The Redemption by Criminal Youth by John Hubner - Book Report/Review Example

The Redemption by Criminal Youth by John Hubner Introduction With the increasing number of teenage crimes witnessed across major regions within the USA and other developed nations, there has been the need to develop correctional facilities that are not too harsh as compared to the adult ones, but this has not been helpful in changing the outcomes of these teenagers. On the other hand, many teenagers end up receiving harsher penalties because of inconclusive investigations conducted by the investigating authorities, hence attracting the attention of many, but only a few take the road to assist these teenagers to change the fate bestowed upon them. With this, not many authors or journalists have been able to gain access to these facilities in order to understand the correctional programs and inform on whether taxpayers' money gets to proper use. One such individual is John Hubner, a renowned journalist who gives insights into the life of juvenile delinquents that find themselves in the correctional system for various crimes that they commit within the course of their teenage lives. Ideally, Hubner’s book “Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption by Criminal Youth” is more realistic because Hubner started out as a teenage delinquent himself and also ended up being a parole officer at one point in his life. In this book, Hubner argues that correctional facilities such as Giddings State School help in the reform process of the teenage delinquents by helping them see the wrongs that they had committed through their rigorous treatment programmes (Hubner, 2008). Another author that also provides insights into the juvenile delinquents system is Thomas Cahill, who uses the story of Green Dominique in the book “A Saint on Death Row: A Story about Dominique Green” to put his views across about the state of injustice that exists for many teenagers sentenced to death. In this regard, this book report will compare the stories presented by John Hubner and Thomas Cahill by drawing out the differences and similarities between the two texts. Question 1 According to Cahill, “soul murder” for a child is the process in which a sexually molested child feels as though they were no value as a result of the ways in which those that should protect them do not do so, hence leaving them vulnerable. In Dominique’s case, his mother chose not to inform the authorities about the sexual abuse and rape committed by the priest and did not seek medical intervention for him, making him feel as though he had minimal value to society (Cahill, 2009). Essentially, the “soul murder” aspect tends to lead many teenagers to delinquency because those that should care for them either abandon them or claim that they are criminals. The result of this is that a teenager may opt to engage in the life of crime, rather than stay at home with those that accuse them falsely of wrongdoing, and begin to make a life on their own through crime. Question 2 In most cases as witnessed in the case of Dominique through the accounts of Cahill, sexual abuse and the feeling of no self-worth tend to have a direct link to teenagers engaging in crime, as it is their way of finding self-worth (Cahill, 2009). The sexual abuse incident committed by a priest, in which Dominique’s mother did not seek justice, served as a catalyst for him to join the criminal world. This is because the act spurred a feeling of unworthiness in him, hence he could not fear the repercussions associated with crime. Further, many teenagers end up committing crimes as a way of ensuring that they protect themselves either from violence or from a repeat sexual offense, leading many of them to acquire firearms for protection. Not only does this happen, but many of them end up on the streets because they embrace the feeling that the homes that they come from no longer offer them the security they long for, or the feeling of self worth. Subsequently, the homes break, in which the children join gangs that engage in order to substitute for the families that they used to have. Question 3 On the other hand, physical violence also tends to have an irreversible effect on a teenager that may opt to engage in delinquency, as illustrated by Hubner, because this tends to make these delinquents value others more that they do themselves (Hubner, 2008). Essentially, a teenager that engages in criminal activity and has a past marred with physical violence may engage in unlawful activities without the fear of being hurt because they become accustomed to pain. According to Hubner, many of the teenage delinquents in the Giddings State School that have prior engagements in criminal activities tend to have a history of physical abuse, hence opted to inflict on others the physical violence that they suffered earlier in their lives (Hubner, 2008). On the other hand, Cahill illustrates that Dominique joined the life of the streets because he could no longer take physical abuse from his mother, which served as an entry into delinquency. When these significant forces provide these essentials for the moral growth of a child, then it helps them in building their self-image and influences them to despise the life of lawlessness. Question 4 As witnessed in these two texts, family stability is one of the key pillars that help influence a child to grow into a holistic individual by abiding by moral principles. In Dominique’s case, his mother engaged in substance abuse that led her to lose sanity and the ability to care for her sons. This caused their separation, where Dominique had to live with his father who also did not take responsibility for him and his younger brother, hence forcing him into the life of crime. Based on this, teenagers growing up within unstable families have high chances of venturing into crime and delinquency because there is no one to correct them and help them take the best path in life. Therefore, when parents are irresponsible and are not able to act as role models to their teenage children, it is highly likely that theirs would be the life of run-ins with the law. Question 5 Based on Cahill’s accounts, Dominique ventured into crime at a tender age, while in the third grade, which is mostly at the age of thirteen, because the surroundings in which he lived allowed him to. The implication of this was that Dominique had no choice because his family could not provide him with the stability that he needed, and also because of his past association with both physical and sexual abuse. Some may begin by taking the ways of people living in the streets as a means of survival and staying relevant once they run away from home, because going back can never be a valid alternative. Further, Mr. Green also got into the world of crime through his father, because he allowed him access to a gun and even showing him how to use it as a self-defense mechanism meaning that delinquency can also start from home (Cahill, 2009). Question 6 As much of Dominique’s past experience was condemning, resorting to crime was unacceptable because this cannot be a valid reason for one to carry on with these activities, as they can use this as a lesson for them to change the course of their future. Hubner (2008) asserts that the program at Giddings is effective for treating teenage delinquency because here, they are given a second chance to make their lives better so they either take or leave this opportunity. Therefore, those engaging in crime should never use this as an excuse to commit crimes, as this is not valid or arguable within society or the law. Question 7 In his book, Hubner highlights the success of the treatment offered at Gidings, by telling stories about the lives of delinquents, and also re-enacts these scenes through dramas. Essentially, this aims at transforming the teens from within, which can also make a change in their outward behavior as compared to sentencing in a maximum security prison (Hubner, 2008). The success of this according to Hubner is that teenagers are able to feel retribution for their past crimes and also see that what they did was wrong, hence influencing them to choose not to engage in such atrocities in the future (Hubner, 2008). Hubner asserts that most of the delinquents that go through the Giddings program change their behavior because the re-enacted dramas tend to place them as the victims. This means that they are able to understand what their victim went through as they faced death hence influencing them to change their mentality about the value of life of other people, which can prevent them from repeating such crimes in future. Question 8 According to Hubner (2008), the cycle of delinquency continues in a child despite them going through some juvenile systems, because there are no proper structures that help address the deep-rooted issues that these delinquents may have. However, these structures do exist in Giddings where the success rates are high for teenagers that leave these institutions have a low chances of re-offending. Most of the teenage delinquents opt to join gangs because that is their only way of survival and end up going back to the juvenile system after sentencing. Therefore, the proper way to go about would be to create an environment where these children can reveal the reasons why they chose the life of crime as a way of mitigating this cycle of crime as is the case at Giddings Stae School (Hubner, 2008). Essentially, the non-application of this process explains why most of these delinquents spend their teenage or adult lives in correctional facilities because some non-effective system do not address their emotions, past, or personal challenges. Question 9 Essentially, Dominique opted to embrace the sale of drugs rather than any other form of criminal activity because this trade did not require much effort, as it is a case of pushing the drugs to those that need them. For Dominique, it was much safer to push drugs because the chances to which he would be in harms way or others in the line of violence were slimmer as compared to any other form of criminal activity. However, this served as a stepping-stone to other elevated forms of crime, such as him being an accessory to murder despite the fact that he did not commit the offense that led him to jail. Question 10 In the words of Dominique, he chose the drug trade business because he felt that it best suited a child of his age, as he could not afford to risk his life since his siblings looked up to him for support and for them to survive. In the justice system, such a statement would mean that most teenagers end up in the drug alleys peddling drugs because circumstances such as parental neglect force them to join it. This forces them to be responsible at an early age and miss education opportunities. In this case, it is not a matter of choice or preference, but it is a matter of forced responsibilities as they have no better alternative than to do so. References Cahill, T. (2009). A saint on death row: The story of Dominique Green (pp. 1–20). New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. Hubner, J. (2008). Last chance in Texas: The redemption of criminal youth. New York: Random House. Read More