| Sorting out J.T.'s problems by
Doreen C. Bowens "We have to help these families to become self-sufficient." said Dr. Jewelle Taylor Gibbs. "We need to provide health care and job care." As a psychologist and trained social worker, Gibbs has seen many cases like J.T's and his family's. A professor in UC Berkeley’s Social Welfare department, Gibbs specializes in psychological and social problems of adolescents and social and mental health issues of low-income and minority populations. She said J.T. still has a chance. "All he needs is a good mentor," she said. "A big brother, someone who can come over once a week to help him with his homework." Gibbs is the author of "Race and Justice: Rodney King and O.J. Simpson in a House Divided." She is also the editor of "Young, Black and Male in America: An Endangered Species," and co-author of "Children of Color: Psychological Interventions with Minority Youth." Gibbs is quick to point out how dire the statistics are pertaining to young blacks in America. Nearly one in four African American males from 20- to 29-years old are involved in the criminal justice system -- in jail, on probation or on parole. African American males now account for 45 percent of the state and federal prison population. Such statistics can be improved, Gibbs said, "if we just follow the same model structures of England, Scandinavia and Canada. These countries provide for the poor. This is the only country that would rather spend more money on building prisons than on education." With J.T. and many other boys like him, the fathers are role models. And when their father is in jail, they often say their father is on vacation. "These kids imitate their fathers whether they are negative or positive," said Gibbs. "And what further stigmatizes young men like J.T. is when their mothers or grandmothers often say, 'You're going to be just like your father.'" This often occurs in single-parent homes when mothers are angry with the men who are not supporting their sons. Though the father is absent most of his life, the child feels his father's image is powerful and that it is his destiny, said Gibbs. By third grade children like J.T. become unenthusiastic in school. They are often expelled from different schools and are labeled as emotionally handicapped before they begin to mature, said Dr. Gibbs. "J.T. has to be very strong not to follow his father's negative image," said Dr. Gibbs. "He has to say I can be someone. I don't have to sell drugs or go to prison." |
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