Polsky’s 

Diamond
Howard W. Polsky, Phd, created Polsky’s Diamond as the final product of his research regarding the culture and group
dynamics of at-risk male youth.  He received a B.A. in Social Psychology from the University of Wisconsin.  Camelot
Schools deploy Polsky’s Diamond as a psychoanalytical tool for assessing student behavior and manipulating group
dynamics to enforce a learning environment.
The diamond is split in half horizontally into the Big Crowd (leaders) and the Small Crowd (followers).  The diamond is
split vertically in half into Positive and Negative types of personalities.  Students are classified within the diamond as
belonging to one of the following social types.
1. The Leader – Leaders are usually assertive and confident, but not necessarily high-profile.  They carry
themselves in a way that commands attention.  Everybody listens when they are speaking.  They frequently
lead silently or by example. Positive leaders model good behaviors and unite students. Negative leaders
entrench and divide.
2. The Lieutenant – The Lieutenant is the Leader’s strong arm, right-hand man.  He or she does the Leader’s
dirty work.  He or she is often noisy and visible and draws a lot of attention to him or herself – people
therefore frequently mistake them for the Leader.  They are not. Positive Lieutenants support the Positive
Leaders in confronting their peers and modeling good behaviors.
Negative Lieutenants are the Negative Leaders’ bitch.
3. The Con Artist – This kid makes deals with all the staff and generally stays out of everyone’s way – they
don’t have a natural instinct to lead, but love attention.  Class clown types frequently fit into this profile.  They
know how to get what they need out of people, but they’re not necessarily evil.  They’re just con artists.
4. Dyads – Dyads are a pair of students who cling together and support one another.  When they are not
together, they are frequently alone.  Multiple Dyads exist on the line between the Big Crowd and the Small
Crowd – pairs of students frequently either contribute positively to peer pressure situations (join in confronting
kids who are being dumb in class) or join in on negative peer pressure situations (e.g., egging the Con Artist
on in class).
5. Isolates – Isolates are islands:  students who don’t want to associate with anybody.  New students frequently
assume this role coming into the school.  They keep a low profile and don’t talk to anyone, because they’re
new.  Within their first week, Isolates will usually reveal themselves to be their actual diamond type.  If they
push buttons, they’re usually a Con Artist, Lieutenant, or Negative Leader.  If they fall in line, they’re either
part of the Positive Small Crowd or potential Positive Leaders-in-waiting.  If we figure out they’re the latter, we
groom them into peer pressure forces that keep the other kids in line.  If we figure out they’re a Negative
Anything, we break them.  Usually that means the behavior staff restrain them in the first week, either publicly
or in private.  If restraints don’t work, the next best strategy is keeping them close (” …enemies closer”). 
Usually what ends up happening is that one staff member will take to the student, “adopt” them, and reform
them in a positive way.  We’ve had “unreachables” (a self-explanatory term I made up for some kids) do
complete 180s after being taken under the right person’s wing.
6. Gophers – Kids who “go fer” everything – they’ll trade cigarettes, their seat in townhouse, their pencil,
whatever, just to be left alone.  They’re lackey-types, but not as high up in the hierarchy as lieutenants. 
Gophers are usually not a big deal, but they’re still sneaky and can’t be trusted.
7. Scapegoats – The most vulnerable kids with the lowest self-esteem.  They are the ones who get relentlessly
picked on.  Sometimes students are reverse Scapegoats, meaning EVERYBODY hates them but they’re actually
Positive Leaders with high self-esteem.  Kids usually just hate on them because they’re succeeding in the
school, academically and behaviorally.

 
 
The Howard Polsky’s Diamond is used as a framework to graphically represent the social system of institutionalized
delinquency. It describes methods to adjust peer culture by altering the flow of power away from the aggressive and
manipulating students while empowering the weaker students.  Once every student is free to confront all negative
behavior and participate fully in the peer group, students gain self esteem, self respect, and the ability to monitor their
own behavior as well as the behavior of their peers.  The seven levels of intervention are used by both students and
school personnel as a guide to establish and maintain the school’s positive normative culture.
 
More info at  http://deadmanstales.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/polskys-diamond/