Thread by @AeJayHendry

A lot of hot takes out there about why young people get involved in crime...

Over the last decade I've served a diverse range of rangatahi (both rich and poor), many who've gotten on the "wrong side of the law".

Here's some things I've learnt...

1.There are no "bad kids" out there, only hurt ones. No matter how tough, scary, big, or bad, a young person may seem to you, when you take time to listen and hear what's going on under the surface the reality is a child who is hurting and really just asking to be seen.

2. Rich or poor, when YP feel disconnected from their whānau and community, ostracised and othered, they are more likely to become involved in crime. This disconnection can happen as a result of communities scape goating YP and expecting little of them (currently occurring atm)

... it also occurs when YP don't have adults outside their parents that are involved and invested in them. For young people to thrive, it's important they feel that they belong, they matter, and they have people that care about them.

3. Disability (specifically FASD), and lack of specialized support for whānau and young people with disabilities has been a factor for lot of the YP I have served. The failure to support these YP and their whānau, often leaves whānau struggling, and YP vulnerable.

Support for young people and whānau w/FASD is a huge gap, and it is this lack of support that sees way to many yp with FASD end up involved in crime, or experiencing homelessness. Again a reminder that punishment as prevention is a far to simplistic "solution".

4. Mental health and again lack of support for young people and whānau going through depression, anxiety, and other complex MH challenges, is often also a factor. If we fail to provide people with support to manage the complexity of their lives, they will find ways to survive.

It might sound weird to you, but I've met so many young people that got involved in burgs and car jacking as a way to cope with the anxiety and depression they were experiencing.

It might not seem rationale to you, but when a person is suffering and finds a strategy that can ease the pain, they'll use that strategy. For some young people, taking risks, stealing cars, doing a burg, it becomes one of those strategies.

5. Addiction is often another factor here. Now, it's important to note, that when our young people are using alcohol or other drugs, often again this is a survival mechanism. When a YP is in pain, when they're experiencing mental illness, when they lack the support...

...and resources to cope and heal from these things, they find ways to survive. Often alcohol and other drugs end up filling the void.

6. Poverty, homelessness and desperation also plays a role for those young people from lower socioeconomic communities. We're talking about YP who have nothing, who are struggling to survive, and who have been abandoned by the state and rejected by our communities.

Sound bite solutions like harsher punishment and more police don't work because they fail to respond what is actually going on beneath all this stuff. We cannot punish our way out of any of this. If we are serious about prevention, than we need to get serious about ensuring....

...everyone has the #Right2Housing, that everyone has #LiveableIncomes, that holistic health, disability, and mental health services are available to our whānau. We need to invest in our people, our communities, and provide aroha and manaaki to those who are suffering.

If you want to have a "lockem up and throw away the key" attitude go for it. But, know that it doesn't make our communities safer, it doesn't prevent crime, it actually exacerbates the harm within our community.

#LoveIsTheWay