Mon, Jan 17, 2000 page4

• Fears of gangs in schools overrated

  DELINQUENCY Social workers point to family and school problems as the key factors for troubled youths

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  When Jason Lin* offered a helping hand to Stanley Shu,* who was being beaten up by bullies at school, he immediately won the 16-year-old's trust. It seemed as if Shu had found a good friend -- but what he did not see, according to counselors, was a force that would gradually pull him away from his own world and into a circle he little expected.

  Lin, it turned out, had links outside of school with gangsters. Still, Shu saw Lin as a hero, since he was not a favorite of their teacher and was often sneered at by his peers. He also liked to hang out with Lin because they went to bars, karaoke parlors and pool halls, forgetting about school and having fun.

  Shu's life, however, took a dramatic turn when his parents found out who his new friend was -- they packed him off to a boarding school in the US. Now, while Shu begs his parents to let him come back, they themselves are allegedly being threatened by Lin and his gang of friends.

  

  High school students are often seen, as here, at the funerals of organized crime figures in Taiwan.

  FILE PHOTO

  Even so, Criminologist and Central Police University (中央警察大學) professor Frank Huang (黃富源), says gang activity on school campuses is not a serious problem.

  "There is no such a thing as `organized crime' on campus -- instead, what we see is occasional loitering and violence on campus by teenage gangs," he said.

  "There are two major activities associated with gang activity -- violence related to drug dealing, gambling and porn businesses. But we don't see these activities on a large scale on school campuses."

  National Taiwan University (台灣大學) sociology professor Lin Wan-yi (林萬億) concurs. "In addition to loitering on campuses, we also see gangs from outside of the schools recruiting students to work for them at their karaoke parlors, betel nut booths, lion dancing troupes and traditional gong and drum groups," he says.

  According to officials from Taipei's Juvenile Counseling Committee (台北市少年輔導委員會), from January to October in 1999, a total of 126 city teenagers, ranging from elementary school kids, full-time high school students and dropouts, were found to be involved in gang activities. Only five of them later received counseling at one of the committee's 12 counseling divisions (台北市少年輔導組).

  Family matters

  Counselors say a number of factors influence teenagers' involvement in gang activities or other juvenile delinquent activities -- low self esteem, insecurity, poor academic performance, interrupted schooling and connections with gang mem-bers -- but the core of the problem, they say, is family dynamics.

  "Broken, unsupportive or dysfunctional families tend to create more delinquent juveniles," said Chan Hsiao-hui (詹曉彗), a supervisor at the Sungshan juvenile counseling division (松山少輔組).

  Citing a recent case, Chan said a girl -- who had been at odds with her mother and older brother -- usually showed up at counseling sessions with bruises, black eyes, even a broken nose. Things became even worse after her parents' divorced.

  "All I could see in her eyes was anger when she talked about her family," she says.

  Another boy, physically abused by his father, a black-belt in Taekwando, ended up as a bully himself, Chan said, since violence had been the only way he saw his father handle things.

  In fact, many people believe gangsters and hoodlums are vicious and violent by nature. But Chan says it is not the case.

  "I've seen some [of the children she has dealt with] who are very polite and mature. What draws them to gang circles, however, has a lot to do with their family backgrounds," she said.

  As an example, Chan mentioned an 18-year-old boy who had a long police record, ranging from blackmail to theft. "With his mother nowhere to be found and his father sick, he had been living with his estranged grandmother. He is a good boy at heart, but the question is do we [the social workers and the welfare system as a whole] have the strength to bring him back [to `normal' society]?" she said.

  Despite the significant role of families cited by social workers however, a family's financial or social level is not an indicator of juvenile troubles. Broken or low-income families do not always lead to juvenile delinquency.

  A 1998 study conducted by the committee, of 250 troubled youngsters aged between 12 and 18, showed that about 55 percent came from relatively problem-free families. The parents of 21 percent were divorced while for 10 percent their parents had separated but were not formally divorced.

  The study also found that over 90 percent of the respondents came from families that were considered financially secure and who were able to provide the youngsters with sufficient financial support.

  "I've seen one boy badly spoiled by his well-off family, including his parents, grandmother and great-grandmother. His mother even serves him breakfast in bed," Chan said.

  Reaching out

  According to the counseling committee, Taipei's Wanhua district has the highest occurrence of teenage crime, followed by the Neihu and Sungshan districts. The most frequent crimes are theft and violence. Boy offenders normally outnumber the girls.

  The study found that troubled teens like to hang out at pool halls and beverage shops selling "bubble" tea (泡沫紅茶).

  In an effort to reach out to such youngsters, in 1994 members of the committee took the initiative to pay frequent visits to teen hang-outs.

  "We have seen some progress over the years," said Wang Chi-shen (汪季參), chief supervisor of the committee. "When we first started six years ago, we got to talk to only 100 to 200 people a month, but now we have about 400. What we would like to see is the teenagers we have worked with influence their peers."

  Since problems often start within the family and then spread to a youngster's school and community, most scholars suggest that is where the help should start.

  Kuan Ping-yin (官秉寅), associate professor and dean of the Sociocultural Research Center at the Fu Jen Catholic University, says there are no such things as juvenile problems, only adult problems.

  "Once the links between the family, school, and community are strengthened, the chance of teenage involvement in gang activities is reduced," he said.

  Central Police University (中央警察大學) professor Chou Wen-yeong (周文勇) agreed.

  "It's a good idea to integrate the school, the police department and other governmental divisions to tackle the entire problem together," he said. "What's equally important is to have well-trained teachers, counselors and police officers available, because it's a professional's job," he said.

  * These names have been changed to protect the individuals.
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