We are living in a time when we are experiencing many challenges. Global warming, economic stress,
and an increase in crime. Here in the Midwest the recent shootings have let us know, there was something serious amiss. Such challenges can make us feel helpless, anxious, and fearful. We can also
use these experiences to gather our strengths, and use it to transform.
We can chose how we experience our reality. We can create a choice by stepping back so as to understand the underlying patterns and the overall path of to growth.
Consciousness:
Coming from a background human development and having served as an expert witness
for inmates on death row, the increase in seemingly random shootings has been of
concern to me. These incidents, while difficult and painful, need not result in shame and blame.
From a broader perspective they also may serve as a stimulus to create a leap for good.
Facing the Problem:
Who is this person who commits the crime? Is this person inherently evil, a monster? Or, is there
something more? In my investigations of older adolescents on the antecedents of the crime. I found that all too often there was a story of a lost child, a child that had fallen in the cracks of a busy, fragmented world. The pattern was one of poverty, broken families, bullying at school, fear, blame, and little community.
As a teenager the individual was in the wrong crowd, with little positive direction. The crime had been
committed by age 18. This story is similar to many of the stories so vividly described by James Garbarino (1999) in his book, "Lost Boys." What was most deeply missing was a sense of connection and being significant.
When individuals are deeply damaged and hurt, or their voices ignored, they often lose their ability to
reflect on the impact of their behavior on others. They lose their ability to function effectively. Protection is needed. We need to be discerning and wise, know the signals for dangerousness, and protect ourselves and others.
At the same time, it also is helpful to take a broader perspective. The prison business is one of the fastest growing in the country. Is there something we can learn? Is it possible to do a better job, to create a new way?
I say yes.
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