Mrs. Duggan was known as the Dean of Discipline. Her actual title was unknown to most at Valley Reformatory but it mattered very little. She carried with her a reputation for being strict and for possessing a certain proclivity towards corporal punishment. If you were unlucky enough to have been sent to Valley, you did not want to end up in her office.

First offenders went over Mrs. Duggan's knee and were spanked with just her hand. Since Valley served as an alternative to prison for young women above the age of 18, their over-the-knee predicament was intended to embarrass as much it hurt. Second time offenders got the OTK hand spankings in addition to a severe paddling. Third time offenders received both plus the cane. There were never any fourth time offenders. Even the toughest of the girls at Valley shaped up real quick after the cane.