Solving Gang-related Issues Like Men, Can It Work?

William Dawson

According to Dawson, these young men will be given an opportunity to address their issues openly in an effort to resolve them while incarcerated.  It’s a difficult undertaking considering the bloodbath that has claimed many lives.

William Dawson, Director, Wagner’s Youth Facility

“There’s a lot of flare-ups in the different neighborhoods and it’s all based on rivals wanting territory and expanding their territory and stuff like that.  So we’re trying to figure it out, to find out what it is that, what are these young men looking for, what is it that they want and at the same time see if we can extend to them that instead of fighting against each other at least calling my group which is called the Leadership Intervention Unit so that we can facilitate mediation interventions and give them a space around the table to discuss like men.  We’ve found out that these young men, the only way they know how to resolve situations is violently and we’re saying that that can’t be the status quo going forward.  People are suffering, citizen security is at its lowest and we have to do something to mitigate that issue, so we’re going to be hammering hard right now, in and outside of the prison.”