Mark D'hoker

CONTRIBUTION DE MAURICE ROUVROY (1879‐1954) AUX SOINS EN RÉSIDENCE DE LA JEUNESSE [Agrave] PROBLÈMES PSYCHO‐SOCIAUX PENDANT L'ENTRE‐DEUX‐GUERRES

Maurice Rouvroy (Hornu, 1879–Saint‐Hubert, 1954) obtained his teachers degree in 1898, after which he taught for several years at a primary school. Late 1913, Rouvroy was appointed director of the newly founded “Centraal Observa‐tiegesticht” (Central Observation Institution) in Moll in the Province of Antwerp. In the “Centraal Observatiegesticht”, delinquent boys were examined for two to three months to enable the juvenile court to take adequate measures. The pillars of the operation of the “Centraal Observatiegesticht’–which was directed by Rouvroy from 1913 to 1945–were three: continuous and detailed observation, formulation of hypotheses and proposals, and experimental research to supplement the information obtained. The organization of the “Centraal Observatiegesticht” was strongly child‐oriented. Rouvroy introduced the pavilion system, which was marked by a familial character and by a certain form of self‐management. The “Centraal Observatiegesticht’ was constructed like a city with streets, houses ...