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REVIEW Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future. By Larry K. Brendtro, Martin Brokenleg, & Steve Van Bockern. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 1990, 100 pp., $18.95 (paper). To those familiar with previous offerings by Larry Brendtro and his various colleagues (e.g., Brendtro & Ness, 1983; Vorrath & Brentro, 1985), it will come as no surprise that Reclaiming Youth at Risk is a book of direct, practical, honest, and painful challenge. The authors create a continuing counterpoint of emotion and logic to unsettle the reader. They move back and forth between vivid im- ages (e.g., "Richard Cardinal was removed from his alcoholic parents ... to a seemingly endless string of homes... Each time.., was like pulling a piece of used tape from a wall .... " [p. 8]) and wise reflec- tions (e.g., "Everything important has been thought of before; the dif- ficulty is to think of it again." [p. 19]). Then, keeping the reader in this state of imbalance, they take full advantage of our discomfort and press forward with their real agenda: having us look squarely at society's--that is, our--values and admit that they are inadequate. As I read, I found myself reluctantly admitting to being a member of a society whose key values offer youth a rather unsavory atmos- phere within which to grow into adult human beings. As the authors suggest, "the prominent mainstay (or key value of our contemporary society) is 'success' as defined by wealth, power and materialistic he- donism" (p. 34). More specifically, Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern suggest that, if we look boldly at our institutions of caring for youth--from the global education system to more specific pro- grams for troubled and troubling youth--we will too often find that we are offering them experiences in "destructive relationships," "cli- mates of futility," a sense of powerlessness through "learned irrespon- sibility," and feelings of emptiness, of having no purpose. We give them a discouraging and disrespectful set of values. I must admit that, at first, the adolescent rebel in me joined easily in ranting against this disappointing snapshot of North American mainstream values. As the authors kept up their imagery and exam- Child & Youth Care Forum, 20(3), June 1991 1991 Hulnan Sciences Press, Inc. 205

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REVIEW

Rec la iming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future. By Larry K. Brendtro, Martin Brokenleg, & Steve Van Bockern. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 1990, 100 pp., $18.95 (paper).

To those familiar with previous offerings by Larry Brendtro and his various colleagues (e.g., Brendtro & Ness, 1983; Vorrath & Brentro, 1985), it will come as no surprise that Reclaiming Youth at Risk is a book of direct, practical, honest, and painful challenge.

The authors create a continuing counterpoint of emotion and logic to unsettle the reader. They move back and forth between vivid im- ages (e.g., "Richard Cardinal was removed from his alcoholic parents . . . to a seemingly endless string of h o m e s . . . Each t i m e . . , was like pulling a piece of used tape from a wall . . . . " [p. 8]) and wise reflec- tions (e.g., "Everything important has been thought of before; the dif- ficulty is to think of it again." [p. 19]).

Then, keeping the reader in this state of imbalance, they take full advantage of our discomfort and press forward with their real agenda: having us look squarely at society's--that is, our--values and admit that they are inadequate.

As I read, I found myself reluctantly admitting to being a member of a society whose key values offer youth a rather unsavory atmos- phere within which to grow into adult human beings. As the authors suggest, "the prominent mainstay (or key value of our contemporary society) is 'success' as defined by wealth, power and materialistic he- donism" (p. 34). More specifically, Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern suggest that, if we look boldly at our institutions of caring for youth--from the global education system to more specific pro- grams for troubled and troubling youth--we will too often find that we are offering them experiences in "destructive relationships," "cli- mates of futility," a sense of powerlessness through "learned irrespon- sibility," and feelings of emptiness, of having no purpose. We give them a discouraging and disrespectful set of values.

I must admit that, at first, the adolescent rebel in me joined easily in ranting against this disappointing snapshot of North American mainstream values. As the authors kept up their imagery and exam-

Child & Youth Care Forum, 20(3), J u n e 1991 �9 1991 Hulnan Sciences Press, Inc. 205

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ples, however, I was forced to move beyond my comfortable armchair of righteous anger to admit to being a member of this society, and to ask myself what was I doing about these values. This is what I mean by the book being a practical and painful experience. Fortunately, it proceeds to offer those of us who "face the music" an alternative place to begin, suggesting both a framework and a reconsideration of spe- cific approaches to youthwork.

The book is divided into three sections: The Seeds of Discourage- ment; The Circle of Courage; The Reclaiming Environment. I found the first section to be very powerful as, with some resistance, I shifted my view to examine the basic values to which youth (and myself) are exposed in our everyday living experiences. The authors list four key ways in which we, as caregivers, may be failing young people:

First, we may be contributing to their sense of insignificance as we have lost regard for relationship in human growth. I found myself challenged to examine such realities as how the programs and sys- tems of care of which I am a part can and do result in youth becoming "relationship-resistant" as a protection against the unpredictability of changing caregiving settings.

Second, the authors suggest that we foster climates of futility in our failure to offer youth opportunities to take responsibility. In this case, I found myself considering my possible "professional pessimism," the times of apathy when I have allowed myself and the youth I know to live and work in unchallenging environments filled with negative ex- pectations.

Third, Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern suggest that I might be denying youth the sense of personal power that comes from achievement. Here I pushed myself to recall the times when I have worked from a position of over-protectiveness, when I have slipped into comfort with compliance, and when I have let myself remain con- fused between empowerment and indulgence of youth.

Fourth, they suggest that I might be failing to give youth a sense of purpose or worthiness. On this point, I was particularly taken by the authors' discussion of the concept of time: "In contrast to time, rela- tionships are real. They exist in the intimate spaces of our lives . . . . Today these bonds are being torn apart by the hands of Western time. We have a new idiom for that, a new 'time word' to mask the contin- ued destruction of love in our society: it is called 'quality' time. Now not only are we quantifying time, we are qualifying it . . . . We cannot care for children in convenient t i m e . . . " (pp. 29-30).

In the second section of the book, The Circle of Courage, we are challenged to step forward with courage by turning back to those crit- ical values that mainstream society has put aside. We are challenged to look around us for others who have not been as distracted as we.

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Penny Parry 207

The authors turn to the First Nations (Native American) peoples to help us remember what we, too, once knew about basic human values. Through words and through the vivid drawings of Lakota Sioux artist George Bluebird, I was re-introduced to four basic values. These were not new to me. I had heard them before, in different words, from Erickson, from Rogers, etc. And from my grandmother. In entering the Circle of Courage, I remembered how human beings flourish when we have a sense of belonging, a chance for mastery, respect for our independence, and opportunity to experience gener- osity. I remembered what I know ( " . . . the difficulty is to think of it again." At the right time, under fire.).

In the final section, The Reclaiming Environment, we are encour- aged to work by recommitting to relationship, reversing patterns of failure and futility, building responsibility, and "having the courage to care" (p. 57). While this section is quite comprehensive, I did not find it as personally powerful as the first two. Perhaps that is a reflec- tion of where my struggles lie . . . in the dilemmas of commitment rather than the choice of action to follow on the commitment. It may also be that this section of the book is truly familiar to anyone who has followed Redl and Trieschman, through to Vorrath, Brendtro, and Ness. The approaches are the ones you would expect-- those respect- ing the principles of the psychoeducational and positive peer culture perspectives. Further, while I appreciate that the authors did not want to develop a weighty text, I looked forward to their carrying the First Nations theme through to this section. They did not do this enough for me. This was my only disappointment in an otherwise highly recommended book.

In conclusion, Reclaiming Youth is a deceptively "small" book. The authors claim that it "is designed to be as short as possible because . . . a fatigued person cannot study thick volumes on education . . . (and because) one who is unable to get enough sleep will be incapable of implementing the precious principles he has learned" (p. 4), but this is a dangerous statement. Indeed, the book is shor t - -a mere one hundred pages! But, its size and initial reading time belie the depth of its ideas and the extent of its personal challenge. It is a demanding and thought-provoking piece to those of us who appreciate Child and Youth Care Work - - and children and youth.

As you may have noticed, my writing above moved quickly from a brief description to personal reactions I had to the book. This quick- ness of movement parallels what happened to me as I read it. I found it a challenging catalyst for personal change!

Reclaiming Youth at Risk is a critical guide to practice of Child and Youth Care. It reflects years of experience with youth and an obvious sensitivity and courage on the part of the authors that enables them

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to step out of well-travelled paths to refine Child & Youth Care tech- niques and to move forward " . . . to rediscover the maps used by our forbears as we prepare to sail away from conventional shores" (p. 2).

Penny Parry Maples Adolescent Treatment Center Vancouver, B.C.

References

Brendtro, L. K., & Ness, A. E. (1983). Re-Educating troubled youth. New York: Aldine. Vorrath, H., & Brendtro, L. K. (1985). Positive peer culture (2nd ed.). New York: A1-

dine.