The art of helping young offenders change
Anger, alcohol and youth are a dangerous cocktail that all too often lead to crime. Youth Justice Services around the state recognise these triggers for crime and are helping young offenders to manage their aggressive behaviour and control their use of alcohol and drugs.
“Take three deep breaths, now count backwards and tell yourself it’s not worth the trouble,” says Graham Ross, Far North Queensland youth justice service worker, as he coaches a group of 14 to 16 year old young men at a camp at Aurukun. “It’s a way to slow down instead of snapping and starting a fight.” Graham is running a new 10-week cognitively-based program known as Aggression Replacement Training (ART) that provides young people with alternative ways of reacting to situations.
“We give them new skills — how to negotiate, how to make a complaint, how to read their body’s warning signs and understand the errors in their thinking and moral reasoning,” Graham says. “It’s all about redirecting their aggression into something positive. It’s normal to get angry but it’s the way they react that will determine the consequences.”
Another successful program moving young people in a positive direction is Artspace, run by the Brisbane North Youth Justice Service in partnership with the Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Service.
Young offenders aged 10 to 18 years who misuse drugs and alcohol take part in a 10-week drug treatment program with an art and music focus. The program gives counselling staff the opportunity to develop informal relationships with young people in a safe and relaxed environment where they are encouraged to talk openly about their drug experiences. Once trust is established, longer term detoxification residential programs can be offered for those young people who may need the intensive support.