I find this very interesting Wizard, as it is the approach taken by most of the good [and I underline good] residential programs for kids with mental health problems and/or minor juvenile deliquency issues [which often result from mental health issues]. If you've seen the research about the people who end up in jail, a huge proportion of them grew up with Attention Deficit Disorder and/or Hyperactivity, many have Learning Disabilities, and many of them have various mental health problems that could have been dealt with more effectively if they had received effective treatment when they were younger. Many of these people would have done much much better in life if they had been helped in small settings and been helped to learn way more problem solving skills.
The good programs that work for kids provide structure, such as you are talking about. A lot of these kids [and adults] function so much better with a very firm structure. But the main issue is the development of problem solving skills. These are generally people who have not learned to wait for gratification and who don't have the skills that they need to live decent crime-free lives. They've mostly spent their lives frustrated and acting out. The kind of program you are talking about would be a great way to help them develop the skills that they need. Obviously the crime culture that abounds has a role in people becoming criminals, but when you think about all the poor people and inner city people who are NOT criminals, there are other issues going on. Addiction is one issue - but again, if you look at who becomes an addict, you will find many of the same mental health problems -- ADD/ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Bi-polar, Depression, Anxiety. We have two major problems with crime -- one is to keep kids with problems from ending up there, and there are lots of effective ways to do that, related to better school and after-school programs for these kids [but of course we would have to put MONEY into the schools to do this and we seem to lack the committment] including more extensive programs for kids who have more extensive problems -- the second is what to do with the people who are already engaged in criminal activity. The programs that work for kids work for many of the same reasons they COULD work with adults if we put more resources into dealing with them. However, doing a program like this at a place as big as Camp Ripley is probably not going to work. The other feature of the good residential treatment programs is that they are small -- 12 to 20 kids at most in a section, and not too many sections. You have a great idea, and I hope you can get someone to listen -- so far the powers that be don't seem inclined to do anything that isn't super punitive..... some people will tell you that they are basically doing what you're suggesting at our current institutions, but they are not. Diane Wiley, Tangletown, who has worked in the legal system for 32 years and has a kid with "problems".... ----- Original Message ----- From: wizardmarks: > Camp Ripley is no longer used by the armed forces, so it's sits there empty. However, it is a fully operational camp with all the stuff to feed, house, and train troops. There is no reason not to use this facility to deal with some criminals in a different way..... REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
