Reflections on Youth in Gangs: Beyond the Headlines

Speakers at Youth in Gangs: Beyond the Headlines

By: Tristan Walsh, CfJJ Intern

Last week, Citizens for Juvenile Justice hosted a forum at the Boston Bar Association about youth in gangs in Massachusetts.  People from the community and many parts of the juvenile justice system joined in a discussion with a panel consisting of an academic researcher, service providers, and four former gang members.

For me, the forum was an eye-opening experience.  Everything I knew before about gangs came from news stories, tv, and other media.  Among other things, I believed gangs had grown dramatically in recent years and were inextricably linked with the drug trade.

When a safe haven for youth is lockup

A recent Op-Ed in the Boston Globe discusses how juvenile crime may be driven, in part, by youth who see detention facilities as a safer alternative to their own neighborhoods.  How common do you think this thinking is among young people?  Do you think that the perception of lockups being safer than home influences those working in the juvenile justice system when they make decisions about juveniles?

When a safe haven for youth is a lockup

(Getty Images)

By Taisha Sturdivant August 2, 2010

ARE THINGS so bad in Boston neighborhoods that some young men willingly get themselves sent to juvenile detention in order to be safe?

A close friend from Dorchester told me it is safer in lockup because, “If you have drama with someone, the correction officers separate you. In the hood there are no time outs or mediators. If you have problems, you face them, alone. Even when you no longer want to be involved, they will find you.’’

For some, juvenile detention is very much like summer camp — most people hate being shipped off, some never get adjusted, but after a while it’s not as bad as it seems. Good behavior is rewarded, and detainees can earn take-out, movie, and video game rights. Still, that is not what makes detention appealing. For some, it is the certainty that they will see another day.

Boston by Night Tour

The Boston Globe recently reported on bus tours conducted by The Boston Foundation that bring participants into “some of the city’s roughest neighborhoods.”

“Dubbed the Boston By Night tour, the four-hour bus trip ferries 15 to 20 participants into parts of the city they might otherwise never see, especially after dark. Run by the Boston Foundation as a fund-raising tool for its StreetSafe Boston initiative, the outreach program works with young people in high-crime neighborhoods. The tour is an amalgam of sociological field study, criminal justice seminar, and donor sales pitch, its itinerary typically made up of community centers, housing developments, and law enforcement outposts along a 2-mile stretch of Blue Hill Avenue.” Full text

The article was accompanied by a video with footage from one of the tours:

A letter to the editor was published several days later, criticizing both the tour and the Globe’s coverage.

“This type of article further enforces every stereotype people have about certain communities and why they should avoid them. It’s sad that the only way for people to feel safe visiting a two-mile stretch of Blue Hill Avenue was on a tour bus whose stops were “carefully chosen for maximum emotional impact.’’ A “sociological field study’’? Please.” Full text

What are your thoughts?  Post in the comments.