The New Youth Justice Book

Incredibly powerful book that tells the story of the most progressive juvenile rehabilitation center in the US. And yes, it's in Texas. Shocking, right?

Giddings State School is where the worst of the worst of juvenile offenders are sent. Murderers, rapists, entrenched gang leaders...people who are "beyond help." And they help them. Their philosophy lies in the basic concept that these teenagers have, as a protective mechanism, lost the ability to empathize. Through intensive therapy and group work (called resocialization), they push them to reconnect with their past and the pain they suffered and then show them how they inflicted that same pain onto others.

Giddings doesn't look or feel like a prison. It's got beautiful open spaces, no guards carry weapons beyond pepper spray (and only a few have that), they are called "students" instead of prisoners, and everyone is treated with respect. From the outside, it looks like a pretty easy life for someone who's committed such a destructive crime. But the administrators claim that it's the "hard" way. In prison, instead of being forced to confront their lives and actions, they harden themselves and defer even more responsibility. Giddings, in constrast, is a grueling psychological experience where they are not allowed to indulge in "thinking errors" like making excuses or avoidance. While the program has drawn a lot of controversy (I mean, it's in Texas! You can imagine there are a lot of opponents.), no one care argue with the results. It works.

Last Chance in Texas follows two students, one boy and one girl. After spending years earning privileges, they get the opportunity to do the Capital Offenses group. In small groups, each member tells his or her life story over several sessions. The rest of the kids in the group draw it out, asking questions and relating from their own experiences. They they role play key scenes from the kids life. After that, they go to telling their crime stories and it culminates with them role playing their crimes, the offender taking the role of their victim. The stories that Hubner witnessed and wrote about are absolutely heartbreaking. The amount of abuse and neglect that these kids have suffered is overwhelming. And then seeing them let go of their anger to accept responsibility (and guilt) for the crimes that they committed was amazing. A kid who successfully completes this group and other required activities will not be sent to adult prison.

Other things the book touched on that made it a much more realistic and fair picture: a history of juvenile convictions (since I have a longtime interest in prison rights it was mostly familiar to me but I'm glad it was there to give context for readers who might not be as well versed), examples of students who "washed" out of the program and were passed on to their long prison sentences (although the Giddings school thinks most people can be reached, they admit the existence of true psychopaths and will remove them to protect the rest of the students), and the rights of the victim and their families.

I have always respected the ability of people (especially teenagers) to change and be layered dynamic people and I strongly support the philosophy of looking at criminal justice system as a rehabilitative place instead of a punishment factory. But sometimes it is hard to look at people who have committed such atrocities and know what to do with them. This book (and program) offers solutions and most importantly, hope.