Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders: Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of Health

A remarkable historical document that offers an unfiltered glimpse into early 20th century attitudes toward mental disability, institutionalization, and sexuality. Commissioned by Minister of Health Sir Maui Pomare and produced by a committee of inquiry, this report reflects the eugenics-influenced thinking that shaped social policy across the Western world during this period. The committee visited institutions, heard witnesses, and compiled findings that were considered progressive for their time. The result is a window into an era when concerns about the 'rising numbers' of mentally deficient individuals and sexual offenders prompted urgent governmental inquiry. For historians, researchers, and anyone interested in the evolution of social policy, this document provides invaluable primary source material. It reveals how earlier generations understood and responded to questions of mental health, sexuality, and social control. The language and assumptions will strike modern readers as dated and troubling in places, which is precisely why this report matters: it documents a particular moment in social thinking that has since been radically reexamined.