NCJ Number
104041
Journal
Correctio ns Today Volume: 48 Issue: 8 Dated: (December 1986) Pages: 14-23
Date Published
1986
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Changing social policies include a basic reexamination of how the justice system should respond to juvenile lawbreakers.
Abstract
Juvenile corrections have evolved through a cycle of institutional abuses, scandals, public exposure of problems, some reformist measures and then a return to abusive practices. The juvenile corrections system is in the middle of another abuse and scandal cycle. The facilities are becoming more and more crowded and many of the buildings are badly neglected. These facilities are housing a disproportionate population of black, Hispanic and Native American youths. The philosophy of treatment and programming still remains a high priority for most correctional practitioners. Ambiguous goals and an unfavorable political and fiscal situation are causing the juvenile correction system to drift toward an unstable future. The shrinking youth population since the early 1970's has yielded a marked decline in juvenile arrests (15 percent decline from 1975 to 1982). Of those arrested, a higher proportion were given stiffer sentences. There are predictions of higher rates of incarceration in the future if the handling of juvenile justice is not restructured.