the family during the trial and imprisonment of the deserter is that of encouraging the woman to stick to her guns.  If she withdraws her complaint or secures his release before his time is up, 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 again.  Unless the social worker is convinced, therefore, that the sentence has been unduly severe, the wife should be encouraged in every way to let her husband serve out his time.  If a policy of relief has been necessary, care should be taken that it be adequate, so that economic pressure will not induce her to ask for his release.  If the home has been broken up and the children committed, the mother’s loneliness and desire to have her home back is likely to work in the same way.  The hope of making her husband kinder when he returns often leads a woman to ask for his release.  The pressure of relatives and friends, and sometimes of her church is likely to be exerted in the same direction and unknown to the social worker.  Chaplains of correctional institutions, interested entirely in the man and with no knowledge of the family situation, are also likely to appear in the case; and it is well to acquaint them, in the beginning, of our interest and our hope that no step will be taken without a consultation.  If it is hoped or expected that the man will return to his home after imprisonment, he should be earnestly cultivated by the social worker while he is serving his time.  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 bars.”  Now is an excellent time to introduce a man as volunteer visitor to the prisoner, if he is to be off probation when released.  If imprisonment or:  “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 them, or if for any reason return is permanently undesirable, the advisability of obtaining a legal separation[32] should be considered at this point.  If, on the other hand, the man evinces eagerness to return home and support his family, he comes automatically (though belatedly) into the class to be considered in the next chapter.

FOOTNOTES: 

[26] The Questionnaire on the Deserted Family (see p. 395 sq. of Richmond’s Social Diagnosis) has already been mentioned as suggesting lines of investigation.  It will also be found useful at the stage of summing up knowledge gained and seeing in what direction it points.

[27] The state of New York is an exception, as it grants only limited divorce for desertion.

[28] See p. 57.

[29] See p. 132 sq. concerning court reconciliations.

[30] See Baldwin, Wm. H.:  “The Most Effective Methods of Dealing with Cases of Desertion and Non-support,” Journal American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, November, 1917.