Texas Alliance For Crime Prevention
™
NEWS
NEWS ITEM 1
The United States puts more children and teenagers in juvenile detention than any other developed nations in the world, throwing a kid in detention often reduce the chance that he or she will graduate high school, but it also raises the chance that the youth will commit more crimes later on in life. The United States spends about $6 billion on juvenile corrections each year, despite evidence that other strategies might be more effective. We have become a nation of Prisons . Lock them up, instead of dealing with the problem. Our Children who get caught up in this vicious cycle are Beyond Scared. It is time that we as a society stand as one to save our children and the future of America.
NEWS ITEM 2
Why is it that many woman don’t leave their abusive partners? Once the reasons they don’t are understood, it becomes clear why battered women so often react with shame and confusion when asked to explain their behavior and why it is so inappropriate to conclude that if they were up against real abuse they would leave. Actually, the opposite is true.
So why would anyone get caught up in this terrible situation in the first place? Why wouldn’t they get out at the very first sign of mistreatment? Let me offer a quick, and to that end incomplete, explanation: A major reason we all pick the partners we do is in hopes of getting the love we longed for (and didn’t fully get) from our parents. The problem is that in our unconscious cleverness we pick psychologically “reasonable facsimiles” of our parents and therefore we wind up with a partner who in many ways acts like our mother or father. So if our parents mistreated us as kids, we will likely pick partners capable of similar abuse. Since we still need love and approval, we still continue to try, fruitlessly, to get their love and approval just as we tried with our parents.
Women that stay with abusive partners very often have had abusive parents. To them it’s normal to get hurt by the people you love. Their self esteem is very low from childhood mistreatment and is further undermined by violence from their partners. No wonder women can’t give a good reason for why they stay: It would take therapy (and education) to understand it themselves. If they had good therapy, they could learn that they didn’t cause or deserve the abuse. Then they would leave.
NEWS ITEM 3
WHY DO YOUTH JOIN GANGS?
A Sense of "Family" - Young people might feel that they don't receive enough support or attention at home. They may be trying to escape a negative home life, or may be looking for a father figure. Gangs often make promises to give unconditional support, and to become the "family" they never had.
Desire for protection - Communities with high gang activity often see young people join a gang just to survive. It is often easier to join the gang than to remain vulnerable and unprotected in their neighborhoods.
Peer Pressure - Kids and teens face constant pressure to fit in, and they may not have the support they need to avoid the pressures to join a gang. Peer pressure can come in the form of intimidation, coercion, a dare, harassment, friendly persuasion, or repetitious begging.
Excitement - Some young people get a rush out of defying authority, or committing crimes. They may be attracted to the gang lifestyle, as it lives outside the law and participates in many illicit behaviors.
To Appear Cool - Gangs have mastered the art of manipulation to attract potential recruits. They wear the latest fashion trends, throw the hottest parties, and drive the coolest cars. They can appear to have the 'perfect' lifestyle to a young kid who's looking to fit in somewhere. They offer an image of "cool" that has been glorified by the media and entertainment industry.
