I do think our first day at the detention center could have used a little more structure to it. Brice and I spent time with five 9th and 10th graders. We talked about our project and the structure of what we were going to do over the course of the five weeks, but that only took up a little bit of our time. After that, we just talked with them about a bunch of random topics like music and college life. It was actually pretty fun and the kids seemed like they were having a good time, but I think it would be really hard to create a storytelling project with the group as is. I think if we plan activities that can fill the time we’re there it can take away some of the problems we might potentially run into if we leave the project so unstructured. Some of the kids in our group seemed to express an interest in graphic novels, so I think our best bet might be to focus on that as a means for our storytelling project. We could use markers, pencils, and other craft supplies and have the artistic kids pair with some of the less artistically inclined kids. We would have to see if having one big group graphic novel or multiple small groups works better, but I think one of those would be our best option.
Month: February 2024 Page 3 of 4
I was surprised by how different the justice complex looked in the dark, and I had trouble finding my way to the right building entrance. And then when I had to get Angelos from the other side of the campus, I was glad I had driven my car! SO the beginning of the night got my adrenaline going, but in a way that was actually helpful.
I was most surprised at this: some of the youth who are there have been taken there into “protective custody” because of violence or abuse at home. And they are in the same mix with violent offenders and non-violent offenders. They are all just young humans who have experienced more than their fair share of trauma. But It made me think how hard it would be to work as one of the guards/guides there. I wonder what they think of as their goal with these short-term visitors with different issues…
I was pleased the youths there warmed up quickly to the idea of stories. As always, I was impressed by the intelligence and curiosity of many of the kids. I didn’t get to hear many stories as I bounced from room to room, but I saw lots of good sharing going on. Hearing Haven and Angelos’ stories in the car on the way back about the kinds of stories the girls told was very interesting. Looking forward to reading more in everyone’s posts.
Our first day at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center was great. I was looking forward to it all day and I was very happy with the experience. When we arrived, the many locked doors and checkpoints were a little jarring. It started to sink in more that the kids we were meeting with really didn’t want to be there and this was highlighted during our mini-orientation. We talked with a worker and he explained that we needed to be careful with the kids because at the end of the day, they allegedly committed a crime to be there, and they might try to take advantage of our age and kindness. The importance of not giving them a pen or pencil was also stressed which made sense, but it set the tone a little darker. We also were informed that we had to split into groups because one of the female juvenile participants had triggers when it came to being with a large group, and about 7 to 8 juvenile boys decided to take part in the program yesterday. This reminded me of how “the body keeps the score”
I ended up talking with the male participants, which I was nervous about at first because I wasn’t sure how well we could relate and whether or not they would take me seriously. I was wrong, and everyone was extremely attentive and nice. We went around the room and introduced ourselves, and we asked the boys about their dreams. Many wanted to stay in school, pursue carpentry, or be musicians. Many of them also mentioned that they hoped they never ended up back at the center, because for many this was not their first time. We eventually moved on to more storytelling, and I was grouped with two boys. I asked them to tell me about a time they were proud. One of the boys explained a football game where he scored 4 touchdowns, but the other boy felt that he didn’t have any proud moments and started to share some more personal feelings and stories. I was thankful that they shared and had a nice time talking to them.
I noticed how young many of the boys were. We were told that the center housed kids from ages 11 to 17. The boys I met with were on the older side of that, closer to 15 or 16. One of the boys was 16 and had two full sleeves of tattoos and neck pieces, which was suprising to me. When talking to the other boy I worked with I noticed that he talked to himself a lot and repeated certain phrases over and over. He was the one who shared some more personal details with me and I once again was reminded of the reading from “The Body Keeps the Score”. The boys were called to take medicine right before we left, and as we said goodbye I asked one of the workers if it was ok to shake the boy’s hands, and I was told that fist bumps were preferred. I gave the boys fist bumps and invited them to meet again if they were still at the center next Tuesday.
It was fascinating! There are so many things that surprised me and made me reflect yesterday. First of all, I was concerned that the teenagers would not be willing to share information with us but in reality, they were really curious about listening to our stories from people from the “outside”. Moreover, I had the preoccupation that they would not be willing to change their lifestyle, and to a large extent that is not true. On one hand, they do have a really specific lifestyle that is different than ours but that does not make it less valid or less normal. In reality, they also wanted to have more freedom like traveling, being outside, and studying but not have the same lifestyle as us, we grew up different, we have different values, and priorities in life and that is ok.
Regarding the stories that one of them shared, I was surprised how quickly they would reach serious topics in depth. One of them shared how she used to have arguments with her mother and escape the house late at night and once she got caught and run over by the police who stopped her with electric shock since she was carrying a knife. She wanted to focus on how the police were treating her, how unfair and scary it was but I kept wondering how did she end up there? Why would she have the need to fight with her mother, threatening her to leave the house and carry a knife? She also shared how she was homeless for a while, transferring from hostel to hostel and shelter to shelter and eventually, she grew up because of her siblings. She is so close with them that she would get into physical fights with other kids to protect her little brother. She also shared one attempt of kidnapping that she experienced while she was young.
One of the most surprising things was the attitude toward their sayings. The laughter was loud and constant even during serious topics like kidnapping, family abuse, fights, and policing. They would switch from laughing, to sharing something serious and then laughing again. My assumption is that this is their coping mechanism that is developed to protect themselves especially when taking into consideration how young they started being involved with crime. Overall, I was reflecting on how different life can be a few miles away from us, how privileged we are, and how context like family and environment is significant!
Today was my first time to go to a detention center, and I felt a strong sense of freshness in my heart. When I arrived at the detention center, the place where the juvenile offenders were held was more cozy than I had imagined – the colorful walls, the basketball gymnasium and the white walls covered with graffiti were full of the humanistic atmosphere that is rare in a detention center.
I was apprehensive about meeting this group of juveniles, as I had no previous experience with them. After introducing themselves, I asked them what their respective dreams were – some said something like being an engineer, some said they wanted to take over his dad’s business after getting their Business Diploma, and others wanted to go into music. It was clear that they were a group of teenagers with dreams and souls – but who had made a “dumb decision” that they would regret for the rest of their lives. But they all have aspirations for a new life, and they all mention that they don’t want to go back to detention center – possibly because of the grumpy buffs and the militaristic nature of the place.
After listening to my story, J told me his story – he got here because he was in a racing competition when he got into trouble with someone and hurt them on purpose. He is fluent in English and Spanish – because he is Hispanic, and the other juvenile offender we interacted with is also Hispanic, but he doesn’t speak English. I tried to talk to him, telling him that it was a blessing in disguise and encouraging him to look toward the future – he held my hand as he said goodbye, as if he had found a soul mate – something no one talks to them about at the detention center.
I found “The Body Keeps the Score” to be super interesting. I’ve always been interested in social sciences and psychology but I never had the chance to take a class on it in high school. This book is the perfect opportunity to learn more about this subject I’ve always been curious about. One story I was particularly interested in was Stan and Ute’s. The way they experienced the same traumatic event but reacted so differently was intriguing. It shows how our minds are subject to change and how our experiences can train them so that we have vastly different reactions from person to person to the same situations. That variability in human response is what really intrigues me. Not only was this variation in their actions physical, meaning how they reacted in the moment, but it was also internal in the sense that after the event when their trauma responses were triggered their brain scans were vastly different as well.
One of the interesting thoughts I had during the reading came up in chapter 6. The subject “losing your body” and the notion of sensory, and the complicated relationship that is inscribed between the body, the senses, and the mind. I did a Literature Review in high school that studied Music and its impact on the brain, and one of the terms that came up was “DSN” — that term returns as they compare the brains of “normal” Canadians against those who had a history of trauma, and when observing the contrasts between the brains – it was terrifying to think about.
The idea that those who experienced trauma earlier in life had taught their body to “deaden” itself to certain feelings is shocking. The author describes the interplay with concepts of “self” and in trying to explain how it might affect their day-to-day life such as their struggle with a sense of self and purpose, to the point where they might not even recognize themselves in the mirror, further reinforces the significant impact that trauma can have in terms of long-lasting impact.
The deep interplay of the “sense of self” and the body is something that I find interesting and want to do more reading on. The concepts of agency combined with selfhood draw back to how important this concept of “identity” might be, not just as a “literary” or “self-discovery” element, but on a biological and fundamental level.
A section of the book that I thought was most interesting was Jack’s story. The impact that facial expressions have on children as a result of trauma is very impactful. It’s important to know this during our time at the detention center. We should do our best to keep positive and friendly facial expressions at all times. Many kids who experience trauma are very observant but at the same time capable of misconceiving facial expressions. Another fact to keep in mind is that many of these kids want attention. Whether it be neglect or absence of family in their lives from a young age, our time at the detention center is an opportunity to provide valuable attention to the juveniles.
One thing that stood out to me in “The Body Keeps the Score” was the story of Jack. Jack was a 14-year-old boy who was found breaking into a neighbor’s house when they were away. When asked who Jack thought would visit him in jail on Christmas, he responded by saying that he expected no one to come. He said that no one pays attention to him. Jack had gotten into trouble multiple times, so when the police discovered him in the house, they recognized him and called him by name. Jack later admitted that this recognition made what he did worth it. The fact that some people feel so abandoned by the world breaks my heart. When people feel abandoned, they will do anything they can to ensure that they are still seen by others, even if doing so requires unconventional methods. How could we as a society have failed these people so badly? It just makes me wonder how we could have prevented things like this from happening. People with abandonment issues will latch onto anyone so they don’t feel alone. Humans are social creatures, after all. Zero social interaction has been found to have detrimental effects. This all makes me rethink the criminal justice system and how we can try to show up for people who feel left behind.
Reading “The Body Keeps The Score” reminded me of a lot of the things I learned when I took AP Psychology in high school. Many of the examples or experiences Kolk referenced were ones I’ve heard of before, for example, the learned helplessness experiment tested on dogs or the serotonin inhibitor experiment on mice. Since that class I’ve been interested in how the human mind works, and I was happy to find out that the selected passages from the book don’t read too much like dry, analytical lab notes and more like a humanistic account of the psychology behind trauma and mental illness. I also really appreciated the hands-on experience and insider knowledge within the psychopharmacology field that Kolk could demonstrate through writing,