Making a Difference Is
What It's All About

Gary's 16-year-old sister became pregnant by a neighbor boy, and his 16-year-old brother, although academically bright, dropped out of school the day following his sixteenth birthday and began hitchhiking across the country. Later, the brother turned to prostitution for survival and to drugs for emotional support.

My association with Gary began when he was assigned to my homeroom and guidance team at the Smithson Middle School. The school was located in the center of a low-income neighborhood, which was rapidly changing to families primarily from diverse ethnic and multicultural backgrounds. Almost immediately, without any particular reason, it became obvious that Gary trusted me and considered me to be his friend and supporter. There was one other teacher in the school, Mr. Mac, with whom Gary established a similar relationship.

As the semester progressed, you could see Gary beginning to change. It appeared as if he was carrying a huge burden and could not find it in himself to share the burden with anyone else. Because Mr. Mac and I had established good working relationships with Gary, when we sensed that he was experiencing these personal problems, we began to encourage him. We also involved the school counselor so Gary would feel he had additional school supports. But somehow, the supports we provided were not enough to help him overcome how he was feeling about himself and his family. On several occasions Gary said, "This f--kin' world ain't worth livin' in!" and "I hate my family because they can't do nothin' right and always get in trouble and hurt each other."

On a cold January evening, Gary evidently had had enough. His father, drunk and enraged over some incident, dropped by his home and began to argue with his mother. Gary, frustrated and angry, picked up a baseball bat and seriously injured both parents. As a result, he was incarcerated for two years in a nearby juvenile justice facility. Mr. Mac and I visited Gary often and tried to reassure him that we still cared about him and that we were there to provide emotional support. No family members ever visited Gary during his incarceration.

Upon release, Gary returned to a home that had changed little since he had left it two years earlier. The juvenile system had made no preparation for his re-entry to the community or for emotional supports once he left the facility.

Almost immediately, Mr. Mac and I realized what had not happened on Gary's behalf. Because we had maintained good relationships with Gary, we worked to identify important community resources and connect him to them. We were able to get the local community mental health center to take Gary for individual and group counseling; we connected him with a youth center for recreation, helped him volunteer in a community service project at a local hospital on the weekends, and worked with the leadership of a church in his neighborhood that had several youth activities that could provide Gary with additional support. It seemed that each new connection brought new hope and a new perspective about his life and future. Gradually, we saw the confusion, anger, and disenchantment with life begin to fade.

Eventually, Gary completed high school and entered college, where he experienced academic success and made new friends. Although his life was tragically ended in a car accident during his sophomore year in college, he had taken on a positive outlook for his future while he lived.

This story illustrates the importance of individuals, communities, and systems working together to make positive things happen for kids! I feel certain that if some of us had not taken the personal initiative to link him to services, Gary would not have experienced success when he left the juvenile facility. Without somebody who cares, it is impossible for youth like Gary to move from anger and hopelessness to happiness and success.

The focus of this issue, Juvenile Justice or Injustice: Promising Preventions and Interventions, is on ways that adults who care about incarcerated youth can help ensure their happiness and success both during and after incarceration. In this issue, we provide a collection of 17 articles on juvenile justice and community intervention, divided into four sections:

(a) Overview of Juvenile Justice and Community Intervention,

(b) Community Based Interventions,

(c) Programs and Insights within the Correctional Setting, and

(d) Reintegration and Transition.