NCJ Number
98212
Date Published
1985
Length
48 pages
Annotation
A report on juveniles locked in adult jails focuses on effects, conditions, and prevention programs.
Abstract
Each year approximately 479,000 juveniles are locked in adult jails throughout the United States; about 10 percent of these are held for serious offenses. The most serious effects of jailing juveniles in adult facilities are the physical and sexual abuse of juveniles by adult inmates. Psychological effects are related to influence created by the setting, verbal abuse, the negative self-image created by the setting, and criminal label which pursues the youth following his or her release. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act focuses on the separation of all juveniles from adults and the requirement that status offenders be removed from juvenile detention and corresponding correctional facilities. In a national survey of public attitudes toward youth crime nationwide, findings reveal that the majority of respondents agreed that the main purpose of the juvenile court system should be to treat and rehabilitate rather than punish. Alternatives to jailing need to be explored which focus on home detention, attention homes, and small group homes. Studies on alternative programs reveal that upwards of 90 percent of juveniles in these programs neither committed new offenses nor ran away. It is recommended that juvenile detention centers should be used as a last resort for the small percentage of juveniles who pose a significant threat to the public safety or court process. A total of 90 references are listed.