The recent case of two teenagers involved in a gun killing in Tacloban forces us to confront uncomfortable truths.
It is easy to condemn, but harder—and more necessary—to understand. These minors may not simply be “criminals”; they may be children shaped by social disability, impaired discernment and a culture of violence that runs deeper than individual choice.
The context of social disability and discernment
Developmental psychology and juvenile justice research show that adolescents often lack full cognitive maturity. As developmental psychologist Laurence Steinberg has extensively documented, the prefrontal cortex—the region of the brain responsible for impulse control, risk assessment and long-term discernment—is still evolving well into a person’s twenties.
When this developmental vulnerability intersects with social disability (poverty, broken families, lack of education, exposure to trauma), the risk of violent behavior escalates.
Sociologist Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory highlights that when youth experience these chronic environmental stressors without adequate support systems, the resulting strain frequently manifests as delinquency.
In Tacloban, the teenagers’ act cannot be detached from the environment that failed to nurture their judgment. To treat them as fully formed adults in the justice system, as legal scholar Elizabeth Scott warns, would be to ignore the established science of adolescence and the undeniable evidence of social determinants of crime.
The culture of violence and structural roots
The Philippines has long grappled with a culture of violence—from political killings to community-level gun proliferation.
According to Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, aggression is not inherent but learned through the observation and imitation of models within one’s environment. In this context, children grow up seeing violence normalized as conflict resolution.
This is compounded by what peace theorist Johan Galtung terms “structural violence”—the systemic ways in which poverty, inequality, and weak governance inflict harm on marginalized populations. These invisible structures create conditions where firearms are accessible and life feels disposable.
Examples abound: extrajudicial killings during the drug war, political killings and massacres of activists and human rights defenders, clan feuds in Mindanao, to mention a few. These are not isolated incidents but systemic signals to young people, reinforcing the tragic lesson that violence is part of the social fabric.
Why restorative and transformative justice?
Punitive justice alone—incarceration or retribution—will not heal Tacloban’s wounds. It risks perpetuating cycles of trauma and exclusion.
Instead:
Restorative Justice offers a path to healing: Drawing from the foundational work of Howard Zehr, who reframed crime as a violation of people and relationships rather than just a violation of the law, this model engages victims’ families, offenders, and communities in dialogue, accountability, and reconciliation.
Transformative justice addresses the structural roots: As modern abolitionist scholar Mariame Kaba emphasizes, true justice requires us to transform the very social conditions that allowed the harm to happen in the first place. This demands gun control, poverty alleviation, psychosocial support, and community empowerment.
Together, they provide a holistic response: repairing harm while reshaping the environment that breeds violence.
Toward holistic and developmental solutions
Evidence-based and context-sensitive strategies must guide us to:
•community-based diversion programs that keep minors out of prison and in rehabilitation,
•psychosocial and educational support to rebuild discernment and social skills,
•structural reforms—stricter firearm regulation, livelihood programs, and stronger child protection councils,
•and cultural change through schools, faith communities, and media that reject violence as normal is another critical action.
Juvenile justice must be both restorative and transformative. It must heal the immediate wounds of Tacloban while preventing future tragedies by reshaping the social environment.
This is not leniency; it is accountability with foresight. It is justice that protects both today’s victims and tomorrow’s children.(davaotoday.com)
