Angry Young Men By Aaron Kipnis
Angry Young Men
Aaron Kipnis
Specific details about the worth of the book:
The book Angry Young men is easy to read and very informative. It gives the reader an insider’s view of the hardships of getting caught in the system. I believe Aaron Kipnis is an expert on the shortcomings of how, as a society, we handle the challenging youth. He has lived through the challenges and has studied the topic of “bad boys” in a traditional academic way. I felt hope while reading through this book despite the heavy subject matter, I think that Kipnis intended the reader to feel hope throughout the book because he knows firsthand the challenges and hardships that our young youth are experiencing today. Kipnis interweaves many suggestions for changes …show more content…
within the system and how we can teach and work with troubled boys. A great quality that I believe Aaron Kipnis possesses is that of compassion. Because he has been there and done it, so to speak, he is able to extend compassion to other young boys who are going down that tough terrain and take a risk with them by extending real compassion that comes from someone who has experienced a similar path. As far as readability and an overall exploration of how innocent boys can become angry young men, I believe this book ranks very high on the must have for parents, professionals and community teachers & leaders everywhere. Angry Young Men is definitely a useful and resourceful tool, which makes it worth the read.
What influenced the writing?
Aaron Kipnis, Ph.D.
writes from a personal and professional experience, sharing about his own troubled youth and the successful approaches he has used to help bad boys become good men. Kipnis was first incarcerated at the age of eleven when he ran away from home after a beating. He spent about seven years, a large portion of his childhood in foster care, temporary housing, and locked institutions or on the streets. Kipnis offers hope by telling parents what they need to know if their male adolescent is having trouble socially or emotionally, in school, or with drugs or gangs. This book also shows professionals how to build trust and affect change with troubled youth. It offers strategies for everyone who wants to help at-risk boys become strong, productive, caring, and compassionate …show more content…
men.
How has it influenced me?
Angry Young Men deeply influenced me to have a discussion with my employer regarding the adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that we talked about a few months ago. As an agency we explored the possibility of opening an afternoon outpatient rehab to adolescents that are suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction. Because I was positively impacted by this book, I felt moved to initiate discussion at my group supervision amongst my colleagues because I think it would be another way of continuing to reach our youth, male or female that are turning to alcohol and drugs because of other things that are hardships in their lives such as their living environments, lack of supports from family and friends, any kind of abuse, financial difficulties that place them in a lower social economic bracket, and many of the other negative aspects in their lives that Kipnis spoke about in his book.
Critique of the book (positive or negative) and why I took a certain position:
I liked the book Angry Young Men a lot because it offered me a lot of statistics that I wasn’t aware of before I picked up the book such as: * The penalty that boys receive compared to girls when they misbehave in school is much more severe. * The majority of school violence is male victims. * Boys are the minority of valedictorians. * Males are the majority of the homeless; HIV positives; physically abused, neglected and murdered children; foster kids awaiting adoption; alcoholics and drug addicts in need of treatment. * The United States today has more boys and young men locked up in juvenile institutions, jails, prisons, and mental hospitals than any other nation on earth.
It also was very nice to read about the author and how he went down the road of complete destruction but found a spiritual answer along with education to assist him out of the hell he was in. He also found a lot of great mentors along his spiritual path to wellness, which I found interesting and intriguing. Even though I am a female, I was able to relate to Kipnis in many ways. I, too come from a very abusive home, which forced me into self-medicating by using alcohol and drugs. It led me down a very distinctive path of loss; however, I was able to recover in similar ways as Kipnis because of spiritual connections along with good education. I also had some really great mentors along the way to help guide me into a better lifestyle. They showed me through action how to act within our community and assisted me to eventually become a professional.
Two of the programs that Kipnis speaks about in his last chapters appeared to be very beneficial to at-risk male youth and it was very moving and heartfelt for me to read. The first program that touched my heart and appeared to be helping lots of male inmates was directed by Dr. Robert E. Roberts (Bob) and it was a literacy and leadership program in Louisiana. After being pushed out by guards, Bob established “Project Return” at Tulane University in 1993. This program was impressive to me because Bob and his team are not taking males that appear to be ready for change necessarily, their taking males and facilitating the change within the males by fostering mutual support, respect, and cooperative learning. The statistics are proof that this kind of project has been beneficial for this particular community. The other program that educated me and actually made me cry was “Project BEGIN” and the “Rite Way” directed by Akani Fletcher, which is one of Kipnis’ friends and colleagues. He has introduced an inner-city project that helps young males speak about what they are feeling, what they fear, who they are and what they would like to become. What was most impressive to me about Akani was the fact that he steps out on a limb to involve the boys in their community by having them participate in physical challenges. I can only imagine how this kind of treatment helps the young boys to connect spiritually, mentally, and physically with each other and promotes and encourages a connection with a “Higher Power” of some sort. The short example that Kipnis wrote about in his book was very moving especially when he spoke about strangers becoming witnesses to the boy’s process and nurturing their growth by cheering them on.
The end of the book wraps up Aaron Kipnis’ harm-reduction ideal and he provides an easy format for people to refer back to if they may have forgotten some of his main points.
Two of my favorite sayings in this book and I quote the author are: “The worth of a boy is greater than his worst act” and “Though some make miraculous turns on a dime, most personal growth happens incrementally. An acorn becomes a sapling. It adds annual rings of growth. Then, bang, there’s an oak with acorns of its own to give back to the earth”. These quotes are beneficial to me both personally and professionally. Aaron concludes his book by adding a personal touch, which wasn’t surprising to me because it’s his personal story that really grabbed me throughout this book. By adding the story at the end regarding one of the neighborhood boys that he mentions in the beginning was a nice way to show the progression of his personal recovery process that he wrote about throughout his book. It reminded me of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when people share their stories at the podium. They speak about “what it was like being drunk & drugged”, “what happened to help them get sober & stay sober” and “what their lives are like now without the substances”. His personal additions made reading about all the statistics worth it, which helped me to learn a lot about young males in
trouble.
Describe my growth in learning as a result of reading this book:
After pondering this question for a while, it finally dawned on me how I personally have grown from this book. Becoming aware of this problem in the United States and here in my hometown has enabled growth within me because it pushed me to ask the questions, what are we doing here in Lewiston/Auburn and what programs are being offered in this community to help troubled boys. I am going to continue to have the conversation with my colleagues about opening the outpatient rehab for adolescents because I believe it would be one more resource where we could provide treatment to the adolescent who is abusing alcohol and drugs. The way this affects my personal recovery is it continues to encourage and nurture my self-esteem by giving back to my community as a treatment provider. I, like the above mentioned quote was a tiny acorn but as my recovery has progressed along the years, I have become an oak tree that is dropping acorns of its own and helping others along their path to recovery. I would like some of those others to be the young people that are within my community and abroad. I enjoyed reading this book.
Aaron Kipnis
Specific details about the worth of the book:
The book Angry Young men is easy to read and very informative. It gives the reader an insider’s view of the hardships of getting caught in the system. I believe Aaron Kipnis is an expert on the shortcomings of how, as a society, we handle the challenging youth. He has lived through the challenges and has studied the topic of “bad boys” in a traditional academic way. I felt hope while reading through this book despite the heavy subject matter, I think that Kipnis intended the reader to feel hope throughout the book because he knows firsthand the challenges and hardships that our young youth are experiencing today. Kipnis interweaves many suggestions for changes …show more content…
within the system and how we can teach and work with troubled boys. A great quality that I believe Aaron Kipnis possesses is that of compassion. Because he has been there and done it, so to speak, he is able to extend compassion to other young boys who are going down that tough terrain and take a risk with them by extending real compassion that comes from someone who has experienced a similar path. As far as readability and an overall exploration of how innocent boys can become angry young men, I believe this book ranks very high on the must have for parents, professionals and community teachers & leaders everywhere. Angry Young Men is definitely a useful and resourceful tool, which makes it worth the read.
What influenced the writing?
Aaron Kipnis, Ph.D.
writes from a personal and professional experience, sharing about his own troubled youth and the successful approaches he has used to help bad boys become good men. Kipnis was first incarcerated at the age of eleven when he ran away from home after a beating. He spent about seven years, a large portion of his childhood in foster care, temporary housing, and locked institutions or on the streets. Kipnis offers hope by telling parents what they need to know if their male adolescent is having trouble socially or emotionally, in school, or with drugs or gangs. This book also shows professionals how to build trust and affect change with troubled youth. It offers strategies for everyone who wants to help at-risk boys become strong, productive, caring, and compassionate …show more content…
men.
How has it influenced me?
Angry Young Men deeply influenced me to have a discussion with my employer regarding the adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that we talked about a few months ago. As an agency we explored the possibility of opening an afternoon outpatient rehab to adolescents that are suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction. Because I was positively impacted by this book, I felt moved to initiate discussion at my group supervision amongst my colleagues because I think it would be another way of continuing to reach our youth, male or female that are turning to alcohol and drugs because of other things that are hardships in their lives such as their living environments, lack of supports from family and friends, any kind of abuse, financial difficulties that place them in a lower social economic bracket, and many of the other negative aspects in their lives that Kipnis spoke about in his book.
Critique of the book (positive or negative) and why I took a certain position:
I liked the book Angry Young Men a lot because it offered me a lot of statistics that I wasn’t aware of before I picked up the book such as: * The penalty that boys receive compared to girls when they misbehave in school is much more severe. * The majority of school violence is male victims. * Boys are the minority of valedictorians. * Males are the majority of the homeless; HIV positives; physically abused, neglected and murdered children; foster kids awaiting adoption; alcoholics and drug addicts in need of treatment. * The United States today has more boys and young men locked up in juvenile institutions, jails, prisons, and mental hospitals than any other nation on earth.
It also was very nice to read about the author and how he went down the road of complete destruction but found a spiritual answer along with education to assist him out of the hell he was in. He also found a lot of great mentors along his spiritual path to wellness, which I found interesting and intriguing. Even though I am a female, I was able to relate to Kipnis in many ways. I, too come from a very abusive home, which forced me into self-medicating by using alcohol and drugs. It led me down a very distinctive path of loss; however, I was able to recover in similar ways as Kipnis because of spiritual connections along with good education. I also had some really great mentors along the way to help guide me into a better lifestyle. They showed me through action how to act within our community and assisted me to eventually become a professional.
Two of the programs that Kipnis speaks about in his last chapters appeared to be very beneficial to at-risk male youth and it was very moving and heartfelt for me to read. The first program that touched my heart and appeared to be helping lots of male inmates was directed by Dr. Robert E. Roberts (Bob) and it was a literacy and leadership program in Louisiana. After being pushed out by guards, Bob established “Project Return” at Tulane University in 1993. This program was impressive to me because Bob and his team are not taking males that appear to be ready for change necessarily, their taking males and facilitating the change within the males by fostering mutual support, respect, and cooperative learning. The statistics are proof that this kind of project has been beneficial for this particular community. The other program that educated me and actually made me cry was “Project BEGIN” and the “Rite Way” directed by Akani Fletcher, which is one of Kipnis’ friends and colleagues. He has introduced an inner-city project that helps young males speak about what they are feeling, what they fear, who they are and what they would like to become. What was most impressive to me about Akani was the fact that he steps out on a limb to involve the boys in their community by having them participate in physical challenges. I can only imagine how this kind of treatment helps the young boys to connect spiritually, mentally, and physically with each other and promotes and encourages a connection with a “Higher Power” of some sort. The short example that Kipnis wrote about in his book was very moving especially when he spoke about strangers becoming witnesses to the boy’s process and nurturing their growth by cheering them on.
The end of the book wraps up Aaron Kipnis’ harm-reduction ideal and he provides an easy format for people to refer back to if they may have forgotten some of his main points.
Two of my favorite sayings in this book and I quote the author are: “The worth of a boy is greater than his worst act” and “Though some make miraculous turns on a dime, most personal growth happens incrementally. An acorn becomes a sapling. It adds annual rings of growth. Then, bang, there’s an oak with acorns of its own to give back to the earth”. These quotes are beneficial to me both personally and professionally. Aaron concludes his book by adding a personal touch, which wasn’t surprising to me because it’s his personal story that really grabbed me throughout this book. By adding the story at the end regarding one of the neighborhood boys that he mentions in the beginning was a nice way to show the progression of his personal recovery process that he wrote about throughout his book. It reminded me of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when people share their stories at the podium. They speak about “what it was like being drunk & drugged”, “what happened to help them get sober & stay sober” and “what their lives are like now without the substances”. His personal additions made reading about all the statistics worth it, which helped me to learn a lot about young males in
trouble.
Describe my growth in learning as a result of reading this book:
After pondering this question for a while, it finally dawned on me how I personally have grown from this book. Becoming aware of this problem in the United States and here in my hometown has enabled growth within me because it pushed me to ask the questions, what are we doing here in Lewiston/Auburn and what programs are being offered in this community to help troubled boys. I am going to continue to have the conversation with my colleagues about opening the outpatient rehab for adolescents because I believe it would be one more resource where we could provide treatment to the adolescent who is abusing alcohol and drugs. The way this affects my personal recovery is it continues to encourage and nurture my self-esteem by giving back to my community as a treatment provider. I, like the above mentioned quote was a tiny acorn but as my recovery has progressed along the years, I have become an oak tree that is dropping acorns of its own and helping others along their path to recovery. I would like some of those others to be the young people that are within my community and abroad. I enjoyed reading this book.