Last Chance In Texas,

Last Chance in Texas by John Hubner is a must-read for anyone interested in the study of sociology, psychology, crime or the mind of teenagers.  The book relates the stories of criminal youth at the Griddings State School in Texas, a rehabilitation center for criminal youth.  The Program at Giddings is much different than what most of us think of when we think of a juvenile detention facility. Rather than it being like a small prison, the Giddings State School operates more like a drug rehabilitation center, just focused on crime and mental illness, rather than drug abuse.

The therapy at Giddings includes telling each child's "life story," and intensive therapy to deal with their demons. Ronnie is one of the main youth that Hubner talks about. Ronnie was brought up in a broken home, with an absent mother, living with a junkie aunt, and selling drugs by the time he was eleven. The story of Ronnie was terrible, an anyone living in a place like Park City could not imagine what this kid went through.  Before he was a teenager his mother brought him to a party where he saw a man who had been stabbed with a knife, with his intestines hanging out.  The details of Ronnie's life were violent, sad, and depressing at different times.  but when it came to his crime story, it just got worse. Ronnie almost shot and killed his younger brother; he kidnapped an elderly couple and would have killed the older man; he sold drugs and took PCP.

Ronnie's therapy included sessions in a group therapy situation.  During this time, Ronnie had to watch others in the group act out as his victims and he had to re-enact his crimes.  The tables were turned, and the crime was committed on Ronnie him self in a safe, controlled environment. This led to fighting, crying, screaming, and depression among Ronnie and the other children.  But, Giddings has an amazing success rate, and only ten percent of even the most violent youth go on to commit crimes in their adult lives. It seems that the rehabilitation approach at this school in Texas actually works, and the key to it is the therapy the kids get, rather than treating them as criminals and throwing them in jail.

Everyone can learn something from this book. Adults can learn how their actions can shape the personality of children. Children can learn that it is possible to overcome the hardships we face in life.  People in the justice system can learn that there is hope for violent offenders if they are treated like human beings. As a society, we can learn how important it is to face challenges and problems head on in order to fully deal with them and move on in our lives.  This is an excellent book that will leave a reader wondering how our justice system got to be the way it is, and if there is hope for a change in the future.