GrowingChange: Media Products as Therapy for Adjudicated Youth

Authors

Jason S. Hutchens, University of North Carolina at PembrokeFollow

Abstract

GrowingChange is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the futures of teenage males in the juvenile justice system. The group is working to reclaim an abandoned prison in Wagram, North Carolina in order to convert it into a sustainable farm and agricultural center for the local community. If successful, GrowingChange hopes to institute a national model for converting closed prison sites into community centers across the country. Youth involved in the program undergo unique forms of therapy to reset their paths toward more promising futures. A core therapeutic component of GrowingChange is teaching youth in the program about ways to provide food and food-related products to impoverished populations in surrounding communities. As the fledgling organization grows, its founder, Noran Sanford, has discovered that promotional media endeavors provide additional therapeutic benefits for the adjudicated youth of GrowingChange.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Hutchens, J. S. (2016). GrowingChange: Media products as therapy for adjudicated youth. National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Journal, 1(2), 27-33. https://doi.org/10.20429/nyarj.2016.010203