do ,,men ,,desert    
,,their ,,families8               #ag   
,,iii4 ,,changes ,,of ,,emphasis ,,in   
,,treatment                #ej   ,,iv4  
,,finding ,,the ,,deserting ,,husband   
#fe    ,v4 ,,further ,,items ,,in ,,the 
,,investigation              #ia   ,,vi4
 ,,the ,,details ,,of ,,treatment       
#ajf  ,,vii4 ,,the ,,details ,,of       
,,treatment 7,continued7         #abe   
,,viii4 ,,the ,,home-,,staying          
,,non-,,supporter                 #adi  
,,ix4 ,,next ,,steps ,,in ,,corrective  
,,treatment             #afd    ,x4     
,,next ,,steps ,,in ,,preventive        
,,treatment             #ahe ,,index    
#bja     ,,broken ,,homes  ,i           
,,introduction   ,it has frequently been
 said that desertion is the poor man's  
divorce but1 like many epigrams1 this   
one hardly stands the test of           
experience4 ,when examined closely it is

 neither illuminating nor1 if the       
testimony of social case workers can be 
accepted1 is it true4 ,it is true1 of   
course1 that many of the causes of      
domestic infelicity which lead to       
divorce among the well-to-do may bring  
about desertion among the less          
fortunate1 but the deserting man does   
not1 as a rule1 consider his absences   
from home as anything so final and      
definite as divorce4  ,in a study of    
desertion made by the ,philadelphia     
,society for ,organizing ,charity in    
#aijb1a it was found that #hg per cent  
of the men studied had deserted more    
than once4 ,the combined experience of  
social workers goes to show that a      
comparatively small number of first     
deserters make so complete a break in   
their marital relations that they are   
never heard from again1 and that an even
 smaller number actually start new      
families elsewhere1 although no         
statistical proof of this last statement
 is available4 ,one social worker of    

experience says that in her judgment    
desertion1 instead of being a poor man's
 divorce1 comes nearer to being a poor  
man's vacation4      ,a man who had     
always been a good husband and father   
was discharged     from hospital after a
 long and exhausting illness and        
returned to     his family--wife and    
seven children--in their five-room      
tenement4     ,ten days later he        
disappeared suddenly1 but reappeared    
some two     weeks later in very much   
better health and ready to resume his   
occupation and the care of his family4  
,his explanation of his     apparent    
desertion was that he was unable to     
stand the confusion of     his home and 
had needed rest4 ,he had beaten his way 
to     ,philadelphia and visited a      
friend there4  ,the reporter of the     
foregoing remarks that it illustrates   
unconscious self-therapy1 and that the  
patient's disappearance might have been 
avoided if the services of a good       
medical-social department had been      

available at the hospital where the man 
was treated4  ,it is more difficult to  
justify the thirst for experience of    
another deserting husband who came to   
the office of a family social agency    
after an absence of a few months1 with  
effusive thanks for the care of his     
family and the explanation that he had  
always wanted to see the ,west1 and this
 had been the only way he could find of 
accomplishing it4  ,in fact1 case work  
has convinced social workers that there 
are few things less permanent than      
desertion4 ,in itself this provisional  
quality tends to create irritation in   
the minds of many of the profession4 ,it
 is upsetting to plan for a deserted    
family which stops being deserted1 so to
 speak1 overnight4 ,but in their        
understandable despair social workers   
sometimes overlook essential facts about
 the nature of marriage4 ,the permanence
 of family life is one of the foundation
 stones of their professional faith2 yet
 they may fail to recognize certain     

manifestations of this permanence as    
part and parcel of the end for which    
they are striving4 ,they would see no   
point in the practice adopted by a      
certain social agency which deals with  
many cases of family desertion4 ,this   
society1 when it has had occasion to    
print copies of a deserter's photograph 
to use in seeking to discover his       
present whereabouts1 often presents his 
wife with an enlargement of the picture 
suitable for framing4 ,the procedure    
displays1 nevertheless1 a profound      
insight not only into human nature but  
into the human institution called       
marriage4  ,in the next chapter will be 
considered some of the causes that make 
men leave their homes4 ,to deal         
effectively with the situation created  
by desertion1 however1 we have need of a
 wider knowledge than this4 ,not only   
what takes men away but what keeps them 
from going1 what brings them back1 what 
leads to their being forgiven and       
received into their homes again1 are    

matters that seriously concern the      
social case worker4 ,what is it that    
makes this plant called marriage so     
tough of fiber and so difficult to      
eradicate from even the most unfriendly 
soil8  ,it is fortunate 7since the      
majority of case workers are unmarried7 
that simply to have been a member of a  
family gives one some understanding of  
these questions4 ,the theorist who      
maintains that marriage is purely       
economic1 or that it is entirely a      
question of sex1 has either never       
belonged to a real family or has        
forgotten some of the lessons he learned
 there4  ,many volumes have been written
 upon the history of marriage1 or rather
 of the family1 since1 as one historian 
justly puts it1 marriage has its source 
in the family rather than the family in 
marriage4#b ,in all these studies the   
influence of law1 of custom1 of         
self-interest1 and of economic pressure1
 is shown to have molded the institution
 of marriage into curious shapes and    

forms1 some grievous to be borne4 ,but  
is it not after all the crystallized and
 conventionalized records of past time  
which have had to be used as the source 
material of such studies1 and could the 
spiritual values of the family in any   
period be found in its laws and learned 
discourses8 ,we might rather expect to  
find students of these sources          
preoccupied with the outward aspects1   
the failures1 the unusual instances4 ,it
 is as true of human beings as of       
nations1 that the happy find no         
chronicler4 ,out of 444 interest and joy
 in caring for children in their        
weakness and watching that weakness grow
 to strength1 family life came into     
being and has persisted4#c ,it is hardly
 conceivable that in any society1       
however primitive1 there were not some  
real families--even when custom ran     
otherwise--in which marriage meant love 
and kindness and the mutual sharing of  
responsibilities4 ,and these families1  
today as always1 are the creators and   

preservers of the spiritual gains of the
 human race4 ,it has been beautifully   
said of the family in such a form1 that 
it is greater than love itself1 for it  
includes1 ennobles1 makes permanent1 all
 that is best in love4 ,the pain of life
 is hallowed by it1 the drudgery        
sweetened1 its pleasures consecrated4   
,it is the great trysting-place of the  
generations1 where past and future flash
 into the reality of the present4 ,it is
 the great storehouse in which the      
hardly-earned treasures of the past1 the
 inheritance of spirit and character    
from our ancestors1 are guarded and     
preserved for our descendants4 ,and it  
is the great discipline through which   
each generation learns anew the lesson  
of citizenship that no man can live for 
himself alone4#d ,it follows that the   
most trying and discouraging feature of 
social work with deserted wives2 namely1
 their determination to take worthless  
men back and back again for another     
trial1 is often only a further          

manifestation of the extraordinary      
viability of the family4  ,it is true   
that1 into this enduring quality1 many  
elements enter1 some homely or merely   
material4 ,a desire for support1 or for 
a resumption of sex relations1 may play 
a part in a wife's decision to forgive  
the wanderer4 ,there are many other     
factors--use and wont2 pride in being   
able to show a good front to the        
neighbors2 a feeling that it is         
unnatural to be receiving support from  
other sources4 ,just the mere desire to 
have his clothes hanging on the wall and
 the smell of his pipe about1 the       
hundreds of small details that go to    
make up the habit of living together1   
have each their separate pull on the    
woman whose instinct to be wife and     
mother to her erring man is urging her  
to give in2 ,home is1 in both their     
minds1       444 the place where when   
you have to go there     ,they have to  
take you in4444     ,something you      
somehow haven't to deserve4#e  ,a woman 

who had left her home town and found    
clerical work in a strange city1 in     
order not to be near her syphilitic     
husband from whom she had determined to 
separate1 said1 ,when you've been       
married to a man1 you can't get over    
feeling your place is with him4         
,however we may deplore the results in a
 given case1 the spineless woman who    
takes her husband back many times may   
nevertheless be giving a demonstration  
of the thing we are most interested in  
conserving--the durability and          
persistence of the family4 ,and so the  
social worker who is enabled by         
experience or imagination to enter into 
the real meaning of family life is      
neither scornful nor amused when ,mrs4  
,finnegan is found1 on the morning when 
her case against ,finnegan is to come up
 in the domestic relations court1 busily
 washing and ironing his other shirt in 
order that he may make a proper         
appearance and not disgrace the family  
before the judge4         99       99   

99       99       99  ,an attempt will  
be made in this small book to analyze   
some causal factors in the problem of   
the deserter1 to touch upon recent      
changes in the attitude of social       
workers toward deserted families1 to    
present illustrations from the best     
discoverable practice in the treatment  
of desertion1 and to suggest certain    
possible next steps1 both on the legal  
and on the social side4 ,for lack of    
space1 it will be impossible to consider
 the closely related problems of the    
deserting wife1 the unmarried mother1 or
 the divorced couple4 ,it is assumed    
throughout that the reader is familiar  
with the general theory of modern case  
work2 and no more is here attempted than
 to give a number of suggestions which  
will be found to be practical1 it is    
hoped1 when the social worker deals with
 the home marred and broken by          
desertion1 or when he seeks to prevent  
this evil by such constructive measures 
as are now possible4  ,,footnotes3  #a  

,twenty-fourth ,annual ,report of the   
,philadelphia ,society for ,organizing  
,charity1 p4 #be4  #b ,goodsell1        
,willystine3 ,the ,family as a ,social  
and ,educational ,institution1 p4 #h4   
,new ,york1 ,the ,macmillan ,co41 #aiae4
  #c ,byington1 ,margaret ,f43 ,article 
on ,the ,normal ,family1 ,annals of the 
,american ,academy of ,political and    
,social ,science1 ,may1 #aiah4  #d      
,bosanquet1 ,helen3 ,the ,family1 p4    
#cdb4 ,london1 ,macmillan  ,co41 #aijf4 
#e ,frost1 ,robert3 ,north of ,boston1  
p4 #bj4 ,new ,york1 ,henry ,holt  ,co41 
#aiae4     ,,ii  ,,why ,,do ,,men       
,,desert ,,their ,,families8   ,before  
the deserter there was a broken man1    
said a district secretary who has had   
conspicuous success in dealing with such
 men4 ,by this characterization she     
meant not necessarily a physical or     
mental wreck1 but a man bankrupt for the
 time being in health1 hopes1 prospects1
 or in all three2 a man who lacked the  
power or the will to dominate adverse   

conditions1 who had allowed life to     
overcome him4 ,such an unfortunate may  
not be conscious of his own share in    
bringing about the difficulties in which
 he finds himself1 but he is always     
aware that something has gone seriously 
wrong in his life4 ,his grasp of this   
fact is the one sure ground upon which  
the social worker can meet him at the   
start4  ,we should distinguish between  
the causes that bring about a given     
desertion1 and the conscious motives in 
the mind of the deserter4 ,it is well   
for the social worker to make the latter
 the starting point in dealing with the 
man1 accepting the most preposterous as 
at least worthy of discussion4 ,the     
absconder is often too inarticulate and 
ill at ease to give a clear picture of  
what was in his mind when he went away4 
,if he was out of work1 it may have been
 a perfectly sincere belief that he     
would find work elsewhere1 or perhaps   
only a speculative hope that he might4  
7,these are not in the beginning genuine

 desertions1 but often become so later  
on47 ,it is possible that1 beset by     
irritations and perplexities1 the       
thought of cutting his way out at one   
stroke from all his difficulties made an
 appeal too strong to be resisted4 ,or  
perhaps he flung out of the house and   
away1 in a passion of anger and jealousy
 which later crystallized into cold     
dislike4 ,the spell of an infatuation   
for another woman might well have been  
the cause2 or he may have been mentally 
deranged through alcohol4 ,simple       
weariness of the burden which he has not
 strength of body or mind to carry and  
ought never to have assumed is one      
attitude to be reckoned with1 and       
failure to realize or in his heart      
accept the binding nature of his        
obligations is another4  ,his           
temperamental instability may have been 
such that the desire for a change--the  
wanderlust--was driving him to          
distraction4 ,or perhaps1 under the urge
 of his own subconscious feeling of     

failure1 he may have convinced himself  
that if he could shake the old          
environment and all in it that hampered 
him1 he could take a fresh start and    
make good4 ,if ,i could only get to     
,california1 sighed ,patrick ,donald1#f 
,i have a feeling things would be       
different4 ,with too much imagination to
 be content with the situation in which 
he found himself1 ,donald had not       
imagination enough to realize that he   
would have to take his old self with him
 wherever he went1 and that he might    
better fight things out where he stood4 
,men of his sort yearn constantly for   
the future1 not realizing that in its   
truest sense the present is the future4 
,only in rare instances will the        
deserter accept the entire              
responsibility for his act4 ,to try to  
find justification for doing what we    
want to do is characteristic of human   
beings1 and the deserter is no          
exception4 ,he attempts to rationalize  
his conduct and so regain his sense of  

self-approval and well-being by finding 
excuses and justifications in the       
conduct of others4 ,even when the fault 
is all his1 he usually succeeds in      
making himself believe that his wife is 
more to blame than he for his having    
left home4#g ,the social worker who     
attempts to deal with the situation the 
deserter creates should know this       
attitude in advance and be prepared1    
through some simple rule-of-thumb       
psychology1 to attack the obsession and 
bring him1 first of all1 to see and face
 squarely his own responsibility4  ,many
 blanket theories have been developed to
 explain desertion--that it is due to   
economic pressure2 that it is the result
 of bad housekeeping2 that its causes   
can all be reduced to sex               
incompatibility4 ,all these factors3    
undoubtedly have their bearing on the   
problem1 but there is no one cause or   
group of causes underlying breakdowns in
 family morale4 ,the ratio of desertions
 has been observed to decrease rather   

than to increase in hard times2#h       
moreover1 it is a matter of common      
observation that not all slovenly and   
incompetent wives are deserted1 and that
 many married couples in all walks of   
life whose sex relationships are        
unsatisfactory1 nevertheless maintain   
the fabric of family life and support   
and bring up their children with an     
average degree of success4 ,none of     
these three factors alone will serve1   
therefore1 as a fundamental causation   
unit in desertion4 ,many statistical    
attempts have been made to study the    
causes of desertion1 and to assign to   
each its mathematical percentage of     
influence4 ,the report of a court of    
domestic relations gives such an        
analysis of over #a1ejj cases1 listing  
#be causes1 and carefully calculating   
the percentage of cases due to each4 ,a 
summary of these percentages grouped    
under five heads is as follows3         
,percentage #a4 ,distinct sex factors   
#ci4jc #b4 ,alcohol and narcotic drugs  

#cg4jj #c4 ,temperamental traits        
#ae4dj #d4 ,economic issues             
#f4bg #e4 ,mental and physical troubles 
#b4cj                                   
------                                  
#ajj4jj  ,it would be easy to criticize 
the foregoing on the score of grouping4 
,can alcoholism and drug addiction be   
separated from mental and physical      
disorders8 ,and how distinguish         
infallibly between sex factors1         
temperamental traits1 and mental        
disabilities8 ,but the main defect in   
such statistical studies is that they   
assume in each case one cause1 or at    
least one cause sufficiently dominant to
 dwarf the rest2 and few of the causes  
listed are really fundamental4 ,the mind
 instinctively begins to reach back     
after the causes of all these causes4   
,the social worker who made the sweeping
 assertion that there are two great     
reasons for marital discord--selfishness
 in men and peevishness in women1--came 
a good deal nearer to an accurate       

statement of fact with infinitely less  
trouble4  ,looked at from the point of  
view of the social worker1 desertion is 
itself only a symptom of some more      
deeply seated trouble in the family     
structure4 ,the problem presented1 if it
 could have been recognized in time1 is 
not essentially different from what it  
would have been before the man's        
departure4 ,without attempting1         
therefore1 any statistical analysis of  
the causes of desertion1 we may         
nevertheless be able to examine one by  
one a number of possible contributory   
factors in marital unhappiness and      
therefore in desertion4 ,no attempt will
 be made in the list that follows to    
distinguish between primary and         
secondary causes1 nor to arrange them in
 any order of importance4 ,an effort to 
get from case workers lists so arranged 
resulted only in confusion1 each person 
emphasizing a different set of factors4 
,the groupings here given1 therefore1   
are no more than a placing of the more  

obviously related factors together and a
 leading from past history up to the    
present4  ,considering first the        
personal as distinguished from the      
community factors in desertion1 these   
may be listed as follows3               
,,contributory ,,factors ,,in ,,the     
,,man ,,and ,,woman  #a4 ,actual ,mental
 ,deficiency4--,character weaknesses    
such as were spoken of earlier in this  
chapter grade down by degrees into real 
mental defect or disorder1 and not even 
the psychiatrist can always draw the    
line4  ,a physician connected with the  
,municipal ,court in ,boston gives as   
his opinion that while the percentage of
 actually insane or feeble-minded among 
deserters is no higher than among other 
offenders they are extremely likely to  
present some of the phenomena of        
psychopathic personality4 ,such people  
have to be studied by the social worker 
and the psychiatrist1 and not from the  
behavior side only1 but with a view to  
discovering what sort of equipment for  

life was handed down to them from their 
family stock4      ,the plan for the    
future of a fifteen-year-old boy which  
was made by     a society for family    
social work was markedly modified when  
it was     discovered that not only his 
father but his grandfather had been a   
man of violent and abusive temper1 who  
drank habitually and     neglected their
 family obligations4 ,with this sort of 
heredity and     an ineffective mother1 
whom he was accustomed to seeing treated
 with     abuse and disrespect1 it was  
felt important to remove the boy1 who   
showed some promise1 to surroundings    
where he could be under firm            
discipline and learn decent standards of
 family life4  ,feeble-mindedness1      
closely connected as it usually is with 
industrial inefficiency in the man1 bad 
housekeeping in the woman1 and lack of  
self-control in both1 is of course1 a   
potent factor in non-support and        
probably also in desertion4  #b4 ,faults
 in ,early ,training4--,to low ideals of

 home life and of personal obligation1  
which were imbibed in youth1 can be     
traced much family irresponsibility4 ,it
 is by no means the rule1 however1 for  
children always to follow in the        
footsteps of weak or vicious parents2   
and it is the experience of social      
workers that such children1 taught by   
observation to avoid the faults seen in 
their own homes1 often make good parents
 themselves4 ,perhaps even more         
insidious in its effect on later marital
 history is the home in which no        
self-control is learned4 ,the so-called 
good homes in which children are exposed
 to petting1 coddling1 and              
overindulgence--and these homes are not 
confined to the wealthy--produce adults 
who do not stand up to their            
responsibilities4 ,a probation officer  
in ,philadelphia tells of the mother of 
a young deserter who could not account  
for her son's delinquency4 ,he ought to 
be a good boy1 she complained2 ,i       
carried him up to bed myself every night

 till he was eleven years old4  #c4     
,differences in ,background4--,even     
though both man and wife come from good 
homes1 if those homes are widely        
different in standards and in cultural  
background strains may develop in later 
life between the couple4 ,differences in
 race1 religion and age are recognized  
as having a causative relation to       
desertion4 ,miss ,brandt#i found that1  
in about #bh per cent of the cases where
 these facts were ascertained1 the      
husband and wife were of different      
nationality4 ,in the general population 
of the ,united ,states in #aijj only    
#h4e per cent was of mixed parentage1   
and for ,new ,york ,city the proportion 
was less than #ac per cent4444 ,a       
difference in nationality was more than 
twice as frequent among the cases of    
desertion as among the general          
population of the city where it is most 
common4 ,miss ,brandt's figures for     
difference of religion are less         
significant1 but it existed in #ai per  

cent of the total number of cases for   
which information on this point was     
available4 ,in #bg per cent of the      
families where age-facts were learned1  
there were differences of over six years
 between the two2 in #ae per cent the   
woman was older than the man4  ,other   
differences which should find mention   
under this heading are those that arise 
when the environment is changed by      
immigration4 ,the man who precedes his  
wife by many years in coming to ,america
 has often outgrown her when she finally
 joins him1 even if he has formed no    
other family ties4 ,the handicap is not 
wholly overcome when the couple come to 
this country together1 for the much     
greater opportunities of the man to     
learn ,american ways may drive a wedge  
between him and his wife4 ,on the other 
hand it is a popular saying1            
particularly among young ,italian       
immigrants1 that girls who have been in 
,america too long do not make good      
wives1 that when a man wants to marry he

 had better send for a girl from the old
 country2 and these marriages seem on   
the whole to turn out well4  #d4 ,wrong 
,basis of ,marriage4--,included here    
should be hasty marriages1 mercenary    
marriages1 marriages entered into       
unwillingly after pregnancy had         
occurred1 as well as marriages where    
coercion was a factor for other         
reasons4#aj  ,when there have been sex  
relations before marriage1 unless the   
custom of the community sanctions such  
intimacy1 there are likely to develop   
jealousies1 quarrels1 and ill feeling4  
,he do be always castin' it up at me1   
but sure1 'twas himself was to blame is 
one version of the age-old story4       
,there should also be included here     
those irregular unions called common law
 marriages1 which are still permitted in
 many of our states4 ,the protection    
supposed to be afforded to the woman by 
this institution is mainly fictitious1  
as it is practically impossible to      
secure conviction for bigamy if one of  

the marriages was of the common law     
variety4 ,a common law husband who      
deserts1 even if he admits his wife's   
legal claim upon him1 does not feel     
morally bound2 and this fact undoubtedly
 plays its part in the causation of such
 desertions4#aa  #e4 ,lack of           
,education4--,more is included under    
this title than scanty book-learning4   
,not only the morally undisciplined     
child but the mentally undisciplined    
youth is handicapped as spouse and      
parent4 ,ignorance of the physical and  
spiritual bases of married life is a    
potent cause of desertion4 ,so also is a
 limited industrial equipment4          
,irregular school attendance1 early     
working papers1 a dead-end job with no  
educational possibilities in it--these  
form a frequent background for later    
unsuccess in life and in marriage4      
,there seemed at first no good          
explanation for the desertion of        
,alfred ,west4 ,both his record and his 
wife's were good1 and their     mutual  

fondness for the children seemed a      
strong bond4 ,they     constantly       
bickered1 however1 over the small income
 ,alfred was able     to earn1 and his  
wife and her relatives looked down upon 
him as     being lower than they in the 
social scale4 ,inquiry into past history
     showed that he had grown up in a   
southern community where there were     
no facilities for education1 and that he
 could not even read and     write until
 after his marriage4 ,although of       
average capacity1 he was     restricted 
by his early lack of training in his    
choice of a job2 and     the            
mortification and sense of inferiority  
which his wife fostered     led to      
discouragement and indifference1 which  
ended in desertion4 ,a     thorough     
understanding of the two backgrounds    
involved enabled a     social worker to 
effect a real reconciliation1 with the  
woman's eyes     opened to her          
ungenerous behavior and the man taking  
steps to     improve his education in a 

night school4  #f4 ,occupational        
,faults4--,closely allied to the        
foregoing1 and in some respects growing 
out of it1 are the shortcomings on the  
employment side that contribute to      
marital instability4 ,most of these can 
be referred back to lack of education or
 opportunity in youth1 or to defects of 
character4 ,laziness1 incompetence1 lack
 of skill in any trade1 lack of         
application1 or1 on the other hand1 the 
possession by a man with no business    
stake in the community of a trade at    
which he can work wherever he takes a   
fancy to go1 or of a trade which is     
seasonal and shifting--all these have a 
direct relation to desertion4  ,the     
wife's competence and willingness to    
earn often seems to have a causal       
connection with the man's failure as    
provider4#ab  ,corresponding to and     
complementing the man's industrial      
defects1 and springing from the same    
causes1 is the woman's failure in the   
business of being a housewife4 ,the     

wife's laziness1 incompetence1 lack of  
interest1 and lack of skill and         
knowledge create1 as one case worker    
puts it1 the sort of home that tends to 
get itself deserted4 ,these faults of   
the wife are responsible for as many    
desertions1 probably1 as are the faults 
of the husband4 ,when the man and the   
wife are both industrial failures we get
 the extremity of family breakdown to be
 found in records of chronic non-support
 cases4  #g4 ,wanderlust4--,as a cause  
of family desertion this has probably   
been overestimated4 ,some item of this  
sort appears in every list of causes of 
desertion which has ever been compiled1 
and there are more or less exceptional  
cases in which it probably plays a part4
 ,the boy who becomes a vagabond in     
childhood and early takes to the road   
does not1 however1 seem to be a marrying
 man2 and the instances from case work  
in which it is clear that the thirst for
 adventure was at the bottom of         
desertion are rare4 ,the man whose line 

of work before marriage led him from    
place to place seems1 in fact1 hardly to
 contribute his quota to the ranks of   
wife-deserters1 and it is unusual to    
find sailors or other wanderers from    
force of circumstance figuring among    
them4  #h4 ,money ,troubles4--,as has   
already been said1 it is impossible to  
show any direct relation between small  
incomes and desertion4 ,the connection  
between low wage and non-support is of  
course a great deal closer4 ,the        
inadequate income unquestionably acts   
indirectly to break down family morale  
in much the same way as does lowered    
physical vitality4  ,but marital discord
 that springs from the handling of the  
family finances is another matter1 and  
it recurs regularly in the history of   
what went on prior to desertion4 ,one   
deserter1 traced to a southern city1    
returned voluntarily and begged the     
assistance of the social worker         
interested to reform his wife's spending
 habits4 ,i made good money and ,i never

 opened my pay envelope on her1 said he1
 but the week's wages was always gone by
 ,thursday4 ,many men1 however1 who make
 a boast of turning over unbroken pay   
envelopes to their wives borrow back so 
much in daily advances that their net   
contribution is only a fraction of their
 wages4  ,some desertions brought about 
by financial difficulties are not1      
strictly speaking1 marital problems at  
all4 ,debts resulting from his own      
extravagance or dishonesty may cause a  
man to leave home to escape prosecution 
or disgrace4 ,one such man kept in touch
 with his family1 sending money at      
irregular intervals for some years1 but 
always moving on to another place before
 he could be found4 ,it proved          
impossible to get in communication with 
him1 and finally he stopped writing and 
disappeared4  #i4 ,ill ,health3         
,physical ,debility4--,all social       
workers agree that physical condition   
plays a part1 though usually only       
indirectly and secondarily1 in causing  

desertion4 ,in the man1 it may lower his
 vitality1 cause irregular work1 and    
superinduce a condition of despondency  
and readiness to give in4 ,in the woman1
 it brings about careless housekeeping1 
loss of attractiveness1 and             
disinclination to marital               
intercourse--all factors which          
contribute directly to desertion4       
,continued ill health of the wife brings
 burdens1 financial and other1 which may
 help through discouragement to break   
down the husband's morale4  ,there      
should be included here some            
consideration of one of the most        
puzzling types of abandonment--the      
pregnancy desertion4 ,attempts have been
 made to explain it on the ground of the
 instinctive aversion of the male sex   
for domestic crises4 ,but the impulse   
that causes the prosperous householder  
to move to his club when house-cleaning 
time arrives will hardly serve to       
explain such a custom1 and as a matter  
of fact other domestic crises1 such as  

illnesses of the children1 do not have  
any such effect upon the man who        
habitually absents himself from home    
before the birth of each child4 ,other  
possible reasons for it are the         
well-known irritability and difficulty  
of women in this condition1 and their   
aversion to sexual intercourse4 ,some   
pregnancy deserters take the step in the
 hope that their wives will bring about 
an abortion2 but this is a modern and   
sophisticated development and the       
institution of pregnancy desertion is   
one of undoubted antiquity4 ,its        
prevalence among certain ,european      
immigrants would almost point to its    
being a racial tradition4 ,ethnologists 
who have studied strange marriage       
customs1 such as the couvade1 ought to  
turn their attention to discovering the 
causes of this other and socially more  
important marital vagary4  #aj4         
,temperamental ,incompatibility4--,it is
 difficult to catalogue and appraise the
 causal factors in desertion that lie in

 personality4 ,they are closely related 
to differences in background and are    
intimately involved with the sex        
relations of the pair4 ,we cannot1      
however1 admit that they are identical  
with the latter1 as some students of the
 subject claim2 or that the only        
incompatibility in marriage is sex      
incompatibility4 ,indeed1 two people may
 be so incompatible as to find in sex   
their only common ground4  ,the         
commonest of these temperamental        
differences center about standards of   
right and wrong or proper and improper  
conduct4 ,especially is this manifested 
in the bringing up of the children4     
,extreme self-righteousness on the part 
of one or the other1 nagging and petty  
criticism1 unreasonable jealousy1       
sulking spells1 violent quarrels1 are   
some of its manifestations4 ,the idea of
 possession exercised by either of the  
couple1 and especially a tendency to    
dominate or try to control on the part  
of the woman1 may be a causal factor in 

desertion4 ,the lack of a saving sense  
of humor in one or both is often a      
complicating factor4 ,these             
comparatively minor differences take on 
a serious complexion in the minds of the
 couple2 and it is surprising how often 
a deserting man will give promptly and  
with every appearance of feeling        
justified some cause for his desertion  
which falls clearly under this head4    
,people forgive each other the big      
things2 it's the little things they     
can't forgive4   #aa4 ,sex              
,incompatibility4--,there comes under   
this heading a wide range of causative  
factors which play an important part in 
marital discord4 ,some of them are      
better understood by the social worker  
than was formerly the case2 but many of 
them are obscure even to the            
practitioner of mental medicine1 to whom
 their results come daily4 ,distasteful 
as the task may be1 the social worker   
should familiarize herself1 through     
reading or through instruction by a     

qualified physician1 in the commoner    
forms of these maladjustments4 ,this is 
not urged because it is part of the     
social worker's task to make detailed   
inquiry into such matters or to pass    
judgment upon them1 but because they    
often clamor for attention and need to  
be recognized by the first responsible  
person to whose notice they are brought4
 ,unless she knows1 for instance1 what  
constitutes excess in sex relations1 a  
worker may misunderstand the situation  
described to her and condemn a man for  
being a selfish brute1 when the trouble 
is really sexual ansthesia in the wife4 
,it is well known that this single cause
 operates disastrously to disrupt many  
marriages or else to render them        
insupportable4 ,the warning should be   
added1 however--and it cannot be added  
too emphatically--that the social worker
 must scrupulously refrain from making  
diagnoses in these cases1 even          
tentatively2 she must refer such data as
 come to her either to the general      

practitioner or to the psychiatrist1    
selecting one or the other as the       
symptoms presented may indicate4  ,less 
well understood by the lay worker are   
actual maladjustments1 both physical and
 mental 7or spiritual71 which prevent   
the complete satisfaction of one or     
both4 ,some of these are curable by     
medical care1 others by instruction and 
education4 ,this instruction should be  
given1 needless to say1 by the physician
 and not by the case worker4 ,if        
uncorrected such maladjustments are apt 
to result in marital shipwreck4  ,no    
attempt can be made here to discuss     
actual sex perversions in their relation
 to desertion4 ,their effect is obvious2
 and the social worker should be        
sufficiently well informed1 not only    
from a few standard books on the        
subject1#ac but from a knowledge of the 
phrases which are used in the tenements1
 to understand them1 so that significant
 symptoms are not overlooked4 ,so       
intimately are sex difficulties         

connected with the neuroses that the lay
 social worker should consult the       
psychiatrist freely wherever one is     
available1 before attempting to deal    
with them4   #ab4 ,vicious              
,habits4--,sexual immorality1 through   
its degenerative effect on personality  
and the lowered ideals of marriage it   
induces1 has a real effect in bringing  
about desertion4 ,the other man and the 
other woman type of desertion1 however1 
is often itself only a consequence of a 
previously existing state of            
temperamental or sexual incompatibility4
 ,if these underlying causes can be     
attacked and changed such a desertion   
may be repairable4      ,a young man    
deserted his wife and three children and
 eloped with an     eighteen-year-old   
girl who had made his acquaintance in a 
street car     flirtation4 ,he had been 
an obedient boy with good principles1   
and     his later record showed         
steadiness and ability2 but he and his  
wife     had been drifting apart--their 

marital relations had not been quite    
the same as formerly4 ,arrested and     
brought back1 he did not impute     any 
blame to her1 however1 but said he must 
have been crazy4 ,in     spite of the   
circumstances1 the judge decided to give
 him six months     in the penitentiary2
 and a man visitor from the family      
social agency     interested began at   
once to try to secure an influence over 
him4 ,on     his release the couple     
again went to housekeeping4 ,the wife   
had been     cautioned on how to receive
 him2 but things went badly at first1   
and     the man began again insisting   
that they were mismated4 7,he had the   
other girl still considerably on his    
conscience and heart47 ,tangles         
continually arose which the society's   
visitor was hard put to it to           
straighten out4 ,once the wife found a  
letter from the girl2 but     finally1  
after the charity organization society  
in the city where he     had left the   
girl reported that she was doing well   

and not breaking     her heart about    
him1 the man decided to cut out the     
correspondence4 ,a little later the girl
 eliminated herself by     marrying4 ,a 
year after the reconciliation the wife  
told the friendly     visitor that the  
trouble was gone between them1 and it   
was just     like a new life4 ,for      
another year efforts were continued to  
strengthen the attachment and make the  
home more attractive1 at the     end of 
which time it was felt that the home was
 stable enough to     need no further   
supervision4  ,for reasons of           
convenience we may include here the     
causal relations between venereal       
disease and desertion4 ,in so far as    
syphilis brings about mental and        
physical deterioration1 the relation    
between the two is obvious4 ,the        
presence of the disease in the man1 if  
known to his wife1 may lead her to sever
 relations with him in self-protection1 
and this severance1 in turn1 may lead   
ultimately to desertion or complete     

separation4 ,often separation is        
desirable1 but the syphilitic who is on 
the whole a good family man raises some 
of the most difficult questions with    
which the social worker has to deal4    
,whether to try to force him out of the 
home and thus make an unwilling         
deserter2 whether to violate the        
diagnosis given in confidence by passing
 it on to the wife for her              
protection--these are only two of the   
puzzles that may arise4  ,the relation  
of alcoholism to non-support and        
desertion is too well known to require  
discussion4 ,the causative relation     
between alcohol and desertion is so     
direct that it probably ought not to be 
included under contributory causes at   
all4 ,as it is an active poison to the  
cells of the nervous system1 it may     
bring about deteriorations of mind and  
character that are directly to blame for
 such anti-social acts as desertion4    
,the same is true in less degree of the 
use of narcotics2 though drug habits are

 far less common in connection with     
desertion than alcoholism4 ,what        
relation drugs and alcohol will hold to 
desertion after ,july #a1 #aiai1 remains
 to be seen4 ,alcoholism in the woman   
is1 however1 a real contributory factor1
 and one frequently met with4 ,the      
experience of social workers leads them 
to believe that alcohol is more         
devastating in its effects on character 
with women than with men1 and that there
 is less hope of a cure4 ,the great     
majority of so-called justifiable       
deserters are the husbands of alcoholic 
women4  ,gambling in its effect on      
family income will be discussed in      
connection with non-support1 to which it
 bears a much more direct relation than 
to desertion4 ,in its degenerative      
effect upon character it may have1      
however1 a real causal relation to the  
latter4  ,the habit of desertion itself 
is a degenerative one1 not only upon the
 deserter but upon his home4 ,the       
intermittent husband often weakens and  

demoralizes his wife in almost the same 
ratio as his own progress down-hill4    
,,contributory ,,factors ,,in ,,the     
,,community  #a4 ,interference of       
,relatives4--,the tendency of relatives 
to take sides against their in-laws is a
 matter of everyone's observation4 ,it  
is frequently found as a serious factor 
in desertion4 ,many case stories which  
will be used in the following chapters  
to illustrate other points show also the
 harmful interference of relatives in   
what might otherwise have been a fairly 
stable home4 ,relatives can be a factor 
in marital discord without actively     
interfering4 ,one high-tempered young   
couple formed what amounted to a habit  
of frequent quarrels and temporary      
separations simply because the parents  
of both stood ready to take them back   
whenever they chose to live apart4      
,relatives within the home as well as   
outside it may exercise an unfortunate  
influence on marital relations4 ,the    
desertion of a middle-aged man who      

married a widow was found to be directly
 caused by the antagonism which grew up 
between him and his grown step-children4
   #b4 ,racial ,attitude toward         
,marriage4--,the racial factor is       
important in desertion4 ,not only the   
individual's own background1 but the    
attitude of the people whence he sprang 
toward the sanctity of marriage1 toward 
the position of women1 and toward the   
importance of restraint in sexual       
relations1 will have an effect upon the 
desertion rate of a given racial group4 
,a study was recently made of #dhj      
deserters known to the ,new ,york       
,charity ,organization ,society in      
#aiaf-ag whose nationality was given4   
,the results in percentage form are     
given for what they may be worth1       
compared with the same percentage in    
#b1ihg families of known nationalities  
which were under care for all causes    
during the same year4  ,,nationality    
,,or ,,race                             
,per cent                         ,per  

cent   among #b1ihg ,race or place of   
birth  among #dhj  families under       
deserters  care for all                 
causes                                  
----------------------------------------
----------- ,united ,states--white      
#cj4f       #bi4g ,united               
,states--colored    #aa4b        #e4f   
,irish                      #i4g        
#ad4g   ,other ,british            #e4j 
#d4g ,german                     #f4b   
#f4b ,italian                   #bj4b   
#bh4j ,austrian                   #e4e  
#d4h ,russian                    #b4h   
#a4j ,polish                     #c4c   
#a4b ,other                      #e4e   
#d4a                                    
----------------------------------------
------------                            
#ajj4j      #ajj4j  #c4 ,community      
,standards4--,it cannot be too          
emphatically stated that any tendency in
 the community to belittle or ridicule  
the estate of matrimony has a definite  
cumulative effect on desertion4 ,the    

when a man's married series in the comic
 supplements1 certain comic films in the
 moving picture shows1 the form of drama
 popularly called bedroom farce are     
examples of these destructive forces4   
,most of the people who laugh at them   
accept them as a humorous formula and   
are not seriously affected by them2 but 
their educational effect on young people
 is bound to be bad and false to the    
last degree4 ,in so far as they         
overemphasize romantic love and         
disparage conjugal love1 the theater and
 the popular press do this generation   
great disservice4  ,another way in which
 the community may affect the popular   
conception of marriage is in the        
administration of civil marriage4 ,lack 
of care in enforcing the laws and lack  
of gravity in performing the ceremonies 
may have a decided reaction on respect  
for those laws and for the institution  
itself4 ,similarly1 the administration  
of divorce laws may affect the popular  
conception of marriage4 ,one entire     

neighborhood condoned the situation in  
which a deserted wife immediately went  
to live with another man1 on the ground 
that if they had been rich1 they could  
have got a divorce4  #d4 ,lack of       
,proper ,recreation4--,this may seem a  
subject to be discussed under personal  
factors2 but proper recreation1 after   
all1 depends in large measure upon what 
the community provides or makes         
available4 ,the ,american tendency for  
the man to get his recreation apart from
 his family1 in saloons and social      
clubs1 is responsible for many family   
maladjustments4 ,any change in family   
habits of recreation which means that   
the man and wife enjoy fewer things     
together is a danger signal the         
seriousness of which is not always      
appreciated4 ,social workers are        
inclined to undervalue not only the     
influence of faulty recreation as a     
factor in family breakdown1 but also the
 possibilities of good recreation as an 
aid in family reconstruction4   #e4     

,influence of ,companions4--,as a factor
 in desertion this is closely connected 
with the two just discussed4            
,neighborhood standards1 as they affect 
individuals1 are apt to be transmitted  
through the small group that stands     
nearest1 and a man's companions have the
 freest opportunity to influence him    
during their common periods of          
recreation4 ,the influence of companions
 is not often met as a force            
deliberately exerted to bring about     
desertion2 but1 on the other hand1 a    
man's own mental contrast between his   
condition and that of his unmarried     
companions often plays a definite part  
in his decision to desert1 if he has    
begun to yearn for freedom4 ,the        
influence of companions is particularly 
connected with the wanderlust type of   
desertion4   #f4 ,expectation of        
,charitable ,relief4--,it used to be    
held that many men who would otherwise  
remain at home and support1 might be    
encouraged to desert if they had reason 

to believe that their wives and families
 would be cared for in their absence4   
,this was no doubt often the case before
 social workers had learned to          
discriminate in treatment between       
deserted wives and widows1 or to press  
with vigor the search for deserting men4
 ,at present1 it is the experience of   
social workers that few men deliberately
 reckon upon transferring the burden of 
their family's support to others1 or are
 induced by these considerations to     
leave4#ad         99       99       99  
99       99  ,in trying to determine the
 cause for any given desertion it is    
well to keep in mind from the beginning 
that there is probably more than one1   
and that the obvious causes that first  
appear are almost certain themselves to 
be the effects of more deeply underlying
 causes4 ,a young vaudeville actor of   
,italian parentage married a ,jewish    
girl1 a cabaret singer1 and took her    
home to live with his parents4 ,was his 
subsequent desertion to be ascribed to  

difference in nationality and religion1 
to interference of relatives1 to        
irregular and unsettling occupation1 or 
to a combination of all three8 ,would   
all marriages so handicapped turn out as
 badly8 ,if not1 what further factors   
entered to lower the threshold of       
resistance to disintegration in this    
particular case8  ,this last question is
 after all the most important one of the
 foregoing series4 ,it is one which the 
social case worker must never be content
 to leave unanswered4  ,,footnotes3  #f 
,all names of deserters given throughout
 the text are pseudonyms4  #g ,for an   
excellent discussion of the process of  
rationalization see ,the ,psychology of 
,insanity1 ,bernard ,hart1 ,cambridge   
,university ,press1 #aiad4  #h ,for a   
thoughtful discussion of this point see 
,eubank1 ,e4,e43 ,a ,study of ,family   
,desertion4 ,chicago ,department of     
,public ,welfare1 #aiaf4  #i ,brandt1   
,lilian3 ,family ,desertion4 ,the       
,charity ,organization ,society of ,new 

,york ,city1 #aije4  #aj ,for a fuller  
discussion of forced marriages1 see p4  
#ib sq4  #aa ,see also p4 #ih4  #ab ,see
 also p4 #aed4  #ac ,two books may be   
suggested3 ,forel on ,the ,sexual       
,question and ,havelock ,ellis on ,sex  
in ,relation to ,society 7,vol4 ,,vi of 
,studies in the ,psychology of ,sex74   
#ad ,see p4 #gj sq4 for a discussion of 
collusive desertion4     ,,iii          
,,changes ,,of ,,emphasis ,,in          
,,treatment   ,unconsciously and        
imperceptibly1 the point of view about  
the treatment of desertion has been     
changing during the past fifteen years4 
,the case worker's attention used to be 
focussed on the danger of increasing the
 desertion rate by a policy of too      
sympathetic care for deserters'         
families4 ,little study was made of     
individual causes1 and in so far as     
there was a general policy of treatment 
it was to insist1 wherever a desertion  
law existed1 that the deserted wife go  
at once to court and institute          

proceedings against her husband4 ,he was
 often not seen by the social worker    
until he appeared in court4 ,the policy 
toward the family meantime was to reduce
 its size by commitment of the children 
until their mother could support herself
 unaided2 or1 if relief was given1 to   
give smaller amounts than to a widow or 
the wife of a man in hospital4 ,as soon 
as the man had been placed under court  
order or had returned home1 old records 
generally show that the social worker's 
efforts were relaxed1 and often the     
final entry is1 ,case closed--family    
self-supporting4  ,there were excellent 
reasons underlying much of the practice4
 ,few laws were at that time in         
existence or at all adequately enforced1
 and any man who desired was at liberty1
 so far as the community was concerned1 
to walk off and leave his family at any 
time4 ,the multiplicity of sources of   
relief in the large communities and the 
absence of anything resembling          
investigation constituted almost an     

invitation to men to desert4 ,it did not
 occur to the charitable public to draw 
any line between the widow and the      
deserted wife1 or indeed to inquire     
which of these two a woman was1 so long 
as she was a good mother and seemed     
worthy4 ,no wonder that the pioneering  
social agencies1 busy forging tools out 
of the very ore1 took a rigid stand on  
such a question of social policy as     
this4 ,although their deterrents failed 
to eradicate the evil of desertion or   
indeed to touch its sources1 there is   
little doubt that they did lessen its   
volume by creating a wholesome respect  
for the power of the law in the mind of 
the would-be deserter and by fostering  
in his wife a disposition to stand up   
for her rights4 ,the more lenient and   
more constructive policies now in force 
have been made possible in part by these
 changes of attitude4 ,the very fact    
that the collusive desertion1 once      
fairly common1 is now seldom met with1  
illustrates the salutary effects of the 

earlier methods of treatment4  ,but the 
fact remains that no marked change has  
been seen in the desertion rate1 that   
successive desertions have not been     
prevented in individual cases4 ,hardly  
any statistical figure in the work of   
family social agencies shows so little  
fluctuation from year to year and       
between different cities1 as the        
percentage of deserted families4 ,it    
generally forms from ten to fifteen per 
cent of the work of any such society4   
,gradually1 therefore1 the repressive   
features of the earlier treatment have  
been abandoned1 and there has come about
 a realization of the complexity of     
causes that bring about family          
breakdowns4 ,in particular1 the relation
 of sex maladjustments to failure in    
marriage have received the serious      
attention of the social worker4 ,on the 
question of court intervention there has
 been almost a right-about face2 the    
best social practitioners now say1      
unhesitatingly and unequivocally1 that  

they take cases into court only as a    
matter of last resort1 after case work  
methods have been tried and have failed4
 ,in no other case where court action is
 undertaken by one individual against   
another does the relation between them  
remain unchanged4 ,one could not        
conceive of a business partnership      
failing to be annulled by one partner   
who brought suit against another2 yet we
 expect the marriage relation to survive
 this4 ,as a matter of fact1 such is its
 vitality that it often does4 ,but many 
times the result of court action is only
 to deaden once and for all the tiny    
spark from which marital happiness might
 have been rekindled4 ,as long as it    
survives1 both man and wife feel in     
their inmost hearts that1 no matter what
 his offense1 to take him to court is   
treason against the intangible bonds    
that still hold between them4 ,no matter
 how far apart they have drifted1 or how
 unforgivable has been the deserter's   
offense1 something irrevocable does     

happen to the fabric of marriage1 a few 
poor shreds of which may still exist    
between the two1 when his wife appears  
in a court of law to make complaint     
against him4 ,it is an instinctive      
realization that she is abandoning hope 
which underlies many a woman's          
reluctance to take a stand against her  
husband4 ,many social workers 7including
 some probation officers and court      
workers7 now feel that such a stand     
should be urged only in the full        
conviction that the protection of the   
woman and children demands it1 and that 
there is nothing else to be done4  ,this
 must not1 however1 be interpreted as a 
criticism of the laws concerning        
desertion or of the courts which        
administer them4 ,if they were not there
 in the background1 ready to be taken   
advantage of when all else fails1 the   
social worker's hands would be tied1 and
 the possibility of a rich and flexible 
treatment of desertion problems would be
 lost to her4 ,it is precisely because  

they had no such recourse that the case 
workers of an earlier day had to adopt a
 policy which now seems rigid4 ,it is   
because they were instrumental in       
securing better laws and specialized    
courts that the latter day social worker
 can push forward her own technique of  
dealing with homes that are             
disintegrating4  ,another great change  
in emphasis has been upon the question  
of interviewing the man1 and of being   
sure that his side1 or what he thinks is
 his side1 has been thoroughly          
understood4 ,social workers are under   
conviction of sin in the matter of      
dealing too exclusively with the woman  
of the family2 in desertion cases it is 
more than desirable1 it is vitally      
necessary to have dealings with the man4
 ,many social workers feel that1 at all 
events with a first desertion1 they     
would rather take the risk of having the
 man vanish a second time after having  
been found1 than have him arrested      
before an attempt to talk the matter out

 with him4 ,more stringent measures1    
they believe1 can be resorted to        
later--but the man must first be        
convinced that he will be listened to   
patiently and with the intent to deal   
fairly4 ,the case worker knows that the 
power of the human mind to rationalize  
anti-social conduct is infinite2 and    
that1 besides the few justifiable       
deserters1 there are many who have      
succeeded in convincing themselves that 
their action is warrantable4 ,a deserter
 who could allege nothing else against  
his wife1 averred that he had placed    
under the bed two matches1 crossed1 and 
a week later found them in the same     
position1 proving his contention that   
she was slovenly and did not keep the   
rooms clean4  ,the man who1 aided by a  
sore conscience1 has worked himself into
 such a state of mind as this must be   
permitted to talk himself out before he 
can be made to see the true state of    
affairs4 ,in the minds of both man and  
woman there is likely to be found a     

superstructure of suspicion1 jealousy1  
misinterpretation and distrust1 built   
upon the basic fact of their            
incompatibility1 which has to be pulled 
down before the true causes can be      
probed4 ,to arrest a man in this state  
of mind is in his eyes simply to take   
sides against him4 ,eventually he may   
have to be arrested1 but1 in the case   
worker's experience1 the chances of     
success are ten to one if the man can be
 induced to take some voluntary step    
toward reconciliation without the       
intervention of the law4 ,in many       
instances a real interview with the man1
 while not exonerating him1 would have  
thrown new light on the woman's         
statements4      ,a family social work  
society writes3 ,a young woman with her 
mother     and little boy were referred 
for aid by a medical social department  
because her husband had deserted and she
 was unable to work4 ,the     doctors   
feared that her breakdown would result  
in insanity1 so they     asked that her 

wishes be respected in not seeing the   
man's family4     ,she recovered1 but it
 was later found that her husband1 while
 not     doing all that he might for    
her1 had been living at home a good deal
     of the time and did not know that  
his family was in receipt of aid4       
,some years ago a charity organization  
society1 which maintained a     special 
bureau for treatment of desertion cases1
 was asked by a ,mrs4     ,clara        
,williams to help her find her husband1 
,john1 who had left her     some years  
previously and was living with another  
woman1 so that she     might force him  
to contribute to the support of herself 
and her two     children4 ,mrs4         
,williams was a motherly appearing      
person who kept a     clean1 neat home1 
and seemed to take excellent care of her
 children4     ,she was voluble         
concerning her husband's misdeeds and   
very bitter     toward him1 which seemed
 only natural4 ,the fact of the other   
household was corroborated from other   

sources1 and ,mr4 ,williams'     work   
references indicated that he had been   
quarrelsome and difficult     for his   
employers to get along with1 although a 
competent workman4     ,the problem     
seemed to the desertion agent a         
perfectly clear and     uncomplicated   
one and he proceeded to handle it       
according to the     formula4 ,some very
 clever detective work followed1 in the 
course of     which the man was traced  
from one suburban city to another1 and  
his     present place of employment     
found in the city where his wife lived1 
although he lived just across the border
 of another state4 ,the     warrant was 
served upon the man as he stepped from  
the train on his     way to work1 and he
 appeared in the domestic relations     
court4 ,he did     not deny the         
desertion but made some attempt to bring
 counter     charges against his wife4  
,when questioned about his present mode 
of     living he became silent and      
refused to testify further4 ,he was     

placed under bond1 which was furnished  
by the relatives of the woman     with  
whom he was living1 to pay his wife     
#f4jj a week4 ,no probation     was     
thought necessary and the case was      
closed1 both the court and     the      
charity organization society crediting  
themselves with a case     successfully 
handled and terminated4      ,about a   
year later ,mrs4 ,williams again        
applied1 stating that her     husband's 
bond had lapsed1 his payment had ceased1
 and that she had     no knowledge of   
his whereabouts4 ,although her home and 
children were     still immaculate she  
failed to satisfy the social worker who 
this     time visited her home with the 
plausible story which she had told      
before4 ,the children's health was not  
good and they seemed     unnaturally    
repressed and unhappy4 ,ugly reports    
that ,mrs4 ,williams     drank came to  
the society4 ,the school teacher        
deplored the effect     which the morbid
 nature of ,mrs4 ,williams was having on

 her youngest     child--a daughter just
 entering adolescence4 ,the son1 a boy a
 little     older1 was listless and     
unsatisfactory at his work1 and defiant 
and     secretive toward any attempt to 
get to know him better4 ,he spent       
many nights away from home and was      
evidently not on good terms with     his
 mother4 ,as soon as ,mrs4 ,williams saw
 that real information was     desired  
she began indulging in fits of rage in  
which she displayed     such an         
exaggerated ego as to cause some doubts 
as to her mentality4     ,baffled at    
every turn the case worker decided to   
interview the man1     if possible1 to  
see if through him any clue to the      
situation might     be gained4 ,the     
first step was to gain the confidence of
 a former     fellow-workman and friend 
of his who now maintained his own small 
shop4 ,this was done after several      
visits1 the deserting husband           
consenting to an evening meeting in his 
friend's shop4      ,a most illuminating

 interview followed4 ,mr4 ,williams was 
found to be     an intelligent though   
melancholy and self-centered man4 ,the  
couple     had married somewhat late in 
life1 it being ,mrs4 ,williams' second  
marriage4 ,she had been strongly        
influenced by her mother to marry       
him and had never had any real affection
 for him4 ,it became very     evident   
from his story that the strongly        
developed egotism of both     the       
husband and wife had made a real        
marriage impossible between     them1   
and the visitor became convinced of the 
genuineness of ,mr4     ,williams'      
protestations that he endured the       
constant abuse and     ill-treatment of 
his wife as long as it had been possible
 to do so4     ,as her drinking habits  
took more hold upon her and he had      
realized     that the break was coming  
he had endeavored to place the children 
in     homes1 and had once had his wife 
taken into court4 ,there her            
plausible story and good appearance     

resulted in the case being     dismissed
 with a reprimand to the husband4 ,he   
then left home1 but     continued to    
send her money at intervals1 although as
 he got older     he was able to earn   
less at his trade4 ,socialism was his   
religion1     and it was his preaching  
of this doctrine in season and out to   
his     fellow workmen which had earned 
him the ill-will of his employers4      
,he defended his present mode of living1
 vigorously putting up a     strong     
argument that it was a real marriage1   
whereas the other had     only been a   
sham4 ,he spoke in terms of affection of
 the woman who     was giving him the   
only real home he had ever known1 and   
only wished     that the state of public
 opinion would permit his taking his    
young     daughter into his home4 ,the  
boy1 he realized1 had grown entirely    
away from him and they could never mean 
anything to each other4 ,it     was his 
habit to make frequent trips back to the
 region where his     family lived in   

order that he might stand on the corner 
and watch     his children go by4 ,he   
gave readily much information about his 
own     and his wife's past connections1
 including the addresses of many of     
her relatives whose existence she had   
denied1 and he successfully     proved  
that her claims as to his lapsed        
payments were false by     producing the
 entire series of post office receipts  
covering his     remittances to her and 
extending down to the very week of the  
interview4#ae  ,there have been striking
 changes not only in the treatment of   
the deserter but in that of his family4 
,writing in #aiaj1 ,miss ,breed#af      
deprecates the habit of fostering the   
deserter's easy-going conviction that   
his family will get along somehow       
without him by giving relief4 ,she      
approves offering full support in an    
institution1 but is reluctant to        
recommend any form of aid in the home1  
even from relatives4 ,it is better1 she 
feels1 to give entire support to some of

 the children in foster homes1 leaving  
the mother only those she can care for4 
,much can be said for even so stringent 
a policy as this4 ,an unstable home1    
with a worthless father an intermittent 
member of the household1 is as bad an   
environment as children can have--its   
very fluctuations making for nervous    
instability and a wrong point of view   
later on4 ,there is a possibility that  
other would-be deserters may be deterred
 by temporarily breaking up the home1   
and that an occasional absconding father
 may be brought back4 ,but the fact     
remains that social workers have1 in    
practice1 departed far from this point  
of view4 ,out of more than twenty-five  
case workers of experience who were     
interviewed or written to in preparation
 for this book1 only one believed there 
had not been a decided change toward a  
policy of more liberal relief4      ,one
 district secretary told of a woman who 
had more than once taken     back a     
disreputable husband whom she always    

professed to dislike4     ,aid was given
 sparingly and intermittently during his
 absences2 but     finally the woman in 
a burst of frankness told the secretary 
that     she had never felt confident   
the society would stand behind her4     
,each time the man came back with money 
in his hand1 she cheated     herself    
into believing that he meant a new leaf4
 ,a budget was     worked out with her1 
and a promise given of an adequate      
income as     long as she kept her      
husband away4 ,she has faithfully kept  
her side     of the bargain for over    
three years4  ,the extension in many    
states of state aid to mothers to cover 
deserted wives is an indication of this 
changed view4 ,in most states1 however1 
some safeguards are set up2 the wife    
must take out a warrant1 and a given    
number of years must elapse during which
 the man shall not have been heard from1
 before state aid can be granted to the 
wife4  ,finally1 it is more clearly     
recognized than formerly that the time  

to close the case is not just after the 
man's return4      ,a case supervisor   
speaks of the strong temptation to close
 our     records as soon as relief      
becomes unnecessary4 ,the man's return  
to     the family is often the critical 
point at which there is need of         
skilful and sympathetic friendship4     
,these cases cry out for     continued  
treatment4 ,we need to think more       
humanely about all the     unsettling   
elements in our urban civilization and  
to see that all     the nice individual 
adjustments that as case workers we can 
make are     made4 ,if the man's work   
gives him no opportunity for            
self-expression1 what attempt are we    
making to give him such                 
opportunities outside his work1 to      
connect him with a trade union1     with
 clubs and with fraternities8 ,how much 
are we thinking about     cures for     
inebriates1 psychoanalysis1 vocational  
guidance1     recreation8  ,briefly1    
then1 changes in the social worker's    

attitude toward treatment have meant    
less emphasis on punitive and repressive
 measures1 more consideration of the    
man's point of view1 less tendency to   
press court action1 at least in the     
beginning1 fewer commitments of         
children1 a more liberal relief policy  
7partly as a preventive of forced       
reconciliations71 and lastly1 longer    
supervision after the man has resumed   
support of his family4  ,,footnotes3    
#ae ,adapted from the writer's article  
on ,desertion and ,non-,support in      
,family ,case ,work1 ,the ,annals of the
 ,academy of ,political and ,social     
,science1 ,may1 #aiah1 p4 #ih4  #af     
,breed1 ,mary3 ,eleventh ,new ,york     
,state ,conference1 #aiaj1 p4 #gf4      
,,iv  ,,finding ,,the ,,deserting       
,,husband   ,a few years ago a young    
,jewish woman reported to the ,national 
,desertion ,bureau#ag that her husband  
had left her and their children4        
,the couple had never got on well1 and  
the man seemed to have been a           

melancholy and impractical fellow4 ,the 
usual methods of the ,bureau     brought
 no results in finding the missing      
husband4 ,then the wife was     more    
carefully questioned1 and urged to tell 
all that she could     recall or had    
heard about her husband's early life1   
his tastes and     peculiarities4 ,among
 other things the ,bureau learned that  
the man's     father had died in        
,america years ago1 having come here to 
make a     home for the family left     
behind in ,russia4 ,the boy had grown up
 in     ignorance of the place of his   
father's death and burial1 and1 as the  
eldest son1 he felt it his duty to find 
his father's grave4 ,filled     with    
this idea he came to ,america as soon as
 he was grown and     landed in ,new    
,york1 but his few poor clues availed   
him little     against the difficulties 
of poverty and a new and complex        
environment4 ,in the end he gave up the 
search1 married1 and settled     down on
 the east side4 ,after the sudden       

quarrel which led to his     leaving    
home1 his wife thought it possible that 
his old obsession     might have        
reawakened4 ,the ,bureau1 supplied with 
the clues in     question1 had little   
difficulty in discovering the father's  
burial     place in ,st4 ,louis2 and the
 cemetery authorities promised to send  
word if the missing husband should      
appear4 ,sure enough1 a short time      
afterward he arrived1 and1 after        
visiting the grave1 returned1 not       
unwillingly1 and took up his family     
duties again under the     supervision  
of a probation officer4  ,the           
flexibility of method and the readiness 
to see and utilize new resources which  
are displayed in the foregoing account  
are great assets to the one who must    
institute search for a missing husband  
and father4  ,the thing that sets       
desertion cases apart in a class of     
peculiar technical difficulty for the   
case worker is not simply that the man  
is away from his family4 ,there is no   

man to deal with in a widow's family1   
but widows' families present            
comparatively simple problems4 ,the     
deserter1 though absent1 is still not   
only a potential but also a real factor 
in the family situation4 ,the plans of  
the family are often made with one eye  
to his return2 he is the unseen but     
plainly felt obstacle to much that the  
social worker wants to accomplish4 ,the 
children look forward to his            
reappearance with dread or with joy 7for
 many deserters have a way with them1   
decidedly1 and are welcome visitors to  
their children74 ,in short1 he is       
usually at the key point in the         
situation4 ,no plan can safely be made  
that leaves him out1 but--there's the   
rub6--you cannot include him at once for
 he is not to be reached1 certainly not 
at the outset4 ,the discovery of the    
deserter's whereabouts is not only the  
first but the most urgent of the        
problems that confront the worker who   
tries to deal with a deserted family4   

,unless he can be found the whole plan  
rests upon shifting sand4  ,a prompt and
 vigorous effort to find the absentee is
 therefore a first requisite in dealing 
with family desertion4 ,unfortunately1  
many case workers1 having started       
bravely and exhausted the first crop of 
clues1 become discouraged and fall back 
on the supposition that the man is      
permanently out of the scene1 and that  
it only remains to make plans for the   
family4 ,numberless case histories      
attest the unwisdom of this assumption4 
,it is not making an extreme statement  
to say that1 as long as the family      
remains under active care or until the  
missing man is proved to be dead1 the   
effort to find him should not be        
abandoned4 ,mr4 ,carstens1 in discussing
 this point1 says3      ,to carry on    
this search persistently is the great   
safeguard4 ,it is     rare when in the  
course of a few months the true state of
 affairs     will not have been         
revealed1 though it may have been quite 

hidden at     the start4#ah  ,this is   
not to say that time must be spent      
unprofitably in going over the same     
ground1 or that out-of-town agencies    
must be badgered to reinvestigate old   
clues4 ,but the frame of mind that      
pigeonholes the whole matter as having  
been attended to must be shunned by the 
social worker1 who should be always on  
the alert for new clues and prompt to   
follow them up4 ,an example of a        
vigorous and persistent search for a    
deserter is taken from the files of the 
,national ,desertion ,bureau4#ai        
,adolph ,r4 deserted his wife and their 
six little children on     ,september   
#a1 #aiab4 ,he was traced to            
,philadelphia1 but had left there       
the day before the tidings reached ,new 
,york4 ,information was     obtained    
from fellow-employes which led to the   
belief that he had     gone to ,tampa1  
,florida4 ,inquiry was directed to the  
rabbi in that     city1 but again the   
information was disheartening1 since it 

disclosed the fact that once more ,r4   
had left the day before4 ,the     rabbi 
telegraphed that the deserter had       
evidently gone to ,lakewood1            
,florida1 and that he could be found in 
that place4 ,immediately the     ,bureau
 dispatched a telegram to its           
representative there1 only to     find  
that ,r4 had merely passed through      
,lakewood en route to ,bartow1          
,florida4 ,when the inquiry reached     
,bartow it was learned that ,r4 had     
left a few days before1 and that he was 
on his way to ,memphis1     ,tennessee4 
,the ,jewish ,charities of ,memphis made
 investigation at the     cigar         
factories of that city1 but reported    
that no person bearing     the name of  
,r4 or resembling him had been seen in  
their city4 ,no     further clue to his 
whereabouts could be secured4           
,months later ,r4 applied to the ,jewish
 ,charities of ,louisville for          
transportation to ,new ,york1 making an 
entirely false statement about     his  

family4      ,this statement was        
telegraphed to the ,bureau and no time  
was lost in     securing a warrant4     
,louisville was notified by wire to     
arrest1 but     again a telegram came3  
,adolph ,r4 left city4 ,learned from    
,cigarmakers' ,union headquarters he    
went to ,cincinnati4 ,wire ,joe         
,rapp1 #acaf ,walnut ,street1           
,cincinnati ,union ,headquarters4 ,man  
said he     was going to ,cincinnati or 
,indianapolis4 ,man joined union        
,richmond1     ,va41 ,november #ai1     
#aiaa1 and reports to union in all      
cities4 ,the     ,desertion ,bureau     
immediately telegraphed to ,cincinnati  
and     ,indianapolis4 ,the ,united     
,jewish ,charities of ,cincinnati       
working     together with the labor     
union lost little time in effecting his 
arrest4  ,many theories about family    
desertion have suffered a change in     
recent years4 ,one of these relates to  
the collusive desertion4 ,social workers
 in training used formerly to be taught 

that the first place to look for the    
deserter was around the corner1 where he
 could slip back into the house and     
partake of charitable bounty or1 at the 
very least1 keep close watch of his     
family and return if any serious danger 
threatened them4 ,although the collusive
 desertion seems to have been a frequent
 happening in the past1 there is almost 
unanimous testimony from case workers at
 the present time that it is not common4
 ,i don't come across an instance once a
 year1 said one case worker4            
,another1 after searching her memory1   
recalled what seemed to her one         
instance of real collusion4 ,a woman1   
pregnant and seeming to be in     great 
destitution1 applied to a family social 
work society in a     small city for    
help4 ,careful search did not discover  
the man's     whereabouts--he seemed to 
have disappeared without leaving a      
trace1     and his wife professed       
ignorance4 ,some two weeks after this   
the     visitor1 calling late1 met a man

 on the stairs who proved to be the     
missing husband4 ,times were hard and he
 was out of a job1 so he had     taken  
to the attic of their house1 and had    
kept so strictly     incommunicado that 
not only the society but the neighbors  
had been     deceived4  ,out of twenty  
or more case workers in different cities
 whose experience was sought on this    
point1 nearly all felt that the warnings
 against possible collusion which used  
to be given to young workers no longer  
needed to be emphasized4 ,testimony in  
the other direction is1 however1        
advanced by the ,national ,desertion    
,bureau1 which found that about #aj per 
cent of the applications made in #aiaj  
to the ,united ,hebrew ,charities of    
,new ,york for relief because of        
desertion were collusive4  ,it should be
 said1 however1 that one form of        
collusion is common to the experience of
 case workers--that of the wife who     
knows where her husband is1 or has a    
very good idea1 but does not want him to

 return and so keeps her knowledge to   
herself4 ,in two of our regular         
allowance families1 writes the case     
supervisor of a family agency1 we       
discovered--one quite incidentally1 one 
after the allowance had been            
discontinued for other reasons--that the
 wife had had reports regarding the man 
which we might have followed up had we  
known of them earlier4 ,it could hardly 
be called collusion--it was mere        
indifference4 ,a probation officer      
writes3      ,at the present time we    
have under investigation a family where 
the     man has been away from home for 
two years and his whereabouts during    
the last year have been known to his    
wife4 ,he has been living in a          
suburb of the city and working steadily 
during that time4 ,the woman     has    
received adequate aid from public and   
private organizations4 ,she     has been
 content to accept that rather than     
notify the authorities     and have her 
husband required to meet the            

responsibility4 ,the man on     his part
 was aware that his family was being    
supported1 and while     there was no   
agreement between the parties regarding 
it1     nevertheless the arrangement    
apparently met with mutual approval4    
,to guard against this and similar      
omissions on the woman's part1 more than
 one agency which deals with family     
desertion requires the deserted wife to 
sign an affidavit that she has given all
 the information she possesses4         
,although in practice the possibility of
 a collusive desertion is not the first 
and most important thing to keep in     
mind1 it is frequent enough not to be   
entirely forgotten4 ,and for yet other  
reasons it is well to keep a watchful   
eye upon the neighborhood in which the  
family is living for reports about the  
man4 ,often obscure impulses seem to    
bring him back2 jealousy of the wife or 
a desire to show himself in a spirit of 
bravado1 or even sometimes a fugitive   
affection for the children he has       

abandoned may cause him to appear in the
 neighborhood4 ,the deserter1 like the  
murderer1 harks back to the scene of his
 misdeeds was the generalization of one 
district secretary4  ,even when he does 
not appear in the flesh the deserter may
 seek news of his family4 ,one deserter 
was found through the ,attendance       
,department of the public school system 
to which he wrote after a three years'  
absence asking the address of one of the
 children of whom he was especially     
fond4  ,there is little in the          
literature of the subject covering      
methods of discovering deserters1 nor do
 case workers generally appear to have  
developed a special technique4 ,the     
decided reaction against detective      
methods which has been apparent in the  
profession during later years may help  
to explain this fact4 ,most social      
workers feel a subconscious sense of    
injustice in having to do this work at  
all1 since it is properly a function of 
the police4 ,prosecutors and police     

officials generally take very little    
interest in following up deserters1 and 
have little idea of giving any treatment
 to the deserter who has been found     
other than arraignment and conviction4  
,it is difficult for the probation      
officer or the family case worker to    
hold up the machinery of the law1 once  
it has been started1 and to do this long
 enough to find out whether some other  
form of treatment best suits the case4  
,for these reasons the social worker    
usually prefers to do or else is forced 
to do the work of the detective in      
desertion cases up to the point where   
arrest is in his judgment necessary4    
,a probation officer in ,d---- found    
that he could not work through     the  
local police in searching for a certain 
deserter1 because the     missing man's 
political affiliations made them        
friendly to him4 ,the     probation     
officer knew in a general way that the  
man was likely to     be in the city of 
,s---- in the same state1 so he secured 

a warrant     and sent it with such     
slight clues as were at hand1 to a      
probation     officer of that city who  
was successful in the search4 ,avoiding 
the     usual procedure1 the warrant was
 served by the police in ,s----4        
,several instances of this kind have    
occurred lately1 writes the             
probation officer at ,d----4  ,the      
necessity of doing the detective's work 
raises at once the question of how far  
the social worker can afford to adopt   
the detective's methods4 ,if reformation
 of the man is the end sought it would  
seem an axiom that he must be given from
 the first every reason to believe that 
the social worker will play fair4 ,we   
are very careful never to break a       
promise we have made to a man1 says an  
agency which deals with many deserters4 
,the same agency1 as illustration of its
 own methods in seeking deserting men1  
instances the case of a man who was     
being shielded by his sister1 but was   
discovered by an officer who scraped    

acquaintance with her little boy and    
asked innocently1 ,where's your uncle   
,jack now8 ,in another case the officer 
learned of a man's whereabouts through  
his relatives by representing himself as
 a lawyer's clerk calling about a legacy
 which had been left the man4 ,in still 
another case1 reported by a different   
agency1 a man who had deserted his      
family was known to be receiving mail   
through the general delivery of another 
city4 ,it was ascertained that he was   
writing to a woman in his home town4 ,a 
letter was sent to him in care of       
,general ,delivery asking him to meet   
the writer 7who was represented to be   
the young woman with whom he was        
corresponding74 ,the wife was sent to   
that city and she and the local         
probation officer met the man and served
 the warrant4  ,there is1 of course1    
something to be said in favor of the use
 of such methods4 ,the protection of the
 weak and helpless may justify1 in      
certain circumstances1 any subterfuge4  

,but the detective who arrests the      
criminal in ways like these is seeking  
his punishment and nothing else4 ,there 
is no thought in that case of           
establishing personal relations and     
effecting the long1 slow process of     
reformation4 ,when social workers use   
such methods it should be in the full   
realization that they are foregoing any 
future advantage of straight dealing    
with the man4 ,to capture a man by a    
trick is to declare war on him2 and1 in 
his mind1 the social worker and the     
policeman then stand in the same place1 
,i'd have him there to meet you1 said a 
deserter's chum to a woman visitor1 if  
,i wasn't sure1 in spite of your        
straight talk1 you'd have a bull waiting
 behind a tree4#bj  ,if it is a first   
desertion1 or if there is room for doubt
 whether an accident may have befallen  
the man1 police and hospital records    
should be looked up4      ,a woman with 
four children applied to a charity      
organization     society1 saying her    

husband had disappeared4 ,there was a   
rumor that     someone had seen him fall
 off the dock while intoxicated1 but no 
attempt had been made to confirm this   
and the family was treated as     a     
deserted family for some months1 until  
the man's body was found in     the     
river and identified4  ,if there have   
been previous desertions1 it is         
extremely important to secure their     
history4 ,the reasons that moved the man
 once are likely to do so again1 and he 
is apt to return to his former haunts   
and be seen by former friends and       
acquaintances4  ,the deserting man1     
unless he elopes with another woman1    
generally goes to some cheap lodging    
house or1 if of foreign birth1 he may   
seek out the quarter where those of his 
nationality reside and become a lodger  
in a family in which his native tongue  
is spoken4 ,hence1 a canvass of the     
lodging houses--armed with a photograph 
if possible--is a desirable first step4 
,all of the social worker's casual      

acquaintance with the foreign quarters  
of his city comes into play in the      
search4 ,if the man is in the city some 
landsmann1 some paesano has seen him1   
and knows where he is to be found4 ,it  
may even narrow down to finding the     
particular house on the particular      
street where the immigrants from a      
particular village in ,sicily or        
,galicia have their abode4 ,the         
pool-rooms and saloons of the district  
can often be made to yield information1 
especially if a man visitor can canvass 
them4 ,in dealing in this way with mere 
acquaintances of the man1 it is usually 
not necessary for the social worker to  
tell who he himself is or to state the  
purpose of his inquiry4 ,in talking with
 relatives or close friends1 however1 it
 is often best to lay all cards on the  
table and convince one's listener first 
of all that the man sought will have    
fair treatment and a chance to state his
 side of the case before any proceedings
 are begun against him4  ,even a        

relative who has never been seen may    
sometimes be induced to act effectively4
      ,a man who deserted his wife and  
family was reported to have gone to     
his brother in another city4 ,nothing   
definite was known of the     brother   
except that he was a telephone lineman4 
,no address could be     secured through
 the company1 but they agreed to forward
 a letter to     this relative4 ,he     
never answered2 shortly1 however1 the   
deserter     reappeared1 having been    
persuaded to return voluntarily by the  
brother to whom the letter had been     
addressed4  ,during the war local draft 
boards were of the greatest assistance  
in finding deserting men4 ,election     
records too have been of real value in  
the case of men who were voters4        
,passports and immigration records may  
in some instances yield information     
helpful in establishing whereabouts4    
,where there is actually a warrant out  
for the man's arrest1 the active        
co-operation of the postal authorities  

can sometimes be secured in furnishing  
return addresses on envelopes delivered 
to persons with whom the culprit is     
known to be in correspondence4          
,problems of family desertion involving 
men in service during the war were in   
the main handled by the ,red ,cross     
,home ,service4 ,before the war1 private
 case working agencies had learned that 
the regular ,army and the ,navy often   
seemed desirable havens to would-be     
family deserters4 ,the difficulties of  
finding them there were great1 owing to 
the fact that they often enlisted as    
single men under an assumed name4 ,it   
has usually been possible to gain       
excellent co-operation from the military
 authorities if there are any clues     
whatever4      ,the desertion bureau of 
a family social work society learned    
that a     deserting man had expressed a
 desire long before he left his family  
to enlist in the ,army4 ,several letters
 were exchanged with the ,war           
,department1 and the man was finally    

found to be with a company     serving  
in the ,canal ,zone4 ,as he had made    
misrepresentations when he     enlisted1
 the ,war ,department was willing to    
transfer him from ,panama     to a camp 
within the limits of the city where the 
desertion had     taken place and there 
discharge him4 ,this brought the        
absconder     within the jurisdiction of
 the local courts and made it possible  
to     arrest him as soon as he was     
outside the bounds of the camp4  ,it    
will repay the visitor to make not only 
a careful study of the deserting man's  
employment history but also to learn    
something about the trade he follows4 ,a
 cloakmaker1 for instance1 who deserts  
in ,new ,york ,city is likely to be     
found in ,cleveland1 for these are the  
two centers of the cloak branch of the  
garment trade4 ,certain seasonal        
occupations give the periodical deserter
 a great opportunity4 ,among these are  
hop picking1 berry picking1 and         
lumbering4 ,the amusement parks near the

 large cities also furnish occupation   
for the seasonal deserter4 ,the case    
worker cannot be expected to have such  
knowledge at his finger-tips1 but he can
 go to people who know about the        
fluctuations of particular trades--to   
employers1 union officials or           
fellow-workmen who may throw light on a 
deserter's movements4 ,the story of     
,adolph ,r4#ba is an excellent          
illustration of the help that may be    
obtained from trades unions and from    
fellow-workmen4 ,a family welfare bureau
 in a western city writes3      ,in one 
instance a blacksmith's union published 
the picture of the     deserting man in 
its official journal and asked that     
information     regarding him be sent to
 the local unit here4 ,this proved      
successful4 ,in another instance a union
 gave us access to its books     and    
helped us to trace all the men of a     
given name listed there4 ,by     this   
means we found the man we were looking  
for4 ,one man1 a     vaudeville         

performer1 we traced through the ,bill  
,board 7a trade     paper7 by           
discovering the movements of the show   
with which he had     been connected4   
,another society succeeded in getting a 
certain trade union to post a           
description and photograph of a missing 
man on its bulletin boards4 ,this aided 
in finding the man4 ,fraternal orders   
may be2 used in the same way1 though for
 many reasons they cannot be so helpful 
as the trades unions4  ,employment      
agencies should not be forgotten in     
seeking to trace a man through his      
industrial record4 ,the extension of the
 federal employment service1 with free  
inter-city communication1 should be of  
assistance in getting upon the track of 
deserters4  ,the co-operation of        
newspapers can be secured to good effect
 in tracing missing men4      ,herbert  
,mc,cann1 who had been doing railway    
construction in ,russia1     returned to
 this country and disappeared while en  
route from an     eastern city to his   

home in ,canada4 ,there was reason to   
think that     he might have left the   
train in an intoxicated condition at an 
important junction point2 and the family
 social agency of that city     was     
asked to trace him4 ,no information was 
secured from the police1     lodging    
houses1 employment agencies1 etc41 and  
finally the following     advertisement 
was inserted in the local paper3        
,information     ,wanted--,anyone       
knowing the whereabouts of ,herbert     
,mc,cann1 ,montreal1     who returned   
from ,russia in ,june1 will confer a    
favor upon his     family by notifying  
,social ,service ,building1 #cd ,grand  
,street4 ,six     days later a reply was
 received from a man in a nearby town1  
and     ,mc,cann was found at work in a 
factory there4  ,more than upon any     
other method the ,national ,desertion   
,bureau depends on the publication of   
pictures and short newspaper paragraphs4
 ,as this ,bureau deals entirely with   
,jewish deserters1 it works chiefly     

through the ,yiddish newspapers4 ,its   
,gallery of ,missing ,husbands is a     
regular weekly feature in some of the   
better known of these journals1 and     
attracts increasingly wide attention4   
,the ,bureau estimates that #gj per cent
 of the deserters which it finds are    
discovered through the publication of   
pictures4 ,it should be remembered1     
however1 that this ,bureau is dealing   
with a selected group1 who know a great 
deal about one another1 live closely    
together1 follow in the main only a few 
trades1 and read only a limited number  
of foreign-language newspapers4 ,whether
 anything like the same results could be
 obtained by the same methods applied to
 deserting husbands of many different   
national and social backgrounds is open 
to question4  ,since most deserters     
leave the city1 if not the state1 the   
social worker who is dealing with the   
family problem is often not the same    
person to whom is delegated the task of 
finding the man4 ,this fact makes       

necessary the most careful and          
sympathetic co-operation between the    
social workers or agencies1 which must  
work together at long range upon the    
problem4 ,in the case of ,herbert       
,mc,cann1 just cited1 not less than four
 family social work societies were      
concerned--three in the ,united ,states 
and one in ,canada4 ,this necessitated  
keeping in the closest touch1 by letter 
and telegram1 so that each was informed 
of the doings of the others4 ,such a    
piece of work calls for a common body of
 experience and technique among the     
workers concerned1 amounting almost to  
an unwritten understanding as to how the
 work should be done4 ,nothing makes    
more fascinating reading than the record
 of a quick1 touch-and-go investigation1
 such as is presented in the finding of 
a deserter conducted by skilled case    
workers who are accustomed to work      
together4 ,much can1 under these        
circumstances1 be taken for granted or  
left to the discretion of the worker or 

agency whose help is being sought4      
,there are instances1 however1 where no 
such common understanding exists1 and   
where the home-town agency has to work  
through people with little social       
training or with training of a type     
which definitely unfits them properly to
 approach the deserting man4 ,it is a   
distressing experience to know that a   
man has slipped through one's fingers1  
been frightened off or alienated1 by    
poor work at the other end4 ,are there  
any ways to reduce the number of these  
mischances8  ,even with the closest     
co-operation among case workers of      
ability in different cities the results 
are not always as favorable1 for obvious
 reasons1 as if the person who knows the
 family were the one to find and        
interview the man4 ,more and more it is 
realized that money and time spent in   
going to nearby cities to do one's own  
investigating is well spent4 ,there used
 to be a feeling on the part of the     
kindred society whose territory was thus

 invaded that this action argued lack of
 confidence in its work2 but as the     
importance of the personal contact has  
been more widely recognized this feeling
 has disappeared4 ,it may be said that a
 worker who goes to a strange city is   
handicapped by her lack of knowledge of 
local conditions4 ,this is of course    
true1 and it may easily be a question of
 how great an advantage will be gained  
by the journey4 ,the worker from the    
man's home town can1 however1 go far    
toward overcoming the handicap of       
unfamiliarity with the place1 as well as
 toward dispelling any sense of injury  
in the mind of a professional colleague1
 by calling first at the office of the  
local agency and talking the problem    
over thoroughly1 consulting the map and 
getting what hints the local agency may 
be able to furnish4 ,the first question 
to ask oneself1 therefore1 is ,will it  
not be worth while to go myself8  ,if   
for geographical or other reasons this  
is impracticable1 the next thing that   

should receive careful consideration is 
the type of letter to be written4 ,if   
the situation is very emergent 7as in   
the case of ,adolph ,r4 cited earlier71 
the request may have to be sent by      
telegraph2 but even in a telegram it is 
possible to convey some detail4 ,to try 
to save money by confining oneself to   
ten words is unwise4 ,if time admits1 a 
letter is more desirable1 and the       
principle of its construction is as     
simple as the ,golden ,rule--give the   
other person all the information you    
would like to have if you were receiving
 the letter4 ,where the correspondent is
 not a trained social worker1 very      
specific suggestions and directions     
should be given as to how you wish the  
man dealt with if found4  ,there might  
also be laid down a ,golden ,rule for   
recipients of requests from out-of-town 
that missing men be traced4 ,give the   
request right-of-way over your regular  
work1 and send back as prompt and as    
full a reply as you would wish yourself 

might adequately cover the case4 ,a     
reply which contains a history of actual
 steps taken as well as results gained1 
is more satisfactory than one which does
 not4 ,good case workers believe in     
reciprocity and treat their neighbor's  
problem as their own4 ,we heard that a  
man we were interested in was in the    
vicinity of a certain city1 and in the  
effort to trace him wrote to the charity
 organization society in that place1 but
 without success4 ,several months later 
the charity organization society saw an 
item in a newspaper to the effect that  
the man had been interned as an enemy   
alien1 and notified us4 7,this shows no 
cleverness on our part1 but good work by
 the other society47  ,,footnotes3  #ag 
,the ,national ,desertion ,bureau1 #cef 
,second ,avenue1 ,new ,york1 acts in a  
legal advisory capacity to ,jewish      
organizations in matters of domestic    
relations2 it also seeks out ,jewish    
family deserters1 with a view to        
assuring their rehabilitation or1       

failing this1 their punishment4  #ah    
,c4,c4 ,carstens1 ,proceedings of the   
,fifth ,new ,york ,state ,conference of 
,charities and ,correction1 #aijd1 p4   
#aif4  #ai ,see p4 #fe1 footnote4  #bj  
,this paragraph was submitted to the two
 agencies which furnished the           
illustrations4 ,their replies are in    
part as follows3  ,agency ,a4--,your    
criticism 444 is purely theoretical and 
has no basis in fact4 ,the deserter is a
 knowing violator of the law1 and while 
he does not welcome it1 he regards his  
arrest as only a question of time4 ,he  
is playing the game of 'hide and seek1' 
and he is applying every trick and      
subterfuge to avoid detection4 ,he is   
not disturbed if he has been caught in a
 police trap4 ,our experience has been  
that in such cases where he has tried to
 outwit the police1 and the police      
finally have 'beaten him to the game1'  
he compliments his captor4 ,this is a   
common characteristic of the criminal1 a
 sort of negative bravado1 ,when the    

deserter is arrested1 all he can hope   
for and expect is a fair deal4  ,what   
are some concrete suggestions1 developed
 from the experience of case workers1 as
 to how to proceed in searching for     
deserting men8 ,a full and careful talk 
with the wife is the first requisite1   
supplemented by equally thorough        
interviews with any near relatives who  
can be reached4 ,the case worker should 
be familiar with the ,questionnaire on  
the ,deserted ,family in ,mary ,e4      
,richmond's ,social ,diagnosis4 ,a      
description and if possible a photograph
 of the man should be procured4 ,where  
several out-of-town clues are to be     
followed1 copies of the photograph can  
be cheaply made1 and at least one bureau
 for dealing with desertion cases makes 
this part of its routine procedure4     
,agency ,b4--,i have seen very few      
individuals in the course of my         
experience who could not be brought to  
see the right viewpoint if they were    
intelligently approached1 even though   

the probation officer had considerable  
to do with their arrest4 ,it is in my   
opinion not altogether important what   
occurs before the man's arrest but how  
he is treated after he comes within the 
jurisdiction of the probation officials4
  #ba ,see p4 #fi4     ,v  ,,further    
,,items ,,in ,,the ,,investigation   ,it
 is evident that the need of finding the
 man strongly influences the course of  
this type of investigation1 especially  
in the early stages4 ,are there other   
considerations1 however1 that modify the
 technique of inquiry into these        
desertion cases8  ,there is one crisis  
in the lives of deserted families which 
is not duplicated in the history of any 
other group suffering from social       
disability4 ,this crisis is the period  
of the first desertion4 ,if we could    
learn what preceded and what immediately
 followed the first desertion1 we should
 know much more than we do now about how
 to deal with the problem1 said a case  
worker who has studied many court       

records4  ,the number of subsequent     
desertions may be both interesting and  
significant1 but the circumstances      
attending them are not nearly so well   
worth study as are those connected with 
the critical first break4 ,we should go 
back to that spot and probe for causes4 
,the common practice of recording       
carefully what led up to a chronic      
deserter's last desertion before his    
family applied1 and of passing over his 
earlier desertions with a mere mention  
of their number and dates1 puts the     
emphasis in the wrong place4  ,we must1 
however1 go further back than the first 
desertion for a working fund of         
knowledge4 ,the importance of knowing   
what were the influences surrounding the
 man and woman in childhood and youth   
has already been dwelt upon and is so   
generally conceded as to need no        
elaboration here4 ,of especial value    
also is careful inquiry into the period 
of courtship1 the circumstances of the  
marriage1 and the history of the earlier

 married life4 ,we should seek to know  
what first drew them together1 as well  
as what forced them apart1 said a       
thoughtful district secretary4 ,the     
notorious unhappiness of forced         
marriages leads case workers to         
scrutinize the relation between the date
 of marriage and the date of the birth  
of the first child4 ,it should be       
remembered1 however1 that not all       
marriages which are entered into during 
pregnancy are forced marriages4 ,studies
 of forced marriages1 so-called1 have   
not always taken this fact into         
consideration4  ,the superintendent of a
 state department for aid to widows made
 a study of the vital statistics of #ejj
 families chosen at random4 ,she states 
that out of these #ejj mothers #if1 or  
#ai4b per cent1 had conceived out of    
wedlock--or rather before               
wedlock--judging by the date of marriage
 and that of the first child's birth4   
,all these women were hard working2     
several of good standing in the         

neighborhood and the mothers of large   
families of children4 ,this group of    
homes represents by no means an unstable
 segment of the community1 since in most
 instances the couples had lived        
together in reasonable harmony up to the
 time of the man's death4 ,but do the   
#if represent forced marriages as       
ordinarily thought of by the social     
worker8 ,the study just quoted has no   
facts bearing upon this point4 ,the     
likelihood is that a large number of    
these marriages1 termed forced1 were in 
reality not brought about by outside    
pressure at all1 but that the couple    
were intending to be married at the time
 the pregnancy occurred and that the    
circumstances were condoned by public   
opinion in the community where the      
marriage took place4  ,the ,chicago     
,juvenile ,protective ,association1     
however1 has made a study of #hi forced 
marriages which were brought about in   
connection with bastardy proceedings4   
,in this study there is no attempt to   

differentiate as to the amount of       
unwillingness that had had to be        
overcome on the part of either the man  
or the woman4 ,fifty-three of the women 
said that the marriage had been entered 
into willingly on their part4 ,sixty of 
them stated that they were well treated 
by their husbands1 and only five        
complained of abuse or unkindness4 ,out 
of the #hi marriages brought about after
 proceedings were instituted #fi of the 
couples were still living together from 
one to two years later1 although #bj1 or
 nearly one in five1 had separated      
before the two-year period was over4#bb 
,a young woman with four small children 
was given advice by an     associated   
charities about her approaching         
confinement1 and no     further inquiry 
was made at that time4 ,she was living  
apart from her     husband1 who was     
contributing a small amount regularly4  
,the income     was inadequate and it   
was decided to push the matter further4 
,efforts to verify the marriage failed4 

,finally1 a tactful worker was     able 
to learn that the ceremony had not taken
 place until after the     birth of the 
first three children1 that the couple   
had had sexual     relations since the  
woman was a girl of fifteen1 and that   
her     relatives had never known the   
true state of affairs4 ,the man's       
mother finally interfered1 and urged her
 son not to live with his     wife4     
,after much careful work1 and with the  
assistance of a     co-operating priest1
 a plan was worked out which brought the
 couple     together and induced them to
 move away from the region in which the 
man's parents lived4         99       99
       99       99       99      ,a     
probation department tells of a case    
where1 although the man was             
unwilling to marry1 a court marriage was
 brought about2 the man made     his    
payments promptly and observed the other
 conditions of his     probation        
faithfully4 ,the woman1 however1 was    
indifferent to any     efforts to bring 

about a reconciliation4 ,it was finally 
discovered     that she was immoral4    
,the case culminated in the securing of 
a     divorce by the man1 who was       
granted the custody of the children4    
,the same department submits a story    
where good results were obtained     in 
subsequently reconciling1 after a       
desertion1 a couple whose     marriage  
had been of the forced description4 ,the
 probation     department arranged for  
the couple to live apart in the early   
stage     of probationary treatment4 ,a 
careful study was made of each of the   
individuals1 and in their sincere       
attachment a basis was discovered       
for re-establishment of the home under  
the supervision of the     probation    
officer4 ,five years later the man was  
found to be at work     at the same     
position originally obtained for him by 
the probation     officer1 his salary   
had been increased1 the family had grown
 in     number and were getting on      
extremely well4  ,although the term     

forced marriage has come to have the    
meaning given above1 unions can be      
really forced where there has been no   
sex relation before marriage4 ,in one   
unhappy marriage which came finally to a
 court of domestic relations1 the wife  
was a weak and timid woman who married  
her husband because of her fear that he 
would carry out his threat and kill her 
and himself if she refused him4         
,another1 an ,italian girl1 was married 
at fourteen by her parents against her  
inclinations to a well-to-do man1 much  
older than she1 who was a lodger in the 
family4 ,as she grew to womanhood their 
incompatibility increased2 finally1     
after four children had been born1 the  
family was broken up and the children   
committed to institutions4  ,there are  
compulsions and false motives1 operating
 to bring about marriages1 which spring 
from within not without2 and the        
discovery of any motive for the marriage
 except mutual inclination has          
significance to the case worker4 ,light 

was thrown on the troubles of one young 
couple when the girl confessed that she 
had married a youth for whom she had no 
particular affection1 in order to spite 
her relatives and assert her right to do
 as she chose4 ,and the unfortunate     
young woman who married a street        
evangelist in a fit of religious        
enthusiasm1 and because of his promise  
that they would travel about the world  
saving souls together1 had a married    
life both short and stormy4 ,the        
so-called slacker marriages of the few  
months preceding the first draft in     
#aiag illustrate this point4 ,the       
wreckage of these marriages is already  
drifting in increasing amount to the    
courts of domestic relations4  ,one of  
the most important items in desertion   
cases1 and one far too often neglected1 
is the verification of the marriage4    
,much seeming indifference and confusion
 on this point is probably caused by the
 quasi-legality in many states of common
 law marriages4 ,the case worker should 

not forget1 however1 that a common law  
union is often only a device on the part
 of one or the other of the two to avoid
 prosecution for bigamy4 ,when it is    
established that the marriage is a      
common law union1 a strong suspicion    
should be set up in the worker's mind   
that there may be some legal barrier to 
a ceremony1 and careful inquiry should  
be directed along this line4 ,not only  
does the verification of a marriage give
 the worker a sound basis on which to   
proceed to court action if necessary1   
but the copy of the actual marriage     
record1 where that can be procured1     
gives much valuable information as to   
dates1 addresses1 and names of relatives
 and witnesses4 ,a transcript of the    
record will usually be furnished by the 
registrar of vital statistics in the    
city where the marriage took place 7if  
in the ,united ,states7 for a nominal   
fee of fifty cents4  ,it is much more   
difficult to verify marriages which took
 place in other countries1 and social   

workers are often appalled by the       
prevalence of the so-called ,american   
marriage among immigrant deserters1 who 
trust to our happy-go-lucky methods for 
protection against a prosecution for    
bigamy4      ,such was the case of      
,orfeo ,pelligrini1 who came to this    
country and     took a new wife when his
 children in ,italy were nearly grown4  
,his     ,italian family came to        
,america through their own efforts a few
 years     later1 and ,orfeo found that 
he had underestimated the character of  
his eldest son1 who traced his father1  
had him arrested and taken to     the   
city where his original family was      
living4 ,orfeo1 now forcibly            
reunited to the wife of his bosom1 walks
 softly under the threat of     bigamy  
proceedings1 while the ,american wife   
refuses to take any     action on the   
ground that he didn't go away from me of
 his own     wish1 and why should ,i put
 him behind the bars8         99        
99       99       99       99      ,of  

an altogether more simple mental make-up
 was the ,slovak laborer     who brought
 his pregnant ,american wife and two    
children to the     district office of a
 charity organization society1 saying   
that the     relatives in ,europe of    
,anna1 his first wife1 had sent ,anna to
 this     country1 and she was on the   
point of arriving4 ,he added that1 as   
manifestly it was not possible to       
support two families on his wages1      
he would like to provide for his second 
wife through the ,charity4  ,a district 
secretary who has worked for many years 
with ,italians is authority for the     
statement that marriages in ,italy are  
always registered at the man's legal    
residence1 no matter where the marriage 
took place4 ,careful ,italian parents1  
if they cannot get reliable information 
in other ways1 write to the 'paese' of a
 suitor for information in regard to his
 conjugal condition4 ,a marriage which  
takes place in ,america is customarily  
registered with the consul for          

transmission to the home town in ,italy4
  ,in some countries of ,latin ,america 
great confusion may be caused by the    
fact that a marriage performed in church
 is not legal in the eyes of the state  
unless a second ceremony is gone through
 before the civil authorities4 ,a       
,guatemalan woman1 deserted in this     
country1 had no recourse in law because 
she had had only the church ceremony in 
her country4 ,her claim to the status of
 common law wife was invalidated by the 
man's producing proof that he was       
already married at the time the         
religious ceremony was performed4       
,having established the fact that a     
legal marriage has taken place1 the case
 worker must keep in mind the           
possibility that it may have been later 
dissolved4 ,it is not at all uncommon to
 find that a deserter who has gone off  
with another woman has started          
proceedings to get a divorce by         
publication4 ,this can happen when the  
two have gone to a state where such     

unfair divorce procedure is permitted4  
,publication in these cases takes place 
in local newspapers which there is      
little or no chance of the wife seeing2 
and she may later find herself a        
divorced woman with no legal claim for  
support for herself or children1 and    
suffering under charges of misconduct   
without having had a chance of being    
heard4 ,the ,national ,desertion ,bureau
 found this proceeding so common an     
abuse that it established a clearing    
bureau in its central office1 and its   
local representatives in different parts
 of the country notify this bureau as   
soon as any action for divorce is       
started by a man with a ,jewish name    
against a wife whose address is         
unknown4#bc  ,what are some of the other
 points at which the investigation of   
cases of desertion may differ from the  
technique generally accepted8 ,the      
superintendent of a desertion bureau1 in
 answer to this question1 said that he  
emphasized neighborhood references more 

than in the ordinary case4 ,social      
workers have become very wary1 of       
course1 of much inquiry among present   
neighbors2 but where the protection of  
the woman or the children is involved it
 is often necessary to procure the      
testimony of people who live nearby or  
in the same house4 ,a deserted family is
 usually so much a center of            
neighborhood interest or sympathy1 or   
both1 that it is easier than in some    
other types of cases to secure          
information from neighbors1 tradesmen1  
and so on1 without augmenting           
neighborhood gossip4  ,probably the most
 difficult part of the necessary        
information to be secured in desertion  
cases is an adequate picture of the sex 
relationship between man and wife4 ,the 
part which sex plays in the causation of
 desertion has been touched upon in     
,chapter ,,ii4#bd ,in getting the       
information from the people concerned1  
the case worker needs no elaborate      
equipment as a psycho-analyst2 but she  

should know enough about sex psychology 
to recognize a pathological problem when
 she meets it1 and to be able to call on
 the psycho-analyst or psychiatrist for 
specialized service4  ,the securing of  
an adequate picture of the sex life of  
the couple may have to be delegated1    
however1 to some volunteer whose own    
sex1 profession1 or marital experience  
makes him or her a suitable person to   
secure it4      ,the majority of social 
case workers are unmarried women under  
forty1 and in this particular respect   
they frequently find     themselves     
handicapped by the natural reluctance of
 the deserter to     discuss his        
conceptions of the marital relation in  
such a way as to     be enlightening to 
them1 as well as by the chivalrous      
attitude which     the woman of the     
tenements often adopts toward her       
unmarried     visitor4 ,the decisive    
statement1 ',you have never been        
married1 so     you can't understand1'  
often proves at least a temporary       

barrier in     dealing with deserted    
wives1 just as the similar statement1   
',you     have never been a mother so   
you cannot know the feelings of one1' is
     used to block her efforts in       
another direction4 ,if it is found      
impossible to carry on the necessary    
discussions rationally and     without  
too serious embarrassment1 it is often  
possible to call upon     the           
socially-minded physician or clergyman  
for help along this     line4#be  ,to   
sum up1 the interviews with the family  
and the supplementary visits and letters
 of inquiry should furnish the social   
worker if possible with3  #a4 ,a clear  
picture of the home in which the two    
adult members of the family grew up1 and
 the factors in their early training    
which contributed to their failure as   
husband or wife2 or which can be        
utilized as assets in the future plan4  
#b4 ,a history of how the couple met2   
the events of their courtship and       
marriage1 including sex relations prior 

to marriage with spouse or others2 also 
previous marriages4 ,records of         
marriage1 death of previous spouse1     
etc41 are very important and should be  
secured if in existence4  #c4 ,a picture
 of the family and its individual       
members in their other social           
relationships--with employers1 medical  
agencies1 teachers1 their church1 their 
friends1 their relatives4 ,knowledge of 
their habits1 tastes1 and               
characteristics1 with special attention 
to period of first desertion4 ,analysis 
of factors leading to the desertion4    
#d4 ,history of first reconciliation    
7unless the present is the first break74
 ,history of subsequent desertions4     
,court record1 if any4  ,a prerequisite 
to some of the above information is an  
interview or interviews with the man4   
,where this cannot be had as part of the
 first investigation1 the investigation 
should leave the worker in possession of
 some good clues1 at least1 to the man's
 whereabouts4  ,,footnotes3  #bb ,bowen1

 ,louise de ,k43 ,a ,study of ,bastardy 
,cases4 ,juvenile ,protective           
,association of ,chicago1 #aiad4  #bc   
,it is the policy of the ,bureau1 when  
such a case is discovered1 to help the  
wife get competent legal advice in the  
city where action is being brought1 and 
either to contest the case or start a   
counter suit4 ,where necessary the woman
 is sent on to appear in person4  #bd   
,see p4 #cg sq4  #be ,j4,c4 ,colcord in 
,the ,annals of the ,american ,academy  
of ,political and ,social ,science1     
,may1 #aiah1 p4 #ig4     ,,vi  ,,the    
,,details ,,of ,,treatment   ,as in all 
other problems faced by the case worker1
 it is impossible to lay down general   
rules for the treatment of desertion4   
,there may be general considerations1   
however1 which it is well to keep in    
mind1 some of which have been advanced  
in the last chapter4#bf  ,on questions  
of investigation there is closer        
agreement among social workers than on  
questions of treatment4 ,personal       

factors here play a much larger part1   
and it may very well be that two case   
workers who differ in personality but   
are of equal ability1 will choose very  
different plans of treatment in a given 
case and yet each bring it to a         
successful issue4 ,it is with a good    
deal of hesitancy1 therefore1 that a    
case worker ventures upon the discussion
 of anything so flexible as treatment4  
,in preparation for this study many     
consultations were had with practising  
social case workers in the fields of    
family work1 probation1 medical-social  
service1 and child welfare4 ,differences
 of opinion were found and this chapter 
will attempt to express the composite   
opinion on how to treat the deserter and
 his family in the different situations 
which confront them4   #a4 ,man's       
,whereabouts ,unknown but ,desertion of 
,recent ,date4--,it is better in this   
case to make no very definite plans for 
the family4 ,emergent plans1 both as to 
relief and medical or other care should1

 of course1 be prompt and adequate4 ,now
 is the time1 if it can be done1 to win 
the confidence and co-operation of the  
wife4 ,we should1 however1 make no      
promises for the sake of buying         
co-operation1 and give no premature     
advice either as to prosecution or      
reconciliation4 ,everything possible    
should be done to strengthen such ties  
with church1 relatives1 and friends as  
may be helpful1 but the social worker   
should be slow to encourage the family  
to form new ties with other social      
agencies at this time4 ,she should avoid
 the possibility of judging the woman   
harshly in a period of stress1 but be   
watchful for signs of deterioration and 
resourceful to combat them4 ,this is the
 stage1 of course1 when all energies    
should be bent toward finding the man4  
,in this as in the other situations     
about to be discussed1 the question of  
whether or not the home should be broken
 up and the children committed should be
 decided on other grounds than on the   

desertion alone4 ,under many            
circumstances1 it is the best thing to  
do4 ,the woman1 worn out with anxiety or
 abuse1 may be unequal to their physical
 care for the present2 or they may be   
running wild and in danger of becoming  
delinquent4 ,the mother may be morally  
an unfit guardian1 and the desertion may
 furnish the long-sought opportunity to 
interfere for the children's protection4
 ,commitment may have to be planned1 and
 the mother's consent won1 to save the  
children from the return of a brutal    
father1 against whom she cannot protect 
them4 ,or she may desire a temporary    
commitment in order to give her husband 
a severe lesson4 ,the main              
consideration1 however1 ought to be what
 is going1 in the long run1 to be best  
for the children concerned4   #b4 ,man's
 ,whereabouts ,unknown1 ,desertion of   
,long ,standing4--,a very different     
problem from the preceding may be       
presented in the family of a man who    
disappeared some time ago4 ,where the   

desertion is bona fide and has persisted
 over a period of years1 it is often    
possible to treat the family as if the  
man were dead1 and1 if other            
circumstances make this advisable1 to   
plan comprehensively for the future4    
,there is always the chance1 however1   
that1 until the man's death is          
established1 he may turn up             
unexpectedly4 ,if living1 he usually    
manages to hear now and again about his 
family and is often able to find them at
 will4 ,a man who had neither seen nor  
communicated with his family during the 
ten years they had been maintained by a 
private family agency1 nevertheless sent
 promptly for his wife and eldest son by
 a messenger who knew exactly where to  
find them 7although they had moved in   
the interval several times71 when he lay
 dying of alcoholic excess in the city  
hospital4  ,the laws of many states     
contain a provision that the marriage of
 a person who has completely disappeared
 and not been heard from in a period of 

years can be set aside by the proper    
authorities4 ,this makes legal the      
remarriage of the spouse4 ,in nearly all
 of the states divorce can be obtained  
on the ground of long continued         
desertion4#bg ,the wisdom of advising   
such a divorce1 however1 should receive 
careful individual consideration1       
particularly in relation to the         
religious faith of the client and the   
attitude of that faith toward divorce4  
#c4 ,man's ,whereabouts ,known2 ,man    
,unwilling to ,return or                
,support4--,many types of deserting men 
are included under this catch-all       
heading--the so-called justifiable      
deserter2 the man who has fled to escape
 his creditors or is a fugitive from    
justice2 the man who has elected to try 
life with another mate2 the wandering   
hobo who means to come back some sweet  
day but not now2 the cowardly pregnancy 
deserter2 the low-grade irresponsible--a
 motley crew4 ,they are grouped together
 here for convenience1 since they       

constitute those with whom coercive     
measures have most often to be used4    
,a good example of the justifiable      
deserter is found in the story     of   
,williams4#bh ,this man1 when home      
conditions became intolerable1     tried
 to secure his children's safety through
 the courts but did not     obtain a    
hearing4 ,he left home feeling that he  
was fully justified4     ,the lame point
 in his self-defense was his failure to 
support his     children1 and it took a 
court order to rectify this in part4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,joseph ,mellor is in a more logical    
situation in his refusal to     provide 
for his wife1 since he is paying the    
board of his child in a     good        
institution4 ,he makes no charge against
 her character1 but     insists that her
 quarrelsome and dictatorial disposition
 makes her     impossible to live with4 
,she had haled him so many times into   
court     and lost him so many positions
 that ,mellor1 who earns a good salary1 

will deal with her only through his     
lawyer1 who keeps his client's          
whereabouts secret and will not trust   
the social worker interested     even to
 the extent of arranging an interview4  
,it is generally impossible in cases of 
such deep-seated antagonism to make any 
plans looking toward reconciliation4    
,the justifiable deserter can usually be
 reasoned with1 and once he understands 
and admits his responsibilities1 can    
often be made to live up to them without
 judicial process4      ,a ship steward 
deserted his wife1 who was both         
alcoholic and     paretic1 taking with  
him his only child whom he placed with  
his     relatives4 ,the woman was       
devoted to the boy and broken in spirit 
because she was not allowed to see him4 
,the steward claimed1     probably      
correctly1 that he was not responsible  
for the woman's     syphilitic          
condition4 ,the following extract from  
the record of the     first interview   
with the man is quoted to show the lines

 of argument     which were effective   
with him3      ,man at ,district        
,office--,visitor started in immediately
 with the     subject in hand1 thinking 
he was the sort that would respond to   
absolutely direct dealing4 ,explained to
 him that we had been given     to      
understand his wife was ill1 not only   
from alcoholism but also     from other 
complications2 that it was suspected    
there might be some     difficulty with 
her blood and that we had been advised  
that her     mental condition was not   
now as strong as it had been previously4
     ,explained to him that he was      
absolutely responsible for his wife1    
for her support1 and for her care and   
protection1 and that no matter     how  
far he traveled1 his responsibility     
remained the same2 that he     had      
assumed this when he married her4 ,said 
that he felt no     responsibility for  
her whatsoever1 that he had done all he 
ever     would do for her and intended  
to devote his efforts toward his        

child4 ,visitor explained to him that   
woman's intemperance might     perfectly
 well be a disease over which it would  
be very difficult     for her to have   
control2 that1 moreover1 if she were    
suffering also     from a blood         
condition1 this should have treatment4  
,explained that     he would more nearly
 meet his responsibilities were he to   
have her     examined and send her where
 she could procure the treatment        
required1 even if it meant commitment to
 an institution4 ,at this     point man 
seemed more interested1 particularly as 
visitor told him     that ,arthur would 
grow up and would want to know where his
 mother     was and what had become of  
her2 and if man had left her sick and   
alone1 at the mercy of strangers1 he    
would not be able to give an            
adequate accounting to his son4 ,man's  
reaction was not what visitor     had   
expected--he would be glad to put her   
away where she could not     trouble him
 any more but he did not intend to      

expend any more money4     ,said he was 
under too heavy expenses with ,arthur4  
,claimed he was     making #gj a month1 
and visitor forced him to add that he   
got in     addition his board and       
lodging on the ship1 so that he was     
under no     expense except when on     
shore leave4 ,visitor repeated that as a
     husband he was required to pay for 
woman's care1 that that was the         
right thing to do2 that one way he would
 be a husband deserting his     wife1   
liable to arrest for non-support and    
desertion1 and the other     way a      
husband with a sick wife for whom he was
 willing to provide     the medical     
attention and care that every sick      
person has a right to     have4 ,he said
 if it was a question of a few dollars a
 week1 he     supposed he would be      
willing to do it1 and visitor felt he   
really     was willing to do the right  
thing if he only could be assured that  
woman would not interfere with ,arthur4 
,said he would never let woman     see  

the child1 but finally admitted1 if she 
were not drunk and was     in the       
hospital and it would do any good1 he   
supposed she could4  ,with persistent or
 recalcitrant deserters as a group1     
court action has very often to be       
invoked4 ,procedure in this direction   
differs so much in different communities
 that only general observations can be  
offered here4 ,if the man has left his  
home but not the town and is still      
within the jurisdiction of the local    
court1 the magistrate will usually issue
 a summons 7which in many cities the    
wife is expected to serve7 calling on   
the man to appear at court on the date  
set for the hearing4 ,if he fails to    
appear a warrant for his arrest is      
issued4 ,if he has left the city but not
 the state1 local courts may issue      
warrants1 which can be mailed to the    
city to which the man has gone and      
served by the police there2 or an       
officer may be sent from the home town  
with a warrant to arrest the man and    

bring him back4  ,prior to his          
arraignment1 the best court practice    
calls for an investigation by the       
probation officer1 so that the judge may
 have substantiated facts before him    
when the case comes up4 ,whether this is
 done or not here is the time and place 
for the social worker who already knows 
the family to get his knowledge in      
usable fashion before the court4 ,how   
best to do this varies greatly in       
different communities4 ,sometimes the   
social worker is permitted to talk the  
matter over with the judge personally1  
sometimes with the probation officer1   
clerk or other court official4          
,sometimes a written report is required1
 to be attached to the probation        
officer's report4 ,occasionally the     
social worker gets no chance to be heard
 unless he is present to testify in open
 court4 ,in the last two contingencies1 
care must be taken to safeguard         
information given in confidence1 even by
 the deserter4 ,letters marked          

confidential should not ordinarily be   
submitted in court except by consent of 
the writer1 as some judges hold that    
material so submitted becomes a matter  
of public record4  ,the approach to the 
court1 therefore1 is governed by local  
conditions4 ,a very important part of   
co-operation in any community is to see 
that this channel is kept free from     
obstruction4 ,in general1 the probation 
officer should be the best friend of the
 other social workers1 since he knows   
their language4 ,indeed1 many social    
workers themselves combine the office of
 probation officer with their other     
duties4  ,after the institution of court
 proceedings the outside social worker  
has usually little chance to affect the 
disposition of the case4 ,this is made  
by the judge on the basis of the        
testimony he elicits in court1 and on   
that of any preliminary investigation he
 may have caused to be made4            
,disposition may be3      #a4 ,in rare  
instances1 to dismiss the complaint     

altogether4      #b4 ,to remand for a   
later hearing4      #c4 ,to induce the  
woman to drop her complaint and give the
 man     another chance4#bi      #d4 ,to
 place the man under court order to stay
 away from home and pay     his wife a  
stated amount weekly4 ,custom differs in
 different places     as to whether     
payment shall be direct to the wife1    
through the     probation officer or    
clerk of court1 or through public or    
private     charities4      #e4 ,to     
order the man to return home and        
contribute a stated amount4      #f4 ,to
 place on probation 7together with      
either #d or #e74      #g4              
,commitment--usually to jail or         
workhouse1 and for a period of not      
over six months4 ,may be longer for     
violation of probation or for           
aggravated offense4  ,when the deserting
 man has gone without the borders of the
 state1 there is the added problem of   
securing his extradition1 which is often
 a difficult one4 ,wife desertion is in 

most states only a misdemeanor 7in ,new 
,york it is even less serious and       
constitutes in the eye of the law only  
disorderly conduct74 ,since extradition 
between states has to be acted upon by  
the governors of the states1 it is      
unusual 7though not impossible#cj7 to   
secure extradition for a misdemeanor4   
,the reluctance of the authorities is   
understandable1 however1 when it is     
realized that to extradite for wife     
desertion would be to create a precedent
 for extradition for any sort of        
misdemeanor4 ,there is in most states a 
law which makes the abandonment of a    
minor child or children a felony1       
punishable by a long term in state      
prison1 and it is this law which is     
generally invoked when the man has been 
traced to another state4 ,complaint then
 has to be made to the district 7or     
county7 attorney1 the matter taken      
before the grand jury and an indictment 
secured before extradition papers can be
 granted4 ,the man1 if captured1 must   

usually be tried in a higher court than 
the domestic relations court2 if        
convicted he is likely to be more       
severely punished4 ,extradition means   
expense to the state2 it is usually     
difficult1 moreover1 to get an active   
interest taken in extraditing a family  
deserter who1 to the legal eye1 has     
committed an offense neither against the
 person nor against property1 and cannot
 therefore be a serious offender6  ,if  
extradition for family desertion is     
difficult between states1 with other    
countries it is impossible1 as no       
treaties exist even with contiguous     
countries like ,canada and ,mexico4#ca  
,by special arrangement with the        
,canadian authorities1 states which     
touch the ,canadian border can sometimes
 obtain the person of a deserter without
 actual extradition4 ,information is    
submitted to the police of the ,canadian
 town where the man is known to be1 who 
thereupon arrest him as an undesirable  
citizen and arrange for his deportation4

 ,the neighboring state is notified1 and
 an officer with a warrant meets the    
,canadian officer and the prisoner at   
the boundary1 arresting the latter as   
soon as he sets foot across the state   
line4  ,the testimony of social workers 
is1 in the main1 in favor of probation  
as against long prison sentence for men 
of this type4 ,we have found a shortened
 penitentiary sentence1 with release on 
probation1 very successful in a number  
of instances4 ,sometimes the probation  
has been more effective by its being a  
sort of double probation2 that is1      
having the case pending in juvenile     
court as well as municipal or district  
court4 ,the fear of having his children 
permanently taken from him if he again  
fails to support them has1 in one or two
 instances1 had much more effect with   
the deserter than the threat of a prison
 sentence4 ,probation works very well   
and occasionally a prison sentence2 but 
probation is better4 ,these statements  
come from cities where probation work is

 well organized4 ,from another city     
where the probation officers are        
notoriously overworked1 comes a         
pessimistic note3 ,the theory of        
probation is fine1 but the practice is  
poor because the officers have entirely 
too much to do4  ,probation is simply   
case work with the added punch of the   
law behind it2 so that when it is at all
 well done it should have the more      
lasting results4 ,probation officers and
 other social workers agree1 however1   
that for certain deserters of the       
complacent type1 an unexpected prison   
sentence is sometimes a very salutary   
dash of cold water4      ,after having  
tried one or two short absences1        
ostensibly to look for     work and     
finding that nothing serious happened to
 him1 ,andreas     ,gorokhoff walked out
 one day and did not come back for five 
years4     ,during that time his wife's 
relatives and the community's family    
agency took care of his family while he 
led the life of a care-free             

vagabond4 ,he was ready upon his return 
to settle down again for a     time2 but
 the family agency and the probation    
department thought     differently1 and 
succeeded in having him sent to state   
prison for an     indeterminate sentence
 of not more than two years4 ,he was    
released     on parole for good conduct1
 returned home1 went to work1 and1      
during     the four years which have    
since elapsed1 all has gone well4  ,good
 results may1 and probably more often   
do1 follow shorter prison sentences4    
,a man on probation for intemperance1   
broke it and deserted4 ,on     account  
of the children's keen feeling about the
 consequent     disgrace1 the wife made 
no move until urged thereto by the      
social     worker interested4 ,her      
husband was then arrested in a nearby   
city     and brought back1 much         
surprised at the firm stand his wife had
     taken4 ,he was sentenced to four   
months1 served two1 and was released    
on parole4 ,since his return he has not 

been drinking and has been              
contributing satisfactorily toward the  
support of his family4         99       
99       99       99       99      ,the 
first step taken by ,harvey ,brand when 
released from the     workhouse after a 
short prison sentence1 was to stop in at
 a     furniture store and order a green
 plush parlor suit on the     instalment
 plan4 ,harvey had never been           
conspicuously interested in     his home
 before1 and the district secretary and 
her committee were     aghast at this   
new evidence of his irresponsibility4   
,the green plush     was1 however1 the  
outward sign of an inner burgeoning1 and
 it warmed     the heart of ,mrs4       
,harvey as nothing else could have done4
 ,from that     time1 ,harvey1 with     
judicious encouragement over a few hard 
spots1     has become a good family man 
and a regular provider4  ,the particular
 problem involved in the treatment of   
the family during the trial and         
imprisonment of the deserter is that of 

encouraging the woman to stick to her   
guns4 ,if she withdraws her complaint or
 secures his release before his time is 
up1 she not only convinces him of her   
lack of firmness but the entry in the   
court record seriously prejudices her   
case should she make complaint there    
again4 ,unless the social worker is     
convinced1 therefore1 that the sentence 
has been unduly severe1 the wife should 
be encouraged in every way to let her   
husband serve out his time4 ,if a policy
 of relief has been necessary1 care     
should be taken that it be adequate1 so 
that economic pressure will not induce  
her to ask for his release4 ,if the home
 has been broken up and the children    
committed1 the mother's loneliness and  
desire to have her home back is likely  
to work in the same way4 ,the hope of   
making her husband kinder when he       
returns often leads a woman to ask for  
his release4 ,the pressure of relatives 
and friends1 and sometimes of her church
 is likely to be exerted in the same    

direction and unknown to the social     
worker4 ,chaplains of correctional      
institutions1 interested entirely in the
 man and with no knowledge of the family
 situation1 are also likely to appear in
 the case2 and it is well to acquaint   
them1 in the beginning1 of our interest 
and our hope that no step will be taken 
without a consultation4 ,if it is hoped 
or expected that the man will return to 
his home after imprisonment1 he should  
be earnestly cultivated by the social   
worker while he is serving his time4    
,visits and letters will go far toward  
breaking down his resentment at the part
 the worker is likely to have played in 
putting him behind the bars4 ,now is an 
excellent time to introduce a man as    
volunteer visitor to the prisoner1 if he
 is to be off probation when released4  
,if imprisonment or3 stay-away probation
 does not have the desired effect of    
making the deserter willing and anxious 
to return to his family and take care of
 them1 or if for any reason return is   

permanently undesirable1 the            
advisability of obtaining a legal       
separation#cb should be considered at   
this point4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the 
man evinces eagerness to return home and
 support his family1 he comes           
automatically 7though belatedly7 into   
the class to be considered in the next  
chapter4  ,,footnotes3  #bf ,the        
,questionnaire on the ,deserted ,family 
7see p4 #cie sq4 of ,richmond's ,social 
,diagnosis7 has already been mentioned  
as suggesting lines of investigation4   
,it will also be found useful at the    
stage of summing up knowledge gained and
 seeing in what direction it points4    
#bg ,the state of ,new ,york is an      
exception1 as it grants only limited    
divorce for desertion4  #bh ,see p4 #eg4
  #bi ,see p4 #acb sq4 concerning court 
reconciliations4  #cj ,see ,baldwin1    
,wm4 ,h43 ,the ,most ,effective ,methods
 of ,dealing with ,cases of ,desertion  
and ,non-support1 ,journal ,american    
,institute of ,criminal ,law and        

,criminology1 ,november1 #aiag4  #ca    
,see p4 #afi sq4  #cb ,see p4 #abg4     
,,vii  ,,the ,,details ,,of ,,treatment 
7,continued7   ,there remains a fourth  
classification under treatment1 of cases
 which demand even more individualized  
care and therefore more extended comment
 than those just considered4   #d4      
,man's ,whereabouts ,known2 ,man        
,willing to ,return4--,here the question
 to determine is whether it is going to 
be a desirable thing for the man to     
re-enter the home and1 if so1 when4     
,this does not always lie within the    
power of the case worker to decide2 the 
couple may and often do resolve their   
differences for the time being without  
reference to her opinion4 ,but she can  
often hasten1 defer1 or even prevent the
 reconciliation4 ,careful consideration 
must be given the elements involved3    
,what causes probably operated to bring 
about the rupture in family relations8  
,if there have been other desertions    
what does their history show8 ,is the   

man's willingness to return a sign of   
real change of heart and purpose1 or is 
he merely afraid of punishment8 ,are his
 habits such as to make him a fit inmate
 of the home8 ,is he capable of         
supporting the family8 ,can any         
adjustment of temperaments be made which
 will lessen incompatibility8 ,is the   
wife willing to have him return8 ,what  
are her motives8 ,has she enough        
firmness of character to carry out a    
plan to which she has agreed8 ,these are
 only a few of the questions to which   
the social worker needs to know the     
answer1 if the decision is to be a wise 
one4  ,if none of the elements is       
present in the home out of which family 
life can be reconstructed1 if the man's 
self-indulgence and cruelty have been   
proved beyond any doubt1 or if affection
 is dead or never existed1 then the     
decision may have to be that no         
reconciliation be attempted4 ,in many   
cases the question then is how best to  
protect the woman and children against  

the man's forcing his way upon them4    
,court intervention is usually necessary
 here1 if it has not already taken      
place2 and a first step is to have the  
husband placed under a court order to   
give separate support and to stay away  
from his home4#cc ,the wife should be   
armed with a warrant for his arrest1    
which can be served by the policeman on 
the beat if the man appears4 ,such a man
 usually considers that his             
proprietorship of the home and the      
family is not affected by his absence or
 even by court orders1 and when         
fortified by liquor he is likely to     
force his entrance into the home and    
perhaps do harm4 ,the protection of the 
warrant is not absolute2 in such cases  
as this it ought later to be reinforced 
by a legal separation4 ,social workers  
avail themselves of this resource far   
less than they should4 ,it controverts  
the principles of no religious sect and 
gives all the protection of absolute    
divorce 7including the payment of       

alimony7 to the woman and children4 ,to 
the children it is likely to give more  
protection than divorce2 for in the     
event of the divorced husband's         
remarriage the children of the second   
wife have prior rights over those of the
 first1 and legal separation makes this 
impossible by preventing the remarriage 
of either party4 ,proceedings for a     
legal separation cannot usually be      
started if a man is on probation1 but   
may be while he is undergoing           
imprisonment4 ,it should be said that1  
after a separation1 claims for          
non-payment of alimony cannot1 in many  
states1 be pressed in a court of        
domestic relations but must go to a     
civil court4 ,this is usually more      
expensive and less satisfactory4#cd     
,some social workers even advance the   
heretical doctrine that support secured 
through the court from a cruel and      
dangerous husband does not make up for  
the harm he may do and the anxiety he   
causes4 ,if to force him into periodical

 payments means that he will be         
continually excited into seeking out and
 beating up his offending wife1 the     
support she is able to extort from him  
comes high4 ,it is sometimes necessary  
to move a family to new quarters and    
actually help them to hide from the     
pursuit of one of these insistent       
gentry4 ,even if we have some doubt that
 the wife's protestations of fear or    
aversion are genuine1 we should hardly  
take the risk of revealing her address  
if she wishes it kept secret4 ,this     
precaution applies not only to the man  
but to anyone whom we suspect of being  
interested on his behalf4 ,a district   
secretary continued to refuse the       
address of his family to a dangerous    
epileptic deserter who threatened the   
secretary's life and1 in the opinion of 
physicians who examined him1 was likely 
to carry out his threat4      ,the      
committee on difficult cases in a family
 social agency voted to     refuse to   
accept voluntary payments from a        

thoroughly worthless     deserter and   
transmit them to his wife whose address 
he was seeking     to learn1 on the     
theory that it was better for her and   
her children     to be entirely quit of 
him1 and that nothing would make him    
realize     the finality of the decision
 more than to refuse his money4 ,the    
agency1 it was felt1 would be in better 
position to protect the wife     and    
children if it refused to act as post   
office for the man4  ,the same          
consideration might apply in questions  
of extradition4 ,when the whereabouts of
 a deserter of this type has been       
discovered in another city a safe       
distance away1 it may be wiser to       
sacrifice the money he might be forced  
to contribute than to have him brought  
within arm's length of his wife and     
family4  ,a prime difficulty in dealing 
with the undesirable husband who is     
willing to come home is often the       
attitude of the wife4 ,some of the      
causes at work when a woman takes her   

husband back have been discussed        
earlier4#ce ,unfortunately1 hopelessly  
bad husbands profit by them as well as  
hopeful ones4 ,the policy of niggardly  
relief to a deserted wife has           
undoubtedly been responsible for many of
 these unfortunate attempts to patch up 
a life together4 ,she was worn down by  
her efforts to keep the household going1
 and1 when the faint chance of her      
husband's supporting her appeared1 she  
took it is the explanation given by a   
case worker of one unpromising          
reconciliation1 and she goes on to say  
of this and another similar story3 ,with
 both of these it seems that enough     
money put into the household to enable  
these mothers to be with their children 
more and to keep up a reasonable        
standard of health for themselves might 
have resulted in their refusing to take 
back their husbands4444 ,our records    
seem to show that inadequate relief1    
making life fairly hard for the deserted
 mother1 does not tend to keep the man  

from returning or others from deserting4
      ,the story of ,mrs4 ,francis shows
 the effect of adequate relief in       
strengthening her decision not to take  
her husband back4 ,he had been     a    
chronic deserter for years1 had drank   
heavily1 been foul-mouthed     and      
abusive1 while failing to support the   
family when at home1 so     that ,mrs4  
,francis had only a little harder time  
when he was away4     ,his last         
desertion took place when she was near  
confinement4 ,owing     to her          
condition1 the church and a family      
agency co-operated in an     unusually  
generous relief policy4 ,this was in a  
state which gave     mother's aid to    
deserted wives4 ,after about a year this
 was secured     for her1 and the health
 of woman and children was built up and 
the     home improved4 ,then ,mr4       
,francis sent ambassadors in the form of
     relatives1 with whom ,mrs4 ,francis
 refused to treat4 ,he later            
appeared himself1 but she would not     

consider taking him back4 ,he           
escaped before he could be brought into 
court4 ,as he has now been     gone over
 two years1 it seems that her stand is a
 genuine one4  ,on the other hand1 when 
the man has been found and interviewed1 
he may show signs of repentance1 and the
 earlier history1 together with the     
opinion which the social worker has been
 able to form about the character of man
 and woman may make it seem that a      
reconciliation should be encouraged4 ,a 
further question then arises3 ,shall the
 man return to his home at once or first
 undergo a probationary period8  ,the   
quick reconciliation has been a feature 
of the work in domestic relations courts
 from the beginning of the movement4 ,in
 connection with some courts there are  
special officers whose duty it is to    
prevail upon couples who come to the    
court to patch up their differences and 
give each other another trial4 ,this    
would be an admirable procedure if the  
couples to receive such treatment were  

selected by a process of careful        
investigation1 and if probationary      
supervision were continued long enough  
to ascertain whether permanent results  
could be secured4 ,as it actually works 
out it is a little like expecting a     
wound to heal by first intention when it
 has not been cleaned out thoroughly1   
and when no attention is being paid to  
subsequent dressings4      ,the         
wholesale attempt to patch the tattered 
fabric of family life     in a series of
 hurried interviews held in the court   
room1 and     without any information   
about the problem except what can be    
gained     from the two people          
concerned1 can hardly be of permanent   
value in     most cases4 ,it is natural 
that case workers1 keenly aware as they 
are of the slow and difficult processes 
involved in     character-rebuilding1   
look askance at the court-made          
reconciliations4 ,with the best will in 
the world1 the people who     attempt   
this delicate service very often have   

neither the time nor     the facts about
 the particular case in question to give
 the skilful     and devoted personal   
service necessary to reconstruction4 ,as
 a     result many weak-willed          
wrong-doers are encouraged to take a    
pledge     of good conduct which they   
will not1 or cannot1 keep2 and other    
individuals who feel themselves deeply  
wronged go away with an     additional  
sense of those wrongs having been       
underestimated and of     having        
received no redress4 ,the results are   
written in     discouragement and in    
repeated failures to live in harmony1   
each of     which makes a permanent     
solution more and more difficult4 ,the  
case     worker to whom the results of  
the externally imposed reconciliation   
come back again and again has reason to 
be confirmed in a distrust     of       
short-cut methods4#cf         99        
99       99       99       99      ,a   
probation officer writes3 ,superficial  
reconciliations invariably     result   

unsatisfactorily4 ,in one case a        
reconciliation was effected     before  
the husband was released on probation4  
,this was done     apparently in the    
hope that it would influence the court  
in the     disposition of the case4     
,after a study of the situation had been
     made by the probation officer1 it  
was found that the wife was     totally 
incompetent as a housekeeper1 that she  
possessed an     antagonistic           
disposition1 had a violent temper1 and  
that no sincere     attachment for each 
other existed between the couple4       
,before any     constructive measures   
could be carried out by the probation   
officer     to remedy this situation    
they separated1 and it was not possible 
thereafter to adjust the differences    
with any degree of     satisfaction4    
,on another occasion a man who had a    
previous prison record and had          
displayed criminal tendencies was       
arrested for desertion4 ,his wife1     a
 feeble-minded woman with one child1 was

 being maintained at a     private      
institution at county expense4 ,through 
the efforts of the     district attorney
 a reconciliation was effected before   
the case was     disposed of in court1  
and the man was placed on probation upon
 the     recommendation of the          
prosecutor without the usual preliminary
     investigation by the probation     
department4 ,the couple began to live   
together contrary to the advice of the  
probation officer4 ,about two     months
 later the man was arrested for         
committing a series of     burglaries   
and the woman was found to be pregnant4 
,efforts which had     been made by the 
probation department to determine her   
mentality     disclosed her to be       
feeble-minded2 later she was committed  
to a     custodial institution for      
feeble-minded women of child-bearing    
age4     ,the man was committed to a    
state prison4  ,however1 when youth and 
high temper seem to have caused the     
trouble and there is real affection to  

build upon1 a speedy resumption of life 
together is usually the best thing4     
,a young woman with one baby said that  
her husband had got drunk and           
threatened her with a knife4 ,they      
quarreled and he went to relatives      
in another city4 ,neighbors testified   
how devoted the couple had been     to  
each other1 describing the young man as 
handy about the house     though lazy   
about finding work4 ,he was visited by  
the family     social agency in the city
 to which he had gone1 and wrote a      
penitent     letter asking to come home4
 ,the wife agreed2 the man immediately  
returned1 got work1 and succeeded in    
overcoming his incipient bad     habits4
 ,the death of the baby soon after his  
return seemed only to     draw the      
couple more closely together4 ,the case 
was soon after     closed2 nothing has  
been heard in the three years since to  
indicate     that any further trouble   
has developed4  ,a study recently made  
under the auspices of the ,philadelphia 

,court of ,domestic ,relations seems to 
show somewhat better results from court 
reconciliations than might have been    
expected4 ,one thousand and two couples 
who were reconciled in court during the 
year #aiaf were visited from six to     
eighteen months later4 ,three hundred   
and ten had separated or had had further
 differences which brought them to      
court2 #hg could not be found1 and #fje1
 or about #fj per cent1 were found to be
 still living together1 though with a   
varying degree of marital happiness1 as 
the report somewhat drily states4#cg    
,it should be said that many of these   
families were probably under the        
supervision of a probation officer for a
 longer or shorter period after the     
reconciliation took place4 ,there is no 
statement as to the number of repeated  
deserters among the men1 and we cannot  
estimate how many of the #fje fell      
within the group which might chance to  
have the proper basis for               
reconciliation4  ,the practice of the   

,desertion ,bureau maintained by the    
,new ,york ,association for ,improving  
the ,condition of the ,poor is as a rule
 not to advise reconciliations without a
 definite preliminary period during     
which the man shall contribute regularly
 and show that he means business4 ,the  
kind of reconciliation that lasts is the
 one that is effected with some         
difficulty to the man1 its secretary    
remarked4 ,the same probation department
 which furnished the stories of hasty   
and unsuccessful reconciliations1#ch    
contributes this remarkable account of  
the restoration of a family through slow
 and careful character rebuilding3      
,george ,latham had shamefully neglected
 his wife and children for     several  
years4 ,he drank to excess1 gambled     
considerably1 and     associated with   
women of loose character4 ,he came from 
good stock1     however1 and his early  
training had been excellent4 ,the       
differences     between man and wife    
seemed impossible to adjust4 ,after the 

man's     release on probation1 the     
co-operation of relatives was secured   
and     through the aid of his new found
 employer efforts were made toward a    
reconciliation4 ,the man was gradually  
led away from his old harmful           
pursuits and tendencies1 these being    
replaced by wholesome     activities4   
,he was induced to join a fraternal     
organization1 to take     out insurance 
for his wife and child1 was encouraged  
to attend     church regularly1 and to  
open a bank account4 ,when his sincerity
 was     appreciated by the wife1 she   
agreed to resume housekeeping4 ,under   
the direction of the probation officer1 
new furniture was purchased     and the 
home re-established4 ,this man today    
holds a responsible     position under  
the employer who aided in his           
rehabilitation1 and     occupies a      
respected place in the community4  ,very
 many processes are indicated in such a 
story4 ,to bring about the conviction of
 wrong-doing1 to awaken desire and      

supply an incentive1 to keep the hope of
 attainment alive1 to encourage weakened
 nerves in a new and persistent effort1 
and all the while to build and          
strengthen and develop faculties and    
powers that had been dormant and        
well-nigh destroyed1 is a task that     
demands a high order of skill and       
resourcefulness4  ,the story just told  
emphasizes the work which was done with 
the husband4 ,equally careful work had  
undoubtedly to be done with the wife to 
carry her along with the plan4 ,the     
period of stay-away probation for the   
man is a difficult time for the woman4  
,neighbors and friends know that he is  
taking steps in the direction of        
reformation1 and often hold the attitude
 that it is her duty to let bygones be  
bygones and receive him again4 ,the     
promptings of her own heart are often in
 the same direction2 and affection not  
outlived combines with custom1 religious
 precept1 and economic pressure to make 
it almost impossible to hold to her     

decision4 ,the social worker can        
sometimes slip some of the burden of the
 decision off the woman's shoulders to  
her own by exacting a promise from the  
two that they will not try living       
together until the man has shown what he
 can do for a certain definite time4    
,the economic pressure can be eased by a
 wise policy of relief2 but most of all 
such a woman needs continued            
encouragement from a person whose       
judgment and kindliness she has learned 
to trust4 ,this is another good point at
 which to introduce the right kind of   
volunteer visitor1 one who will already 
have established friendly relations with
 both when the time of readjustment     
comes1 and who can help bridge over that
 difficult period4 ,in some cases it    
might be possible and desirable to      
procure as volunteer visitors to a      
couple whose marital relations have come
 to shipwreck1 another married couple   
who have learned how to live together   
successfully4  ,the use of carefully    

chosen volunteers in effecting          
reconciliations by the case work method 
has been singularly little developed4   
,in this respect modern theory and      
practice have both fallen behind4#ci    
,especially is it an opportunity to     
enlist the service of men1 whom it is   
easy to interest in a problem that seems
 to focus about the man of the family4  
,a man volunteer can search for a       
deserter in places where a woman1 by    
being conspicuous1 would defeat her own 
end4 ,located man by mingling with      
longshoremen on the docks where he      
usually worked could hardly be the entry
 of a woman visitor4 ,a man can also be 
very useful in court cases1 to          
counteract the prejudice that sometimes 
exists in court rooms against the       
testimony of social workers who are     
women4 ,in the more subtle processes of 
winning the man's confidence and helping
 him to regenerate his life and recover 
his home there is no preponderance of   
testimony in favor of the man visitor4  

,sex lines vanish here2 the good case   
worker1 man or woman1 volunteer or      
professional1 is the person needed4     
,sometimes the difficulty is not to     
deter the wife from prematurely taking  
her husband back but to induce her to   
relent when the proper time comes4      
,martin ,long was intemperate1 his wife 
was high-tempered2 her     relatives    
advised her to leave him and he         
deserted1 leaving the     relatives to  
provide for her and the three children4 
,he was away two     years2 then1       
becoming homesick and wanting to        
re-establish his home     if possible1  
he returned4 ,the wife caused his arrest
 when he was     seeking an interview   
with her4 ,the probation officer in     
whose care     he was released became   
convinced of his genuine sincerity and  
regret1 but the wife1 still on the      
advice of her relatives1 refused     to 
see him4 ,he persisted in his hope of a 
reconciliation and made                 
extraordinary efforts during a winter of

 industrial depression1     putting his 
pride in his pocket and taking laborer's
 work1 which he     had never done      
before4 ,he finally got a good position 
and saved     money enough to begin     
housekeeping4 ,the probation officer    
kept in     touch with the wife1 first  
persuading her to receive a letter from 
,mr4 ,long and answer it through the    
probation office4 ,he interested     her
 in the details of her husband's        
struggle1 and finally1 after a     whole
 year of probation and with the help of 
her pastor1 he induced     her to       
return4 ,the probation officer kept in  
close touch with the     family for some
 months and reports3 ,three years have  
elapsed since     that time2 the family 
is now in a nearby city where they are  
living     harmoniously and in          
comfortable circumstances4  ,a case     
worker who is remarkable for her success
 in the treatment of estranged couples1 
when asked how she did it answered      
laconically1 talks and talks and talks4 

,a study of her case records1 however1  
shows certain points that recur again   
and again in her treatment4  ,she       
encourages man and wife1 separately1 to 
talk out their grievances thoroughly and
 get everything out of their systems4   
,she then proceeds 7with a lavish       
expenditure of time1 as indicated in her
 phrase7 to convince each that she is a 
friend1 but an impartial friend4 ,she   
does not push for an immediate          
reconciliation1 is much more likely to  
recommend a temporary separation until  
tempers cool down and the true facts    
appear4 ,she always advises strongly    
against argument and casting up the     
past1 and tells the couple to come back 
to her if they want to discuss their    
grievances further4 ,above all1 they are
 not to retail their troubles to        
relatives and friends4 ,if either or    
both are out of the city during their   
separation she keeps in close touch with
 them by letter4 ,she is quick to       
utilize their interest in their children

 as a means of reawakening their        
interest in each other4 ,the following  
letters illustrate her method4 ,the     
first was written to a young man who was
 serving a six months' sentence for     
desertion2 the others to the same young 
man after he had begun a manful struggle
 to come back1 working in a munitions   
plant in another state and later sending
 money regularly to the wife1 who still 
obdurately refused to forgive him4 7,the
 letters are part of a series of #bg    
which were written to him during a ten  
months' period47      ,my dear ,mr4     
,andrews3      ,i was ever so glad to   
get your letter this week and ,i am     
sorry that     no one has been over to  
the workhouse to see you recently4 ,i   
will     surely be over within the next 
two weeks4 ,i know you are anxious and  
you should have had a letter telling you
 about the children4 ,they     are both 
all right now and the baby is out of the
 hospital4      ,we have had a nice talk
 with your aunt and she is very anxious 

to     come over and see you4 ,we will  
all get together and try and plan       
what is the right thing to do when you  
come out4 ,i will arrange it     so we  
can have a little longer talk this time 
if possible4      ,very truly yours1    
,,district ,,secretary4       ,my dear  
,mr4 ,andrews3      ,your long letter   
has just arrived4 ,i read it with a     
great deal of     interest and pleasure4
 ,it is fine to know you have already   
arrived     and have started out to make
 good on your promises4      ,i got your
 cards during the week1 which brought   
the news of your     journey4 ,also on  
,tuesday morning came your last letter1 
expressing     your appreciation for all
 we had tried to do for you and         
enclosing     two more thrift stamps for
 the children4 ,i put these in their    
books4      ,yesterday ,i had a nice    
long letter from your father1 enclosing 
one     for me to give to you4 ,i am    
sending it on just as it is4 ,i was very
     much tempted to read it but have   

not done so4 ,the reason ,i was         
tempted was that ,i know it must be full
 of happiness to think you     have made
 such a good start4 ,at least that was  
the tone of the     letter he wrote to  
me4      ,during the past years ,i have 
worked for this society ,i have seen    
many people come back strong1 and always
 it has been because they     had some  
big motive in life and reason for making
 good4 ,but ,i have     seldom known a  
fellow that had so many reasons why he  
should make     good4 ,you have the     
confidence of your father and your aunt4
 ,you have     the children for whom you
 will do right4 ,you have ,clara1 whom  
you     have wronged and whom you will  
have to teach all over again to trust   
you4 ,surely all these things added to  
your own firm will to try and     undo  
all the unhappiness you have given      
people1 ought to help you     every day 
as you prove the good stuff that is in  
you4      ,i1 of course1 telephoned     
,clara of your starting off and         

yesterday     she came to the office and
 we had a long talk4 ,she is only sorry 
that you did not see the baby and says  
she will be only too glad to     have   
special pictures taken of the children  
to send you4 ,this was     after ,i     
suggested that she let me take a        
snapshot of them to send     you4       
,be sure and write to your father and   
aunt often4 ,and please remember     my 
last instructions1 which were to let me 
know fully about     yourself4 ,when you
 write1 tell me all about the camp life2
 how they     arrange the living2 how   
long hours you have to work2 what they  
give     you for recreation1 etc4 ,pick 
out for your friends men who can help   
you1 not hinder you1 in your good       
determinations1 and hope there     will 
be at least one man there in whom you   
can trust and to whom you     can go for
 advice4      ,i will let you know about
 the children all the time4 ,clara says 
,nellie the small daughter was expecting
 to see you again4 ,don't     worry1 she

 will never forget you4      ,with all  
good wishes1     ,sincerely yours1      
,,district ,,secretary4       ,my dear  
,mr4 ,andrews3      ,i received your    
long letter this morning and was very   
glad to hear     all the details of camp
 life4 ,it is too bad that your         
surroundings     are not more           
comfortable1 but ,i am sure you can     
stick it out for     awhile4 ,if you can
 raise yourself to be foreman1 will you 
then have     to live in the same       
uncomfortable quarters8 ,although ,i    
don't know     the details1 ,i should   
think it would be well if you did sign  
up for     the six months4 ,it is too   
bad that your throat is still hoarse4   
,thank you for letting me see your      
father's letter4 ,i am enclosing     it4
 ,i hope you are keeping in touch with  
him4      ,you asked especially about   
,clara and whether she asked for you4   
,of     course she did1 and she wants me
 to say if there is anything you        
want to say to her you can send the     

letter here and she will write     you4 
,she thinks that your ambition and      
determination to make good is     fine1 
and she will try and help you in every  
way4 ,she has not been     in this week 
and ,i have been very busy1 but ,i shall
 make it my     business to see her     
early next week1 and if she has not had 
the     pictures of the children taken1 
,i will get that attended to myself4    
,so far as ,i can see there is          
absolutely nothing for you to worry     
about from this end of the line4 ,clara 
is at last1 ,i think1 as fully          
self-convinced as ,i am that you are    
making a splendid effort1 and     she is
 perfectly willing to be fair in waiting
 until you have a     chance to get     
turned around financially and in making 
first payment     for the children4     
,next week ,i am going to send you down 
a book to read4 ,it is one ,i     have  
enjoyed myself1 and perhaps some        
evenings when you are not too     tired 
you will get a chance to glance over it4

 ,it is small and you     can put it in 
your pocket4 ,be very sure ,i have not  
forgotten the     very satisfactory     
talks we had and the splendid way you   
have grimly     started out to make     
good4 ,if you can help the ,government  
do their     work1 even down there1 give
 it a good try out4 ,never mind the     
different nationalities you have to mix 
with4 ,you have already     knocked     
around the world so much that you can   
just consider this     another          
opportunity of getting to know a great  
variety of people4     ,you might even  
learn to talk ,italian and ,greek6      
,there is no     experience in life we  
have to go through but can be a source  
of     great education to us4 ,you are  
sure to win out and get the respect     
of everybody1 your fellow-workmen as    
well as your superior officers1     if  
you continuously day in and day out     
simply refuse to get     discouraged and
 keep up your work and do as you are    
told4 ,stick by4      ,with all good    

wishes1     ,sincerely yours1           
,,district ,,secretary4   ,but when all 
is said and done1 there are no          
unbreakable rules about treatment4 ,a   
form of treatment is sometimes to do    
nothing at all4      ,charles ,morgan1 a
 middle-aged machinist with a wife1 a   
comfortable     home1 and seven children
 7the two eldest grown71 picked up his  
tools     and disappeared1 after a      
quarrel over his wife's extravagance4   
,he     had been earning #ej a week in a
 shop where he had worked for           
eighteen years and he would not endure  
having his wages garnisheed     for     
debt4      ,an experienced case worker  
to whom furious ,mrs4 ,morgan made her  
complaint1 decided1 after studying ,mr4 
,morgan's record1 that he     ought not 
to be prosecuted1 and refused to be     
party to it4 ,as he was     a man of    
domestic habits1 search was made in a   
nearby city where he     had relatives4 
,he was easily traced4 ,mr4 ,morgan was 
both proud and     reticent1 so the case

 worker made no attempt to approach him1
 but     told the woman she must devise 
some way to get him back1 preferably    
to write him and say she was sorry4     
,this she refused to do and on     her  
own responsibility adopted the clumsy   
device of wiring him that     a favorite
 child was sick4 ,this brought him on   
the run1 and1 being     back1 he stayed4
 ,the case worker has never seen ,mr4   
,m41 nor has     his wife been          
encouraged to come any more to the      
office1 although     reports have been  
received from time to time through the  
son and     daughter that things at home
 continue to go well4  ,,footnotes3  #cc
 ,see p4 #agi regarding equity powers of
 the courts4  #cd ,massachusetts social 
workers succeeded in #aiag in securing  
the passage of a law which permits the  
ordinary non-support law to be invoked  
in case of the man's failure to pay the 
amount ordered after a legal separation4
  #ce ,see p4 #ac sq4  #cf ,colcord1    
,j4,c43 ,article on ,desertion and      

,non-support4 ,annals of the ,american  
,academy of ,political and ,social      
,science1 ,may1 #aiah1 p4 #ie4  #cg     
,philadelphia ,municipal ,court1 ,report
 for #aiaf1 p4 #fd4  #ch ,see p4 #acc4  
#ci ,miss ,richmond1 writing in #ahie1  
says3 ,we would rather have a hundred   
visitors1 patient1 intelligent and      
resourceful1 to deal with the married   
vagabonds of our city1 than the best law
 ever framed1 if1 in order to get such a
 law1 we must lose the visitors4        
,,viii  ,,the ,,home-,,staying          
,,non-,,supporter   ,many of the case   
workers consulted in gathering material 
for this book urged that a discussion of
 the treatment of the non-supporter who 
had not deserted be included in its     
pages4 ,in so far as non-support is a   
pre-desertion symptom and the           
non-supporter a potential deserter1 much
 that has been said applies also to him4
 ,but are the two groups co-terminous1  
or do they only partially overlap8  ,the
 law makes little difference in its     

treatment of the two1 the fact of       
failure to support being the chief      
ground of its interest4#dj ,indeed1 in  
,massachusetts1 the law under which     
deserters are extradited for abandonment
 is habitually spoken of as the         
non-support law4  ,no study of which the
 results are available has been made to 
learn what difference1 if any1 exists   
between the non-supporter who leaves    
home and the one who does not4 ,miss    
,breed1 in making the point that the    
true analogy of the deserted family is  
with the non-supported family and not   
with the widow and her children1 says3  
,the deserting husband is at home the   
non-supporting husband4#da      ,a case 
reader of experience writes3 ,when ,i   
look back over the many     records ,i  
have read and studied1 it seems to me   
that it is very     difficult to draw a 
line between desertion and non-support  
cases1     either in the kind of problem
 they present1 or in the treatment of   
them4 ,do we know enough about          

non-supporters who later become         
deserters2 and isn't it possible that   
every non-support case1     certainly   
every beginning non-support case1 is a  
potential desertion     case8  ,there is
 no doubt that the two groups grade     
imperceptibly into each other2 but of   
the twenty or more case workers who were
 consulted in the preparation of this   
material1 nearly all felt that the      
out-and-out deserter1 if he can be got  
hold of1 is more promising material to  
work with than the man who sits about   
the home and lets others maintain it4   
,they all recognize a common middle     
ground where the two groups merge into  
each other2 but they see decided        
differences in the two wings so to      
speak1 outside of this common ground4   
,seen through their eyes1 the           
non-supporter has less courage1         
initiative and aggressiveness than the  
deserter4 ,he is less deliberately      
cruel--for at least he 'sticks around4' 
,he has not the roving disposition1 but 

is apt to be intemperate and            
industrially inefficient as compared    
with the deserter4 ,often the married   
vagabond1 as he has been called1 is a   
home-loving man who simply shirks       
responsibility and dislikes effort4 ,he 
may sometimes feel parental             
responsibility even though he does not  
support1 and he is likely to have less  
physical and mental stamina than the    
deserter4 ,that phrase in which the     
psychiatrists take refuge1              
constitutional inferiority1 is more     
likely to describe the stay-at-home than
 the wanderer4 ,however1 one social     
worker 7non-medical7 says a mental twist
 more often enters into the problem of  
the deserter than into that of the      
non-supporter1 from my experience4  ,the
 head of a large probation department   
writes3 ,many of the deserters with whom
 we have dealt were non-supporters      
before coming to our attention4 ,among  
the men convicted of abandonment1       
however1 is a group which is above the  

average in intelligence--skilled workers
 or men in professional occupations4    
,if this concurrence of observation is  
sound the reason for the social worker's
 preference for the deserter as material
 with which to work is not far to seek4 
,with the deserter as described1 the    
problem is chiefly to alter his point of
 view2 with the non-supporter it is1 in 
addition1 to stiffen his will and to    
increase his capacity--a far more       
complicated task4  ,the deserter is     
likely to have less justification than  
the non-supporter1 says an observer of  
long experience4 ,studies which have    
been made of the relative capacity of   
the wives of deserters and of           
non-supporters seem to agree that the   
latter have the weaker characters and   
are less competent and successful       
workers4 ,a comment made upon one such  
study points out the impossibility of   
sound conclusions1 if both chronic and  
incipient cases are included in the two 
groups4 ,the progressive demoralization 

in the family of the intermittent       
husband makes such a study of little    
value unless this distinction is taken  
into account4  ,the influence of        
ill-kept homes in the manufacture of    
non-supporting husbands has been widely 
recognized4      ,a drunkard's daughter1
 who had never known a decent home1     
married a     young man who soon began  
to drink too4 ,luckily1 the young couple
     were brought in touch with a       
volunteer visitor who1 on finding that  
the wife possessed only two kitchen     
utensils1 a teakettle and a     frypan1 
and actually did not know the names of  
any others1     undertook to give her   
lessons in home management4 ,she proved 
teachable1 and her husband stopped      
drinking and braced up4 ,some     years 
later the visitor was able to report a  
well established home1     although the 
family refused to move out of the poor  
neighborhood in     which they lived    
because the husband had been elected    
councilman for     that district4  ,if  

the inefficient wife contributes her    
share to this form of family breakdown  
so also does the overefficient one4     
,many a non-supporter got his first     
impulse in that direction when his wife 
became a wage-earner in some domestic   
crisis4 ,there's only one rule for women
 who want to have decent homes for their
 children and themselves1 advised a wise
 neighbor4 ,if your husband comes home  
crying1 and says he can't find any work1
 sit down on the other side of the fire 
and cry until he does4#db  ,one case    
worker comments on the relation that    
often exists between an inefficient     
husband and an unusually competent wife1
 made up of a motherly toleration on her
 side and a tacit acceptance on his that
 he is not expected to be the provider4 
,sort of a landlady's husband was the   
apt description of one such man1 the    
speaker having in mind the silent       
partner who does odd jobs around his    
wife's furnished-room house4 ,the       
lovable old rascal portrayed by ,frank  

,bacon in his play ,lightnin' is typical
 of this kind of husband4  ,there is no 
ground for outside interference in such 
an arrangement as long as both are      
satisfied and the family as a unit is   
self-supporting4 ,it is often a serious 
problem to the case worker1 however1 to 
know how to treat such a family if the  
breadwinner-wife becomes incapacitated4 
,such was the case when ,mrs4 ,laflin   
fell ill with tuberculosis4 ,her        
relatives described her husband as that 
little nonentity of a man4 ,he had no   
bad habits and was pathetically eager to
 work1 but though only a little over    
fifty he was prematurely aged and       
incapable4 ,the solution had finally to 
be institutional care for the entire    
family1 ,mrs4 ,laflin in a hospital for 
incurables1 ,mr4 ,laflin in a home for  
the aged1 and their two young daughters1
 through the interest of a former       
employer1 in a good convent school4     
,uncomplicated non-support1 as in the   
case of ,mr4 ,laflin1 is1 however1 rare 

in the experience of the social worker4 
,out of a group of #ea non-supporters   
selected at random from the records of  
the ,buffalo ,charity ,organization     
,society in #aiag1 #df showed some      
serious moral fault other than          
non-support4 ,alcoholism is probably the
 commonest of these complications2 and1 
as has been pointed out in the previous 
chapter1 is probably a primary cause as 
well4 ,it will be a matter of great     
interest to social workers whether the  
non-support rate is reduced after ,july 
#a1 #aiai4 ,grounds for hope that it may
 be are found in the fact that some     
remarkable results have been obtained by
 moving alcoholic non-supporters and    
their families from wet into dry        
territory4  ,another vice that has a    
direct relation to non-support 7much    
more direct than to desertion7 is       
gambling4 ,the gambler carries no signs 
of his vice upon his person as does the 
inebriate1 and it is therefore hard to  
detect4 ,it undoubtedly does not appear 

in social case records as frequently as 
it should4 ,case workers should have it 
in mind as a possible explanation1      
whenever there is a marked discrepancy  
between what a non-supporter earns and  
what he contributes to the home4  ,with 
the non-supporters rather than with the 
deserters should be put the group of men
 whose wives tire of supporting them and
 either put them out or leave them4     
,these men are often not only morally1  
but mentally and physically1 so         
handicapped that there is nothing to be 
gained by constantly pursuing and       
arresting them1 although some wives     
extract the sweets of revenge from doing
 just this4 ,few courts of domestic     
relations are without some wives as     
regular patrons who pursue their        
husbands not for gain but for sport4    
,for the most part1 however1 the wives  
of such men are philosophical4 ,i only  
wash for meself now1 said one of them4  
,these men1 and the unreclaimed         
deserters1 doubtless make up a large    

part of the floating population of      
homeless men in our large cities4 ,how  
large a part it is impossible to say1   
for they are likely to give assumed     
names and deny the possession of        
families4 ,mrs4 ,solenberger#dc has     
noted1 however1 that if they are asked1 
not ,are you married8 but a less direct 
question such as ,where is your wife    
now8 a story of unfortunate married life
 will often be elicited4 ,until we have 
some better method of inter-city        
registration of homeless men1 many of   
these who otherwise might be identified 
and in suitable cases brought back1 will
 continue to slip through our fingers4  
,with non-support in an incipient       
stage1#dd it is sometimes possible to   
deal so suddenly and effectively that   
the man is shocked into a better        
realization of his responsibilities4    
,a young ,irish rigger1 with a capable  
wife and two pretty babies1     lost his
 job after a quarrel with his boss      
rigger4 ,he was a genial1     popular   

chap1 always the life of the party in   
his circle2 and his     companions      
encouraged him to feel that he was a    
much injured man4     ,they also helped 
him to fill his enforced leisure with   
too much     beer4 ,when the family     
received a dispossess notice the wife's 
patience was at an end1 and acting on   
the advice of a society     engaged in  
family case work1 she put the furniture 
in storage and     went to a shelter    
where she could leave her children in   
the daytime1     while she was at work1 
and have them with her at night4 ,the   
man was     told to shift for himself   
until he could get together sufficient  
money to re-establish the home4 ,the    
arrangement continued for nearly     two
 months1 during which the man lived in  
lodging houses1 had an     attack of    
stomach trouble1 and was altogether     
thoroughly miserable4     ,every night  
he waited for a word with his wife on a 
corner that she     had to pass in      
coming from work4 ,finally1 when it     

seemed to the     social worker and to  
the wife that his lesson had gone far   
enough1     the home was re-established1
 with only a small amount of help from  
the society4 ,during the five years     
since that time1 no recurrence of       
the trouble has come to the attention of
 the agency interested4  ,this          
experiment was realized to be a ticklish
 one1 as a man less sincerely attached  
to his home might have been turned into 
a vagabond by such treatment4  ,in      
general1 it may be said that1 as there  
is less to work on constructively with  
the non-supporter1 court action has more
 often to be invoked4 ,if the           
non-supporter is a chronic1 his path    
must not be allowed to be too easy4     
,sometimes you just have to keep        
pestering him was the way one social    
worker put it4 ,a ,red ,cross ,home     
,service worker successfully shocked one
 elderly non-supporter into going to    
work1 as described in one of the ,red   
,cross publications3      ,well1 ,mr4   

,gage1 ,i said1 ,i see you're not       
working yet4      ,no1 ,mrs4 ,cox1 the  
coal company promised to send for me4   
,well1 ,i said1 ,i think you've been    
pretty fair with that company4          
,you've waited on it for three months   
now4 ,if ,i had the offer of     another
 job ,i'd feel perfectly free to take   
it1 if ,i were you4      ,yes1 he said1 
,i think ,i should4      ,all right1 ,i 
have a job for you1 said ,i4 ,my husband
 wants a man     now at his garage1 to  
clean automobiles4 ,the hours are from  
#f p4m4     to #f a4m41 and you'll earn 
#ae a week4      ,his paper fell from   
his hands to the floor2 his jaw dropped1
 and he     just looked at me4 ,then he 
tried to crawl out of it and began to   
make excuses4      ,i haven't time to   
argue with you1 ,mr4 ,gage1 ,i said4    
,i'll keep the     job open till seven  
o'clock tonight and you can let me know 
then     whether you'll take it or not4 
,at seven he came to say he'd take the  
job4#de  ,if in desertion cases the     

interest centers very vividly about the 
absent man1 in non-support cases the    
reverse is likely to be true1 because he
 is often not very interesting per se1  
and because1 moreover1 he is always on  
the spot and does not have to be        
searched for4 ,familiarity certainly    
breeds contempt for the non-supporter4  
,consequently the social worker may     
easily fall into the danger of          
disregarding the human factors he       
presents1 and either treating the family
 as if he did not exist or expending no 
further effort on him than to see that  
he puts in six months of every year in  
jail if possible 7since the law usually 
secures to him the privilege of loafing 
the other six74 ,it is not safe1        
however1 to regard even the most        
leisurely of non-supporters as beyond   
the possibility of awakening4 ,one      
district secretary who had thus given a 
man up had the experience of seeing him 
transformed into a steady worker after a
 few months of intensive effort by a    

first-year student in a school of social
 science1 whose only equipment for the  
job was personality and enthusiasm4 ,so 
remarkable are some of the reclamations 
that have been brought about with       
seemingly hopeless non-supporters that  
all possible measures should be tried   
before giving one of them up4      ,his 
,scotch ancestry1 a good wife1 luck1 and
 a friend with insight     and skill1   
pulled ,aleck ,gray out of that         
bottomless pit1 the     gutter4 ,aleck  
had been a bookkeeper2 but he didn't get
 on well with     his employers1 lost   
his job1 got to drinking1 and went so   
far     downhill that his wife had to   
take their two children and go home to  
her people several hundred miles away4  
,aleck finally drifted into a     bureau
 for homeless men1 where the agent      
became interested in him     and worked 
with him for six months1 getting him job
 after job1 which     he always lost    
through drink or temper4 ,he seemed     
incapable of     taking directions or   

working with other people4 ,in all that 
time the     agent felt that he was     
getting no nearer the root of ,aleck's  
trouble1 though he came back after each 
dismissal and doggedly took     whatever
 was offered4 ,finally1 the agent's     
patience wore thin1 and     when ,aleck 
had been more than usually dour and     
aggravating it went     entirely to     
pieces4 ,aleck listened to his outburst 
apparently     unmoved2 then said1 ,very
 well1 if you want to know what would   
make     me stop drinking1 ,i'll tell   
you4 ,if ,i could see any ray of hope   
that     ,i was on the way to getting my
 home and family back1 ,i'd stop and    
stop quick4 ,on the agent's desk there  
happened to be a letter from     a      
friend who wanted a tenant farmer4 ,he  
thrust it into ,aleck's hand     saying1
 ,there's your chance if you mean what  
you say4 ,the man's     reply was to ask
 when he could get a train4 ,at the end 
of several     weeks ,aleck wrote that  
he had not drunk a drop and was making  

good1     which was enthusiastically    
confirmed by his employer4 ,he begged   
the     agent to intercede with his     
wife1 and a letter went to her which    
brought the telegraphic reply1 ,starting
 tomorrow4      ,how they got through   
the first winter the agent never knew   
exactly4     ,but they pulled through   
and the next year was easy1 as          
country-born     ,aleck's skill came    
back4 ,six years later1 during which    
time the     agent heard from them once 
or twice a year1 ,aleck was still       
keeping     straight1 the children were 
doing well in school1 and the family1   
prosperous and happy1 had bought a farm 
of their own in another     state4      
,,footnotes3  #dj ,the deserter who does
 not fail to support is usually safe    
from punishment no matter how aggravated
 his offense4 ,a man living with his    
wife and five-year-old boy in an eastern
 city eloped with another woman to a    
city in the ,middle ,west4 ,the couple  
kidnapped the boy and took him with     

them2 and the distracted woman1 bereft  
of both her husband and child1 had no   
recourse in any court1 since the father 
was continuing to provide for his son4  
#da ,proceedings of the ,new ,york      
,state ,conference of ,charities and    
,correction1 #aiaj1 p4 #gf4  #db ,loane1
 ,m43 ,the ,queen's ,poor1 p4 #ajb4     
,london1 ,edward ,arnold1 #aije4  #dc   
,solenberger1 ,alice ,willard3 ,one     
,thousand ,homeless ,men1 p4 #bb4 ,new  
,york1 ,russell ,sage ,foundation1      
#aiaa4  #dd ,for a consideration of     
possible lines of treatment for the     
non-supporter and his family1 the reader
 is referred to ,chapter ,,vii1 where is
 discussed the treatment of the deserter
 who is willing to return4  #de ,behind 
the ,service ,flag1 pamphlet ,,arc #baa1
 ,american ,red ,cross1 ,department of  
,civilian ,relief4     ,,ix  ,,next     
,,steps ,,in ,,corrective ,,treatment   
,any discussion of laws1 their          
application1 and enforcement1 must      
perforce be very general1 since the     

different states vary greatly in laws   
governing desertion and in equipment for
 their enforcement4 ,suggestions for a  
uniform federal desertion law are not   
considered here2 the term next steps    
should be read as meaning not plans in  
actual prospect but rather the increase 
in legal facilities desirable from the  
social worker's point of view4 ,in      
communities where no such facilities    
exist1 social workers are in a good     
position to collect illustrative        
material and push for desirable changes 
in law and law enforcement4 ,especially 
advantageous is the position of the     
legal social agencies such as legal aid 
societies and special bureaus and       
committees for increasing the efficiency
 of the courts1 many of which are       
affiliated with or maintained by the    
large family work societies4   #a4      
,measures for the ,discovery1           
,extradition or ,deportation of the     
,deserter4--,the nation-wide            
registration of males between certain   

ages1 under the ,selective ,service     
,act1 was widely utilized by social     
workers in finding deserting men1 with  
the hearty co-operation usually of the  
draft boards4 ,this fact forms no       
argument for universal registration as  
it was carried on in ,germany before the
 war2 no system which meant such        
cumbersome machinery or so much         
interference with the freedom of the    
individual ought to be advocated for a  
moment if it were solely for the purpose
 of keeping track of the small          
percentage of citizens who wish to evade
 their responsibilities1 marital and    
other4 ,even such a non-military device 
as that which obligates every person to 
register successive changes of address  
with the postal authorities to          
facilitate delivery of mail would be    
contrary to the ,american spirit and    
easily evaded by people interested in   
concealing their whereabouts1 unless    
enforced with all the rigor of the      
,european police system4 ,but though we 

can advocate no system of manhood       
registration1 we can avail ourselves of 
the incidental benefits of any that may 
be in force4  ,the ,federal ,employment 
,service offers a promising means of    
help in discovering the movements of    
deserters whose trade and probable      
destination are known4 ,it should be    
entirely possible to work out a system  
by which the managers of the local      
employment bureaus should be furnished  
with name1 description1 copy of         
photograph1 and so on1 of a deserter who
 is being sought1 so that the man if    
recognized could be traced or quickly   
apprehended if a warrant is already in  
the hands of the local police           
authorities4 ,it may even be possible1  
under the federal employment service1 to
 develop the long wished for national   
registration of casual and migratory    
labor4 ,need for some such system has   
been felt by all agencies trying to deal
 constructively with vagrants and       
homeless men4 ,little track can be kept 

not only of the individual wanderer but 
of the ebb and flow of the tides of     
casual labor without some system of this
 sort4 ,if employment bureaus were      
required to forward to a central        
registry the names and some identifying 
particulars of every non-resident who   
applied for employment1 the problem of  
finding the deserter would be rendered  
ten times easier than it is now4  ,one  
present obstacle to this and other      
improvements is the attitude of         
authorities--city1 state1 and           
federal--toward wife desertion4 ,we have
 already mentioned the way in which the 
task of tracing the deserter has been   
thrust back upon the wife and the social
 worker1 as if he were not an offender  
against the community as well as against
 his wife and children4 ,almost as      
widespread is the reluctance of the     
proper authorities to arrest the        
deserter and bring him back after he has
 been found4 ,a general atmosphere of   
indifference and despair of             

accomplishing anything worth while      
surrounds any attempt to push the       
prosecution of a man who has taken      
refuge outside the community4 ,hope for 
the future lies in socializing the point
 of view of court officials1 police1 and
 district attorneys--a process in which 
the social worker must play a large     
part4 ,no chance should be lost to drive
 home the social and economic waste     
involved1 by using the illustrative     
material which abounds in the files of  
most case work agencies4  ,the          
pernicious system by which the wife is  
required to serve summons and warrant   
upon the offending husband who is still 
in the same city1 should be done away   
with entirely4 ,the social agency1      
public or private1 which has had to     
support or assist the man's family ought
 to be able to prefer a charge for      
non-support1 and to take out a summons  
or a warrant and serve it without the   
wife's being present4 ,the agency should
 in this case protect itself by securing

 from the wife a signed affidavit and   
authorization to act in her behalf4 ,it 
may seem unimportant whether the wife   
makes such complaint in the court or to 
a private society4 ,the psychological   
effect upon the man is1 however1 very   
different4 ,if his wife initiates the   
complaint in court1 his resentment is   
directed toward her--a fact which       
renders reconciliation more difficult if
 this is later attempted4 ,in other     
cases1 for the wife to make the         
complaint puts her in actual physical   
danger from the vindictive husband4 ,if 
he is brought into court on the         
complaint of a social agency1 part of   
that resentment at least is transferred 
to the intrusive social worker1 who is  
not usually seriously troubled thereby  
and is far better able to bear the      
weight of the husband's displeasure than
 is his poor wife4  ,the absence of any 
treaty with ,great ,britain by which    
family deserters can be extradited to or
 from ,canada makes the ,dominion a     

place of refuge for many ,american      
evaders of family responsibilities4 ,the
 ,national ,conference of ,charities and
 ,correction1#df at its meeting in      
,cleveland in #aiab1 passed a resolution
 on the need for such a treaty4 ,as a   
result1 largely through the efforts of  
,mr4 ,william ,h4 ,baldwin1 the treaty  
was signed and sent to the ,senate for  
ratification in ,december1 #aiaf4 ,it   
was referred to the ,committee on       
,foreign ,relations1 where it met with  
objection and has remained without      
action up to the present4 ,the ,national
 ,conference of ,jewish ,charities1 at  
its meeting in ,kansas ,city in ,may1   
#aiah1 sent urgent representations to   
the ,senate ,committee1 which it is     
hoped may result in ratification after  
the pressure of war-time legislation is 
relaxed4  ,we should not stop when      
reciprocal extradition with ,canada has 
been secured2 there is a similar        
situation on our southern border in     
states from which escape into ,mexico is

 easy4 ,while ,american deserters are   
not likely to go to other more remote   
countries than these two1 immigration   
into ,america from other countries      
creates desertion problems in other     
places and presents us with a class of  
undesirables with whom it is difficult  
to deal under existing immigration laws4
 ,in #aiab a report was submitted to the
 ,glasgow ,parish ,council showing the  
alarming amount of dependency created in
 that one city by the emigration to     
,america and the ,colonies of men       
without their families1 and who         
subsequently drifted into the status of 
deserters4 ,this report makes the       
interesting suggestion that no married  
man be permitted to emigrate without his
 family unless he presents a written    
sanction of the ,parish ,council or     
other local authority1 and further1 that
 he be bound1 under penalty of          
deportation1 to report himself to some  
authority in the country of his         
destination1 which would satisfy itself 

as to his conduct and insure that he did
 his duty by wife and family4#dg ,such a
 provision would of course involve the  
revision of our own immigration laws1   
making wife and family desertion a crime
 thereunder4  ,at present the law       
provides deportation only within five   
years after entry1 and for persons who  
have been convicted of or admit having  
committed a felony or other crime or    
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude1  
or who are sentenced to a term of one   
year or more in this country1 within    
five years of entry1 for such crime 7or 
who may suffer a second conviction at   
any time after entry74 ,this would      
clearly cover bigamy committed within   
five years after entry2 whether it could
 be stretched to cover lesser forms of  
marital irresponsibility remains to be  
determined4 7,it should be remembered   
that a man who brings in as his wife1 or
 later sends for1 a woman to whom he is 
not married1 can be deported under quite
 other sections of the immigration law47

  #b4 ,improvements in ,court           
,procedure4--,a sore point with the     
social worker is the often ridiculously 
inadequate amounts that unwilling       
husbands are put under court order to   
pay4 ,they accuse the courts1 whether   
rightly or wrongly1 of considering first
 what part of the man's alleged earnings
 will be needed for him to live upon    
comfortably1 and then of making the     
order for whatever may be left over4    
,onofrio ,mancini was under court order 
to stay away from home and pay     his  
wife #f4jj a week for the support of    
their two children1 ,he     drove a     
two-horse truck1 and1 at that time1 must
 have been earning     not less than    
#af4jj a week4 ,mrs4 ,mancini fell ill1 
whereupon     ,onofrio promptly ceased  
all payments4 ,the social agency        
interested     was permitted to make a  
complaint on producing a doctors        
certificate     that ,mrs4 ,mancini     
could not appear in court2 but ,onofrio1
 when he     appeared1 put up such a    

hard luck tale of earning only #h4jj a  
week     that the judge1 without        
investigation1 cut the order down to    
#d4jj a     week and ordered ,onofrio to
 return home to live4  ,a bulletin      
issued by the ,seybert ,institution of  
,philadelphia gives a very interesting  
set of diagrams showing the relation 7or
 lack of relation7 between the amount of
 man's income1 size of family1 and the  
court order issued in the ,philadelphia 
,municipal ,court4#dh  ,this report     
gives a series of illustrations1 where  
glaring inconsistencies between the     
man's earnings and the court order were 
observed by visitors to the court4 ,a   
sample of the reports made by these     
visitors is as follows3      ,man       
earning #cj to #dj a week at ammunition 
factory4 ,can earn #bj     with no      
overtime4 ,has been sending woman #aj a 
week but has     threatened to leave    
town4 ,judge said3 ',you can't keep up  
#aj a     week--how much can you give8' 
,finally ordered #h a week4 ,woman said 

she couldn't live on that and ,judge    
told her she had to go to work          
herself then2 that they should live     
together anyway4 ,woman says she     is 
unable to work--is ill4 ,when man stated
 he was giving #aj great                
consternation seemed to take hold of the
 entire court force4 ,he did     not say
 he couldn't pay #aj2 the judge simply  
told him he couldn't     keep that up4  
,the practice of assigning less than    
half the man's weekly earnings to the   
wife and children has been defended on  
the ground that if he is forced to live 
too economically1 he will disappear and 
the family will be left with nothing4   
,this would seem to be a self-confession
 on the part of the court that it cannot
 enforce its reasonable requirements4   
,it would appear that the first thing to
 be considered is the minimum needs of  
the wife and children1 taking into      
consideration whether the wife can be   
expected to contribute anything toward  
her own support or whether all her time 

is needed for her children4 ,this amount
 should be cut down only when there is  
actually not enough left for the man to 
live on2 and his wife and children      
should not be pinched for necessities in
 order that he may have luxuries or     
indulge in vices4 ,the habit some judges
 have of accepting the man's own        
statement on oath as to what his        
earnings are is responsible for many    
unjust orders4 ,a man who does not want 
to contribute to his family's support is
 almost sure to understate his earnings1
 oath or no oath2 and the confirmation  
of his employer 7or when the employer is
 suspected of being in league with him1 
the inspection of the employer's books  
by the probation officer7 is often      
needed4 ,probably the most difficult    
form of evasion to combat is that of the
 man who deliberately takes a lower     
salary than he is capable of earning1 so
 as to have less to give his wife4      
,surprising as it may seem1 this is a   
common practice2 but skilful probation  

work can nevertheless find a remedy4    
,in cases of suspended sentence1        
payments ought always to be made through
 the court and not handed by the man to 
his wife4 ,it is better to have the     
amount received and transmitted by some 
bureau attached to the court1 and so    
managed that the man can send the money 
in without knocking off work to bring it
 and that the woman can receive it by   
mail4 ,the probation officer should not 
be bothered with the actual handling of 
the money1 but he should be promptly    
notified of any delinquency in the      
payments4  ,whether the man under court 
order is on probation or not1 the       
cessation of payments should            
automatically reopen the case4 ,at      
present1 in most courts1 the order goes 
by default until the wife comes in to   
make another charge4 ,this1 through     
discouragement or fear of a beating from
 the man1 she often neglects2 with the  
result that the orders of the court mean
 little in the eyes of the men1 and that

 arrears1 once allowed to mount up1 are 
never cleared off4  ,this statement     
applies as well to long term orders for 
separate support where the circumstances
 are such that no reconciliation is     
contemplated4 ,these orders are now made
 for a definite period of months1 at the
 end of which time the case drops unless
 the wife renews charges4 ,a case of    
this sort ought not to be terminable    
without a reinvestigation and final     
hearing in court4 ,indeed it would seem1
 in such cases1 that the children       
involved should have at least as much   
protection as the children in bastardy  
proceedings1 and that the order should  
be made to cover the term of years until
 the oldest child becomes of working    
age4  ,the most important step in       
advance with regard to payments is      
undoubtedly the law which has been tried
 with signal success in the ,district of
 ,columbia and in the states of ,ohio   
and ,massachusetts1 requiring men       
serving prison sentences for non-support

 and abandonment to be made to work1 and
 a sum of money1 representing their     
earnings1 to be turned over to their    
families4  ,in an interesting paper in  
the ,survey for ,november #bj1 #aiji1   
entitled ,making the ,deserter ,pay the 
,piper1 ,mr4 ,william ,h4 ,baldwin      
discusses in detail how this plan was   
made to work successfully in the        
,district of ,columbia4  ,the movement  
for special courts to consider cases of 
juvenile delinquency and marital        
relations has gained such headway that  
no word needs to be said here in its    
favor4 ,in communities where the volume 
of court business permits such courts to
 be separately organized1 they are      
generally accepted as the only means of 
handling these matters4 ,in smaller     
communities the need may be met by      
setting aside regular sessions of the   
magistrates' courts for this purpose4   
,juvenile courts and domestic relations 
courts having proved a success          
separately1 there is a strong movement  

on foot to combine them into one court1 
for which the name ,family ,court has   
been proposed4  ,a leader in this       
movement is ,judge ,hoffman of the      
,family ,court of ,cincinnati1 which he 
describes thus3      ,the ,court of     
,cincinnati was organized for the       
purpose of dealing     with the family  
as a unit and to ascertain possibly the 
cause of its     disruption4 ,it has    
exclusive jurisdiction in all divorce   
and alimony     cases1 and all matters  
coming under the ,juvenile ,court ,act4 
,it also     has jurisdiction in cases  
of failure to provide4 ,the ideal court 
would include in connection with the    
foregoing functions1 adoption     of    
children1 the issuing of marriage       
licenses1 and bastardy     cases4#di    
,one advantage of this plan is the      
economy it effects in the time of       
probation officers4 ,it is generally    
admitted that in children's court cases 
it is the parents rather than the       
children who are really on probation2   

and with two courts and two separate    
probation systems1 we may even have the 
anomaly of the same family being under  
the care of two probation officers at   
once4 ,specialization can no further go6
 ,other leaders in the domestic         
relations court movement see little     
merit in the proposal for a one-part    
family court4 ,they think that1 in the  
large cities at least1 the need would be
 better served by having the domestic   
relations and juvenile courts under one 
roof1 but as two separate and distinct  
parts of the same court4 ,all are       
agreed1 however1 that the powers of one 
or the other of the two special courts  
should be enlarged to cover bastardy    
cases1 where this is not now done4  ,the
 domestic relations court1 whether      
separate or as part of a family court1  
ought to have equity powers1 so that the
 usual rules of evidence need not be so 
closely adhered to and more latitude    
could be allowed the magistrate in      
disposing of cases1 not necessarily     

according to ruling and precedent but   
according to the social needs disclosed4
 ,a constitutional amendment now pending
 in ,new ,york is a model for this sort 
of legislation4 ,it is in part as       
follows3      ,the legislature may      
establish children's courts and courts  
of     domestic relations as separate   
courts or parts of existing courts1     
or courts hereafter to be created1 and  
may confer upon them such     equity and
 other jurisdiction as may be necessary 
for the     correction1 protection1     
guardianship and disposition of         
delinquent1     neglected or dependent  
minors1 and for the punishment and      
correction     of adults responsible for
 or contributing to such delinquency1   
neglect or dependency1 and to compel the
 support of a wife1 child or     poor   
relative by persons legally chargeable  
therewith who abandon or     neglect to 
support any of them4#ej  ,many courts of
 domestic relations which now exercise  
equity powers1 such as ordering that a  

man remain away from home or that a wife
 allow her husband to see his children  
at stated times1 do so without actual   
legal warrant and subject at any time to
 appeal of counsel4 ,the conferring of  
equity powers on courts of domestic     
relations is a form of protection both  
to the court and to its clients which   
social workers should stand ready to    
work for4  ,juvenile courts have in the 
main outstripped the domestic relations 
courts in the use of physicians and     
psychiatrists4 ,the best examples of    
both these courts have1 however1        
facilities for the making of physical   
examinations and mental tests1 where    
necessary1 before adjudication4 ,judge  
,hoffman says that the fact that so many
 cases in courts of domestic relations  
disclose abnormal or perverted sex      
habits1 makes important the services of 
a psychiatrist accustomed to diagnosing 
these conditions4#ea  ,in most states   
the jurisdiction of the courts of       
domestic relations should be extended   

and co-ordinated4 ,few states escape    
some glaring inconsistencies in the laws
 governing desertion and abandonment4   
,there is1 for instance1 much confusion 
between states as to whether a woman    
whose husband brings her to a strange   
city and there deserts her must         
prosecute him in the city where their   
home is or where the desertion took     
place4 ,under certain circumstances the 
woman is forced to travel to the city   
where her husband has gone1 and bring   
action against him there1 if the courts 
in that place will entertain a suit4 ,in
 ,new ,york state there is no law which 
covers the case of a man who abandons   
his wife while she is pregnant1 if there
 is no other living child4 ,to          
constitute an extraditable crime there  
must have been abandonment of a child in
 esse not merely in posse4  ,but no     
institution1 however carefully          
established by law1 is any more         
effective than the people who run it2   
and the usefulness of the domestic      

relations court in any community depends
 entirely upon the social-mindedness and
 freedom from political entanglement of 
the judge and the amount and quality of 
probation service4 ,from a social point 
of view1 the latter is more important   
than the former2 for a bad decision of  
the court can be mitigated by good case 
work later on1 while a poor probation   
officer may nullify the effects of the  
wisest judicial decision ever made4     
,the importance of having enough        
probation officers to handle the work of
 the court has already been touched     
upon4 ,an overworked officer is perforce
 an inefficient officer4 ,he has usually
 to spend at least half his time in the 
court and attending to the clerical end 
of his job4 ,from #ej to #fj cases is   
probably all that one probation officer 
can be expected to handle thoroughly at 
one time1 if1 as is to be hoped1 he is  
required to make careful preliminary    
investigations to be presented to the   
judge before the trial4  ,in training   

and in equipment for the job1 probation 
officers should be the equals of case   
workers in private agencies4            
,examinations for probation officers    
ought to be conducted by social workers 
of skill and high standards4 ,a few     
months of cramming at a civil service   
school1 or a few weeks of volunteer     
visiting with some case working agency1 
should not suffice to enable candidates 
to pass the examinations4 ,the standards
 should be high enough and the salaries 
sufficiently attractive to draw into    
this field people who have successfully 
completed their apprenticeship in the   
art of case work4 ,only then can the    
status of the probation officer be      
raised to what it should be in the court
 itself4 ,the relation of the probation 
officer to the judge ought to be exactly
 like the relation of the medical social
 worker to the physician--that of a     
person acting under his direction in a  
general way1 but with a special         
contribution to make to the treatment of

 the case and with a recognized standing
 as an expert in his own particular     
field4  ,,footnotes3  #df ,now changed  
to ,the ,national ,conference of ,social
 ,work4  #dg ,motion1 ,j4,r43 ,wife and 
,family ,desertion3 ,emigration as a    
,contributory ,cause4 ,glasgow ,parish  
,council1 #aiab4  #dh ,handling of      
,cases by the ,juvenile ,court and      
,court of ,domestic ,relations of the   
,philadelphia ,municipal ,court4        
,bulletin #b1 ,bureau for ,social       
,research1 the ,seybert ,institution1   
,philadelphia1 #aiah4  #di ,hoffman1    
,charles ,w43 ,the ,domestic ,relations 
,court and ,divorce1 ,the ,delinquent1  
,february1 #aiag4  #ej ,for a fuller    
discussion of equity powers see an      
article by ,judge ,c4,f4 ,collins in the
 ,legal ,aid ,review for ,january1      
#aiai4  #ea ,hoffman1 ,charles ,w43     
,domestic ,relations ,courts and        
,divorce4 ,the ,delinquent1 ,february1  
#aiag4     ,x  ,,next ,,steps ,,in      
,,preventive ,,treatment   ,at this time

 of writing it is too soon after the    
signing of the armistice to make        
predictions as to what the ,great ,war  
may do to marriage4 ,whether desertion  
and divorce will increase or decrease it
 is impossible to say1 and the          
experience of ,europe is beside the     
mark4 ,the war will leave traces on this
 generation--no doubt about that2 but   
our losses have not been heavy enough   
seriously to disturb the balance of the 
sexes4 ,the war1 which has been to the  
common people of our country a war of   
service and ideals1 has erased much that
 was petty and selfish2 it has also     
caused nervous shocks and strains       
incalculable and unimagined4 ,years from
 now we may be able to strike the       
balance1 but today this cannot be done4 
,it is impossible also to say whether   
the growing irresponsibility that was   
generally recognized to be threatening  
married life in the years before the war
 is still operating with like effect1 or
 whether the full tide of emotion in    

which the world has been lately         
submerged may have swept at least a part
 of it away4  ,we are dealing here1     
however1 not so much with modifications 
in the spirit of the times1 as with     
prevention in the individual case4  ,one
 very fundamental claim can be made     
concerning marital shipwrecks2 namely1  
that the way to prevent many of them    
would have been to see that the marriage
 never was allowed to take place4       
,marriage laws and their enforcement    
form a whole subject in themselves which
 is now receiving careful study1 the    
results of which should be available    
shortly4#eb ,this fact precludes any    
discussion of the subject here1 though  
the relation of our marriage laws to    
marital discord is so obvious that some 
mention of the matter is necessary4  ,it
 was formerly the belief of students of 
family desertion that the best way to   
prevent desertions was to punish them   
quickly and severely4 ,it should be said
 that this plan has never received a    

fair trial on a large scale1 for legal  
equipment has always lagged behind      
knowledge4 ,it may be true that just as 
a community can1 within limits1 regulate
 its death rate by what it is willing to
 pay1 so it can by repressive measures  
regulate its desertion rate4 ,but       
measures that keep the would-be deserter
 in the home which constantly grows less
 of a home1 simply through fear of      
consequences if he left it1 seem hardly 
a desirable form of prevention from the 
social point of view4 ,it would be much 
better to catch the disintegrating      
family in whatever form of social       
drag-net could be devised1 and deal with
 it individually and constructively     
along the lines which case work has laid
 down4  ,is it possible1 however1 to    
recognize a pre-desertion state8 ,and if
 so1 what are the danger signals8 ,one  
case worker answers this question       
sententiously3 ,any influences which    
tend to destroy family solidarity are   
possible signs of desertion4 ,another   

writes3 ,we have sometimes found it     
possible to recognize a 'pre-desertion  
state' in the intermittent deserter1    
where we know the conditions which      
previously led to desertion1 but ,i     
doubt whether we have very often been   
able to note it in the case of first    
desertions4 ,in general1 ,i should say a
 growing carelessness or a growing      
despondency as to his ability to care   
for his family are danger signals in the
 man1 of which it is well to keep track4
  ,the conditions listed in ,chapter    
,,ii as contributory factors might in   
certain combinations be decided danger  
signals of impending desertion4         
,non-support itself is1 indeed1 one of  
the most common of such signals1 though 
a man who has dealt with hundreds of    
desertion cases maintained recently that
 the best and most hopeful type of      
deserter is the one who supports his    
family adequately up to the time of     
leaving home4  ,in the following case   
the items that led the case worker to   

suspect an approaching desertion are set
 down in the order stated by her4 ,the  
couple were ,irish2 the man had never   
deserted before4      7#a7 ,he had      
spoken with eagerness of the wages that 
were being earned     in munition plants
 in a city a few hours away--said he    
would like to     go to some of those   
munition places and see what he could   
make4      7#b7 ,he was an intermittent 
drinker4      7#c7 ,his work record was 
poor2 employers said he was irregular   
and     unreliable4      7#d7 ,visitor  
felt he had never earned as much as he  
was easily     capable of earning and   
was rather indifferent to the needs of  
his     family4      7#e7 ,the woman was
 willing to work--had applied for day   
nursery care1     but visitor had       
persuaded the nursery not to accept the 
children4  ,after the visitor had stated
 the first two of the above items she   
stopped1 and did not add the more       
significant three that followed until   
reminded that many workmen who drank    

intermittently were at that time        
thinking enviously of munition factory  
wages2 and that these hardly constituted
 danger signals4 ,the cumulative effect 
of all five items cannot1 however1 be   
denied4  ,another statement1 similarly  
obtained1 concerns a colored couple1    
married about two years and with two    
children1 the youngest less than a month
 old4 ,man had been out of work and     
family had gone to live with relatives4 
7#a7 ,man earns #bj a week but refuses  
to start housekeeping again1            
although they are seriously             
overcrowded--seven adults and five      
children in five rooms4      7#b7 ,woman
 says he makes her sleep on chairs so   
that he can get     better rest4        
7#c7 ,he is seeing a good deal of       
another woman1 a friend of the wife     
7wife's statement only74      7#d7      
,woman had applied for nursery care for 
both children so that she     might go  
to work4      7#e7 ,it transpires that  
she lived with him before marriage1 and 

that     the first child was a month old
 when the marriage took place4 ,he      
holds it over her4      7#f7 ,man had   
been married before and divorced4       
7#g7 ,the family's habits of recreation 
are changed2 the man no longer     takes
 her out4  ,such attempts to foretell   
the future are not infallible1 of       
course2 but a listing process is a      
valuable aid to diagnosis1 and1 by its  
help1 a situation may be uncovered which
 tends toward complete family breakdown4
 ,this may be taken in time and         
prevented2 or1 if separation is         
inevitable it can be prepared for in    
advance1 the necessary legal            
arrangements can be made to protect the 
family1 and the anxiety1 suspense1 and  
useless effort avoided which a sudden   
and downright abandonment would cause4  
,but the trouble is that the problem    
seldom comes to the case worker until   
matters have progressed farther than    
this4 ,the real question is--not how to 
recognize pre-desertion symptoms1 but   

how to get hold of families when these  
symptoms are in the incipient stage4    
,mr4 ,hiram ,myers1 manager of the      
,desertion ,bureau of the ,new ,york    
,association for ,improving the         
,condition of the ,poor1 who has made a 
close study of the subject1 holds the   
theory that the real period of stress in
 marital adjustment comes not during the
 critical first year1 about which we    
have been told so much1 but at a later  
period1 which he sets roughly at from   
the third to the fifth year after       
marriage4 ,by this time there are       
usually one or two babies1 the wife's   
girlish charm has gone1 and the romance 
of the first attraction has vanished1   
while the steady force of conjugal      
affection which should smooth their path
 through the years ahead has not come to
 take its place4 ,it is in this middle  
period that longings for the delights of
 his care-free youth begin to come back 
to a man2 if he ever had the wandering  
foot1 it begins again to twitch for the 

road2 of else his fancy is captured by  
some other girl not tied down at home by
 children4 ,it is at this time1 too1    
that endless discords and               
misunderstandings arise--that the last  
bit of gilt crumbles off the            
gingerbread4  ,as a result of his       
observations1 ,mr4 ,myers feels sure    
that the majority of first desertions   
take place somewhere from the third to  
the fifth year after marriage4 ,miss    
,brandt's#ec careful statistical study  
of #egd deserted families shows that in 
nearly #df per cent of the families the 
first desertion took place before the   
fifth year of married life4 ,of course  
the jars that may come in the earlier   
months of marriage are seldom brought to
 the attention of social agencies1 as it
 is usually the presence of children in 
the family and the consequent burden    
upon the wife which make such agencies  
acquainted with her4  ,it is to be hoped
 that further study will be made upon   
these points4 ,it is well known and     

accepted that the majority of first     
deserters are young men2 but if certain 
danger periods in married life can be   
definitely recognized1 many new         
possibilities in prevention and         
treatment will be opened up4  ,a number 
of experiments and suggestions have     
lately been made which may prove to be  
the means of recognizing marital        
troubles early4 ,the probation          
department of the ,chicago ,court of    
,domestic ,relations some years ago     
established a consultation bureau to    
which people might come or be sent for  
advice on difficult matrimonial         
situations1 and without any court record
 being made4 ,the ,department of ,public
 ,charities of ,new ,york ,city         
maintains a similar bureau which is1    
however1 so closely connected with the  
court that its clients make little      
distinction between them4  ,in addition 
to such conscious efforts to reach out  
after marital tangles in the pre-court  
stage1 there has recently been an       

interesting though accidental           
development in the city of ,cleveland4  
,during the thrift campaign of #aiah1   
several savings banks of that city      
conceived the idea that their depositors
 could be induced and helped to save    
more money if the banks opened a bureau 
for free advice to their patrons on     
household management4 ,this bureau is   
still in the experimental stage but it  
has had an increasing clientele so far4 
,one thing that has astonished its      
management--but which causes no surprise
 in the mind of a social worker--has    
been the great variety of problems other
 than those connected with the family   
budget that have come to light in the   
bureau's consultations4 ,particularly is
 this true of marital discord centering 
about money affairs4  ,if such bureaus  
prove their usefulness there is no      
reason why they might not be greatly    
extended1 and why other agencies than   
banks 7insurance companies1 for example7
 might not be eager thus to serve their 

customers4 ,this opens a new field for  
the home economist1 but incidentally it 
would appear that1 in order to function 
successfully1 such bureaus would need to
 have access to the services of agencies
 employing highly skilled social case   
workers4 ,it is conceivable that1 if    
there are developed in our large cities 
consultation facilities under social    
auspices for people who feel their      
marriages going wrong1 and want help and
 advice in righting them1 such bureaus  
as those described above would be       
excellent feeders for this new form of  
social service4  ,family social agencies
 have been distinctly backward in some  
of their approaches to the fundamental  
problems of family life4 ,the failure of
 most of them1 for instance1 to study or
 seek improvements in the laws governing
 marriage or in their administration1 is
 difficult of explanation4 ,such a      
consultation service as that suggested  
does1 however1 indicate a new point of  
departure in dealing with marital       

relations which would seem to fall      
distinctly within the field of the      
family case work agencies4 ,it is time  
that these agencies began to find means 
of dealing1 not with the dependent      
family alone but with the family in     
danger of becoming dependent--not with  
the family broken and estranged only1   
but with the one whose bonds1 even if   
cracking and ill-adjusted1 still hold4  
,concretely1 why should not family      
agencies establish such consultation    
bureaus as have just been mentioned1    
distinct from their regular activities  
and hampered by no suggestion in their  
title of association with problems of   
dependency8 ,dr4 ,william ,healy of     
,boston ascribes much of his success in 
getting the parents of defective and    
backward children to bring them         
voluntarily for examination to the fact 
that the name of his organization 7the  
,judge ,baker ,foundation7 conveys no   
hint of stigma or inferiority4 ,here is 
a valuable lesson in right publicity4   

,a bureau of family advice such as has  
been suggested should be under          
unimpeachable auspices from the point of
 view of medicine and psychiatry2 it    
should have the services not only of    
expert social workers and experts in    
household management1 but of doctors and
 psychiatrists as well4 ,if it could be 
run as a joint-stock enterprise1 in     
which courts and social agencies might  
be equally interested1 so much the      
better4 ,its investigations should be   
searching enough to discourage          
applications from curiosity-mongers2 but
 its services1 like those of any clinic1
 should be given for whatever the       
patient is able to pay4 ,its relations1 
needless to say1 should be entirely     
confidential1 and as privileged in the  
eyes of the law as are those of doctor1 
lawyer1 and priest4  ,it may be objected
 that people guard their marital        
infelicities too jealously and are too  
loath to discuss them to come willingly 
to such a place2 that the idea involves 

a presumptuous interference in the      
private lives of individuals4 ,but      
neurologists know that people in        
increasing numbers feel the need1 under 
conditions of modern stress1 for a safe 
outlet and a chance to discuss their    
perplexities and find counsel4  ,fifty  
years ago the interest now taken by the 
social and medical professions in the   
question of whether mothers are rearing 
their infants properly could not have   
been foreseen4 ,the establishment of    
baby health stations1 or the activities 
of the ,children's ,bureau1 would have  
been looked upon as unwarranted         
interference between the child and its  
mother1 whose natural instincts could be
 depended upon to teach her how to      
nourish it4 ,this point of view is no   
longer held2 and the community's duty to
 take an interest in the upbringing of  
its children is never questioned4 ,is it
 not conceivable that1 before another   
half century has rolled around1 the     
community may take the same intelligent 

interest in the conservation of the     
family1 and that definite efforts1 which
 are now almost entirely lacking1 may be
 made to stabilize and protect it8      
,educational propaganda would1 of       
course1 have to be a definite part of   
the work of such bureaus4 ,by this is   
meant not such modern specialties as    
birth control1 sex hygiene1 et al41     
though we may by that time have enough  
authoritative information about sex     
psychology in marriage to be able to    
afford some help along these lines4     
,instruction in the ethics of married   
life and parenthood is of even more     
fundamental importance4 ,the prevailing 
cynicism1 the present low concepts of   
marriage1 should be vigorously combatted
 by such an organization4 ,religious    
instruction would be1 of course1 beyond 
its scope2 but it should be able to work
 sympathetically with all creeds1       
supplementing their teachings without   
seeking to duplicate them4  ,the        
services of such a bureau could not1 of 

course1 be forced upon anyone who did   
not wish to avail himself or herself of 
them2 but definite though tactful       
efforts could be made to reach all young
 couples 7just as are now being made to 
reach young mothers7 with information as
 to where advice could be obtained4  ,no
 trustworthy figures exist as to the    
number of families broken by desertion  
or divorce in the ,united ,states1 or as
 to the burden of actual dependency     
caused4 ,courts1 probation officers1    
psychiatrists1 and family case workers  
are all dissatisfied with our efforts to
 patch up the families which are already
 disintegrating4 ,one of the three      
groups mentioned is likely before long  
to attempt some more dynamic attack upon
 the problem in its inception4 ,if any  
suggestions herein contained find use in
 that program1 the labor of compiling   
them will have been indeed well spent4  
,,footnotes3  #eb ,see1 for example1    
,american ,marriage ,laws in their      
,social ,aspects--a preliminary study by

 the ,russell ,sage ,foundation1 ,june1 
#aiai4  #ec ,brandt1 ,lilian3 #egd      
,deserters and their ,families1 p4 #bc4 
,charity ,organization ,society of ,new 
,york1 #aije4     ,,index  ,adolph ,r43 
case story of1 #fi-gj1 #hc  ,age3       
relation of differences in1 #bg         
,agencies3 ,n4,y4 ,charity ,organization
 ,society1 #dd2   ,national ,desertion  
,bureau1 #fe1 #fi1 #ga4 #aja2   ,united 
,hebrew ,charities1 #ga2   co-operative 
methods1 #gb-gh1 #hd1 #hf-ij2   opinions
 on methods of arrest1 #gg1 #gh2        
,n4,y4 ,association for ,improving      
,condition of the ,poor1 #acf2   social 
problems and consultation bureaus1      
#aie-aii  ,alcoholism3 statistics on1   
#bb2   devastating effects of1 #db2     
case story of woman1 #eg-fa2   and      
justifiable deserters1 #aaa-aad2        
relation to non-support1 #aef  ,american
 ,marriage ,laws in their ,social       
,aspects1 study by ,russell ,sage       
,foundation1 #ahf  ,apparent desertions3
 illustrated1 #h1 #i   ,baldwin1 ,wm4   

,h41 #afi1 #agg  ,bastardy ,cases1 ,a   
,study of ,louise de ,k4 ,bowen1 #ie    
,bastardy1 see ,forced marriages        
,behind the ,service ,flag1 ,red ,cross 
pamphlet1 #afj  ,bigamy3 and common law 
marriages1 #ih2   immigrant deserters1  
#ii  ,bosanquet1 ,helen1 #ac  ,bowen1   
,louise de ,k41 #ie  ,brand1 ,harvey3   
case story of1 #abb  ,brandt1 ,lilian1  
#bf1 #bg1 #aib  ,breed1 ,mary1 #fa1 #aej
  ,buffalo ,charity ,organization       
,society3 non-support records1 #aef     
,bureaus3 ,national ,desertion ,bureau1 
#fe1 #fi1 #aja2   for consultation1     
#aic-aii2   ,court of ,domestic         
,relations1 ,chicago1 #aic2             
,department of ,public ,charities1 ,new 
,york1 #aic2   ,children's ,bureau1     
#aig2   importance of educational1      
#aih-aii4   ,see also ,agencies         
,byington1 ,margaret ,f41 #ab   ,canada3
 extradition treaties sought1 #aai1 #afi
  ,carstens1 ,c4,c41 #fh  ,case         
illustrations3 of apparent desertion1   
#h2   mental deficiency1 #bd2           

reconciliation through education1 #cj2  
incompatibility and the other woman1    
#dj2   interviewing the man essential1  
#eg-fa2   liberal relief policy1 #fb2   
agency co-operation1 #fi1 #ge1 #hb1 #hc1
 #hd2   accident case1 #gi2   traced    
through letter1 #ha2   reconciliation   
after court marriage1 #ie2   ,american  
marriages1 #ii2   justifiable desertion1
 #aaa1 #aab-aad2   antagonism1 #aaa-aab2
   prison sentences helpful1 #aba1 #abb2
   adequate relief rids wife of chronic 
deserter1 #aca2   adjustment impossible1
 #acd2   real affection a basis of      
reconciliation1 #ace2   rehabilitation  
of a deserter1 #acg2   wife reluctant to
 return to man who reformed1 #ada2      
non-support and ill-kept homes1 #aec2   
re-establishing non-supporters' homes1  
#aeh1 #afj1 #afa-afc2   inadequate court
 orders1 #agb1 #agc  ,case work1 see    
,social workers  ,causal factors3       
analysis of study1 #aj1 #ae2   motives  
and theories1 #ag-di2   rationalization 
discussed1 #ag-bb2   summary of         

statistics1 #ba-bb1 #bf-bg1 #de2        
feeble-mindedness1 #bd-be2   training   
and self-control1 #be-bf2   nationality1
 #bf-bg2   religion1 #bg2   age1 #bg2   
environment1 #bg-bh2   wrong basis of   
marriage1 #bh2   common law marriage1   
#bi2   ignorance1 #bi2   incompetence1  
#ca2   wanderlust1 #cb2   inadequate    
income1 #cb2   financial mismanagement1 
#cc2   physical condition1 #cd-ce2      
temperamental differences1 #cf2   sex   
incompatibility1 #cg-ci2   vice and     
disease1 #ci-dc2   relatives1           
interference of1 #dc-dd2   racial       
studies1 #dd-de2   community standards1 
#de-df2   recreation1 #dg2   companions1
 influence of1 #dh2   shifting          
responsibility1 #dh2   underlying       
causes1 #di2   seeking a working basis1 
#ia-aje  ,charitable relief3 desertion  
in expectation of1 #dh1 #fa2   ,mary    
,breed on1 #fa2   immigrant's           
interpretation of1 #ii-ajj4   ,see also 
,collusion  ,chicago ,court of ,domestic
 ,relations1 bureau for marital advice1 

#aic  ,chicago ,juvenile ,protective    
,association3 study of forced marriages 
by1 #id-ie  ,children's ,bureau1 #aig   
,closing the case3 extended treatment   
recommended1 #fc  ,colcord1 ,j4,c41 #fa1
 #ajd1 #acc  ,collins1 ,c4,f41 #ahj     
,collusion3 infrequency of1 #eb1 #gj2   
case stories of1 #ga1 #gb2   statistics 
of ,national ,desertion ,bureau1 #ga2   
preventive measures1 #gc-hj  ,common law
 marriages3 legal protection under1 #bi2
   confusion of state laws1 #ih         
,community ideals1 see ,standards       
,companions3 influence1 and wanderlust1 
#dg-dh2   aid in finding deserters1 #gg1
 #hj  ,co-operation of agencies1 #fh-gh1
 #hd1 #hf-ij2   suggested methods of    
finding deserters1 #gh-ij2   probation  
officers1 #aaf1 #abb-abd  ,corrective   
treatment3 legislative recommendations1 
#afd-ahd2   military systems aid in     
tracing deserters1 #afe-aff2            
obstacles1 #afg2   serving a warrant or 
summons1 #afh2   extradition treaties   
recommended1 #afi2   dependency through 

emigration1 report on1 #agj2            
deportation laws1 #aga2   court orders  
to pay1 ,seybert ,institution report on1
 #agb-agg2   special courts for juvenile
 delinquents1 #agg1 #agh1 #agi2         
,family ,court of ,cincinnati1 #agh2    
domestic relations court1 #agh1         
#agi-ahj1 #aha-ahb2   probation         
officers1 #ahb-ahd  ,court intervention3
 policy of treatment in past1 #ej-ea2   
reasons1 and laxity of laws1 #ea-eb2    
social agency statistics1 #eb2   a last 
resort1 #ec-ed2   effect of1 #ee1 #ie2  
for persistent deserters1 #aad-aag2     
extradition1 #aag-aai2   probation1     
#aai-abd2   warrant served by wife1     
#abg2   effecting reconciliations1      
#acb-adj2   domestic relation courts    
effect reconciliations1 #acb2           
volunteers1 #aci-adj2   inadequacy of   
orders1 #agb-agg2   for juvenile        
delinquents1 #agh1 #aha2   domestic     
relations1 #agi-ahb1 #aic   ,department 
of ,public ,charities1 ,new ,york ,city1
 bureau of domestic     relations1 #aic 

,deserters and their ,families1 #egd4   
,lilian ,brandt1 #aib  ,desertion and   
,non-,support in ,family ,case ,work4   
,joanna ,c4 ,colcord1     #fa1 #ajd1    
#acc  ,detectives3 methods              
objectionable1 #gd1 #gg  ,disease3      
statistical analysis1 #bb2   and        
psychiatry1 #bd2   effects of physical  
debility1 #cd2   venereal disease1 #da2 
alcoholism1 #db4   ,see also            
,medical-,social work  ,district of     
,columbia3 non-support laws1 #agg       
,divorce3 relation to desertion1 #g1 #h2
   not considered1 #af2   administration
 of laws1 and respect for1 #df2   by    
publication1 #aja2   clearing bureau    
for1 #aja-ajb2   for long continued     
desertion1 #aaj2   legal separation to  
protect wife1 #abg2   bureaus might     
prevent1 #aic-aii  ,domestic relations  
courts3 to combine with juvenile1 #agh1 
#agi2   ,family ,court of ,cincinnati1  
#agh2   equity powers for1 #agi1 #ahj2  
amendment pending1 #agi2   facilities1  
#aha  ,domestic ,relations ,court and   

,divorce4 ,c4,w4 ,hoffman1 #agh1 #aha   
,donald1 ,patrick3 case story of1 #ai   
,drug addiction1 see ,narcotics   ,early
 influences3 and self-control1 #be-bf2  
educational1 #bi1 #cj1 #df1 #ib1 #aec1  
#aih  ,economics3 ratio of desertions in
 hard times1 #ba1 #cb2   family         
finances1 #cc2   service bureaus1 #aid  
,education3 social studies of family    
life1 #aa-ad2   early training and      
delinquency1 #bf2   background for      
failures1 #bi-cj2   destructive forces1 
#df2   suggestions for case workers1    
#fc2   ,attendance ,department traces   
deserters1 #gc2   non-support and       
inefficiency eliminated by1 #aec2       
propaganda1 #aih  ,ellis1 ,havelock1 #ci
  ,environment3 and immigration1 #bg-bh2
   neighborhood standards1 #df1 #ajb    
,equity powers1 of domestic relations   
courts1 #agi1 #ahj  ,eubank1 ,e4,e41 #ba
  ,extradition3 state problems1         
#aag-aai2   for dangerous men1 #abi-acj2
   non-support law1 #aej2   treaties    
essential1 ratification pending1 #afi1  

#agj2   ,n4,y4 state law1 #ahb          
,extravagance3 family finances1 #cc     
,family as a ,social and ,educational   
,institution1 ,the4 ,willystine         
,goodsell1 #aa  ,family ,court of       
,cincinnati1 #agh  ,family ,desertion4  
,lilian ,brandt1 #bf  ,family           
,desertion1 ,a ,study of4 ,e4,e4        
,eubank1 #ba  ,family life3 permanence  
of1 #i1 #aa-ae2   spiritual values of1  
#ab1 #bi2   consultation service to     
solve problems of1 #aie-aii  ,family1   
,the4 ,helen ,bosanquet1 #ac  ,fear of  
bodily harm from dangerous deserters1   
#abh-abi  ,federal ,employment ,service1
 #aff  ,finding deserters1 #fe-ij2      
,national ,desertion ,bureau1 #fe1 #fi1 
#ga2   urgency of finding the man1 #fg2 
,c4,c4 ,carstens quoted1 #fh2   example 
of1 #fi-gj2   collusion1 instances of1  
#gj-gc2   literature lacking1 #gd2      
detective methods1 illustration of1     
#gd-gg2   suggestions for1 #gh-hj2      
through military authorities1 #ha-hb2   
trade places1 #hb-hc2   publications1   

#hc1 #hd1 #he2   bulletin boards1 #hd2  
employment agencies1 #hd2   agency      
co-operation1 #hf-ij  ,first desertions3
 temporary character of1 #h2            
medical-social work a preventive1 #i2   
accident records aid in tracing1 #gi2   
critical nature of1 #ia2   when apt to  
occur1 #aia-aib  ,first problem in      
desertion1 #fg1 #ia  ,forced marriages3 
irregular unions1 #bh2   investigation  
of1 and statistics1 #ib-if2   study by  
,chicago ,juvenile ,protective          
,association1 #id2   case illustrations1
 #ie-if  ,forel1 ,august1 #ci  ,francis1
 ,mrs43 case story of1 #aca  ,frost1    
,robert1 #ad   ,gambling3 effect upon   
character1 #dc2   relation to           
non-support1 #aef  ,glasgow ,parish     
,council1 report on dependency1 #agj-aga
  ,goodsell1 ,willystine1 #aa           
,gorokhoff1 ,andreas3 case story of1    
#aba  ,gray1 ,aleck3 case story of1     
#afa-afc   ,hart1 ,bernard1 #bj  ,healy1
 ,dr4 ,william1 #aif  ,heredity3        
psychopathic personality1 #bd2          

feeble-mindedness1 #be2   racial        
differences1 #bf-bh  ,hoffman1 ,charles 
,w41 #agh1 #aha   ,illustrations1 see   
,case illustrations  ,immorality1 see   
,sex factors  ,inadequate relief3 legal 
separation1 and the law1 #abh2   wife's 
attitude1 #acj2   illustrated1 #aca2    
court orders1 inconsistency of1         
#agb-agf2   recent legislation to       
correct1 #agg4   ,see also ,non-support 
,income3 economic issues1 #ba1 #bb1 #cj2
   wages and non-support1 #cb-cc        
,incompatibility3 temperamental         
differences1 #cf2   sex relations1      
#cg-ci1 #dj  ,industrial deficiency3 in 
husband and wife1 #be1 #ca2   national  
registration to correct1 #aff           
,insanity3 study of defectives1 #bj1 #bd
  ,insanity1 ,the ,psychology of4       
,bernard ,hart1 #bj  ,instability3 forms
 of1 mental and physical1 #ag-bb2       
factors that induce1 #bd-dc1 #dg-di     
,intermittent husbands1 #dc1 #aec       
,interviewing the man3 importance of1   
#ee-eg1 #aje2   case story1 #eg-fa      

,italy3 marriage registration in1 #ajj  
,judge ,baker ,foundation1 of ,boston1  
#aif  ,justifiable deserters3 and       
alcoholism1 #db2   case illustration1   
#eg-fa1 #aaa2   procedure with1 #aab    
,justification3 thirst for experience1  
#i1 #ai2   process of rationalization1  
#bj2   venereal disease and separation1 
#da2   alcohol1 and justifiable         
deserters1 #db2   ,williams case        
illustrates1 #eg-fa1 #aaa2   and the    
non-supporter1 #aeb-aed  ,juvenile      
courts3 movement for special1 #agg1     
#agh2   ,juvenile ,court ,act1 #agh2    
combine with domestic relation courts1  
#agh2   ,family ,court of ,cincinnati1  
#agh2   facilities1 #aha   ,laflin1     
,mrs43 case story of1 #aee  ,latham1    
,george3 case story of1 #acg  ,legal    
separation to protect wife1 #abg-abi    
,legislation3 irregular unions1 #bi1    
#ih2   pioneering methods1 #ej-eb2      
state aid to mothers1 #fc2   common law 
unions1 legality of1 #ih1 #aja2         
,italian1 #ajj2   divorce for permanent 

desertion1 #aaj2   for justifiable      
deserters1 #aaa-aab2   court action for 
persistent deserters1 #aad-aag2         
extradition1 #aag-aai1 #abi2            
probation1 #abj-abd2   legal facilities 
to promote efficiency1 #afd-ahd2        
serving a warrant1 #afh2   extradition  
treaties1 #afi-agj2   deportation1 #aga2
   court procedure1 #agb-agg2   juvenile
 delinquency1 #agg1 #agh1 #ahj2         
domestic relations1 and special courts1 
#agg1 #agh1 #agi1 #ahj-ahb2   marriage  
laws1 #ahf1 #aie  ,loane1 ,m41 #aed     
,long1 ,martin3 case story of1 #ada     
,making the ,deserter ,pay the ,piper4  
,w4,h4 ,baldwin1 #agg  ,mancini1        
,onofrio3 case story of1 #agb  ,marital 
vagaries3 possible reasons for1 #ce     
,marriage3 spiritual values of1 #aa1    
#ab1 #bi2   homelier elements in1       
#ac-ae2   wrong bases of1 #bh2   common 
law unions1 #bi2   disparagement of     
ideals condemned1 #de-df1 #aih2         
verification1 and state legislation1    
#ih-ajj2   registration in ,italy1 #ajj2

   ,american marriage laws1 #ahf        
,mc,cann1 ,herbert3 case story of1      
#hd-he1 #hf  ,medical-social work3      
preventing desertion1 #i2   summary of  
case analyses1 #bb2   psychiatry and    
mental deficiency1 #bd2   physical      
debility1 #cd2   pregnancy desertion1   
#cd-ce2   sex incompatibility1 #cg-ci2  
bureaus of advice recommended1 #aic-aif4
   ,see also ,psychology  ,mellor1      
,joseph3 case story of1 #aaa            
,mentality3 irresponsible agents1       
#ag-bj2   psychology of insanity1 #bj1  
#bd2   educational handicaps1 #bi       
,mexico3 and extradition1 #aai1 #agj    
,morgan1 ,charles3 case story of1       
#adg-adh  ,motion1 ,j4,r41 #aga  ,myers1
 ,hiram1 #aia1 #aib   ,narcotics3       
percentage of influence1 #bb1 #db       
,nationality3 statistical facts about   
difference in1 #bf-bg1 #dd-de2   racial 
attitude1 and percentages of deserters1 
#dd-de2   case problem1 #di2   ,jewish  
desertion bureau1 #fe1 #fi1 #ga1        
#aja-ajb  ,national ,conference of      

,jewish ,charities1 seeks extradition   
treaty1 #afi  ,national ,conference of  
,social ,work1 extradition treaty urged1
 #afi  ,national ,desertion ,bureau1    
,jewish legal aid1 #fe2   story of      
tracing a deserter1 #fi-gj2   collusive 
desertion cases1 #ga2   clearing bureau 
established1 #aja-ajb  ,neighborhood    
influence1 see ,standards  ,newspapers1 
see ,publicity  ,new ,york ,association 
for ,improving the ,condition of the    
,poor3 practice     of ,desertion       
,bureau1 #acf  ,new ,york ,charity      
,organization ,society3 study of racial 
groups1 and     percentages1 #dd-de     
,new ,york ,state ,conference of        
,charities and ,correction1             
,proceedings1 on     non-supporters1    
#aej  ,non-supporters3 as potential     
deserters1 #adi-afc2   legal treatment  
of1 #adi-aej2   analogous to deserters1 
#aej-aec1 #ahh2   characteristics1 #aea1
 #ahi1 #aij2   wife's influence a       
factor1 #aeb-aed2   illustrations1 #aee1
 #aeh1 #afj2   reclamation1 illustrated1

 #afa-afc2   approach to desertion1     
#ahh-aia  ,non-support ,law3 in         
,massachusetts1 #adi-aej  ,normal       
,family1 ,the4 ,margaret ,f4 ,byington1 
#ab  ,north of ,boston4 ,robert ,frost1 
#ad   ,one ,thousand ,homeless ,men4    
,alice ,w4 ,solenberger1 #aeg           
,overindulgence3 teaching self-control1 
#be-bf2   wage-earning wives1 #aed      
,pelligrini1 ,orfeo3 case story of1 #ii 
,permanence of family life1 #i1 #aa-ae  
,permanent desertions1 see ,divorce     
,philadelphia ,court of ,domestic       
,relations1 report on reconciliations1  
#ace-acf  ,philadelphia ,society for    
,organizing ,charity3 report of1 #g     
,photographs of deserters3 society      
presents to wife1 #aj2   tracing        
out-of-town clues1 #gh1 #hd1 #he        
,physical condition3 ill health1 #cd2   
difficulty of pregnant women1 #ce2      
maladjustments1 #ch2   recreation       
essential1 #dg2   recommendations1      
#aif-aii  ,pregnancy desertion3 how     
explained1 #cd-ce  ,preventive          

treatment3 past opinions1 #ahg2         
non-support leading to desertion1       
#ahh-aib2   for first desertions1       
#aib-aic2   bureaus for advice and      
consultation1 #aic-aii2   suggestions   
for1 #aif-aii  ,probation3 testimony of 
social workers1 #aai-abj2   and         
imprisonment1 #aba-abd2   legal         
separation proceedings during1 #abh2    
officers effect reconciliation1 #acb2   
illustrations1 #acc-acd1 #acg1 #ada2    
stay-away probation1 #ach2   economy    
plan for officers1 #agh2   number and   
efficiency of officers1 #ahb-ahd2       
consultation bureau1 #aic  ,provisional 
quality of desertions1 #i               
,psychoanalysis3 mental deficients1 and 
heredity1 #bd2   incompatibility and sex
 perversion1 #cg-ci4   ,see also ,sex   
factors  ,psychology3 rationalization   
process1 #bj2   mental defectives1 #bd2 
sex incompatibility1 #cg-ci2   studies  
on1 #ci2   knowledge of1 essential1 #ajc
  ,publicity3 photographs a medium of1  
#aj1 #gh1 #hd1 #he2   agencies and      

newspapers1 #hd-ij2   divorce by        
publication1 #aja2   illustration1 #aif 
,queen's ,poor1 ,the4 ,m4 ,loane1 #aed  
,questionnaires3 liberal relief policy1 
#fb2   searching for deserters1 #gh2    
treatment of desertion1 #ajf   ,ratio of
 desertions3 economic factors1 #ba1 #ca1
 #cb-cc  ,reconciliation3 factors that  
prompt1 #ac-ad2   and the other woman1  
#dj-da2   following court marriage1     
#ie-if2   after prison term1 #aba-abb2  
considerations involved1 #abe-acb2      
unwillingness of wife1 illustrated1     
#aca2   criminal tendencies prevent1    
#acd2   affection a safe basis of1 #ace2
   practice of ,n4,y4 ,association for  
,improving ,condition of the ,poor1     
#acf-acg2   volunteer visitors helpful1 
#aci-adj2   case worker's success in    
effecting1 illustrated1 #adb-adh2       
bureaus to promote1 #aic-aii            
,recreation3 why essential1 #dg  ,red   
,cross ,home ,service1 #ha1 #aei1 #afj  
,relatives3 interference of1 #dc-dd1 #di
  ,religion3 differences in1 a study of1

 #bf1 #bg  ,repeated desertions3        
frequency of1 #h2   intermittent        
husbands1 #dc1 #aec2   suggestions for  
tracing the man1 #gi2   relative nature 
of1 #ib  ,responsibility3 self-therapy  
illustrated1 #h2   deserters disclaim1  
#ai-bj2   essentials of early training1 
#be-bf2   education promotes1 #bi1 #aih2
   and charitable relief1 #dh1 #ajj2    
wage-earning wives1 and non-supporters1 
#aed  ,richmond1 ,mary ,e43 on          
volunteers in case work1 #gh1 #ajf1 #adj
  ,ridicule3 of matrimony1 by press and 
films1 #de-df  ,russell ,sage           
,foundation1 study1 ,american marriage  
laws1 #ahf   ,selective ,service ,act1  
#afe  ,sex factors3 determine           
forgiveness1 #ac-ad2   statistical      
summary1 #ba-bb2   pregnancy desertion1 
#cd-ce2   incompatibility1 #cg-dj2      
immorality1 #ci1 #if2   knowledge of sex
 psychology essential1 #ajc  ,sex in    
,relation to ,society4 ,havelock ,ellis1
 #ci  ,sexual ,question1 ,the4 ,a4      
,forel1 #ci  ,seybert ,institution1     

,philadelphia1 on relation of income to 
court order1 #agc  ,slacker marriages1  
#ig  ,social workers3 opinions of1 #g-h2
   appreciative faculties of1 #aa2      
knowledge of sex relations imperative1  
#cg-ch2   diagnoses referred to         
specialists1 #ch2   undervalue          
recreation1 #dg2   questionnaires on    
treatment1 #fb1 #gh1 #ajf2   detective  
methods1 #fh-ij2   agency co-operation1 
#gh-ij2   sex problems1 #ajc2           
necessary information for1 summarized1  
#ajd-aje2   protection of legal         
separation1 #abg2   successful case     
records1 #adb-adh  ,solenberger1 ,alice 
,w41 #aeg  ,spiritual values3 of family 
life1 #aa-ab1 #bi  ,standards3 and      
temperamental differences1 #cf2         
community concepts1 #de-df2             
neighborhood influence1 #dg1 #ajb       
,state aid to mothers1 #fc2   vital     
statistics1 #ic   ,temporary desertions3
 report of ,philadelphia ,society1 #g-h2
   domestic crises and vagaries1 #cd-ce4
   ,see also ,reconciliation  ,theories 

to explain desertion1 #bj4   ,see also  
,causal factors  ,treatment of          
desertion3 policy1 past and present1    
#ej-fd2   court intervention1 #ej-ed2   
interviewing the man1 #ee-fj1 #aje2     
relief to families1 #fa2   opinions of  
case workers1 #fb2   case story1 #fb2   
state aid1 #fc2   closing the case1 time
 for1 #fc2   changes in worker's        
attitudes1 #fd2   whereabouts known1    
willing to return1 #abe-adh2            
,philadelphia ,court of ,domestic       
,relations1 study by1 #ace-acf2   ,n4,y4
 ,association for ,improving ,condition 
of the ,poor1 practice of1 #acf2        
family restoration illustrated1 #acg2   
volunteers recommended1 #aci-adj2   wife
 relents1 illustration of               
reconciliation1 #ada2   study of        
successful worker's records1 #adb-adh   
,united ,hebrew ,charities1 #ga         
,vagaries3 marital1 #cd-ce  ,venereal   
disease3 relation to desertion1 #da     
,verification3 of marriage1 #ih-ii2   in
 ,italy1 #ajj2   ,latin-,american       

custom1 #ajj  ,volunteers3 service      
valuable for effecting reconciliation1  
#aci-adj   ,wanderlust3 instability of  
temperament1 #ai2   relation to         
desertion1 #cb  ,warrant for arrest3    
protection afforded wife1 #abg2   system
 inadequate1 #afh  ,west1 ,alfred3 case 
story of1 #cj  ,wife and ,family        
,desertion3 ,emigration as a            
,contributory ,cause4 ,j4,r4            
,motion1 #aga  ,wife who deserts1 not   
considered1 #ae  ,williams1 ,mrs4       
,clara3 case story of1 #eg-fj1 #aaa     
,,social ,,work ,,series  ,,edited ,,by 
,,mary ,e4 ,,richmond   ,many people    
have general views in these days upon   
almost any matter which affects social  
welfare2 we all know how easily such    
views find expression4 ,on the other    
hand1 only a few have the patience and  
the insight to gather the specific facts
 and find out what they mean4 ,still    
fewer--having done so much as this--can 
explain the meaning lucidly and in brief
 compass4  ,it is the ambition of the   

,social ,work ,series to embody1 in the 
field of social service at least1 the   
message of a representative group of    
these few4 ,the first three volumes are 
as follows3  ,disasters and the         
,american ,red ,cross in ,disaster      
,relief4 ,by ,j4 ,byron ,deacon4        
,household ,management4 ,by ,florence   
,nesbitt4  ,broken ,homes4 ,by ,joanna  
,c4 ,colcord4  ,price1 ,cloth1 #ge cents
 each4 ,other volumes in preparation4   
,write for announcements to be forwarded
 as these books are issued4             
,,publication ,,department1 ,,russell   
,,sage ,,foundation  #acj ,e4 #bb;d     
,,st41 ,,new ,,york ,,city