When it comes to de-escalating aggressive behavior — different methods are needed for juveniles than the ones that work on adults, said Jeff Golden, who teaches criminal justice classes at Saint Leo University.
Golden and other experts in law enforcement and criminal justice will be sharing their knowledge in a Summer Institute Course on juvenile aggression at Saint Leo University, May 5 through May 7.
In addition to Golden, other experts who will be leading instruction are Lt. Tim Enos, who currently works for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office; Norm Miller, an investigator assigned to gang prosecutions; and Deputy Dave Cappel, a school resource officer for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The class is being offered both for credit and for noncredit. Those who are not seeking credit can attend for free, provided there are still seats available.
Besides exploring issues involved with policing the teenage brain, the experts will cover:
- Tools for de-escalating and preventing juvenile aggression
- Techniques for communicating with troubled youths and building trust
- Youth gangs and violence, impacts and opportunities
- Crisis intervention teams and school resource offices, and what they do
- Federal and Florida laws and agencies relating to juvenile
- Causes of juvenile aggression and schools and solution
- Bullying, harassment, violence and cyber bullying
The vast majority of police academies spend little to no time training patrol officers on effective techniques for policing juveniles, Golden said.
Most patrol officers have been taught restraints that work well on adults, but that can actually escalate aggression in juveniles, said Golden, who teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in criminal justice, juvenile justice and law at Saint Leo University.
“Most law enforcement agencies rely on some type of pain-inducing restraint to control someone physically,” he explained. “Adults understand: Stop what you’re doing and the pain will stop.
“Their rational thinking will take over and they generally will comply,” he said.
Not so for juveniles.
“Pain for a juvenile — and on a teenage brain — is like throwing kerosene on a fire,” Golden said. “The pain is going to make them scream louder, fight harder, and they are not going to listen.”
If there are other juveniles nearby, they’ll become more hyperactive.
“Juvenile aggression is contagious,” Golden said, “so we need to isolate it as quickly as we can.
If parents are watching and their child becomes more agitated in response to an officer, the parents may get upset and tensions could ratchet higher.
Proper training can help officers de-escalate tense situations, Golden said.
“When juveniles are screaming, we need to speak softly. We need to say things that distract them or that cause them to no longer focus on their anger.
“Anger takes an incredible amount of energy to maintain. Aggression takes an enormous amount of energy to maintain.
“The sooner we can teach officers to de-escalate a juvenile by diverting their attention from that anger or aggression, the faster the juvenile is going to de-escalate.”
At the same time, there’s no instant solution.
“I can’t flip a switch and turn them off, but I can definitely dial them down. We teach officers how to do that,” Golden said.
Police officers need to learn to distinguish between different kinds of aggression. Is the youth being aggressive deliberately, or is the youth displaying emotional aggression?
It’s important to understand the distinction because the tools to de-escalate the behavior are dramatically different, Golden said.
“Every incident an officer is called to — it’s an opportunity to reach out and help a youth.
“The more they know how to identify potential problems, real problems, and actually get through to the youth and establish a connection … Once we’ve got them calmed down … we can begin to communicate with them,” he said.
The real answer to root out what’s causing the juvenile’s behavior and to address that, Golden said.
“This isn’t some kid acting out for no reason whatsoever,” he said.
In some cases, the anger and aggression may stem from a juvenile not getting the medications that they need, he said.
“I’m not asking officers to become social workers,” Golden said, but addressing this issue requires a multifaceted response.
“We try to prevent things from escalating, or exploding. We’re not going to arrest our way out of this,” Golden said.
To register for the class, contact Karin May by email at .
Published April 29, 2015
