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| Fonds/Collection Number: | F0642 | ||||||||||
| Title: | J.W. (Hans) Mohr fonds | ||||||||||
| Dates: | 1936-2007 | ||||||||||
| Extent: | 3.9 m of textual records 37.47 MB of electronic records ca. 50 photographs : b&w and col. ; 25 x 20 cm or smaller |
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| Biographical Sketch/ Administrative History: | Johann W. Mohr (1928-2008), commonly known as Hans Mohr, was a social worker, psychiatric researcher, and teacher with interests that included psychiatry, etymology, family law, criminal statistics, and penal policy. Mohr was born in Graz, Austria, on March 19, 1928. In 1946 Mohr began his academic career at the University of Graz in Austria, studying Anglistic and Germanic Philology and Literary Studies. From 1948-1949 Mohr studied at the University of Nottingham on the Language and Social Institutions Scholarship. Upon his return to the University of Graz in 1949, Mohr worked at the International Social Services refugee camp in Ried, Austria, as an English tutor and counsellor. This is where Mohr met his wife, Ingeborg, whom he married in 1952. He completed his thesis in 1950 and graduated with a PhD from the University of Graz. From 1951-1952, Mohr worked as a counsellor in Salzburg, Austria, with the American National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC). His caseload consisted primarily of older men and women who were rejected from immigration because of their age, even by countries that accepted their children. This job brought him into contact with a wide range of people from various countries and classes. With the need to raise a family in better conditions and the urge to take part in a culture that was stimulating and growing, Mohr left Austria to find work in Canada in 1953. Upon arriving in Toronto, Mohr worked in carpentry, construction and in a factory. In 1954 he accepted a position as an assistant social worker at the Department of Social Welfare in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, with the child welfare and the juvenile delinquency departments. In order to advance his career, Mohr and his family moved to Toronto so he could attend the School of Social Work at the University of Toronto from 1955-1959 while working with the Big Brothers of Canada organization. He also worked as a research consultant for the Department of the Attorney General of Ontario. In 1959 he received his Masters of Social Work (MSW), with a specialization in research. From 1960-1966, Mohr was a research associate at the Forensic Clinic of the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital (TPH), which preceded the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. The major referrals in this new job in forensic psychiatry were pedophiles, exhibitionists and homosexuals. Mohr wrote and assisted in many research projects that dealt with these types of psychiatric conditions. Continuing with his work on psychiatry, Mohr taught at the University of Toronto's Department of Psychiatry from 1962-1967. While teaching at the University of Toronto, Mohr was the Head of the Section of Social Pathology Research at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. Initially he was a member of the medical faculty and then became head of the research unit. From 1969-1972, Mohr was a consultant for the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry's Forensic Services. In 1969 Mohr was cross-appointed to York University's Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Arts and Science's Department of Sociology. With his background in research and practical experience in psychiatry, social work and social psychology, Mohr helped develop and teach new courses and seminars in criminology, law and psychiatry, and research methodology. When he joined Osgoode's faculty, he was one of the first non-lawyers to become a member of a Canadian law faculty. During his time at Osgoode Hall Law School, from 1969-1989, Mohr and many of his associates were concerned with the effects of law and legal institutions, as well as law being an instrument of social change, rather than of oppression. He took a leave of absence from Osgoode in 1972 to 1976 to work as a commissioner for the Law Reform Commission of Canada, where he was able to advocate for law reform and chaired the prison reform ventures. He was one of the first non-lawyers to participate in a law reform commission anywhere in the common law world. Upon his return to Osgoode in 1976, Mohr became a mainstay of the graduate program as he led graduate colloquiums and supervised many students. He was well known for his seminar on legal epistemology. Mohr continued to teach at University of Toronto from 1976-1989. Between 1980 and 1985, Mohr was awarded the Laidlaw Fellowship in 1980, was an adjunct professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and a visiting Lansdowne Professor for the Faculty of Law and Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Between 1985 and 1989 Mohr extended his graduate seminar on improving the quality of thesis work for Osgoode over two terms and supervised a number of graduate students. He also took on unpaid duties, such as presidency of the Vanier Institute of the Family and the Church Council of Justice and Corrections. In 1989 Mohr became a Professor Emeritus. He continued with his graduate seminar until 1993, commuting from Howe Island, near Kingston, Ontario. He wrote many significant unpublished manuscripts during retirement, worked with organizations such as the John Howard Society and the Law Commission of Canada, corresponded with his colleagues locally and abroad, and provided valued criticisms of academic and professional works of colleagues. Mohr died in 2008. | ||||||||||
| Scope and Content: |
Fonds consists of publications, professional and personal correspondence, reports, newspaper and magazine articles, pamphlets, greeting cards, postcards, photographs, conference papers, seminar papers, student evaluations, meeting minutes, memos, research articles, curriculum vitae and publications list, and unpublished manuscripts. The fonds documents Mohr's work in the fields of psychiatry, law reform, legal education, criminal justice in Canada, family equality, sentencing standards, and more. The fonds includes: handwritten letters written in German by Mohr to his wife and family during the 1950s when he moved to Canada, as well as letters written in German by friends; draft manuscripts and articles from his colleagues; meeting minutes and memos from law reform organizations; printed online articles about the Law Commission of Canada and its work; correspondence with members of law reform organizations of the Law Commission of Canada regarding reports and upcoming policies. Mohr visited many other universities for lectures, seminars and conferences, in addition to participating in professional organizations. Fonds includes his papers used at these events such as 'Clinical Judgements and Citizen Reviews and the Children's Act,' the 'International Congress on Law and Psychiatry,' and 'National Consultation on Sentencing.' Fonds includes a collection of papers and reports on subjects about the Max Planck Institute, feminism, postmodernism and the law, rhetoric language and the law, psychiatry and medical works, law and theory, and criminal law. Fonds also includes physical and electronic versions of Mohr's unpublished manuscripts, as well as electronic versions of some of Mohr's outgoing correspondence.
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| Language of material note: | Many documents in this fonds are written in German. Some letters and articles are in French. | ||||||||||
| Restrictions on Access and Use: | Access to certain files in this fonds is permitted only through a research agreement, as noted in the file lists. Consult the University Archivist for additional information in this regard. | ||||||||||
| Finding Aid: | Series and file lists available. | ||||||||||
| URL of Finding Aid: | http://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/fonds/ON00370-f0000642.pdf | ||||||||||
| Accruals: | The fonds comprises the following accessions: 2013-039. No further accruals are expected. | ||||||||||
| 2013-039 |
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| Immediate source of acquisition: | Donated by Dr. Veronica Mohr in 2013. | ||||||||||
| Provenance Access Points: | Mohr, J. W., 1928-2008 |
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Date of creation: 2013/12/19 Date of last revision: 2014/01/10 |
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