I can almost guarantee that I will open my local newspaper on any day and find an article or headline telling me how bad youth crime is in my city. If I then look at the local social media group for my suburb I will without failure find messages warning people of strangers in their street or videos of people wandering on and off their property during the day or night. This will then lead to the usual discussion that police and courts are too soft on crime and that there are no consequences for young offenders. All this helps build an atmosphere of fear and is the enemy of creating strong community.
In reality the state I live in has the toughest youth crime legislation in the country and we incarcerate more young people and children than any other state in the country. The government has responded to demands from some sections of the community and their political opponents to make laws even tougher which then means the construction of more detention facilities. After all you have to place offenders somewhere. It ignores all the research and evidence to the contrary. The question is Is this the best response to youth crime? Simply no. Incarcerating more children and young people only creates more angry, traumatised young people leading to more crime from a hardened group of reoffenders.
Crime prevention and reduction is a complex matter but there are some rudimentary actions we can take as a community and society to reduce crime.
The first step is to recognise criminal behaviour, particularly youth crime as a symptom of a bigger social issue. The problem is not necessarily the crime but what drives the young person to criminal behaviour. Treating the drivers of crime will reduce. criminal actions. These drivers are well known. Some of these are: poverty, unemployment, low educational achievement and trauma.
Many young offenders have experiences of childhood trauma and this trauma is a powerful driver in their impulsive criminal behaviour. This is not some bleeding heart defence of their actions but simply an explanation of a major contributing factor.
The first two years of life are important in child development. These 1,000 days of life provide the building blocks for future development. It is the period of time when our brain development is most active. When we are born our brains are quite primitive with the drive for survival prominent. If a child is supported, nurtured and buffered against trauma the brain will develop strong architecture and function to provide the basis for positive future growth. However, if a child suffers a high level of stress without being buffered by the support of a caregiver their stress response will be overactivated. This results in stress hormones being pumped from the brain throughout the body. Prolonged activation will result other bodily systems being negatively affected with their development being restrained or redirected. This can result in a compromised immune system, low educational attainment later in life and a high risk of criminality as the person’s rational decision making capacity is impacted. they are more likely to engage in high risk behaviour and act on impulse.
Here we are talking about traumatic experiences such as abuse, neglect, exposure to substance abuse, a relative in prison, parental separation and divorce among others. These incidents create a high level of stress with the person almost being in a permanent state of fight/flight. At this point it is tempting to blame parenting for the situation but before we take this easy way out it needs to be seen that parents have often been the victims of trauma and living with its consequences. This will mean childhood trauma can have an inter generational component. It is even more complex if the impact of colonialism and loss of cultural roots is accounted for.
Trauma like this can have consequences such as a much higher risk of becoming involved in criminal behaviour. Of course there are other components leading to criminal behaviour but trauma plays a significant role. It is not all doom and gloom. Research has indicated we can reduce criminal behaviour by almost half by intervening to prevent and treat the underlying trauma. There are some excellent programs aimed at this such as parenting programs, playgroups and therapy. The difficulty is in attracting those most at risk to attend these programs.
But there is a more informal way for this to occur. Community is where we heal. It is in community where we can have informal interactions that can treat our trauma in measured doses. It is also the place where support is readily available for families, children and young people going through tough times. It is the place where trauma can be treated before it impacts the child.
So what has this got to do with preventing crime?
A connected community is one where people will offer to help others out. If a neighbour’s child is behaving in a way that could attract attention from authorities a caring neighbour or group of neighbours can support the family through the problem the child is having. A caring neighbour could take the opportunity to invite the mother or father to a support to help them deal with their trauma.
The problem is do we have neighbourhoods that have this connection and expressed empathy for others? There is truth in the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” and often we will need to rebuild this village. For many this may be an intimidating experience as, so often, we are used to locking ourselves away behind our garage door and front door. It can be as simple as going for a walk and saying hello to others or invite others to a street get together. There is research saying that just by knowing the first name of 6 neighbours we can reduce crimes such as assault and car theft in our street. This is simply due to us now being in a relationship with our neighbours and we begin to look after each other.
Additionally we can start spending more time in our street and not locked away inside. Make it an active place. This can help to deter those considering criminal actions.
We can do so much to counter the fear of crime, the impact of trauma on our young people and create a safe for us all just by being a good neighbour. It’s that easy.
Herding Together 