The Effectiveness of the Juvenile Incarceration - Term Paper Example

 The Effectiveness of the Juvenile Incarceration Juvenile incarceration is the primary resort of the criminal justice system in rehabilitating current juvenile delinquents and in deterring future delinquents from committing crimes. This method of ensuring rehabilitation and deterring delinquency has been adopted by most prison and incarceration systems in the world and for the most part it has relatively been accepted by the people as an effective means of implementing the mandates of the criminal justice system. However, the actual effect of juvenile incarceration has not been completely established. This paper shall now establish whether or not incarceration is having a positive effect on the detainees and eventually improving their lives. This question shall be answered based on an interview of an official in a Michigan juvenile detention facility. Scholarly sources shall also be used in order to establish a more academic approach to the subject matter. This paper is being conducted in order to establish a comprehensive and unambiguous analysis of the issue at hand. Discussion My interview with the jail warden of one of the Michigan juvenile detention facilities revealed a clearer understanding of the effectiveness of the juvenile incarceration system. First and foremost, the warden revealed that it is important to implement a rehabilitation program for the juveniles while they are incarcerated. He revealed that juvenile incarceration is effective as a means of rehabilitating these youth offenders only if there is also a program during their incarceration which would prevent them from following the same patterns of criminal behavior after they are released from jail and even while they are still in jail. He further claims that implementing activities which the youth offenders can be involved in on a productive level helps keep these offenders busy and away from criminal elements. In an analysis by Day (p. 13) he establishes that a program which is focused more on identifying youth offenders who are at risk of being repeat offenders should be implemented to the juveniles while they are incarcerated. He points out that “there is substantial evidence base supporting the idea that programs which target those who are most likely to re-offend and focus on changing these factors, are most likely to be effective” (Day, p. 13). It is therefore important to not just incarcerate juvenile offenders, but also to implement a program during their incarceration which would prevent them from becoming repeat offenders and from continuing this pattern of behavior on to their adult years. Day (p. 13) further states that it is important for rehabilitation programs to work with the youth offenders, and not ‘manage’ them. There is a degree of detachment on the part of offenders when the rehabilitation programs work to manage and dictate on what these youth should or should not do. The jail warden also revealed that juvenile incarceration programs can sometimes create career criminals. When these offenders meet up with bad elements in jail and other forms of jail violence, some of these young offenders take on the attitude of ‘kill or be killed.’ They sometimes feel that in order to survive they have to learn to fight and to defend themselves. They feel that they have to learn survival skills which often border on violent activities like learning how to fight with knives or with their fists. Some also feel like they have to develop relationships with prison gangs in order to protect themselves from criminal elements within the prison system. In the process, as they are aligning their life with prison gangs, they are also risking the opportunities for complete rehabilitation and for eventually living lives free of crime. When they leave the prisons, they jump right into the life of gangs in the bigger world. And through their alliance with these gangs, they are exposed to more violence and more crimes – crimes which continually land them into jail. In an editorial from the St. Pete Times (Blog), the situation in Florida – one of the states with the highest number of incarcerated youths – was highlighted. The article revealed that Florida in general has sent children to adult prisons more than any other state in the US and this trend has prompted legislators to come up with get-tough laws to direct other youth under 18 years of age to be tried under the adult justice system (Teen in Jail “Blog”). There is a major issue with this system because since the implementation of tougher laws on juvenile offenders, there was a significant increase in the number of youth offenders being tried under the adult system (Teen in Jail “Blog”). This is a dangerous trend because it means that these offenders can be punished as adults – with the death penalty and with life terms in prison. In this case, there would be a decreased chance of rehabilitating and possibly re-injecting them to society as productive citizens (Teen in Jail “Blog”). There is a recommendation to adopt the Miami-Dade model in order to make the juvenile incarceration system effective. The Miami-Dade model has implemented youth incarceration by routing juveniles to the behavioral, substance-abuse and other support services facilities (Teen in Jail “Blog”). Again, we see here a program of rehabilitation for the youth offenders. This time, the program is one which gives offenders a chance to modify their behavior and to get rid of their substance abuse habits. These behaviors are the most common causes of youth criminal behavior and by addressing these problems it is possible to address the causes of youth offending. Since the implementation of the Miami-Dade model, the area was able to reduce its juvenile arrest rates by half, and they have also seen an 80% decrease in the rate of youth repeat offenders (Teen in Jail “Blog”). In the process, the Miami-Dade area was able to spare the state about $20 million a year in costs of police, probation officers and court (Teen in Jail “Blog”). Through this article, we are able to deduce that juvenile incarceration is effective to the extent that it implements behavior modifying and substance abuse rehabilitation programs. Without these programs, these youth offenders have a high tendency of being repeat offenders and career criminals. During my interview with the jail warden, he also pointed out that juvenile incarceration is the better alternative for most youth offenders because the jail is sometimes a safer haven for them as compared to the streets. He points out how some youth offenders are so tightly bound to their gangs, to their drug pushers, and even to their peers that the company they are keeping is literally keeping their lives in constant exposure to criminal elements and activities. When they are in jail, they are alone and are segregated from their gangs, their drug pushers, and their influential peers. Their time in jail gives them time to think for themselves and to make decisions about their lives without the pressure of their gangs and their peers. They are also detoxified from their drug and even alcohol-abuse habits. For some of them, jail, gives them time to reflect on their lives and on the changes they can implement in their lives. These juvenile facilities are also better alternatives for these youth offenders because adult facilities make them vulnerable to violence and put them at risk for exposure to more criminal elements. The American Psychiatric Association (“Psychiatry News”) points out that young offenders should be segregated from adult facilities and should not be tried in the adult criminal system because these institutions are not equipped with the necessary skills and tools in order to satisfactorily deal with these youth. The APA further claims that the young offenders who are tried and then later jailed in adult facilities often become victims of violent assaults and some commit suicide (“Psychiatry News”). Moreover, about 34% of these young offenders are often likely rearrested as compared to those who are kept within the juvenile system (APA “Psychiatry News”). The APA (“Psychiatry News”) also points out that offenders 15 years old and younger are more likely as compared to older offenders and young adults to be impaired in terms of their comprehension. This impairment does not give them sufficient intelligence to comprehend the criminal proceedings being carried out in their name (APA “Psychiatry News”). Some of these children are also victims of abuse and neglect and with proper attention and therapy, the right tools can be given to them to help them cope with their mental and emotional issues which prompt them to act delinquently (Greenwood, pp. 193-194). The warden also emphasized that juvenile incarceration can only be effective during the first few times it is used on a single offender. Curry (Part VI) supports these statements when he discusses that juvenile incarceration cannot reduce overall crime rates. Although, minor offenses can be deterred while these youth offenders are incarcerated, multiple offenders may not be as deterred by the threat of being imprisoned. They may see it as just something they have to go through and dismiss until their next offense. Conclusion Based on my interview and on related literature, this paper was able to establish that juvenile incarceration is still the most effective means of preventing youth offending and of rehabilitating youth offenders. There is however a primer on the implementation of an effective rehabilitation program along with the juvenile incarceration scheme. Through this program, the behavior of these youth offenders can be modified and they can also be detoxified from their drug and/or alcohol abuse problems. These offenders can also be given time to think about their lives and their future. A rehabilitation program alongside juvenile incarceration can also give the youth offenders a chance to be away from gangs, violence, drugs, and other criminal elements. The juvenile incarceration scheme is a better alternative for these offenders as compared to the tough adult prisons where their lives may further be endangered and where they may learn to be career criminals. Works Cited American Psychological Association (2009) Incarcerated Juveniles belong in juvenile facilities. Psychology News. Medical News Today. 29 July 2010 from Curry, C. (1995) Juvenile Crime--Outlook for California. Part VI. Legislative Analyst’s Office. 28 July 2010 from Day, A. (2005) Rehabilitation Programs for Young Offenders: Towards Good Practice? Office of Crime Statistics and Research. pp. 1-14. 29 July 2010 from Greenwood, P. (2008) Prevention and Intervention Programs for Juvenile Offenders. pp. 193- 194. Princeton University. 29 July 2010 from Teen in Jail (2010) A rethink on young offenders. Blog. 29 July 2010 from Read More