Thursday, January 7, 2016

'Affluenza' Teen Detained in Mexico; Mother Deported to U.S. and Jailed

© 2016 The Wired Word
www.thewiredword.com

Ethan Couch, 18, who had gained notoriety in the United States due to an "affluenza" defense after killing four people and injuring five others in a drunk-driving accident on June 15, 2013, in Burleson, Texas, has been detained in Mexico. He and his mother Tonya Couch had fled there after a video surfaced that appears to show him at a party where people were drinking. He then missed a mandatory December 10 appointment with his probation officer.
During Couch's trial in juvenile court following the accident, where he was charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter and was facing as much as 20 years in prison, his attorneys argued that the teen had "affluenza" and needed rehabilitation instead of prison.
The affluenza diagnosis was supported by a psychologist who testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, was a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him and who thus had been coddled into a sense of irresponsibility.
The New York Times reports that affluenza is a term that dates at least to the 1980s to describe the psychological problems that can afflict children of privilege. However, affluenza is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association. Nonetheless, it evidently became an effective defense in Couch's case. He was sentenced 10 years probation and therapy in a long-term inpatient facility.
According to Wikipedia, and supported by several cited sources, Couch's parents, who divorced in 2007, "have each had their own run-ins with the law, publicized retrospectively in the media following their son's conviction. [Couch's father] Fred Couch has been charged with criminal mischief, theft by check, and assault, but the charges were dismissed. On August 19, 2014, he was arrested for impersonating a police officer, allegedly displaying a fake badge during a disturbance call. In 2013, Tonya Couch was sentenced to a $500 fine and a six-month community supervision order for reckless driving when she used her vehicle to force another motorist off the road."
Couch and his mother were arrested December 28 in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. His mother has since been deported to Los Angeles, where she is being held on a felony charge of hindering apprehension of a felon. Ethan Couch has been moved to an immigration facility in Mexico City, where he is being detained while details of his deportation are being worked out.
Once back in the United States, Couch could face up to 10 years in prison for violation of his parole.
More on this story can be found at these links:
The Big Questions
1. Couch is hardly the first teen to violate probation and seek to avoid penalty for doing so. But many people view his violation and flight as especially egregious due to his having received a sentence in his drunk-driving case that has to be considered light when compared to the harm he'd done. Should his violation and flight be judged more harshly as a result? Why or why not?
2. What do you think Jesus would say about the "affluenza" defense? Why? Does a scripture verse come to mind?
3 How does your commitment to Christ inform your thinking about Couch's current situation?
4. We have no information about whether Couch and his mother have a church connection. But in what ways might they benefit from becoming part of a Christian congregation? Why? How would it affect your attitude toward them if they were members of your church?
5. When have you been excused from a penalty that you truly deserved? Did being spared the penalty change you in any way, and if so, how? In what ways did you behave differently as a result of being excused?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Proverbs 22:15
Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy, but the rod of discipline drives it far away.(No context necessary.)
Regardless of what we may think of too much affluence as a defense for manslaughter, most of us would probably agree that a lack of discipline of some sort in the home (whether literally "the rod" or not) often has a significant bearing on the attitude, sense of entitlement, development of conscience and behavior of those who grow up in that family.
Questions: Regardless of shortcomings in one's upbringing, at what age should those shortcomings no longer be permitted to excuse bad behavior? If a young person receives only a light penalty due to "affluenza," should some penalty therefore be applied to the parents? If Ethan were your child, would that change your answer?
Regarding your own upbringing, do you feel you were treated more harshly than you deserved? More gently? How would you describe the result of your upbringing? How has that affected the way you treat/treated your own children?
Isaiah 5:11-12 
Ah, you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine, whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands! (For context, read 5:8-23.)
Isaiah 5:8-23 is a condemnation of wrongdoing driven partly by greed, which can be an ingredient of affluence. But verses 11-12 above, while part of the condemnation, refer to pursuing "strong drink" and being "inflamed by wine" as components of a problematic lifestyle.
Certainly in Ethan Couch's case, alcohol was a huge contributor to the deaths and injuries he caused.
Questions: Who was influential on you regarding alcohol use when you were a teen? 
What have you taught your own children about alcohol use? What do you model regarding alcohol use?
Psalm 139:7 
Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? (For context, read 139:1-24.)
Couch, with his mother's help, apparently deliberately fled to avoid penalty for violating the terms of his probation. In the verse above, the psalmist makes a pertinent observation about flight -- that one cannot escape God no matter where one goes.
The problem, of course, is that one may not have been taught to recognize the voice of God.
Questions: When, if ever, did you try to flee from the consequences of your decisions? What was the result? How have you learned to distinguish the voice of God from the noise of desire and the roar of entertainment? What have you taught your children about hearing the voice of God?
Luke 15:13 
A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. (For context, read 15:11-24.)
This verse is part of Jesus' parable of the prodigal son. To the degree that Couch may be a present-day prodigal, it sounds like he's got this part of the parable down pat. though from reports about his parents, it also sounds like he's lacking someone to fill the role of the parabolic father.
We note too that generations of preachers and other Bible readers have seen in this parable both an allegory about running away from God and the fact that God welcomes us when we "come home," no matter how dissolute we have been.
Questions: If you as a Christian could witness to Couch today, what would you say to him? If you could witness to Couch's mother, what would you say to her? What might you say to the young people in your life about Couch's story and about Jesus' parable of the prodigal?
How receptive are you to receiving prodigals in your personal life? Your congregational life? How have people/congregations responded to your straying?
For Further Discussion
1. Discuss this paragraph from the 2013 article in The New York Times (see the links list above), which was published after Couch received the probation sentence: "Prosecutors said they had never heard of a case where the defense tried to blame a young man's conduct on the parents' wealth. And the use of the term [affluenza] and the judge's sentence have outraged the families of those Mr. Couch killed and injured, as well as victim rights advocates who questioned whether a teenager from a low-income family would have received as lenient a penalty."
2. Consider together the following, also from The New York Times article: "Scott Brown, Mr. Couch's lawyer, said that while the word affluenza may have become an object of fascination, it was never at the heart of the case. His client had already pleaded guilty, and the word came up in hearings on punishment. 'I never used the word affluenza, and never would have used such a cute word in such a serious, tragic case,' Mr. Brown said. 'That's just been blown completely out of proportion.'"
3. Also discuss this, from the same article: "Liz Ryan, the president and chief executive of the Campaign for Youth Justice, a group in Washington that advocates for juvenile rehabilitation, said that in a series of recent cases before the Supreme Court and state courts, advances in neuroscience have been applied to questions of crime and punishment for young people. 'They make mistakes, they're prone to impulsive behavior,' Ms. Ryan said. 'And at the same time, they are capable of change.'"
4. Is there an age at which a parent expects their child to take responsibility for their actions, regardless of legal standards? When should one be expected to know right from wrong, if at all? Is there any circumstance in which a parent would not expect their child to take responsibility?
5. If you are a parent, was there a time you protected your child, whom you knew to have committed a wrongdoing, from punishment by an authority figure?
Responding to the News
This is a good time to review and if necessary correct what we are teaching to and modeling for the young people in our lives.
Closing Prayer
O Lord, we ask that you enable Ethan Couch to learn the life lessons that you desire from the consequences of his actions, including the taking of responsibility for them. Help us to reaffirm the same lessons for ourselves, and to teach them to young people with whom we have -- or should have -- influence. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)