Juvenile Boot Camps Essay

An alternative to juvenile offenders facing time at a juvenile facility is for them to attend a boot camp. Boot camps are a detention center in which youthful offenders are detained for a limited period of time. Boot camps are structured in a fashion that is modeled in a way similar to military training camps. These boot camps target criminal offenders that are under the age of 18. The goal of these militant boot camps is to take juvenile offenders and modify their problem behaviors, which include anti-social behaviors, in an attempt to stop them from reoffending. While the goals of a juvenile detention center is to simply remove the deviant youth from society so that they cannot commit any more offenses, boot camps are there to attempt
Boot camps were created in way that is very difficult, both mentally and physically, and is very strict in regards to its rules and regulations. During the juveniles stay at the boot camp they must undergo a rigorous daily schedule. Participants can expect to begin each day by being woken very early in the morning. After which the juveniles must participate in a large amount of physical training. The juvenile must also endure extensive manual labor. The physical activities are not solely a form of punishment for the juveniles. Such activities are done so in order to teach levels of discipline to the youth. They also learn to work with others as some tasks may require the aid of more than one individual in order to complete. Leadership skills are also taught through the use of said physical activities. The completion of such strenuous activities is said to promote both self-esteem and self confidence. Due to the rigorousness of the program it is expected is should be expected that the juvenile will have very little personal time. The militant nature of the camps is done so in order to act as a catalyst that promotes positive changes in the juvenile offenders
The first is that they were sentenced to attend the facility and have no choice in the matter. The second is that they were given the choice to attend such a facility in place of a (possibly extended sentence) at a youth detention center; which is closer in fashion to that of a jail. Juvenile boot camps are also beneficial for the state as they can be more cost effective since the juvenile is there for a less lengthy period of time, as opposed to an extended stay at a juvenile detention facility. Another big difference between a boot camp and a juvenile detention facility is that at the juvenile detention facility the youth is able to sit around and do nothing all day; simply waiting out the time that they were sentenced to. At the boot camp however, they are forced to endure strenuous activity from early in the morning until late at night. The boot camps will be a much bigger challenge to endure in exchange for the shorter period of