Education
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the protests for social change, and the important Black Lives Matter movement, what choices can we make as individual’s and as a society to bring about social justice reform? Joining me today on the podcast is Dr. Laura Abrams, professor of Social Welfare and Department Chair at UCLA. Her studies and focus are on improving the wellbeing of youth and young adults with histories of incarceration. She has a wealth of knowledge and information from her years of research about the juvenile justice system and social inequalities. Today she shares with us her experience and perspective of how our society is failing juveniles in the justice system and also how our society is failing Black people as a whole. She provides hope by giving us advice on how we can all make choices (and they aren’t massive!) that can create a big impact towards social change and equality. Dr. Laura Abrams is the author of many publications including two books: Compassionate Confinement: A Year in the Life of Unit C and Everyday Desistance: The Transition to Adulthood Among Formerly Incarcerated Youth. “I also try to instill upon my social work students, what an honor it is to be a part of people’s lives at these critical times.” “The big picture is you have a lot of young people that we don’t know how to care for, we don’t know how to help. Then you have a system that generally harms people, and in rare cases, helps you get better but generally makes people worse. And then you have a big public investment in locking up youth because we think somehow that makes us safer. When really those approaches are very damaging for society and young people.” “When you’ve been taught that racism is just an individual attitude, like prejudice, it distorts the whole core of the issue which is inequality.” In this episode, you will hear: - How Laura got into social justice and reform - Her perspective on the problems with the juvenile justice system and the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system - Laura’s advice on making choices to impact social inequality and justice Coaching Information: If you would like more information on the Clear Choices business and life coaching program, please e-mail me at rob@robaigner.com or go to our website at https://clearchoices.live/. Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe to the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Find me on Instagram @clearchoicespodcast and on Facebook . If you have a guest idea or want to connect with me, please visit my website www.clearchoices.live. I am also available for speaking engagements. Connect with Laura: Twitter: @labramsucla Resources mentioned in this episode: UCLA Luskin Social Welfare https://luskin.ucla.edu/person/laura-abrams 13th Movie Nikole Hannah Jones How to Become Anti-Racist Michelle Alexander’s book: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness