None of the young women had become pregnant, and most of the children had left the gangs with which they had been involved. Prevention Austin, Texas, has reduced youth crime with a major public-private effort that includes family support, work, and recreational opportunities for young people, as well as community policing. Other communities, including Minneapolis, Minnesota, also are pulling together for their children. But this holistic approach requires community wide commitment, something that is still building even in Austin. Effective programs must be long-term, multifaceted, and adequately funded.
Prevention is at least as complex as treatment.
In the long run, we will continue to produce violent children until we can reverse our culture's acceptance and even celebration of violence. As long as gore is accepted as entertainment and guns as just another item in commerce, violence will be commonplace. Increasingly widespread poverty will only exacerbate it. Still, there is hope. People who work with children have an opportunity to shape the cultural environment in which the future is being nurtured.