Corrections for Juvenile Offenders

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. The Problem of Youth Crime

A. Between February 1997 and April 1999, nine highly publicized incidents occurred in the U.S. in which teenagers shot and killed teachers and fellow students.

B. As the 21st century begins, crimes committed by juveniles are not longer limited to vandalism, petty theft, and drag racing.

C. It disturbs us to think of a child as “dangerous” or “sinister,” but we are forced to consider the unpleasant truth that some young people commit serious crimes.

D. Juvenile crime incidents like homicide, forcible rape and assault are rare; only 4% arrested for violent crimes.

E. The need for greater confidence in the juvenile justice system has become a major issue for correctional professionals and policy makers, particularly since young people represent the future.

II. History of Juvenile Corrections

A. Juvenile Corrections: The English Antecedents

1. 1600s in England—the doctrine of parens patriae (literally “parent of the nation”) allowed the government (the crown) to act as guardian of any child, especially one with rights to inherited property.

2. The Elizabethan Poor Laws (1601) established the basis for officials to take charge of vagrant and delinquent children, placing them under the authority of church wardens and other overseers; most ended up in poorhouses or workhouses under oppressive, slavery-like conditions.

3. In the 1800s, reformers such as John Howard were appalled by decrepit conditions and treatment of women and children in dark, disease-filled facilities.

B. Juvenile Corrections in the United States

1. The Puritan Period – Massachusetts Stubborn Child Law (1646) – child was viewed as evil and emphasis on the need of the family to discipline and raise youths; those who would not obey their parents were dealt with by the law.

2. The Refuge Period (1824-1899) – reformers urged institutions where delinquent, abused, and neglected children could learn good work and study habits, live in a disciplined and healthy environment and develop “character.”

3. The Juvenile Court Period (1899-1960) – first juvenile court established by legislative act in Cook County (Chicago) Illinois in 1899, based on parens patriae, the court was to take the role of guardian with jurisdiction over delinquent, neglected, and dependent children.

4. The Juvenile Rights Period (1960-1980) – reform groups (like the ACLU) rallied to protect rights of juveniles (See Table 17.3); Supreme Court extended many due process right accorded adults to juveniles.

5. The Crime Control Period (1980-Presnet) – the juvenile justice system has changed dramatically in recent years; critics argue that young people are treated far too leniently and there is pressure for increased use of waiver to adult court and to treat juveniles as adults.

III. Why Treat Juveniles and Adults Differently?

A. Juveniles are Young and May Easily Change – Most correctional professionals believe juveniles are more susceptible to the influences of treatment programs; age is a predictor of recidivism and the younger the offender—and the more serious the misconduct—the more likely that offender will be arrested again.

B. Juveniles Have a High Rate of “Desistence” – juvenile offenders have lower failure rates than adults; most are never arrested again.

C. Juveniles’ Families Are and Important Part of Their Lives – the role of family is critical to the success of correctional efforts.

D. Juveniles are Easily Influenced by Their Peers – with isolated exceptions, juvenile crime is a group phenomenon; a common part of their behavior is testing boundaries and challenging each new thing.

E. Juveniles Have Little Responsibility for Others – they are only responsible for their own individual behavior and typically things such as school performance and behavior, compliance with a curfew and developing interpersonal skills.

F. Differences between Adults and Juveniles in Perspective

1. Juvenile offenders are candidates for many rehabilitation programs that may not work for adults.

2. They are a lower risk than adults.

3. Family and peers are important influences that correctional efforts may shape.

4. They are responsible for preparing for adult lives, but not yet for succeeding in adult roles.

IV. The Problem of Serious Delinquency

A. Delinquent behavior is common in teenage years; certainly for young males in difficult living situations, it is almost expected.

B. The juvenile justice paradigm does not apply equally to every young person who breaks the law.

C. The public finds it hard to understand when a youngster engages in gratuitous violence.

V. Sanctioning Juvenile Offenders

A. Overview of the Juvenile Justice System

1. Juvenile corrections suffers from the same type of fragmentation as its adult counterpart and this makes it difficult to generalize about juvenile corrections policies.

2. In 2001, juveniles were 17% of all arrests made by police.

3. See Figure 17.1 for crime rates.

4. Juveniles have a high rate of false positives.

5. Juvenile arrests disproportionately involved minorities.

6. Factors of concern in a juvenile’s history include persistent behavioral problems in elementary school, early onset of delinquency, antisocial parents, antisocial peers, membership in delinquent gags, and drug dealing.

B. Disposition of Juvenile Offenders

1. Waiver is referred to as “transfer to adult court,” and attempts to avoid lenient treatment of the juvenile justice system; the rate of waiver has stayed constant since 1987, except for a slight increase in the proportion of African Americans waived.

2. Diversion is the conceptual opposite of waiver; this seeks to avoid the burdensome consequences of formal processing.

3. Correctional Programs for Juvenile Offenders: The impact of correctional treatment programs differs from programs for adults in two ways: juvenile programs show somewhat greater success than adult programs and when they are successful the payoff is considerably more valuable than adult programs.

4. Detention – approximately 1 in 5 juvenile arrestees are detained; federal law requires juveniles to be segregated from adult prisoners and taken before a magistrate for an initial appearance within 24 hours of arrival.

5. Juvenile Probation – in more than half of cases the juvenile delinquent is placed on probation and released to the custody of parents or guardians.

6. Working in the schools – school-based programs have 3 objectives: keep potential truants in school, reduce school violence, and increase academic performance of at-risk youths.

7. Intermediate Sanctions for Juveniles – one reason for slowness in developing juvenile intermediate sanctions is that traditional juvenile corrections already resemble intermediate sanctions.

8. Juvenile Community Corrections – Interest in this approach has continued because most people realize that removing a young person from the community is an extreme solution for extreme cases and that for most youth the institutional stay will be short (6 months-1 year).

9. Juvenile Incarceration – 29% of juveniles declared delinquent are placed in public and private facilities; 74% of incarcerated juveniles are held in public facilities, the remainder in private facilities; African Americans are overrepresented in incarceration.

10. Juvenile Aftercare: Aftercare refers to services provided to juveniles after they have been placed—removed from their home and put under some form of custodial care.

VI. The Special Problem of Gangs

A. It is estimated that American has over 731,500 gang members operating in over 21,500 gangs and these young offenders are involved in over half a million serious crimes.

B. Most gangs are not violent and many members engage in positive as well as negative social behaviors.

C. An important distinction must be made between traditional street gangs that provide the social connections that many adolescents need and that engage in varieties of criminal conduct, and drug gangs that are organized into cohesive business structures and often use violence as a method of business.

D. The Boston Gun Project has shown success with gangs.

VII. The Future of Juvenile Justice

A. High-profile gang criminality and the recent spate of school shootings have ended the anonymity of juvenile correctional work.

B. Public policymakers are turning their attention to it and there is reason to think that the decades of reform in adult corrections since the 1970s will be replayed in the juvenile justice arena.

C. The everyday juvenile offender remains unsophisticated and susceptible to change under appropriate programs; juvenile crime is still minor misbehavior.

D. Dissatisfaction remains high with the adult model toward which they are moving.

320