Compassion Impacts Wayward Youth - 1619 Words

Juvenile court systems developed in Chicago based on the patriarchal premise that a tough compassionate judge could impact the lives of wayward youths. However, politicians changed this with â€Å"tough on crime† policies for election. Many juvenile criminals became labeled as â€Å"superpredators† and were thus deemed beyond any help and were tried as adults. Fortunately, not everyone in the criminal system believes that juvenile criminals are beyond help. Some of the people that believe that there is hope for the juvenile criminal work in the Texas Youth Commission, in particular at Giddings State School or the last chance in Texas. This paper will provide a brief synopsis of John Hubner’s Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth and discuss its relevance to juvenile justice including a recommendation for juvenile justice practitioners to read this book. The book opens with the description of a very modern school located in Giddings, Texas. The school is Giddings State School which is one of the thirteen secure facilities of the Texas Youth Commission. At its inception, it typically held kids from broken homes. However, now the Giddings State School gets â€Å"the worst of the worst† youthful offenders in Texas. Giddings has a program that makes it unique. The program is called Capital Offenders Group (COG) developed by Reyes. The COG is based on the premise that human beings even those that have committed inhumane crimes are social creatures. COG is a four