Violence – whatever else it may mean – is the ultimate means of communicating the absence of love.

Early in the path towards violence, there is a break down in connection to home, school and family.

Alexander Graham Bell wrote, “I feel in this child I have seen more of the Divine than has been manifest in anyone I’ve ever met.”

What kindles the spark of divinity in a child? And what consigns the human spirit to darkness? We begin the journey to understand lost boys by studying the quality of their relationships, the psychological condition of their inner life, and the development of their spirit. At the heart of the matter is whether a young child is:

-          Connected rather than abandoned,

-          Accepted rather than rejected,

-          And nurtured rather than neglected and abused.

Psychiatrist Leonard Shengold (Soul Murder: the effects of childhood abuse and Deprivation (1989) Reflects on his belief that catastrophically abused child, subject to so much internal devastation is driven beyond the limits of  humanness – leaving behind something else to fill the void – or perhaps just leaving an unfilled void. The soul is buried deep under layers of violence and distorted feelings and emotions.

The characteristics that increase a teenager’s risk of joining the ranks of the violent. As a result of research, Chicago based psychologists Robert Zago and his colleagues offer a picture of this risk. These researchers found that a boy’s chances of committing violent crime as twice as high if he has the following risk factors:

• They come from a family with a history of criminal violence.
• They have a history of being abused,
• They belong to a gang,
• He abuses drugs and alcohol.

The odds triple when in addition to the aforementioned risk factors the following also applies:

• They use a weapon,
• They have been arrested,
• They have a neurological problem that impairs thinking and feeling,
• They have difficulties at school and a poor attendance record.

• The worth of a young person is greater than their worst act.
• Bad youth are elements of a system. The majority of their unsanctioned behaviour is linked to preventable economic, social, familiar, educational, institutional medical and legal issues.
• Pathologising, criminalizing, dehumanizing, demonising and disenfranchising bad youth have proven ineffective as a strategy for provoking lasting positive change.
• A male positive attitude to bad boys utilizes compassion, responsibility, fierce challenge, cultural literacy and social inclusion to create therapeutic alliances that can effectively provoke positive change.
• The powers of government are more effective and less costly when allied to attempts to restore and rehabilitate citizens instead of to punish and destroy.
• Adults are responsible of the majority of social ills now ascribed to young people. Ignorance not boys is our common enemy.

We must all stand up for those who are discriminated against because of race, religion, culture and sex. We must embrace what is common between us – particularly when it comes to the young.