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after a robbery, was committed by a
juvenile court to the Youth Authority.
How Johnny Entered My Life
Johnny spent about one year in
one of the state rehabilitation facil–
ities and then was released on pa–
role.
1
was assigned to his case.
When
1
met Johnny, he was a tall ,
good-looking , soph istica ted,
delinquent teen-ager who was im–
pulsive and lacked inner control. He
was gang oriented and hostile to au–
thority. For the next 2 years, Johnny
and 1 got to know each other quite
well. 1 saw him on the average of 6
times a month, and we discussed
many subjects of life. 1 grew to like
him immensely.
In many instances, 1 acted as a
liaison between Johnny and the
community in order to help him
make a satisfactory adjustment on
parole. 1 found him a job and a
foster borne to live in and attempted
to help him work out sorne of his
"hang-ups" so he could better uti–
lize his abilities.
But Johnny's needs were greater
than what we at the parole offices
could fulfill. He quit his job, began
smoking marijuana, spent nights
away from his foster borne, and
started associating with undesirable
people. Yet he managed to stay out
of any serious difficulty with the po–
lice department until the Watts riot
in 1965. At that time, Johnny was
arrested for arson and looting. His
parole was revoked.
1 never saw Johnny again. But
1
later heard he had been arrested for
murder about one year after being
released on parole a second time.
He is about 23 years old now and
was on "death row" in San Quentin
- until the Supreme Court of the
United States declared the death
penalty unconstitutional.
What went wrong in Johnny's
life? What inftuenced him to get in–
volved in a tragic life of crime?
The Making of a Criminal
Johnny carne from a home that
was dirty, shabby, and ugly. At an
18
early age he was exposed to drugs,
gambling, and prostitution.
His mother was lax and inconsist–
ent in her supervision. She was un–
able to express her love for Johnny
and his younger brother. She made
no demands, required no politeness
or conformity, set no firm rules or
limits. In addition to this, Johnny
never knew his father or any male
adult well enough to identify with
him psychologically, and thus pat–
tern himself after a normal adult
male.
Johnny's borne was an unhealthy
place, a breeding ground for
trouble, and trouble was there!
Now it is a statistical fact that
about one out of five teen-age boys
becomes involved with the law dur–
ing adolescence. And a very high
percentage of these young people,
like Johnny, come from undisci–
plined bornes.
What most parents of delinquents
have failed to recognize is tbat a
child's cbaracter needs guidance in
order to become adequately
stru~r
tured. Controls must be provided by
tbe parent.
1
have been in many
bornes wbere small cbildren were
left to grow up by themselves. As a
result of being neglected, tbey be–
carne undisciplined. These young–
sters had never learned self-respect
or respect for others. In sucb an en–
vironment, is it any wonder the chil–
dren take to the streets, have no
loyalty to their parents, and grow up
despising authority?
Tbe cost to "rehabilitate" today's
juvenile offenders - not to mention
the financia! loss to the victims -
runs into billions of dollars an–
nually. But, as Edward Eldefonso,
supervisor of tbe Santa Clara
County Probation Department in
San Jose, California , states:
"Delinquent behavior in the United
States is costly not only in terms of
dollars and cents, but in terms of
priceless human resources. . . . But
the costs of delinquency's emotional
interference witb our organized
ways of living and its harmful ef–
fects on botb victims and offenders
are virtually impossible to calculate"
(Eldefonso,
Youth Problems and
Law Enforcement,
Prentice-Hall,
1972, p. 1).
But bow can you insure that your
children don't end up on the same
road to crime and drugs that Johnny
traveled?
There are two basic inftuences
that produce youthful crime. First is
the child's borne and family life,
and second, his neighborhood and
community.
Unhealthy Home Atmospheres
Looking back on my experience
in working with youthful offenders,
1 see a distinctive pattern. Most
delinquents carne from emotionally
unbealthy homes. Their bornes were
scenes of conftict. Disunity and
squabblings between husbands and
wives were common . Many of tbe
bornes were eitber broken physically
by divorce or desertion, or they were
broken psychologically by lack of
communication. The lower-class
delinquents carne primarily from
the first group, and the middle-class
delinquents carne cbiefty from tbe
latter group.
Not all youngsters who come
from broken and unhealthy bornes
become delinquents. Nevertheless,
even tbose who don't are psycbolog–
ically scarred. Many pass through
stages of emotional tension and
neurotic symptoms as a result of
their broken and unbealthy borne
environments. How do 1 know? 1
carne from a broken home and grew
up in a ghetto in south-central Los
Angeles.
Later, when 1 was a parole officer
meeting with the parents of parolees
and observing their unhappy home
environments, it became quite evi–
dent to me why these young people
became delinquents. On many occa–
sions, 1 had to come to the con–
clusion that , considering the
wretched home lives and the wrong
parental examples, the wonder is
PLAIN TRUTH September 1973