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22.2.1955AFFIDAVIT OF J. GEDDES DATED
Affidavit of J. Geddes - Dated 22.2.1955
I, JEAN GEDDES of 15 Jephson Street Toowong Brisbane in the State of Queensland Salvation Army Officer make oath and say as follows:- 1. I am a Salvation Army Officer and have been in the Salvation Army for 17 years. 2. I am at present and have been for the past twelve months Matron of the Salvation Army Girls' Industrial Home at Toowong Brisbane. During 1951 and 1952 I was Matron of the Salvation Army Girls' Home at Canowindra New South Wales and during 1953 I was Matron of the Salvation Army Girls' Home at Toowoomba Queensland. Prior to becoming Matron I was a Junior Officer in Girls' and Children's Homes in New South Wales and Queensland for approximately 15 years including three years at the Home where I an now Matron. The girls at this Home are aged between 14 and 18 years of age and are committed to the Home by the State Courts through the State Children Department. A majority of the girls has been committed to the Home for offences of a sexual nature.
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3. I have perused a copy of each of the publications "Real Love" "Romance Story" "Real Story" "Real Romances" and "Love Experiences" mentioned and referred to in the affidavit of HERBERT LESLIE KELLY sworn herein on the Nineteenth day of January 1955. 4. The following comments and opinions regarding the said publications are derived from my experience with girls in Salvation Army Homes. 5. They have a special attraction for adolescent girls particularly those of below average intelligence and those who are emotionally unstable or irresponsible. 6. They are emotionally exciting to such girls and prove disturbing to their morals and thoughts. I have known such girls to read publications of this type over and over again from cover to cover. 7. I have very often found that girls committed to this Home have had publications of this type in their possession. I have confiscated these publications and the girls have frequently asked for them back in most cases almost immediately. I have destroyed the publications and explained to the girls that it was not suitable reading for them and replaced the publications with a better type of magazine or other literature. 8. From time to time I have noticed that girls who have been accustomed to reading publications of the type hereinbefore mentioned have been excited and unbalanced in the presence of members of the opposite sex. This was shown by their behaviour in front of workmen employed at the Homes and by their general conduct which became unco-operative and defiant to the staff. I have also noticed that when these publications were taken from them their general behaviour subsequently improved. I noticed this particularly in Toowoomba. The girls there were aged between 12 and 15 years and were in the habit of bringing publications of this type home from school and hiding
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them. When any girl became excited and unbalanced in the presence of members of the opposite sex and her general behaviour deteriorated I suspected that she had access to publications of the type mentioned and in such cases made a search and very frequently found copies of that type of publication hidden in the girl's belongings and confiscated the publications. After this had been done I subsequently noted a general improvement in her behaviour.
9. In my opinion the effects of these publications on adolescent girls are strengthened by the pictorial form of presentation. Such a form of visual education impresses itself on their senses more vividly than does written matter or moving pictures. This applies more particularly to sub-normal types. I have known such girls read this Pictorial type of literature who would not read any other type. The impression made by this type of literature is more lasting than that made by moving pictures as the girls can and do revert to the former and read them over and over. The pictorial types of publication are more disturbing than the written ones. They portray males and females in attitudes which appeal to and stimulate the sexual senses through physical attributes and engender in unstable and emotional adolescents reading such publications the desire to have similar experiences to those portrayed and in my opinion this leads on in many cases to actual illicit sexual intercourse. 10. Constant reading of these publications which glamourise romance of the type depicted and continually stress the relationship between the sexes to the exclusion of other essential and important relationships of life are likely to give adolescent girls a wrong sense of the real values in life. 11. The girls at the Toowoomba Home obtained pictorial publications of a similar type to those mentioned in Paragraph 3 hereof from other children while at school and passed these publictions to other girls in the Home. From my experience it is a general habit among adolescent girls who read such publications to pass them to other girls. 12. Without in any way qualifying the observations and opinions in the preceding paragraphs hereof - (a) From my observations of delinquent girls I consider that in the case of girls who have had early sexual experience the reading of publications of the type mentioned in Paragraph 3 hereof tends to stimulate their sexual desires and keep before their minds their own sexual experience which it is the desire of the Home by education and training to erase; (b) In the case of delinquent girls who have had early sexual experience it has been found that after careful education supervision and training the great majority of such girls has subsequently settled down to happy married life and become good citizens; (c) In my opinion the rehabilitation of such girls is greatly retarded by the reading of publications of the type erntioned. 13. In my opinion the depicting in a publication of casual meeting between men and women of the kind known 'pick up';" likely to be harmful in adolescent
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readers. Many of the girls who have been in my charge become involved with men, after casual meetings and in my opinion any publication which tends to surround with glamour such casual meetings is most misleading and harmful to adolescents.
14. Ahthough some of the stories in the said publications may appear to point out a good moral from my oservations and experience female adolescent readers of the said publications are much more interested in the pictorial presentation of amatory embraces than they are in any merits contained in the story. 15. From my experience in the Homes I know that publications of the type hereinbefore mentioned discourage girls from reading good literature. There are some girls in the Home now who have made a practice of reading publications of this type and will not read any other. I have offered better class literature to them but they have refused to read it and just skim through magazines. In other cases girls who have made a practice of reading publications of the type hereinbefore mentioned have after I have taken such publications from them read better class literature when I have offered it to them and have appeared to develop an interest in it. In such cases I have noticed that their conversation has become more intelligent and their general behaviour has appeared to improve. The officers of the Home have been able to encourage younger girls to read books by authors such as Ethel Turner, Louisa Alcott, Mary Grant Bruce, Welyn Everett Green and others and such girls do not appear to be interested in publications of the type mentioned. The books I have referred to have been written for girls and deal with good home life. SIGNED AND SWORN by the abovenamed Deponent at Brisbane aforesaid this Twentysecond day of February 1955
