A Tour of the Dahr al-Sawan Juvenile Reformatory

When one rises nine hundred meters above sea level, and the automobile brings one to the village of Bhersaf — a name perhaps taken from the view of the sea, which from that region looks like a clear mirror — then the automobile climbs on to the famous Bhannes sanatorium, then carries one eastward about a single kilometer... one sees a large house standing on a high summit, a house that has no like among the houses of Dahr al-Sawan: a government serail formerly, and the juvenile reformatory today.

On my way to the reformatory I met a juvenile, and I said to him: Where are you going, boy?
He said: To the reformatory.
I said: Are you under sentence?
He said: Yes.
I said: And where have you been?
He said: I spent the feast holiday at our house.
I said: You are under sentence, and they allow you to go home?
He said: The director of the reformatory is lenient with the juveniles who conduct themselves well, and I am one of them.
I said: And what is your crime?
He said: Taking part in a forbidden game of gambling.
I said: And what was your sentence?
He said: A single year, which I am serving in the reformatory.

Then the boy cut short the thread of my questions, saying: Let us hurry a little, sir, for I must be at the reformatory at the appointed time.

When we reached the outer gate of the reformatory, we found its director, Mr. Habib Halihel, awaiting us. And we went strolling in the reformatory's courtyard, looking out over a captivating view that bewitches eye and heart: here are Aley, Broummana, and Beit Mery; here Bhamdoun and Sofar; there the monastery of Mar Chaaya; and there Baabdat and Qornayel.

Then we began to speak of the subject we had come about.

Q: To which ministry does your reformatory belong?
A: Our reformatory belongs to the Ministry of National Education.

Q: And when was it founded?
A: It was founded on June 14, 1947. At first it was ringed with barbed wire and guarded by a force of gendarmes... but we soon turned away from this barren method, bound up with coercion; we abolished the gendarmerie post and replaced it with watchmen, whose task is to protect the reformatory from the outside, not to prevent the juveniles from escaping.

Q: And how many juveniles are under sentence?
A: Sixty-three.

Q: And what are their ages?
A: Their ages range between 12 and 18 years.

Q: And what are the crimes they committed?
A: Their crimes are various; on the whole they have to do with theft and pickpocketing, moral offenses, forestry violations, and some cases of killing.

Q: And what are the lengths of the sentences?
A: The juveniles' sentences range between one week and four years.

Q: A single week in the reformatory... and is that period enough to reform the juvenile?
A: It once happened that a boy was sentenced to confinement in the reformatory for four days; he reached us with the term of his sentence already expired, so we returned him to his home.

Q: Where, in your view, lie the hidden causes of juvenile crime?
A: The principal causes may be summed up as destitution and want, the loosening of family ties, the fading away of fathers' authority over their sons, and the spread of ignorance and illiteracy.

Q: Are the juveniles from the circles of the cities or from the villages?

A: Most of them are from the cities, and a very small minority of them from the villages.

Q: Did they attend schools before they strayed into the world of sin?

A: Nine percent of them attended the primary schools... and the rest are illiterate.

Q: And do you see to the teaching of the illiterate?

A: Not a month or two passes after an illiterate juvenile enters the reformatory before he sets about reading and writing.

Q: What are the working hours in the reformatory, and how are they divided?

A: The working hours are eight... of these, three and a half hours are set aside for instruction, which includes the Arabic language, arithmetic, geography and history... and other general knowledge; and four and a half hours are set aside for the industrial work.

Q: And what are your industrial trades... and how are the juveniles distributed among them?

A: Our industrial sections are four: carpentry, in which 18 boys work; shoemaking, with 18 as well; the tailoring section, with 12 boys; and the blacksmithing and tinsmithing section, with 11... and four work in the kitchen.

Q: Do you impose the trade upon the juvenile?

A: No; we leave him the choice of the section he wants.

Q: Do the juveniles incline more to schooling than to a trade?

A: They show a great inclination toward the trades, because they are poor in circumstance and want to master a trade that will secure their livelihood after they leave the reformatory.

Q: And what is the juveniles' state of health?

A: The juveniles come to us sick, complaining of anemia; but here they recover, thanks to the good climate — the climate of Bhannes — the good food, and the ordered life... And our motto is: a sound mind and a sound character in a sound body...

Q: Do the juveniles undergo a medical examination?

A: Of course; they pass a medical examination every week.

Q: What is your daily program?

A: The juveniles rise at half past five in the morning in summer, and at six o'clock in winter... They wash, take exercise, and do the cleaning work and the preparing of breakfast until eight o'clock; then they study until ten; then they do the industrial work until twelve; then they lunch and rest until half past one; then they resume the industrial

work until four; then they play athletic games until half past five; then they study until seven in the evening... After that they take supper and sit up until the time comes to go to bed, at half past eight.

Q: And what do you mean by the evening gathering... and how do the juveniles spend it?

A: The evening gathering is mostly spent in listening to Radio Lebanon, in the showing of films on some occasions, and in scouting games.

Q: Do you use severity with the juveniles if they commit infractions within the reformatory?

A: We keep far from all violence and constraint upon the juveniles, and follow with them the method of gentleness, persuasion, and the winning of confidence... This, in our view, is the most successful method.

Q: If a juvenile escapes, how do you bring him back?

A: Sometimes he returns by himself, or his family brings him back, or the security men do.

Q: And what is his punishment in case of escape?

A: The court sentences him to half his term of confinement in the reformatory — that is, if he was sentenced to two years, it becomes three years.

Q: If the juvenile reaches the legal age for remaining in the reformatory without having finished the term of his sentence, do you send him to the general prison to serve the rest of his sentence?

A: No. In cases like these we used to keep the juvenile in the reformatory even past the legal age; but we have now taken to releasing him from it, in accordance with what is laid down in the penal code: "Whoever has completed the twelfth year of his age and has not completed the fifteenth shall be subjected to the disciplinary measures provided in Article 120 until he reaches the eighteenth year of his age."

We relied on the phrase (until he reaches the eighteenth year of his age) and obtained a decision to release the juvenile once he passes that age.

Q: Does the juvenile receive a wage for the goods he produces in the reformatory?

A: No, because everything the juvenile produces he himself consumes — that is, if he makes a pair of shoes, he himself wears them.

Q: And if the juvenile leaves the reformatory, do you commend him to further care?

A: Of course. We apply to the Union for the Protection of Juveniles on his behalf, and we likewise apply to the appropriate women's associations.

And there are four delegates for juveniles distributed in the North, Mount Lebanon, Sidon, and the Bekaa, who attend to juveniles' affairs as well.

Q: Is there a reformatory for girls too?

A: No, there is no government reformatory for girls; the Christian girls among them are sent to the Convent of the Good Shepherd in Dekwaneh.

Q: And how many employees has your reformatory?

A: We are thirteen employees... myself, in my capacity as director of the reformatory; Mr. Antoine Zwayel, keeper of the stores; Mr. Elias Zgheib, supervisor; four instructors for the trades and an instructor of physical training; a class teacher; two other supervisors; and two servants.

Q: We have learned that you held an athletic festival for the juveniles; may we know something about it?

A: Yes, the reformatory held, for the first time, a festival of athletic games on the sixteenth of last September, under the patronage of the Minister of National Education and Fine Arts, His Excellency Emile Bey Houd. This festival was organized by a special committee made up of the Misses and Messrs. Joseph Khoury, Layla Houd, Layla Halihel, Da'd Khoury, Raymond Hashem, and Elias Zgheib. And we shall hold festivals like it every year.

★

This is a rapid picture of an important social institution in Lebanese life. This institution rests in its work on the basis of freedom for the juvenile, together with watchfulness over him. I saw a juvenile returning from his home to the reformatory by himself, and I saw the juveniles ranging and frolicking inside it and outside it; and the juveniles there look upon the director and his colleagues as sons look upon fathers.

A social institution such as this is worthy of care and attention.