Anarchy 101

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Contents of No. 101

July 1969


Introduction   193
Approved School: how does it feel? Ian Taylor 194
Notes on Detention Centres Stan Cohen 210
Libertarian Criminology: an observation Tony Gibson 223
Cover by Rufus Segar  


Adolescents are notoriously slouchy and unco-ordinated in limb control but the round shoulders and earthbound gait of (approved school) boys is characteristic. They tend to walk with heads down and dragging feet, lacking purpose.
john gittins, Headmaster of Aycliffe Classifying Approved School, in Approved School Boys (H.M.S.O. 1952) p. 2.


It is the job of the staffs of approved schools to give these youngsters, most of whom are inadequate in one way or another, a new set of values so that they can take their place again in the community and cope with the responsibilities and strains of society.

ruth adam, Careers in Approved Schools (H.M.S.O. 1966) p. 1.


Every effort shall be made to enforce discipline without resort to corporal punishment.

approved school rules 1933: Rule 34 (iv)


I am not a sadist, but basically a kind man. If I have used excessive force in administering four canings, which, in all conscience, I still cannot believe I administered, I assure you that this was not done intentionally.

The most fantastic thing is that there has never been any complaint. If I had done this sort of thing, I would have reported myself to the chairman of the managers.

dennis haydon, ex-Headmaster of Court Lees Approved School, quoted in The Guardian, 9th August, 1967.


I have read with disgust the letter from “Approved School Teacher” on March 3rd. The person who can write this and hide behind a nom de plume is not the person we want in this service and his final paragraph indicates that he is only there to get cheap living accommodation.

(miss) s. h. sunner, Headmistress, Springhead Park School, Rothwell, Nr. Leeds in letter to the Daily Mail 7th March, 1967, commenting on the allegations made (at that time anonymously) by Mr. Ivor Cook, a teacher at Court Lees. Mr. Cook’s allegations were substantially confirmed later by government inquiry.


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Other issues of “Anarchy”:

Please note: Issues 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 26, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 66, 70, 71 are out of print.


Vol. 1. 1961: 1. Sex-and-Violence; 2. Workers’ control; 3. What does anarchism mean today?; 4. Deinstitutionisation; 5. Spain; 6. Cinema; 7. Adventure playground; 8. Anthropology; 9. Prison; 10. Industrial decentralisation.


Vol. 2. 1962: 11. Paul Goodman, A. S. Neill; 12. Who are the anarchists?; 13. Direct action; 14. Disobedience; 15. David Wills; 16. Ethics of anarchism; 17. Lumpenproletariat; 18. Comprehensive schools; 19. Theatre; 20. Non-violence; 21. Secondary modern; 22. Marx and Bakunin.


Vol. 3. 1963: 23. Squatters; 24. Community of scholars; 25. Cybernetics; 26. Thoreau; 27. Youth; 28. Future of anarchism; 29. Spies for peace; 30. Community workshop; 31. Self-organising systems; 32. Crime; 33. Alex Comfort; 34. Science fiction.


Vol. 4. 1964: 35. Housing; 36. Police; 37. I won’t vote; 38. Nottingham; 39. Homer Lane; 40. Unions; 41. Land; 42. India; 43. Parents and teachers; 44. Transport; 45. The Greeks; 46. Anarchism and historians.


Vol. 5. 1965: 47. Freedom in work; 48. Lord of the flies; 49. Automation; 50. Anarchist outlook; 51. Blues, pop, folk; 52. Limits of pacifism; 53. After school; 54. Buber, Landauer, Muhsam; 55. Mutual aid; 56. Women; 57. Law; 58. Stateless societies.


Vol. 6. 1966: 59. White problem; 60. Drugs; 61. Creative vandalism; 62. Organisation; 63. Voluntary servitude; 64. Misspent youth; 65. Derevolutionisation; 66. Provo; 67. USA; 68. Class and anarchism; 69. Ecology; 70. Libertarian psychiatry.


Vol. 7. 1967: 71. Sociology of school; 72. Strike City, USA; 73. Street School; 74. Anarchism and reality; 75. Improvised drama; 76. 1984; 77. Anarchist group handbook; 78. Liberatory technology; 79. Latin America; 80. Workers’ control; 81. Russian anarchists; 82. Braehead School.


Vol. 8. 1968: 83. Tenants take over; 84. Poverty; 85. Anarchist conversations; 86. Fishermen; 87. Penal System; 88. Wasteland culture; 89. France; 90. Students; 91. Artists; 92. Two schools; 93. Radio; 94. Machinery of conformity.


Vol. 9. 1969: 95. Yugoslavia; 96. Playing at revolution; 97. Architects and people; 98. Criminology; 99. Lessons from France; 100. About anarchism.