In the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, nearly 100 people were shot last year, and many of the young people living there will tell you the violence weighs on them. “It affect me as a young Black man, because walking down the street with your friends, you got to worry about, ‘Oh, watch that car. Oh, watch that alley,'” says 17-year-old A.M. “You get so used to it. It ain’t even no point. Like, even when they be shooting, I still sit there in the bed and watch TV,” says D.B., also 17.
These reactions – feeling numb or hyper alert – are signs of chronic stress, and adults at their high school took note. Last year, they were tapped for a youth program that showed promising results in reducing violence. It relied, in part, on a concept borrowed from poker.
Choose to Change is a six-month program that focuses on young people who are already struggling: Many have been arrested or have had gaps in school enrollment. Some may be affiliated with gangs or are on juvenile probation. Students in the program are paired with mentors and attend weekly group therapy, where clinicians use cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, to help change their thought patterns – especially around traumatic experiences. “What we try to do is to have them look at those instances in a different way. Like, consider yourself a survivor,” program director Chris Sutton says. “We’re just trying to get them to key in on some of those wins that you don’t give yourself credit for.” Last fall, the University of Chicago Crime Lab released research on the program’s effects over time. Teenagers who participated were nearly 40% less likely to be arrested for a violent crime, compared with students who weren’t in the program. Those results held for up to two years afterwards.
Interested? Read more at npr.org.