Stop the cycle of violence

The following appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe on August 5, 2007:

Crime consumed a family, and an 8-year-old is lost

"Liquarry A. Jefferson probably didn't have a chance. His father was in prison the day the boy was born, emerging long enough from his manslaughter sentence to commit a string of armed robberies. His four half siblings were born of three different fathers, all gang members, and, currently, all inmates."
[Click here to read the full story.]

This front-page article in the Boston Sunday Globe was both depressing and thought-provoking. It focused on the recent accidental shooting of an 8-year-old boy by his 7-year-old cousin. How much sadder can it get?

The quote below from the story kind of sums it all up:

"Crime in many neighborhoods runs in families, where elders bequeath gang membership, drug abuse, joblessness, and brutality to their offspring like a toxic inheritance." 

What can be done to interrupt this vicious cycle?  Is there any hope?

Comments

[Eileen P.]

Liquarry A. Jefferson was probably a victim in this case.His young mind did not know how to act to certain situations. He was probably raised in a drug, violent environment.You can't really blame an 8-year old child for what he thought was "just a game." He didn't grow up with a father figure, since his father was locked up, to teach him right from wrong. His mother was probably paying too much attention to her personal life, without knowing that it would affect her children's lives. Let's be realistic, what example was the boy taught by his parents? If anything it should be the parents responsibility to take the blame for their child's actions.

[mrsyungface]

Is there any hope for the streets of Boston? Let's see, between grown man and these little boys scared to fight with out going to the guns. then not to mention the men and little boys that have guns just to show off, I know it's really sad but there might not be any hope for the streets. The age of shooters is getting younger and younger and I think this is because they figure,"If I go to juvenille detention, I get out at 18 or 21." To the avarage gangbangers it seems like nothing. Another thing I have to point out is police just dont;t seem to care. You can not tell me every killer in Boston is smarter than our police dapartment. To them we are just doing them a favor; it's like who cares if the excuse my language, all the little niggas kill each other....

[deanna]

What could be done to interrupt this vicous cycle?

Well, who can really say? People for years have shown their children that violence is the answer in most cases. (But that is not how it is.) Children feel that is the way to show love to each other.(If you're not down you don't love your people.) Men show their sons that guns are the answer and that guns are the power that they need to take over the world. So they believe that you can get anything you want as long as you have a gun, without a gun you are nothing. This causes our children to be corrupt and think nasty, evil thoughs.

Is there any hope?

There's hope in a far land not known.We, as a nation, will have to stop the violence,but if we can't agree to stop, then how can we have hope? That's how I feel.

[Sarah]

We've lost this war. I'm sorry, until we can make the ultimate sacrifice of people over profit ..the children will be the sacrificial lambs.

[L.A.]

This is not wholly a case of too little, too late. However, I agree with A Friend in that earlier intervention in the mother's life could have helped save her child's life.

Clearly—as the article seems to dwell on—throwing money at the problem in the form of policing and court fees has not helped. Displacing the children did not help. If law enforcement can identify the families in dire need of help, then social services programs should have been alerted earlier. But--like many negative circumstances--once one is in a situation, it is hard to climb your way out. Too many mothers in Massachusetts and the nation are in the same situation Liquarry's mom is: feeling stuck, set in ways established by her family, and unable--unwilling--even to remove herself from the environment. More options must be given to women in this situation. We need more programs to support young parents and help them make better life-choices; otherwise; there will be many more Liquarry's in the news.

[Jackie]

It would be really useful to hear directly from mothers involved with CWU and other places and from mothers in the communities that are suffering and in fear for their lives. It does seem to me that mothers could be a particularly powerful force in refusing to join in the cycle of violence. One by one if these women can refuse to be part of gang culture there could be a mother's movement for change. I wonder what kind of help and support these women really need? How can we help them speak up without fear and move on. Who is helping them get organized and how? I hope some of these voices will make it to this blog and to other forums and that together women will begin to take charge of their own and their children's futures.

[A friend]

Thank you for starting a discussion. Both the article and Yvonne Abrahams' column lay out the complexity and stakes.

Abrahams tells the story of a girl, "Grace", who received similar interventions and assistance. After 5 years she is still in school and not pregnant. Her mother has made strides towards changing her life.

While we obviously do not know the full picture of both of these families (even with a full two-page spread about one) the difference seems to be in part the two children's mothers. The boy's mother accepted/tolerated/knew no other life then the one described above. She too needed role models. She needs a chance to see there is more to life than poverty.

Sounds crazy but maybe one way to reach some mothers is a chance to get-away without the kids. Maybe a "camp" for adult women inwhich mothers of vulnerable families attend with women who have made successful transitions to stability, or perhaps even self-sufficiency. They attend sessions, have time for reflections, etc. They have to complete some CWU class or program, show some improvement over 2-3 months and then can go to a place like Star Island for a week of programming, food, and companionship.

This would probably never help Liquarry's mother. But maybe one of her neighbors could have done it and others around her, including Liquarry's siblings could see how her life was evolving for the better.