For 5 years I was an Assistant Scoutmaster at a youth correctional facility. In the Troop we had boys, ages 11-17, who were murderers, rapists, pimps, drug dealers... you get the idea. One of the best Scouts was in for attempted murder of his teacher at the age of 11. He advanced to First Class. I'll never forget being in a lock room with him working on the Citizenship of the Nation Merit Badge. When we started, he became very agitated and emotionally explosive. Since he had a killer instinct, you might think I was scared. I was not. In fact I was really enjoying the occasion.  I told him if he failed, we would go over it again and I would be back next week to try again. He suddenly became AOK. His problem was fear of failure. I suspect he was traumatized by his father for failing at something. It was so bad, the boy feared for his life. 

Another experience was on a day field trip to a Scout Camp....(these boys could not camp out over night due to possible escapes or fights or other bad behavior) one of the Scouts told me that field trip was the first time he felt like a normal kid and was treated as a normal kid by everyone at the Scout camp. With the exception of the camp director, the camp staff and other campers did not know these boys were murders, pimps, rapists, burglars, muggers,.....

I have seen firsthand how Scouting can do miracles with boys, especially .murderers, pimps, rapists, burglars, muggers,.....

Garry White