Publication Date

1962

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Burchard, Waldo W.||Martin, James G. (James Gilbert), 1926-1999||Smith, Harold E. (Harold Eugene), 1916-2010

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Sociology||Department of Anthropology

LCSH

Illinois State Training School for Boys (Saint Charles; Ill.)

Abstract

This study was conducted in the Illinois State Training School for Boys, St, Charles, Ill., a fenced, medium security correctional Institution for juvenile boys age nine to seventeen. It attempted to teat the hypothesis that the student culture of the Training School (1) is an Imported way of life; (2) is a normative system which stems from and reflects the urban lower socio-economic class; (3) is not in its general aspects unique to the Training Schools; (4) is reinforced by the employees and yet (5) is limited by the official social structure of the institution. The data for the study were obtained from personal ease records, social histories and interviews of a forty-five student sample (the interview schedule was the major source of information and was constructed of 47 items, open-ended and dichotomous in nature) as well as participant and non-participant observation. That the student culture is an Imported way of life is strongly supported by the data. It was discovered that 56.5% of the argot have their genesis in Cook County; that 35% of the argot were imported from the culture of the Cook County Negro; that 93% of the sample have their residence in urban lower cites areas; that more than 66% reflect lower class focal concerns and attitudes; that the downstate youth contribute little to the student culture; and that there are significant racial overtones to the student culture.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

93 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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