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youth at juvenile faility 'awakened' to future possibilities with behavior changes

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

“I want to succeed.”
“I want to change.”
“I want to be a better person.”

These words, spoken softly in a class of six young men, take on powerful meaning when you know they are spoken by inmates at the Illinois Youth Center in Harrisburg — one of Illinois’ eight juvenile jails.

The center has an average of about 300 youth 13-21 years old from across the state who have been placed there for a variety of crimes — truancy, running away, theft and armed robbery to rape and murder.

The six young men, 17 and 18 years old, are participating in an Awakenings program for young offenders through cooperation between the center, Catholic Social Services (CSS) regional office in Carbondale and Sister Barbara Lux cssm.

Sister Lux brought the program to the Harrisburg facility after Melva Clarida, the center’s educational facility administrator, learned about it from CSS’ regional director, Mary Lou Loos.

The two women belong to a professional group that helps inmates reenter society after being incarcerated.
“When I hear of a successful program,” Clarida said, “I want it for the children.”

The program — a 12-week two-hour per week class — is developed around what Clarida described as “cognitive restructuring or changing the way you think.”

Sister Lux adapted the adult program to fit the youths’ needs and continues to fine tune it as the classes progress.
For the six young men in this class, it has already made a difference. Sister Lux told the youth she had received comments from other teachers at the facility who had seen changes in their behavior.

To make those changes, youth have to be honest with themselves and look at the causes of their anger and frustration and then find ways to stop or change their responses to that anger.

“I’m impressed by their honesty,” Sister Lux said after the class. “Most don’t understand (any kind, social or otherwise) boundaries. It’s a new concept for them.”

Many of the youth came from “angry” situations where strength and force ruled. Now they are looking at what their own anger does to them and to others.

“What scares you about your anger?” Sister Lux asked her students.

“That I might kill somebody,” one youth said.

“That my anger can be used against me,” another said.

Sister Lux gave them a list of alternatives: Step back and out of someone else’s personal space; don’t get too close to another person in anger. Look away, don’t react, take deep breaths and tell the other person how their behavior makes them feel.

None of these strategies was familiar to the youth before they heard them in class, and this new way of thinking and acting would require practice and patience.

“It’s a difficult class,” Sister Lux said, “because it flies in the face of what they have learned (as youngsters).”
However, they had already tried the alternatives — violent response to perceived or real threats — and learned those behaviors earned them a sentence in this facility and while here would earn them time in isolation if they acted out.
“I used to react quickly, but I have changed,” one youth said.

Each student in the class receives Sister Lux’s undivided attention. When they speak, she not only listens but she dialogues with them. Her energy is focused on them and their needs, and they are responding.

Sister Lux’s commitment to the program goes beyond the four walls of the classroom at the center. When this class started two months ago, the center paid for the materials, and CSS paid for her gasoline, but no funding was available to pay Sister Lux for her teaching so she volunteered with no pay.
“I believe in the class,” she said.

A realist, Sister Lux said some days are “more frustrating than other days,” but each class finishes with a question about what they had learned that day. And they always have an answer, she said.
For Clarida, who has been at the center for 18 years, eight years as education administrator, the program is “thrilling” for her and the youth. “It’s amazing how many of them realize this” and the need for change.

The classes have a ripple effect in the general population at the center. Other youth want to know about the program, know how they can become involved, and Clarida said the center is considering how recent graduates can help others coming into the center.

Most importantly, Clarida hopes the classes will prevent these young men from returning once they are released. Recidivism (returning to jail) rates are higher among those who don’t have an education and whose behavior remains the same, Clarida said.

The center, with Sister Lux, is working on both those issues.

Sister Lux said teaching these youth has had an impact on her faith and prayer life.
“You absolutely have to believe in God,” Sister Lux said. “God is in this,” and “God will always be there with them” to help them “change their lives.”