Violence in DC = Violence in Liberia?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36764-2003Aug8.html

Interesting editorial today by the wonderful Washington Post columninst Colbert King. Gang violence has been widespread the past couple weeks and the crime rate is up for the year. Mr. King dismisses the idea that more summer jobs and youth activities can decrease the violence - although these programs are worthy in their own right. He concludes by writing:

Unfortunately, our city has large numbers of young men and women who have reached a stage where summer fun and enrichment activities simply aren't going to do the trick. They are the cause of our troubles -- and they are troubled, too. Some very deeply. We've done a lousy job of identifying them early -- of culling them out from the kids who are trying to do the right thing -- and getting them the kind of individualized attention, treatment and counseling that can help address the underlying problems that put them at risk. We've done an even worse job at getting to the men and women who brought them into this world in the first place. Too many parents -- through their actions and inaction -- are the reasons their children end up in trouble in school and in the hands of the law.

So let's focus on the source of our ills. Start on the juvenile justice front. Schools, courts, social service agencies, parent advocacy groups and clergy should set aside their special agendas and list our city's troubled youth and their families among their top priorities. So should the mayor and council. Elected leaders can begin by putting their summer sideshows on hold and turning to the main event: crime. It's fun, I know, but chasing a Major League Baseball team, hammering the police chief and calling Washington suburbanites nasty names can wait -- at least for a while. After all, sections of our nation's capital are beginning to resemble "Gunfight at the OK Corral."

For goodness sake, even Liberians have managed to reach a truce.


So what exactly can be done by the different institutions in our society to reach out to these troubled kids and their terrible parents to end the cycle of violence? What type of treatment will make somebody who is about to commit a driveby shooting see the error of his ways? Is Mr. King right in saying that economic and cultural programs won't do anything to reduce crime?