The Mental Health Struggles of Troubled Youth
Greetings all, here are the notes from my last video. It’s a longer video than normal as it goes quite in depth into a sensitive and heavy topic. I hope you enjoy - Peace and love.
Young offenders are highly likely to have mental health “morbidities” or problems:
From: “Understanding the educational background of young offenders” https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81513740f0b62302696a70/understanding-educational-background-of-young-offenders-full-report.pdf
These problems precede criminality and gang membership. People with such issues are probably more likely to end up doing crime and joining gangs.
Risk Factors for gang membership and poor mental health
Both from: “The mental health needs of gang affiliated young people” https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c3de6c0e5274a70e95f35d5/The_mental_health_needs_of_gang-affiliated_young_people_v3_23_01_1.pdf
Adverse Childhood Experiences play a big role:
From “Keeping kids safe Improving safeguarding responses to gang violence and criminal exploitation” https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2019/02/CCO-Gangs.pdf
“The mental health needs of gang affiliated young people” https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c3de6c0e5274a70e95f35d5/The_mental_health_needs_of_gang-affiliated_young_people_v3_23_01_1.pdf
Racism and antiblackness must be called out
However, we also need to ensure children feel a genuine stake in their society/community. There’s no point in bringing in children into this society via broken homes, detached parents, in areas of high deprivation - and then complaining that society isn’t including them. We have to be clearer in our thinking when it comes to the purpose and power of families and children
Also, reflects what I said in my video on UK Drill. These youths need to feel they are part of something and have some ownership Hence homeownership is s key. I suggest one reason children of other ethnicities are nowhere near as present in the crime data is because their families provide them with a much stronger sense of the family as being a unit of power and strength, and incentivise them to act in ways that will further the best interests of the family, partly because they themselves will also benefit from the family being strong (Amos Wilson; the family as a power base)
But, also Careful how we frame matters of race. Racism focus can be counter-productive
Black pride, African Pride, is a must
Knowledge of OurStory or OurStories
Focus on the connection we have across the world as African people
And also don’t demonise Britain. There’s much good here, even amidst the
“The mental health needs of gang affiliated young people” https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c3de6c0e5274a70e95f35d5/The_mental_health_needs_of_gang-affiliated_young_people_v3_23_01_1.pdf
What Should We Do?
Focus on these risk factors for gang membership and poor mental health
Adverse Childhood experiences
Attachment insecurity and poor caregiver bonds
Social Exclusion
Dsadvantaged neighbourhood environments
The Strategy:
To build stable, enduring and purposeful families built on a foundation of love, truth and respect
We must make the building of such families the number one priority above all else and allocate our time, energy and resources in lie with this prioritisation
Everything we do (be it politically, financially, in health, careers, etc) must be for the purpose of consistently and repeatedly creating and protecting such families.
Once we place this priority at the centre of our philosophy, we are ready to really grapple with the various strategies and tactics in our daily lives.
These problems precede criminality and gang membership. People with such issues are probably more likely to end up doing crime and joining gangs.