Creating a Path by Walking It - A Year in Review of Pohna: Keepers of the Fire

Authors

  • Karen Erickson BSW (Victoria), MEd (Toronto).
  • Patti LaBoucane-Benson PhD Human Ecology (Alberta)
  • Fiona Hossack BA (Alberta)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/alr141

Abstract

Youth involvement in criminal activity and gangs is a complex problem.  This article examines Pohna: Keepers of the Fire, a gang intervention and diversion program for at risk youth.  The program seeks to guide at risk youth away from criminal activity by creating a place where youth are valued and their strengths are used to build their connections and responsibilities to the community.  There is no simple and straightfoward answer to addressing the problem of youth involvement in criminal activity and gangs.  However, from our analysis of five case studies, we have learned that in order to develop effective programs and interventions for at risk youth, we need to focus our attention on learning from them and our interactions with them.  To effectively support the youth involved in Pohna, we need to understand and address the broader forces at work that both strengthen and undermine their resiliency.

Author Biographies

Karen Erickson, BSW (Victoria), MEd (Toronto).

Karen is the Manager of Pohna: Keepers of the Fire at Native Counselling Services of Alberta.  Prior to this she was the Manager for Community Solution to Gang Violence, a collaborative community-based initiative in Edmonton.

Patti LaBoucane-Benson, PhD Human Ecology (Alberta)

Director of Research, Training and Communication of Native Counselling Services of Alberta.  Patti has initiated and led many community-based, applied research projects within the Aboriginal community, and is also the General Editor of the periodical Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Indigenous and Aboriginal Community Health Research.

Fiona Hossack, BA (Alberta)

Fiona is currently pursuing a MSc in Agriculture and Resource Economics from the Faculty of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta.

Downloads

Issue

Vol 48, No 4

Section

Articles

License

For Editions following and including Volume 61 No. 1, the following applies.

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

For Editions prior to Volume 61 No. 1, the following applies.

Author(s) retain original copyright in the substantive content of the titled work, subject to the following rights that are granted indefinitely:

  1. Author(s) grant the Alberta Law Review permission to produce, publish, disseminate, and distribute the titled work in electronic format to online database services, including, but not limited to: LexisNexis, QuickLaw, HeinOnline, and EBSCO;
  2. Author(s) grant the Alberta Law Review permission to post the titled work on the Alberta Law Review website and/or related websites.
  3. Author(s) agree that the titled work may be used for educational or instructional purposes and/or in educational or instructional materials. The author(s) acknowledge that the titled work is subject to other such "fair dealing" provisions and applicable legislation.
  4. Author(s) grant a limited license to those accessing the titled work from an electronic database or an Alberta Law Review website to download the titled work onto their computer and to print a copy for their own personal, non-commercial use, subject to proper attribution.

To use the journal's content elsewhere, permission must be obtained from the author(s) and the Alberta Law Review.