Jacob Mathis was a classic underachiever and troubled child. 

The 15-year-old’s grade point average was just 0.77 and by his own accord, he had “extreme anger problems” stemming from his relationship with his stepdad. His emotional turmoil often spilled over into school and affected his conduct in the classroom. After an incident in which he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats, he was sentenced to probation.

Mathis’ life changed for the better after his probation officer recommended he enroll in a summer program at East Oakland teen and young adult center Youth Uprising — it utilized restorative justice, a community-focused, therapeutic process that addresses youth violence by helping perpetrators understand the roots of their anger and grasp how they have done others harm.

Restorative justice attempts to break the cycle of violence by addressing the underlying cause — often, a traumatic experience, such as physical or verbal abuse or witnessing a violent crime — and acknowledging the emotional impact of such trauma on young people. Through active communication, young people in restorative justice programs have been able to overcome their violent impulses.

By participating in Youth Uprising’s programs, ...

European governments, in particular, should adopt more worker- friendly approaches in dealing with fiscal austerity, according to the agency's "World of Work Report 2012" that was released here and at its headquarters in Geneva Sunday. 

Such a change in policy could result in adding around two million jobs in the advanced economies over the next year, as opposed to only about 800,000 if current approaches persist, according to the report. 

Persistently high rates of unemployment in the Arab world and Africa also put those regions at high risk of social unrest, according to the 128-page report, which noted that most of Latin America and some Asian countries have emerged in relatively better shape in that respect. 

The report comes at a critical moment, particularly for key advanced economies where pending elections appear to offer stark choices between candidates and parties that favor very different approaches yawning fiscal deficits and high unemployment. 

In France, for example, the current front-runner, the Socialist Party's Francois Holland, favor more worker-friendly policies than the more austere approach taken by the incumbent president, Nicolas Sarkozy. 

And in the United States, the all-but-certain Republican challenger to President Barack Obama, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, has endorsed his party's proposals for sharp cuts to social and government jobs programs, combined with reductions in already-low tax rates for corporations and wealthy individuals. 

The report charged that the combination of fiscal austerity and tougher labor market reforms - or de-regulation - adopted by many advanced economies, especially in the Eurozone, have proved devastating to job creation, in ...