NCJ Number
202186
Date Published
August 2003
Length
12 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the causes of juvenile delinquency and the failures of "assembly-line" juvenile justice sentencing and corrections, this paper explains the benefits and effects of faith-based services for juvenile delinquents.
Abstract
The roots of antisocial behavior and attitudes lie in the interactions of parents with their children in the early formative years of development. Mental and physical health can be contributing factors, along with poor educational achievement and failure to become involved in constructive activities. Involvement with antisocial peers reinforces delinquent behaviors. The traditional juvenile justice system fails to address and remedy these causes of delinquency. Juveniles who pass through the system are generally not assessed and treated according to their individual needs. More and more juveniles are being imprisoned, where overcrowding deprives them of the conditions, services, and positive relationships required to modify their behaviors and attitudes. Faith-based programs offered in the community through the resources and personnel of religious groups provide an environment of relationships and services that addresses the causes of delinquent behavior and attitudes. Some advantages of faith-based programs are small groups that facilitate one-on-one interaction, a volunteer staff highly motivated to help the youth, the existence of program guidelines not influenced by government policies and guidelines, racial homogeneity in accordance with the composition of the religious group performing the service, and informality. Further, faith-based programs offer a family atmosphere that has been absent from the lives of juvenile delinquents. They begin to learn what it means to be treated with respect and caring and to provide such treatment to others in return. The incorporation of the juvenile's family in the program is also a hallmark of faith-based services. Although there is not a significant body of evaluation findings for faith-based delinquency programs, there is much evidence to indicate that juveniles associated with faith-based programs recidivate less than juveniles processed through the typical corrections system. Bibliography