Word: clemmer
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...DONALD CLEMMER Senior Sociologist Illinois State Penitentiary Joliet...
...three years spent as "clinical sociologist" in the Menard Branch of the Illinois State Penitentiary, Mr. Clemmer played baseball, football and other games with the convicts, talked to them sympathetically when they were sick or downcast, won their confidence. He thus learned the identity of certain leaders, their qualifications and what their followers thought of them. One trait which every leader seemed to need to keep his following was that of being "right"-i. e., of not truckling to the prison authorities. Mr. Clemmer admits that leaders are often at the bottom of "conflict situations"-riots, mass demonstrations, group escapes...
...Clemmer analyzed 14 convict leaders ranging in age from 26 to 48, in mental age from nine years plus to 18 years. The average mental age was 15, which is higher than that of the adult population of the U. S. (13 years 6 months). Only two, however, had had schooling beyond the eighth grade. One of these had two years of high school and the other quit college during freshman year...
...more, and the two exceptions had lived in such cities since adolescence. All but five had spent 18 months or more in other penal institutions. All without exception had shown delinquency at an early age. In physique they ranged from skinny giants to chunky short men, but Mr. Clemmer noticed that none was overweight...
...When Mr. Clemmer asked his convicts what they admired in their leaders, he obtained a great range of answers, including: "courage, generosity, modesty, education, an interesting vocabulary, personal cleanliness, clever gambling, the ability to 'con' (fool) officials, a reputation for holding liquor, possession of money ... a large body of knowledge about a particular technique of crime, a fund of vulgar jokes or songs, the possession of attitudes against the judiciary, the prison administration, the parole board and God, demonstrable sophistication in female companionship as evidenced by suggestive letters, the dignity and poise that come to some men after...