52 2 Police and Law Enforcement—Juvenile Forensicsthe lives of these juveniles (Weisberg, 1985). All too commonly the same youths are
being rearrested on charges related to prostitution time and time again. Weisberg
suggests that these officers are left with a lack of faith in the courts and treatment
programs for these individuals. The literature suggests that officers are also frustrated
by the quick release of adolescents from juvenile hall who are arrested for status
offenses such as running away. In Kara's case, she is blatantly telling officers that
she will return to prostitution as soon as she is released. Officers are regularly left
with the discretion to treat the adolescent female prostitute as either a criminal or
a victim. In both instances officers are habitually dissatisfied with the outcome, as
the same juveniles are cycled through the system.Forensic Psychology and Policy Implications
Adolescent female prostitution is in many cases an unfortunate result of abuse or
neglect. Young women with various emotional scars are left feeling worthless,
degraded, and depressed. Research shows that 10—20% of these teenagers have
been in psychiatric hospitals, many on multiple occasions (Johnson, 1992). Studies
have shown that almost half of these girls have attempted suicide. Many of these
juveniles enter prostitution with a variety of emotional problems and few have
sought professional help (Flowers, 1998).
This is clearly a population that would benefit from mental health services.
Unfortunately, the link between officers and mental health professionals is not es-
tablished in many cases. Some officers are not aware of the available resources or
do not recognize the juvenile prostitute as having been victimized. Forensic psy-
chologists would be particularly able to see the underlying psychological correlates
to the criminality of these juveniles. The plethora of emotional and psychological
problems often experienced by adolescent female prostitutes are not being addressed
and the cycle of crime and arrest is perpetuated.
Schaffer and DeBlassie (1984) suggest that when in contact with the criminal
justice system, these juveniles are exposed to practices that suggest they are mainly
being punished for sexual promiscuity. They maintain that treatment is at best sec-
ondary. According to Schaffer and DeBlassie, those in authority in law enforcement
are "security-oriented" and the law enforcement personnel who are interested in
rehabilitation are no more than tolerated, having very little impact on policy. Pro-
grams to address these needs could be implemented, with the critical factor being
adequate training and education for line officers to recognize those in need of these
services. The training offered to both juvenile division officers and vice officers
could be more uniform. Although vice squad officers are extensively trained in the
different components of prostitution, the special needs of the troubled adolescent
often go unrecognized. Officers who see these juveniles on the street committing
various crimes could easily miss the child victim that many of these teenagers used
to be.