Increased violence and strategies for prevention were just of few of the issues addressed Friday during a panel discussion held on the University campus.
The discussion entitled, “A Systemic Response to a Culture of Violence,” was offered in conjunction with a clinical workshop as part of the annual Oregon Association for Marriage and Family Therapy fall conference. The conference took place Saturday and Sunday in Gerlinger Hall on the University campus.
“We believe the level of intensity of violence is increasing,” Anita Berardi Maher, president of the OAMFT and moderator of the discussion said. “It is complex — there is no one solution, so we are pulling together solutions to violence.”
The panel, which included two regional and two national experts on violence, spoke to a room filled with teachers, therapists, counselors and social service workers on ways to deal with the growing problem of violence in young
people.
“There has been a steady climb in violent juvenile crimes,” Steve Carmichael , panelist and director of Lane County Department of Youth Services said. “It has gone down in the past couple of years but it is not over, there is still a flood of violence and more kids involved with guns.”
Panelists also discussed statistics involving death in schools.
“Since 1992 over 200 youth have been murdered in schools; last year 20 youths died at school,” said Jeff Sprague, panelist and co-director of the University institute on violence and destructive behavior.
There is no single factor of the root causes of violence, the panelists agreed, but some of the factors which violence is rooted in comes from the family, poverty, abuse and neglect.
“When a child grows up being abused the cycle effect builds on itself,” Carmichael said.
The role of violent media is also a significant one, Sprague said.
“We all watch TV but we need to teach our children to deconstruct what they see,” he said.
In addition to the roots of violence, the panel also discussed prevention and intervention methods.
“We need to view offenders with compassion,” said Richard Schwartz, panelist and staff therapist at Northwestern University’s Family Institute. “Most violent offenders have had horrifying childhood’s, we need to treat them not just punish them.”
Teaching children valuable traits at a young age is also an important prevention technique.
“Kids need to learn to manage their anger, just like the learn to read,” Sprague said.
Relationships are also a key foundation to the prevention of
violence.
“It all comes down to relationships,” said Anna Beth Benningfield, panelist and president of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy in Washington, D.C. “We need to help kids and adults in relationships with themselves and other people.”
“By the end I was very satisfied with the way they approached the issues,” said Patricia Cortez, a case manager for Looking Glass Youth Services. “Being a case manager for Latino youth, the discussion was very related to what I do.”
Other participants agreed, but thought different aspects should have been addressed.
“I thought it was excellent,” said Laura Kude, diversion coordinator for Multnomah County. “There were some things that weren’t addressed such as sexism, the role of sex and sexism needs to be addressed as well.”