Lost boys: Why our sons turn violent and how we can save them

Abstract

Violence such as that seen in Red Lake, Minnesota, USA, is an area in which many of us feel helpless, yet parents andothers may look to us for help in prevention – for ways to intervene early. Many of us have received little or no formaleducation about violence. Dr James Garbarino gave an outstanding talk at The Hospital for Sick Children in Torontofollowing the Columbine massacre and further provided Paediatrics & Child Health with his text for publication. With hispermission, it was adapted by Dr Haslam to provide an overview of Dr Garbarino’s keynote address. We hope to stimu-late you to learn more about violence and then work within your practice, your schools and your communities to helpsupport the “assets” for prevention that Dr Garbarino so eloquently spoke about.Drs Noni MacDonald and Elizabeth Ford-Jones, Co-Editors-in-ChiefDr James Garbarino currently holds the Maude C Clarke Chair in Humanistic Psychology at Loyola University Chicago.Previously, he held the Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor of Human Development at Cornell University in New York.Dr Garbarino has served as consultant or advisor to a wide range of organizations, including the National Committeeto Prevent Child Abuse, the National Institute for Mental Health, the American Medical Association, the NationalBlack Child Development Institute, the National Science Foundation, the National Resource Center for Children inPoverty, Childwatch International Research Network, the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, and theFederal Bureau of Investigation. In 1991, he undertook missions for the United Nations International Children’sEmergency Fund to assess the impact of the Gulf War on children in Kuwait and Iraq, and has served as a consultant forprograms serving Bosnian and Croatian children. In addition to his many other awards, the US National Conference onChild Abuse and Neglect honoured Dr Garbarino in 1985 with its first C Henry Kempe Award, in recognition of hisefforts on behalf of abused and neglected children. Among many books he has authored, edited or co-authored are AndWords Can Hurt Forever: How to Protect Adolescents from Bullying, Harassment and Emotional Violence (New York: The FreePress, 2003) and Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How we Can Save Them(New York: The Free Press, 1999).