Portland State Magazine Fall 2018

14 with youth who range from about 12 to 18 years old, although most are 15 to 17. “The kids wonder, why would we come in to see them?” says Arthur. “But they crave these visits, because the students don’t judge them as bad kids.” ARTHUR practiced criminal defense law in the Portland area for 10 years, the last five of those focusing on juveniles in the adult criminal justice system. Many of her young clients had been charged under Oregon’s Ballot Measure 11, which was passed in 1994 and mandated that juveniles charged with particular crimes be automatically tried as adults. Fifteen years ago, Arthur created a PSU Capstone course in which her students made a short documentary about Measure 11. Because of Arthur’s work as an attorney, she knew many people in the correctional system, and she was able to establish a collaboration with the Juvenile Justice Division of the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice. “It’s such a privilege to have this partnership,” says Arthur. “Multnomah County is cutting edge, and they welcome community partnerships.” Although the docu- mentary was successful, Arthur says it wasn’t the type of project she could teach over and over—the movie was finished.To keep the Capstone and the relationship with Multnomah County going, she redesigned the course so that the students would instruct the incarcerated youth in pro-social skills.The specific content of each term’s curriculum was determined by the PSU students who took the course and the knowledge and experience they brought with them, and it covered a broad range of subjects, from health and nutrition, to clay art, to poetry. Twelve years ago, Izzy LeFebvre, then the liaison between Mult- nomah County and PSU, heard about a program calledThe Beat Within. He asked Arthur if the PSU students might be willing to bring that curriculum into the juvenile justice system. Since then, The Beat Within has provided the framework for the students’ workshops, providing weekly prompts that the kids in detention can respond to through their art and writing. THE BEAT WITHIN was founded in San Francisco in 1996 as a way for incarcerated youth to use writing and art to express their intense grief over the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.The program has since spread across California and to locations nationwide, including New Mexico, Hawaii,Washington, D.C. and Oregon. The goal of The Beat Within isn’t to make published authors or professional artists, but to make writing and art into a means of discovery and expression for the incarcerated youth. “They’re try- ing to reach out, but they don’t know how,” says Darlene Muñoz, a PSU alumna who took Arthur’s course. “Art is this amazing way to communicate: ‘I’m going to show you with my art, with my words, this is how I feel.This is how I show you I need help.’” Just as important as the writing and art is the interaction between the youth and the PSU students. “They get the chance to see that someone can go to college, even someone like them,” says Pam Guzman, evidence-based process lead for the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice. “They get a chance to talk to other people, throw ideas around, have conversation and mentorship from the students.” Arthur recalls that in a recent term, one of her PSU Capstone students was an excellent chess player—as was one of the incar- cerated kids. Each week, during the PSU visit to the detention center, the two would play chess, and the incarcerated youth won every time. “The Capstone student loved that,” says Arthur. In part, she says, that was because the student was thrilled to find that someone from such a different background would be such an excep- tional chess player. Arthur teaches the Juvenile Justice course every term, even during summer, and about 900 PSU students have gone through the experience so far. “I love when I get people who want to be in law enforcement,” says Arthur. “Usually there are one or two per class, and this is an important part of their training.They learn that these aren’t just bad guys on the street.” But word has spread about the course and its powerful impact, so its students now come from all different majors, including psychology, social science, art and music. AT THE END of each term, Arthur leads a closing circle attended by the PSU students and the detention center’s youth and staff. “Some of the students are literally in tears,” says Guz- man. “Ninety-eight percent of the PSU students are changed forever. It’s remarkable how many of them share that they had assumptions, or that they were afraid of coming here, and it ”YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT JUVENILE JUSTICE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.”