It’s Not About the Art; It’s About the Artist

We actually need young people who are bold, willing to challenge conventional thinking, and to break rules, but we also need them to respect others, to rely on logic rather than force, and to appreciate the corrosive effects of violence and exploitation. In short, our communities need powerful and creative young people who want to improve us and not simply to fight us. These should seem like obvious concepts to anyone working around the youth justice system, but it is often surprisingly difficult to implement them in practice.

Miami Herald — Florida Juvenile Justice said it Would Weed out Bad Hires. How Did This Guy Slip Through?

IT’S LORD OF THE FLIES CULTURE WITH SOME OF THE PEOPLE THEY HAVE MANAGING THESE FACILITIES.WITH STRONG KIDS CONTROLLING THE WEAK KIDS — AND THE STAFF CONTROLLING THE STRONG KIDS.
Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice