Life In Juvenile Prisons

I will have an internship with the Department of Juvenile Justice in Chicago during this summer, so this book provided examples of how to approach the prison environment. The case histories which impacted me, mainly was the Case Histories I, which illustrated Mrs. Chase and her interactions with the inmates. I feel this case influenced me because I am also female with no experience, who is about to work in a juvenile facility. I will face some of the same obstacles as Mrs. Chase since some of the juveniles are not far from my ages. However, this book taught me ways to hinder the interaction with inmates into a professional only demeanor. For instance, when approaching me, I will make it clear that I will only be addressed by my last name, and will not respond anything other than my last name. Additionally, I will not disclose any personal information to the inmates; however, I will provide information if it’s appropriate for the situation. Moreover, I want to build a relationship with the inmates to show that I am here to help them, better themselves, but not for personal reasons, such as intimate relationships or outside

The article published by Mother Jones, discusses the practices of isolation at juvenile prisons in the U.S. and the psychological effects on teenagers and goes into details regarding the United States Justice Department's investigations into juvenile facilities' practices. The article goes into more detail with concern of a 17-year-old boy called Kenny. Kenny has experience locked in isolation cell and the effect on his mental health, and a brief history of the practice of isolating prisoners in the United States. This interviewee is a boy who was a juvenile prisoner in Ohio who have spend “ 82 days in the hole—locked in his own room or an isolation cell-once for 19 days at a stretch, according to court documents” (Liebelson). He was diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and being locked up in isolation was psychological torment “I wasn’t even thinking straight, banging my head on the door and everything else. I was acting like a crazy person,” he said. “I had some of the roughest nights in there that I’ve ever had in my life”

In America on any give day, approximately ten thousand juveniles are housed in adult prisons and jails. Approximately two hundred thousand juveniles enter the adult criminal justice system each year and most have non-violent crimes. Juveniles in the adult jails lose out on the educational and psychological benefits offered by juvenile detention facilities and

Prison populations have been on the raise since the early 1970s. Today we incarcerate over 2 million men, women and juveniles in the various correctional facilities around the country. These facilities can range from local jails or detention facilities to the new so called "Supermax" prisons. Conditions can also vary across the spectrum for these different correctional institutions. Each type of inmate has his or her own challenges when faced with incarceration. Many factors play into determining "the experience" they have. Age and sex are one of the things that determine what type of institution you are committed to. Adult male prisoners are committed to adult male prisons.

Juvenile courts have a wide range of sentencing options (usually called "disposition orders") that they can impose on juveniles or youth offenders who are found to be "delinquent" (that is, finding that the minor violated a criminal law). Typically, disposition options fall into two camps: incarceration and non-incarceration. One non-incarceration option in particular -- probation -- forms the backbone of the juvenile justice system. Read on to learn about the different kinds of sentencing options used in juvenile court, the ins and outs of probation, and whether a disposition order can be appealed or changed. (For more information on juvenile court cases, see Nolo's article Juvenile Court: An Overview.)

In America we sometimes house juveniles and adults in the same prison system. In the state of Wisconsin in 2014, we have incarcerated 121 minors into the adult system. While incarcerating these juveniles in the prison system some may wonder how does it affect a juvenile, Also what problems do they face while in prison and lastly, how has their life change for better or worse after they are released back into society.

If judges and prosecutors didn’t care to learn how adult prisons affect juveniles, our juvenile crime rates would be very different than they are today. If juveniles were tried and put into adult prisons, we would be creating more criminals rather than trying to prevent them. According to U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention, they said “If the point of juvenile courts is to deter and rehabilitate juveniles so that they can succeed as adults, then it is important to evaluate the success of that mission when a juvenile is charged as an adult in the criminal justice system” (Scialabba). Some judges and prosecutors believe putting juveniles in adult prisons will deter them from delinquency rather than the

Since the juvenile will have gone through rehabilitation they will have a different perception on life, and will also understand that for every action there is a reaction. They will make smarter choices and hopefully not want to return to the lifestyle

The environment in adult facilities is immensely different from juvenile facilities. Rehabilitation options are limited in adult facilities. It is hard for children to fit in with adults, or even be respected. Lack of attention and bullying are both major problems for juveniles in prison (Human Rights Watch). Juveniles in prison have a 18x greater risk of committing suicide, due to lack of supervision (Juvenile Forensic Evaluation Center) However, juvenile facilities provide higher quality education, adequate health care, and better security. 70% of juveniles are held under locked situations, rather than staff secure settings (Juvenile Forensic Evaluation Center). This decreases the amount of violence between juveniles and the staff. Since depression is a common health issue, juvenile facilities often have treatment available. Giving a juvenile the resources to help, can really benefit them at this

Male and female prisons differ in some ways, but one thing that is the same is that the inmates suffer from depression, stress, and anxiety each day for the rest of their lives. It is hard to imagine what they face through everyday incarcerated or not. When prisoners are in jail, they have to deal with drama believe it or not. They might form groups determined by race and talk negative things about each other or think one race is better than another. Women prisons do this more often than men prisons. An example from the show Orange is the New Black of prison drama is when a prisoner stole a hand mirror from another prisoner. It is stupid things like that. They have to deal with the crappy food, crappy roommates if they can have one, and not being able to have the freedom. They have strict rules on when they can have visitors and when they can take a phone call. If you committed a crime that is super bad, then you do not get these privileges. When there time is up, they have to worry about where to go, finding a job, family, and more. Some of them come out of there and have no family to help them seek shelter and help them financially. Some just have to live on the streets for a bit until they have some money. It is very difficult to find a stable job with committing a crime on your record. They probably could get hired on at a fast food restaurant or at a factory, but they won’t make much to be

“The juvenile justice system was first created in the late 1800s to reform United States policies on how to handle youth offenders. Since that time, a number of reforms - aimed at both protecting the "due process of law" rights of youth, and creating an aversion toward jail among the young - have made the juvenile justice system more comparable to the adult system, which is a shift from the United States’ original intent (2008,Lawyer Shop.com).” The

Although based on the adult criminal justice system, the juvenile justice process works differently. Juveniles can end up in court by way of arrest, truancy or for curfew violations or running away. A youth may also be referred to the juvenile court system by school officials or a parent or guardian for being continuously disobedient. The juvenile justice process involves several different steps including intake, detention, adjudication, disposition and aftercare following release from a juvenile correctional facility. In this paper we will breakdown the numerous steps involved in the juvenile justice process as well as compared some

I do not think it is a good idea to lock juveniles up in prisons with adults. For a child to set down and plan a murder for instance, there would have to be some kind of deep emotional problem. On the other side of this, if the child knows right from wrong and he can sit down and plan a murder, then you could say if he is old enough to kill someone then he is old enough to die. The juvenile criminal is rooted much deeper than right from wrong. It starts back from when they are small children. Most of them are usually outsiders or outcasts. Who can you hold fault for that other than society? If juveniles don't fit in with the popular kids in school they are considered an

In addition, think about how they will be affected if tried as an adult and convicted. Let us remember, the United States has the Juvenile Justice System, which is solely for juvenile delinquents. This is supposed to protect them from receiving longer sentences, and harsh punishments, which is the opposite of adult courts. Also, the Juvenile Justice System is supposed to help rehabilitate the juvenile. Luckily, for juveniles, the “court had recognized that even homicide does not warrant a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole if the offender is less than 18 years old at the time of the crime” (Holt p.1395). However, in “Nevada, Mississippi, and Utah, lawmakers now leave it up to the juvenile courts to decide whether to transfer a juvenile to adult court” (Brown p. 21). Unfortunately, juveniles sent to adult prison suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally. With that

Ever wondered what it's like to be a prisoner? He may have done something wrong to end up there, but ever wondered how someone's life is, once they get put behind the bars?