Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth

Would give this book 5 stars for the hopeful ideas about rehabilitating violent youth offenders. Successful treatment program could be used nationwide and lead to increased rehabilitation instead of increased recidivism. Youths from horrific backgrounds and who committed horrendous crimes begin to feel empathy and remorse.

For those of us who have been sheltered from the abuse and misery caused by illegal drugs, both passed on unfailingly from one generation to the next, this books is almost an overdose of what reality is like for the abused children of users. It is also an absorbing account of pain and hope in the Texas juvenile justice system. I'm glad I heard the author interviewed on NPR, and I'm glad I read his skillful account of one program in the justice system that appears to work.

I had a chance to visit the Giddings facility when I was in law school. It was a life altering moment. I met a kid who murdered someone when he was 13. Another who sodomized his younger sister. And so forth. I grew up in a Christian home and knew all my life that people can be forgiven of their sins and redeemed to a new life. But when the teenagers shared the details of their crimes, I found it disturbing that God could forgive them, and even more troubling that these kids could be released when they are only 18. But when you meet them, you see that they are not monsters. They are kids, who can learn from their mistakes. The visit was arranged by my law school professor, Robert Dawson, who was instrumental in creating the legal framwork which created the program. He passed away recently. He was a quiet hero who championed the rights of childern. I walked away from the visit to Giddings thinking it would be a great book if someone wrote about this. A few years later, John Hubner has done it. Reading the book has helped me learn not only more about the inside stories of these kids, but it made me learn more about myself. Another great book on the topic of juvenile justice is "No Matter How Loud I Shout" by Edward Humes.

This is a powerful book about the potential for human redemption. Following the experience of a group of violent young offenders in a Texas youth correction facility, it shows the actual process of rehabilitation. For damaged young people who are a danger to society it offers a very workable (and economic) alternative to locking them up and throwing away the key: the recidivism rate is just 10% after three years. The Giddings State School is very tough--with lots of structure and limits to keep people safe. But each year they select one group of young men and one of young women who have already been there for years and demonstrate some promise, to go through a process of deep reflection together. Each person tells his or her life story, taking at least six hours and often more, with probing questions from peers and therapists to get them to look at the pain they have buried under anger and not-caring. Then the key incidents in those life stories are acted out. Later each crime story is told and acted out--both from the perspective of the young person committing it, then from that of the victim. The goal is self-reflection, empathy--and redemption. The stakes are high for these young people because the alternative is decades in the regular adult prison system. There are those who don't succeed, who can't find the strength to look deeply within themselves and feel the pain that allows for transformation--and that is the ultimate tragedy of this book. But most of them do--and that is what offers such hope. Deftly narrated, Last Chance moves seamlessly among several story lines, offering young people's stories of childhoods rife with abuse, drugs and crime and their own growing criminal activity, a vivid, behind-the-one-way-mirror description of the intense program they are now engaged in, and a larger overview of juvenile crime and correctional policies. It is a compelling read, a page-turner that makes you think and ultimately gives you hope for the human condition.

This beautifully written, moving book tells the story of a juvenile prison in Texas that takes in the worst of the worst youthful offenders-- murderers, rapists, and kidnappers-- and turns 95% of them into solid citizens. The secret? Before they can empathize with their victims, they have to relive the horrible pain of their own childhoods. Once that is accomplished, they work with a group of other inmates to re-enact their crimes-- once as the criminal, and a second time as the victim. The stories are haunting, and though I read the entire book in the waiting room of a hospital, I couldn't stop myself from crying out loud in empathy with the grief these children and their victims have been forced to bear in their lives. Instead of getting out of juvenile hall and wreaking havoc on the world, the children Hubner writes about come out of the system as ordinary, somewhat compassionate people. At the end of the book, Hubner also makes a compelling financial argument for spreading the philosophy of the Giddins School. It is hugely important to get this book in the hands of therapists, prison officials, members of the government and the general public. It could revolutionize the way that troubled youths are treated-- lower crime-- and make the world a safer place for everyone. It's also an amazingly good read. I believe in the power of this book the way a missionary believes in the Bible. Please buy it, read it, and tell all your friends about it.