juvenile justice
Running head: Adults Sanctions for Juvenile Officers 1
Adults Sanctions for Juvenile Officers 2
Incarcerating youth with adult inmates results in tragedies. Youth who are prosecuted as adults may be sentenced to serve time in adult sanctions where they may be at risk. Research demonstrates that children in adult’s institutions are five times as likely to be sexually assaulted, twice as likely to be beaten by staff, 50% more likely to be attacked with a weapon, and eight times as likely to commit suicide. Youth in adults sanctions will receive little to no rehabilitative treatment or educational services.
Sending a teen to serve time in an adult facility tells the teen, his or her family, and the community that society has written this kid off. Before moving more juveniles to adult jurisdiction, the District should find out whether get-tough policies like juvenile transfers actually make our streets safer. Will young people released from adult jails behave better than teens detained in the juvenile justice system? Will all crimes committed by young people fall in number and seriousness? Does it save the city money to transfer more teens? Several studies suggest the answer to all these questions is no. A November 2007 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention finds that teens sent to adult facilities commit more crimes on average than those sent to juvenile facilities. A study found that juveniles transferred to adult facilities are 39 percent more likely to be rearrested for a violent offense than are teens in juvenile detention. Youth housed in adult prisons for a violent offense had a 77 percent greater likelihood of being rearrested for a new violent offense than youth in juvenile detention.
Since 1992, every state but Nebraska has made it easier to try juveniles as adults, and most
Adults Sanctions for Juvenile Officers 2
Incarcerating youth with adult inmates results in tragedies. Youth who are prosecuted as adults may be sentenced to serve time in adult sanctions where they may be at risk. Research demonstrates that children in adult’s institutions are five times as likely to be sexually assaulted, twice as likely to be beaten by staff, 50% more likely to be attacked with a weapon, and eight times as likely to commit suicide. Youth in adults sanctions will receive little to no rehabilitative treatment or educational services.
Sending a teen to serve time in an adult facility tells the teen, his or her family, and the community that society has written this kid off. Before moving more juveniles to adult jurisdiction, the District should find out whether get-tough policies like juvenile transfers actually make our streets safer. Will young people released from adult jails behave better than teens detained in the juvenile justice system? Will all crimes committed by young people fall in number and seriousness? Does it save the city money to transfer more teens? Several studies suggest the answer to all these questions is no. A November 2007 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention finds that teens sent to adult facilities commit more crimes on average than those sent to juvenile facilities. A study found that juveniles transferred to adult facilities are 39 percent more likely to be rearrested for a violent offense than are teens in juvenile detention. Youth housed in adult prisons for a violent offense had a 77 percent greater likelihood of being rearrested for a new violent offense than youth in juvenile detention.
Since 1992, every state but Nebraska has made it easier to try juveniles as adults, and most
References: Austin, J., Johnson. K., & Gregoriou. M. (2000) Juvenile In Adult Prisons and Jails. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Beck, Allen J., Ph. D. and Harrison, Paige M. Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005. (May 2006) Washington DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim05.htm. Bishop. D., Frazier. C., Lnza Kaducz, L.& White H. (1996) The Transfer of Juvenile to Criminal Court: Does It Make a Different? Crime and Delinquency. 42: 171-191 Delguzzi, K. (1996, April 30). Prison Security Went Away; Youth Killed When Adults Entered Cellblock. Cincinnati Enquirer, p. B1 Flaherty, M.G. (1980) An Assessment of the National Incidence of Juvenile Suicide in Adult Jails. Lockups, and Juvenile Detention Centers. The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Juszkiewicz, J. (2000). Youth Crimes/Adult Time: Is Justice Served? Prepared by Pretrial Services Resource Center, for Building Blocks for Youth.