Abuse In Juvenile Boot Camps

Rehabilitation for at risk teens has been an ongoing issue that runs deep in certain communities. When kids at young ages are exposed to stress and have to cope early on with dysfunction they are denied the opportunity to mature and conditioned to commit thinking errors that perpetuate a young offender into an adult offender. To find ways to break this cycle John Hubner accounts his time on the Giddings State School Capital Offenders Program and how a group of counselors are able to combine many strategies in rehabilitating young offenders who have committed serious crimes. Young people convicted of serious crimes are often transferred to adult prisons that institutionalize young people to prison life only increasing the likely hood of

Juvenile delinquency is a relatively new phenomenon. For this reason, society’s reactions and solutions to the problem of delinquency are also modern developments. The United States developed the first youth court in 1899 and is now home to many new and formerly untested methods of juvenile rehabilitation and correction. One of many unique programs within the Juvenile Justice system, boot camps are institutions designed to keep delinquent juveniles out of traditional incarceration facilities and still provide a structured method of punishment and rehabilitation. Boot camps developed in the early 1990s and quickly proliferated throughout the nation. Specifically, they are “…short-term residential programs modeled after

Many juveniles who entered the juvenile justice system are victims themselves of parental mistreatment such as neglect, physical, and emotional abuse. Once children into the juvenile system and is labeled a juvenile similar to adults being labeled a felon. These young offenders are stigmatized as criminal with little distinction between adults and juvenile offenders entering the prison system for the first time. Bernstein (2014) paints a vivid picture of how incarcerated juveniles expose to a new set of challenges such as posttraumatic stress syndrome, curtailed education, gang affiliation, and a gladiator mentality. These challenges that can develop in juvenile facility has

The issue that I plan to take on in this research proposal is rehabilitation for minors. I mainly want to focus on minors 16 years of age or younger. The question I wish to answer more specifically is, does boot camp benefit or harm a troubled minor? I also wish to learn the short and long term affects of these camps, do they just create a short term solution, or do they in fact shape minors into law abiding citizens that can contribute to society? I plan on answering these questions using past and present research from experts in this field. I chose this topic because I believe it is very important that society handles their minors in only the right manner, they should be guided not punished because one day they will be running the nation

One of the programs they review is the Multisystemic Therapy (MST) program. To prevent juveniles from repeating the same crimes they would keep them in the community instead of locking them away in jail. The juveniles would have family therapy, individual therapy, group therapy, and other types of support. As a result, “MST participants had a rate of recidivism of 22.1 percent…the individual therapy group which had a recidivism rate of 71.4 percent…those that participated only temporarily in the MST program also had a reduced recidivism rate of 46.6 percent compared to the control delinquent group MST participants had a significantly lower recidivism rate” (May, Osmond, and Billick 298). This programed showed that like the J RIP the delinquent juvenile who get help from their community are more likely to not go back to crime. The review also mentions, “one of the main goals of MST is to decrease the juvenile delinquents association with other delinquent youths, while facilitating familial support through communication and guided problem solving” (298). Because most criminals gain support from other criminals and learn new ways to commit crimes from them by keeping the influence away it shows the juveniles that that’s not the best route to

In order to properly address mandatory incarceration for chronic juvenile offender’s criminal activities, it is important to begin with psychological assessments and evaluations. Half of our youths have experienced some type of psychological trauma such as depression, PTSD, personality disorders, anxiety, anger issues, or dissociation, just to name a few (Moroz, K. 2009). In order to determine mandatory incarceration, all of these factors must be considered. I will agree with most of our society that is , if they are a danger to society and serious of the crime, they need to be put into detention, where they cannot cause harm but where they can received the right intervention program and mental health treatment for them, it’s the law. The juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate not punish young offenders. Punishment is not the answer in solving their delinquent behavioral patterns.

It was clear and still is clear that a problem exists with very few remedies to stem this growing problem. In 2008 a step toward a solution was taken when the very first Veterans Court, in Buffalo, N.Y., was initiated, and since then there have been hundreds jurisdictional courts initiating such programs across the country (Wolfe, 2013). Today we see a solution to a long standing problem on an individual level to a society level. The program looks at the underlying cause to the individual’s actions at the first sign of potential problem. It gives the first time offender the opportunity to re-group and re-structure his or her life through various services with judicial supervision. This is not a fly by night program to just say something is being done. The program includes; individual case management, intensive probation, substance abuse and mental health counseling, family counseling services, and drug and alcohol counseling with testing. ("Veterans Court,"

According to Ruddell and Thomas (2009), in 2006 it was estimated that there was 93,000 juveniles in either a detention center or juvenile correctional facility; however, the arrest rates have decreased at least by 2,000 since 1993. Many juveniles on release are reoffending quickly since most of them have been locked up throughout their developmental years and their brain did not get the right cognitive development it needed to help make the right decision. Many different states and correctional institutions have started their own different programs to help decrease recidivism rate in juveniles. Two programs that will be examined further are the Capital Offender Group that was implemented by Giddings State School in Texas, and the Juvenile Cognitive Intervention Program that was implemented by the State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

Many of the punishments included with juveniles generally, don’t include therapeutic programs. They aren’t designed to deal with the underlying emotional or behavioural problems most children struggle with. According to Kathryn Rudlin of LCSW “Youth Boot-camps are not effective as there can be many reasons, why the teen would do the crime. So, unless the facility caters for these teens it isn’t going to be effective or help them with for the future.” (Kathryn Rudlin, 2016)

The goals of juvenile corrections are too deter, rehabilitate and reintegrate, prevent, punish and reattribute, as well as isolate and control youth offenders and offenses. Each different goal comes with its own challenges. The goal of deterrence has its limits; because rules and former sanctions, as well anti-criminal modeling and reinforcement are met with young rebellious minds. Traditional counseling and diversion which are integral aspects of community corrections can sometimes be ineffective, and studies have shown that sometimes a natural self intervention can take place as the youth grows older; resulting in the youth outgrowing delinquency.

Currently to deal with juvenile offenders involved in the youth crime, there are two options available. The first option that prevails to a larger extent is known to us as incarceration while the second option that is slowly gaining trends is known to us as rehabilitation programs. This paper focuses on thorough analysis of both these options and the impact that they have on the offenders as well as the society as a whole. The paper also assesses the viability of these options in order to determine which of these will prove to be more effective and beneficial.

Alternative programs for youth were developed for mild and less serious delinquents. Over the years, the program has seen a surge in electronic home monitoring, community intensive supervision programs which service serious offenders in addition to minor cases. At times, group homes may house repeated youth offenders. Regardless of the placement, 24-hour supervision is provided in a unique way.

Finally, literature on the juvenile justice system often focuses on program implementation and effectiveness at addressing rehabilitation, as well as diversion techniques within the system (Greenwood, 2008). This review audits these problems in detail and establishes them within the bigger struggle in the juvenile justice system to rehabilitate youth offenders.

Finally, certain youth correctional facilities have poor living conditions that are unstable to live. For example, in boot camps, the focus is mainly on physical activity and discipline military style (Teen Boot Camps.) These methods prove to be physically demanding and for many it may be too much to handle. Youths are stipped from their freedoms and are locked away in cells that can be dirty and cramped. They have to live everyday with no privacy, constant threats and curses from other youths as well as feelings of anger and fear that often resurfaces. As a result, this isolation has a notable effect on behaviour. Disruptive disorders may arise with high possibilities of substance abuse and suicides (The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice). The lack of healthcare is also a problem. In one facility, over 44% were diagnosed with a substance use disorder. Only 50% were getting the treatment. In another,

Boot camps have been a controversial topic since there creation for adults in 1983 ( Gover 2000). The term boot camp is widely used however it contains many different aspects depending on its primary focus. Boot camps are programs based off of basic training in the military ( Mackenzie, Wilson, and Kinder 2001). With the main goal of correctional boot camps being, deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, punishment, and cost control (Peter, Thomas, and Zamberlan 1997). The primary goal of boot camps when they were first created was to reduce overcrowding in prisons and encourage inmates to contribute positively to society (Perez 71). There are many different types of boot camps such as: substance abuse, educational, job training, as well as life counseling which are then separated into juveniles and adults boot camps. Although the main focus of many programs are the same each individual program widely differs from one another . The amount of time inmates spend in boot camp differs widely as well as the activities they preform and the amount of aftercare that is provided (Peter, Thomas, and Zamberlan 1997).