Product Description

In the past few years our national consciousness has been altered by haunting images of mass slaughters in American high schools, carried out by troubled young boys with guns. It's now clear that no matter where we live or how hard we try as parents, our children are likely to be going to school with boys who are capable of getting guns and pulling triggers. What has caused teen violence to spread from the urban war-zones of large cities right into the country's heartland? And what can we do to stop this terrifying trend?

James Garbarino, Ph.D., Cornell University professor and nationally noted psychologist, insists that there are things that we, both as individuals and as a society, can do. In a richly anecdotal style he outlines warning signs that parents and teachers can recognize, and suggests steps that can be taken to turn angry and unhappy boys away from violent action. Full of insight, vivid individual portraits, practical advice and considered hope, this is one of the most important and original books ever written about boys.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172626 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-15
• Released on: 2000-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Striking a sober but ultimately hopeful note, psychologist and Cornell University professor Garbarino (Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment) lends his voice to the growing chorus of concern about the difficulties boys face in their journey to manhood. We live in dangerous times, he asserts, citing the ready availability of guns (nearly half of all American households contain one) and the escalating rate of youth homicide (which increased 168% in the past decade alone). Noting that the highly publicized killings by children of the 19971998 school year have served as a kind of wake-up call, Garbarino devotes the first part of his book to examining the roots of violence among boys. He traces it to class and race issues, as well as risk factors such as child neglect, parental abandonment, physical and emotional abuse, spiritual emptiness and a culture that legitimizes violence in movies, television and video games. In the second half, he outlines how involved adults might prevent the downward spiral by identifying and treating patterns of aggression early in a boys life, and how providing the proper spiritual, psychological and social anchors can keep a troubled boy from drifting into violence. Garbarino effectively illustrates his points with stories of his own work with violent boys. Solidly researched and written, this book is of equal value to parents, educators, family therapists and other professionals. It could easily serve as a blueprint for preventing more tragedies like the ones in Jonesboro, Ark., and Springfield, Ore. 20-city TV and radio satellite tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The school murder sprees of 1997-98 provide a backdrop for this inquiry into an "epidemic" of youthful male violence that has been worsening over the past 25 years. The bulk of the book is devoted to an analysis of the roots and meaning of lethal violence as revealed through interviews with perpetrators. Garbarino (human development, Cornell Univ.; Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment, Jossey-Bass, 1995) discusses these narratives in the context of statistical and psychological/ psychiatric research. Causative factors like abuse, gangs and codes of honor, substance abuse, neurological deficits, and school problems are considered from a social ecology perspective grounded in the work of Garbarino's mentor, Urie Bronfenbrenner. The book concludes with a catalog of strategies to combat boyhood violence. Solutions call for spiritual literacy as well as government action and research-based programs. Readable yet well documented and brimming with ideas, this book is recommended for larger public libraries and public policy collections.AAntoinette Brinkman, Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
An impressively well researched, thoughtful, and helpful study of why some American boys become violent, even murderous, and about what can be done, beyond the simpleminded response of building more prisons, to prevent such behavior and to help boys when preventive efforts fail. Garbarino (Human Development/Cornell.) delves into the confluence of psychological, social, existential, and spiritual factors that make some acting out boys become violent. These include lack of sufficient attachment to at least one loving and reliable adult, living in drug- and crime-infested neighborhoods, suffering abuse or some other trauma, and lacking the kind of a spiritual anchor that provides a system of meaning beyond the self. In the last quarter of his book, Garbarino proposes a variety of responses (he doesnt believe in a single magic bullet solution) to aid at-risk and violent boys. His ideas are often innovative and generally involve the boys families as well as social institutions. For example, he recommends that incarcerated juvenile offenders be placed in institutions more akin to monasteries than the boot camps that are the rage today. Garbarino bases his findings on both an extensive review of the literature and wide-ranging discussions with a significant number of boys in prison. With the exception of occasional meaningless statistics (television allegedly accounts for about 10 to 15 percent of the variation in violent behavior) and a few hyperbolic generalizations (being a boy is inherently traumatic in our culture), his writing is straightforward, clear, and engaging. At a time when too many policy makers look at juvenile offenders with a combination of contempt and rage, Garbarinos important book offers them, and those who work with adolescent and pre-adolescent boys, a far more sophisticated and socially constructive approach. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Very unusual, compassionate book
I've read a lot of books about lost boys, but I've seldom been as impressed as I was by this one. Unlike other experts, this author never gives up on a boy--even if he's sitting on death row, as 300 American juveniles are. The author speaks of the divine spark in each of us--even murderers. He also addresses the root causes of violence and how to save our children. Prevention is the answer, of course,along with compassion and believing in the inherent goodness of all human beings. In a society that equates punishment with justice and believes in retribution rather than resurrection, LOST BOYS offers spiritual and practical hope for all.

Must reading for policy makers
James Garbarino's book highlights the confusion that we instill in children when we make them responsible for their actions and don't accept our responsibility for their well being. As a former junior high school principal, I wish every legislator would read this book before they pass more laws moving juvenile offenders into our cruel and ineffective adult correctional system.

Concise analysis of the causes of adolescent violence.
This book provides in its few, short pages, a complete and concise, yet very readable, analysis of the causes of youthful violence and tells what can be done - indeed, what must be done, from earliest childhood on - to prevent it. This book should be required reading by all teachers, court and law enforcement officers, physicians, social workers - by everyone who works with children and adolescents of any age, in any capacity, as well as by all those who make policy and pass legislation at any level of federal, state or local government.