In a 2011 feature film titled, Shaolin, the head of the Shaolin temple (the Abbot) at the centre of the film is speaking to one of the monks who feel worthless, and is of the view that he has nothing of significance to offer anyone. The Abbot says to the monk ‘…life is an accumulation of experiences…’ and asks the question, ‘ A piece of gold, a pile of mud. Which is the more useful?’ The monk replies, ‘ The gold of course?’ The Abbot answered, ‘But to a seed?’ Never underestimate yourself. We all have a purpose in life. We need to find it. Sometimes, others can assist us.
In last week’s blog I commented on the 11 gun killings in Nova Scotia in 2016 by the time of writing, six were young Black men. In the week since one more young man has been shot and killed. There has been some soul-searching and research over the years into why such killings could have arisen and what could be done to reduce it in the next two brief articles I outline some of that and suggest what I believe to be at the core of the problem.
In 2014, Doctor Stephen Schneider of St Mary’s University, Halifax, was part of a research team addressing specifically youth and gang violence in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), and serious and chronic youth offending generally. The report examined initiatives in the Municipality targeted at serious and chronic offenders. Using police-reported statistics it was found that initiatives following a significant range of measures implemented after a specially constituted Roundtable on Violence in the HRM in 2008 had minimal impact on the problem. It was stated that the reason was partly due to ‘significant gaps in efforts to control youth crime and violence for the regional municipality as a whole and within high-crime, high-risk neighbourhoods in particular.’ (Schneider, S. 2014, 1). The gaps included:
- Lack of collaboration and integration between key sectors with a role to play within the city and neighbourhoods.
- Absence of comprehensive strategic plans at the city level and for neighbourhoods with high crime, violence and risk factors leading to criminal actions.
- Inadequate reaching out by competent staff and community members to those children, youth and young adults involved.
- ‘A shortage of structured developmentally-based after-school programs and resources (that offer tutoring, mentoring, social competency skills training, sports and recreation) in high-risk environments.
- ‘Lack of coordinated strategies, programs and resources to prevent and treat mental health and substance abuse disorders that are linked to serious and chronic youth criminality.
- ‘Insufficient labour market and post-secondary education strategies for at-risk youth and young adults, and the absence of evidence-based community crime prevention programs.(Schneider, S. 2014, Addressing Youth Crime and Violence in the HRM:
Research Findings and Recommendations, Executive Summary)
The report outlined that a small number of adolescents and young adult offenders were responsible for a disproportionate amount of the crime and violence in the Municipality and therefore the report had a focus on those involved aged between 12-17 and 18-25. The HRM government and key stakeholders were urged to do likewise. The objective argued ‘is to develop a comprehensive strategic plan that mobilizes all relevant governmental and non-governmental actors and resources to work in a collaborative, integrated fashion within high-risk, high-crime neighbourhoods.’ Three key elements of this plan were:
- ‘Prevention’: focus on those at high risk to prevent the onset of criminal activity and violence.
- ‘Intervention’: provide treatment and resources to those already involved in crime and violence to prevent further escalation.
- ‘Suppression’: ‘traditional and evidence-based criminal justice approaches targeting chronic and serious offenders.
Next week I will focus on the evidence-based measures recommended.