Chicago is in dire need of solutions for its violent crime. A cognitive behavioral therapy program has been able to help keep teenage boys from acting out on their impulses.
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Seven hundred sixty-six. That's how many people were murdered in Chicago last year. The city's on pace to match that number this year. Plenty of community organizations are looking for ways to stop the violence. NPR's social science correspondent, Shankar Vedantam, has the story of one program that's teaching young men how to change the way they think.
SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Think about the last time you were really, really angry. Did you lose it, or were you able to keep your cool? For teenage boys in violent sections of Chicago, the question goes deeper. What does it take to keep your cool but also project toughness so people don't keep messing with you? For one group of kids, the answers lie in a group-therapy program at their high school. It's called Becoming a Man or BAM, and it's designed in part to help these teens pause and take a breath before acting. BAM sessions always begin with a check-in, and a brief summary of what's going on in everyone's life physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
[For more of this story, written by Shankar Vedantam, go to http://www.npr.org/2017/02/28/...combat-violent-crime]
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