During my junior year of high school, I maintained friendship with a number of gang members. It was during that year when gangsta rap group Bloods & Crips released their second album Bangin’ on Wax 2... The Saga Continues.
Because I befriended Bloods, Crips, and Sureños, I didn’t mind listening to both the Bloods and Crips verses on the album. This wasn’t the case for my homies who were affiliated with rival gangs or sets (smaller gang factions). They absolutely refused to listen to anything by Bloods.
In any case, the album contained a track entitled “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop,” which is a Bloods song about little more than killing Crips. The chorus thrice states “can’t stop, won’t stop” and finishes with “C-K [Crip-killer] till my motherfuckin’ casket drops.”
Although some of my friends refused to support a song by the Bloods, the title of the track quickly became a popular saying among gangsters of varying sets in Bomb City. The phrase was simple enough to understand: an individual doesn’t have the ability or will to cease an activity.
Ability is merely the quality or state of being able, especially the physical, mental, or legal power to do something. As an example, I can walk outside and furiously flap my arms, though I can’t take flight when behaving in such a manner. Therefore, I don’t have the ability to fly on my own.
Likewise, the term will is used to express desire, choice, willingness, or consent to do something. From a theological perspective, free will is defined as the freedom of humans to make choices that aren’t determined by prior causes or by divine intervention.
For instance, I could stop furiously flapping my arms (ability) if I willed (desired) to do so. However, if I didn’t use logical and reasonable (collectively “rational”) thinking, then I’d absurdly state, “Can’t stop, won’t stop,” indicating that I was unable and unwilling to stop.
When considering this matter from the perspective of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), I understand how this unhelpful gang narrative ties into the process of self-disturbance—how people upset themselves when using irrational beliefs. This matter concerns the ABC model.
REBT theory maintains that when an unexpected Activating event occurs and a person uses an irrational Belief about the situation, it’s one’s unhelpful attitude and not the undesirable circumstance that causes unpleasant emotional, bodily sensation, and behavioral Consequences.
As an example, if a gang member was encouraged to leave behind the criminal lifestyle (Action) and this individual unhelpfully Believed, “I can’t stop, won’t stop,” this unrealistic philosophy of life is akin to saying, “I’m believe I’m unable to leave, so I shouldn’t stop what I’m doing.”
When unproductively maintaining this personal narrative, the gang member may not experience an unpleasant mood (e.g., sorrow) or uncomfortable bodily sensation (e.g., tense shoulders), though the individual may continue exhibiting maladaptive behavior (e.g., criminal activity) which serves as an unnecessary Consequence of one’s assumption.
Therefore, the belief-consequence connection is how this particular person remains trapped in a criminal lifestyle. I knew a number of gangsters who unfavorably convinced themselves that they should’ve remained in gangs, and who were incarcerated or who eventually died as a result.
Rather than remaining self-disturbed, an individual is invited to try Disputation which may lead to an Effective new belief that is used in place of an unproductive self-narrative. With the ABC model, a person learns to stop needless suffering which is caused by unhelpful assumptions.
In the case of the aforementioned composite of gangsters I once knew, they suffered through the course of their behavior and even when their psychological and physiological consequences weren’t necessarily disturbed. Thus, a “can’t stop, won’t stop” philosophy of life was unhelpful.
Many years since having distanced myself from those who were affiliated with a criminal lifestyle, I’ve observed predominately boys and young men engaging in reckless gangbanging activity. Uniquely, I don’t judge these people. After all, they are merely fallible human beings.
Nevertheless, without negatively rating an individual, I can and do challenge irrational beliefs which cause unhelpful consequences. Although I can stop trying to help people in such a manner, I won’t stop for now. If you’d like to know more about REBT, I’m here to help.
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
Bloods & Crips – Topic. (2018, February 21). Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/PKvRjKnXTec?si=JA_psPwK5_VA9e6T
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