Girl, Interrupted and Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen and Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth by John Hubner

In the book, Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen tells the story of her time at McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility. She writes about the many strong personalities she encountered and her experiences she had in her time at the hospital. Although I had heard good things about this book, I ended up abandoning it 132 pages into it. This was because I could not manage to figure out the plot of the book. I found myself getting lost throughout the dialogue between the characters and forgetting what the book was about. I lost interest which led me to abandon it for another book. I ended up choosing Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth by John Hubner. This book takes the reader inside Giddings State School, home to four hundred lawbreakers. Out of the four hundred, Hubner focuses on a boy and a girl through intense group therapy that forces them to look back on their crimes they had committed and the abuse they had suffered whilst growing up. Over the past week, I’ve read for 180 minutes, and I plan on finishing this book in two weeks.

Towards the beginning of the book, Linda Reyes, a therapist who works at Giddings, explains how the tactics they use to build emotion in the criminals. She said that while listening to their stories, she saw a lack of empathy in the kids. She describes the importance of understanding and sharing the feelings of others saying, “empathy keeps you from doing something that might harm someone. We had to find a way to build empathy”(14). In effort to get the convicts back in touch with their feelings, Reyes suggests a process called psychodrama, which is the act of reenacting key scenes in their life that in turn gives them a chance to break the wall they have built up and connect with their emotions. One boy by the name of Tran, was the second to share his story. He tells the story of his early encounter with abuse. At the young age of five, Tran had unfortunately stumbled upon the startling scene of his uncle beating his aunt, repeatedly yelling, “I’m the man of the house! I do what I want!”(21). His uncle heard Tran’s crying amidst the yelling and hits him, later chaining him to a table routinely in the morning. Trying his hardest to stop his tears from overflowing, Tran is stubborn and will not accept any form of compassion or help saying, “When I was chained up, that wall was my only friend! I built my own wall...So thick, nobody comes around...I don’t deserve it!”(22). Many of the teen criminals in this book struggle with getting in touch with their emotions, but after opening up, they are convinced they are not worthy of any kindness or help from others at all. Their past experiences with abuse had a negative influence on many of the teens at Giddings and have scarred them deeply and reopening the wound is the toughest part of breaking down the walls they have tried so hard to build up.

Children who are exposed to abuse are more likely to have negative psychological effects. This article explains the effects of exposure to abuse at an early age and lists effects on the mental health of the children including anxiety, depression, dissociation, flashbacks, and difficulty connecting with others. Exposure to abuse as a child can impact what that child’s life will look like when they reach adulthood. The teens in Last Chance in Texas who have been exposed to abuse have many difficulties connecting with their emotions and have built up a brick wall, keeping the emotions captive. The abuse they were exposed to might have been a factor in why they might have committed the crimes that landed them into Giddings. In childhood, youth are very impressionable and by experiencing abuse so young, this may have them think that is normal and that it is okay. It is very important to inform children that it is not normal and never acceptable to abuse anyone physically or emotionally.

Citations:

Kaysen, Susanna. Girl, Interrupted. New York: Vintage Books, 1999. Print.

Hubner, John. Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth. New York:

    Random House, 2005. Print.

“Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect.” Joyful Heart Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web.

    14 Sept. 2016.