NCJ Number
155322
Date Published
1993
Length
59 pages
Annotation
This study presents reinstitutionalization data on the 2,757 youths released by Wisconsin's two juvenile correctional institutions between 1986 through 1990.
Abstract
The follow-up study also determined how many juvenile offenders continued to engage in criminal activity that resulted in their being incarcerated in the State's adult prison system. Thirty-seven percent were reinstitutionalized within 2 years; 27.5 percent were returned to a DYS institution, 7.4 were committed to an adult prison only, and 2.1 percent were classified as chronic recidivists who had been returned to a DYS facility and subsequently sentenced to an adult prison. Youths were in the community an average of seven months between institutionalization. The incidence of institutional recidivism increased steadily over the study period among all youths, and among violent and assaultive youths from Milwaukee. Juvenile offenders who were male, were younger at time of release, had a more extensive record of juvenile adjudications, had less education, were released to a special living arrangement instead of to family, and who were placed on State aftercare were the most likely to recidivate. A further analysis showed that 26.3 percent of youths released between 1986 and 1988 entered adult prisons within 4 years; an average of 2.5 years passed between the youths' first release from a juvenile facility and admission to adult prison. These trends emerged during a period of increasing juvenile crime, a tendency within the legal system to deal more severely with juvenile offenders, and a disposition by the courts to sentence first offenders to DYS facilities rather than referring them to rehabilitative or treatment programs. 13 appendixes