Latest Santa Ana Gang Outrage Fuels Sense of Despair, Desire for Change

I was saddened, angered and disgusted by the senseless brutality of the young men, most likely teen-age gang members, who committed the murder of Mauro Meza. Although such reports are standard Southern California news, I continue to be confused and frustrated by our seeming inability to intervene in the escalation of gang warfare, ever more frequently acted out upon innocent civilians.

As a child and adolescent psychiatrist at UCI Medical Center, I meet many adolescents who are terrorized by gangs. Some are members. Many have become depressed and often suicidal because of threats from gang members and because they cannot attend school without fear of bodily harm.

I have difficulty comprehending what it must be like to grow up in an environment where this is the accepted norm, where coping with gang activity becomes an expected task of childhood and adolescence. Many of the adolescent gang members I have met do not expect to live past 18. They initially act as though this is a fact they accept and do not care about. However, in therapy, these children and their families almost always begin to express the anxiety, hopelessness and despair that lies beneath their tough appearance.

I believe that the involvement of our youth in gangs is yet another symptom of the worsening condition of our environment, one where emotional needs are not prioritized, and programs designed to assist children and their families are not funded. The resulting increase in gang involvement, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect is a high price for all of us to pay.

Until we begin to elect politicians who recognize, prioritize and allocate resources to programs designed to address the needs of parents and their children we will continue to be shocked and horrified by our own front-page news.

JENNIFER HAGMAN, MD

Orange