NCJ Number
145276
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 57 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1993) Pages: 20-33
Date Published
1993
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Programming--the process of building programs--is a critical issue in juvenile detention.
Abstract
The emergence of a body of programming knowledge is associated with Sherwood Norman, a former detention practitioner, the culmination of whose works was published first in 1958, and in revised form in 1961. Still, detention programs have lacked an overall sense of "program"--that is, a coordinating set of objectives at the heart of all programs. They have been fragmented had not well recorded-- thus it is difficult to tell what works and what doesn't. Several necessary and interrelated program principles are identified, however: 1) quality of staff, and staff-juvenile relations is of primary importance; 2) physical and psychological safety should be emphasized; 3) daily activities are helpful to juvenile detainees; 4) good leaders are knowledgeable, provide strong guidance, and guard the program philosophy; 5) staff should be well educated about building detention programs; and 6) programs need to be continuously evaluated. Successful programs are, most of all, genuinely concerned with the juveniles' best interests. In the words of Sherwood Norman, "when detention lowers a juvenile delinquent's self-esteem, it destroys the basis for his rehabilitation." 44 references