91172.pdf

262 10 Corrections and Prison Practices—Juvenile Forensics

Delinquent adolescents can and do find themselves in adult jails. What type of
crimes do juveniles commit and how are they different from their adult counter-
parts? What psychological problems do children experience when placed in the
adult jail system? What forms of (physical and sexual) violence do youths confront
while in the adult system? Juveniles can be sentenced to death and a representative
minority of convicted youths are awaiting execution. Does the age and/or mental
state of the juvenile offender matter for purposes of sentencing determinations?
What psychological difficulties do adolescents confront while awaiting execution'
In response to the problems caused by adolescent delinquency, correctional experts
have recently advocated for juvenile boot camps that prepare youths to engage in
productive, prosocial behavior. How do these facilities function? Do juvenile boot
camps promote the aims of rehabilitation and treatment or the aims of retribution
and punishment? What impact, if any, do juvenile boot camps have on recidivism?
Some incarcerated boys and girls commit suicide. What are the links between juve-
nile delinquency and suicide? What are the links between juvenile incarceration and
suicide? What psychological prevention and intervention strategies exist to address
the phenomenon of suicide among incarcerated youths? Adolescents can be placed
in correctional facilities for violating "status offenses." These offenses include such
behaviors as running away from home, truancy from school, incorrigibility, and
curfew infractions. Why do these behaviors subject youths to incarceration? What
role, if any, does the mental health system play in responding to delinquent children'
What mental health services, if any, are available for troubled youths?
The juvenile forensic arena of corrections shows us how the mental health and
the criminal justice systems differentially respond to the problems posed by adoles-
cent misconduct. Where the correctional community generally promotes retribu-
tive measures of justice (i.e., punishment), the psychological establishment typically
advances rehabilitative measures of justice (i.e., treatment). As the sections of this
chapter reveal, there are a number of pressing issues affecting the lives of youths
caught in the crossfire of "intervention politics." Thus, it is not surprising that foren-
sic psychologists, cross-trained in the areas of corrections, adolescent delinquency,
and psychology, are most especially competent to understand how the criminal
justice and mental health systems can work in concert to meet the best interests of
delinquent youths and society. Clearly, as the chapter implies, without such careful
and thoughtful interventions developed and implemented by such forensic experts,
we risk losing too many children to the devastation of crime and violence. This is
a loss that our society can ill afford to absorb or sustain.

Juveniles in Adult Jails

Introduction

Thousands of children are placed in adult jails each year. The conditions in which

these children are held, and the circumstances they encounter, pose serious threats