How the New Bedford Juvenile Program Began

The Juvenile Changing Lives Through Literature Program is an offshoot of the nationally and internationally acclaimed adult program begun in New Bedford in 1991. Since its inception, over 3,500 men, women, and juveniles have graduated from over 30 CLTL programs nationwide and in England. The program has received recognition from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New England Board of Higher Education and has been profiled in several national newspapers and magazines, including the Boston Globe and Parade Magazine.

The program was founded in the belief that literature has the power to change people's lives. While each program is tailored to its individual population and instructor, most have several elements in common. Students are sentenced to an 8-12 week cycle of classes, generally as an alternative to incarceration. Typically, classes consist of several students, an English professor, a probation officer, and, often, a judge. Usually, participants sit around a seminar table at a university and are expected to discuss literature on an equal and respectful basis.

The literature discussed often mirrors the issues with which students are wrestling. Texts for classes of men include Deliverance, Old Man and the Sea, and Of Mice and Men. Women often read texts having to do with issues of abuse and identity, including The Bluest Eye and The House on Mango Street.

The New Bedford Juvenile Court began the first juvenile program in Massachusetts in 2001. Like the Adult New Bedford Program, these classes are a collaboration between the Court and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. We have enjoyed support from the New Bedford Police Department, the New Bedford Public Schools, Changing Lives Through Literature, the Trial Court, and private donations.

For each of the 10-12 classes, students are bused from the New Bedford Police Station to the University in the company of PO Stella Rebeiro. During our 2-hour classes, we read aloud around the table. The novels we've used successfully include those dealing with gang violence, such as S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, and those dealing with growing up, such as Joan Bauer's The Rules of the Road. We intersperse our reading with discussion of the texts and the issues they raise, as well as with writing. Our discussions are lively and often heated and range in topic from personal to larger societal issues. We've tackled educational ideas like Ebonics and community learning, and we have discussed ways that our students can present themselves to get jobs. We might discuss the morality of drug laws or why we get angry when we are not listened to.

As in the adult classes, these conversations highlight the reason that CLTL works: the literature provides a tool through which non-threatening discussion and debate can be sparked and nurtured. Our goal is not to have our students think in a certain way or believe in certain things, but to become aware of the fact that life consists of making choices. Once they are able to move from their status as victims - victims of school or their parents or the police or the courts - they can begin to realize that what they do on a moment-to-moment and day-to-day basis can determine their future.

The successes of CLTL classes have been well-documented. Students are far less likely to re-offend or to commit violent offenses than their non-program counterparts. In addition, they often find their way into higher education and better jobs. They often reconcile with family and children.

For juvenile students, the changes are multiplied. Many do better in school and make plans to graduate. Their relationships with their probation officers and the court become more congenial. They often discover that they enjoy reading and discussing literature. They find their voices and appropriate ways of using them.