Influences on Detention Decisions in the Juvenile Justice System

This paper examines the pretrial detention of juveniles in County X located in a northeastern state. The sample (N=642) included Black, White, and Hispanic males and females adjudicated delinquent in the summer of 2000. The following independent variables were analyzed with respect to the dependent variable of pretrial detention: age, sex, address, race, current offense (misdemeanors, violent misdemeanors, felonies, violent felonies, and probation violations), prior offense (misdemeanors, violent misdemeanors, felonies, and violent felonies), and previous dispositions (community or placement). Several variables were found to be significant in increasing the odds of pretrial detention: probation violations, prior misdemeanors, prior residential placements, prior community interventions, age, sex, urban address, felonies, prior violent misdemeanors, and prior violent felonies. It was expected that minority youths would be more likely to be detained, but race was only significant in the absence of the variable of address. Urban youths were more likely to be detained resulting in an over‐representation of minorities in detention, since most of the minority population resides in the urban area. Also included is supplemental material based on interviews with defense lawyers, judges, masters, and juvenile probation officers.     

Parents’ Perspectives on Family‐centered Care in Juvenile Justice Institutions

Family‐centered care during adolescent detention aims to increase parental participation in an attempt to optimize treatment outcomes. However, little is known about parents’ needs in family‐centered care. To fill this gap, we interviewed 19 purposefully selected parents of detained adolescents using a semi‐structured topic list. Although needs differed between parents, they were generally interested in activities that included spending time with their child. It is important for parents to receive timely information about their child's condition and treatment, detention procedures, and activities in the facility. The outcomes demonstrated that parents expected a two‐way communication based on respect and reliability.     

Mental health,substance use,and offending patterns among Native American youth in juvenile detention

Research has shown that youthful offenders in the juvenile justice system report an array of substance use and emotional and other mental health needs. The current study closely examined these issues in a large national sample (n = 539) of Native American youth drawn from the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement. Results demonstrated that frequent substance use was associated with the likelihood of being detained for a drug offense, while emotional and mental health needs were associated with detention for the most serious offenses. These results highlight the need for comprehensive substance use and other mental health assessments for Native American youth in the juvenile justice system.     

Delinquency and Justice

Abstract

In an attempt to demonstrate the value of case study research on delinquency in American Indian communities, Tribal Court juvenile records from one western American Indian community, 1991 through 1998, were analyzed and interviews conducted with community members. Most arrests of juveniles were for alcohol possession and consumption, conduct offenses and status offenses. The most severe offense was simple assault. Youths were more likely to be detained for underage consumption than youths off reservation. Few bookings (26%) resulted in court hearings and all cases resulted in dismissal, deferred adjudication, or deferred sentencing. Girls had higher rates of arrest and detention than males. Interviews identified alcohol consumption and erosion of the extended family as correlates of delinquency.     

Punishing the Innocent: Children of Incarcerated and Detained Parents

Abstract

About 2 million minor children in the U.S. have at least one parent incarcerated for criminal offenses. There are about 33,000 undocumented persons detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in jails and federal detention centers around the country, and 79% of the minor children of these detainees are U.S. citizens. There are few government programs that measure and respond to the harm caused to these children by the incarceration and detention of their parents, and the negative effects on these children are largely ignored in public policy debates about incarceration and immigration detention. I argue that we have an obligation to these children based on (1) the special status of children, (2) the harm caused to children by the arrest, detention and incarceration of their parents, (3) current incarceration and detention policies even in the presence of alternatives that would, on balance, create less harm.     

Ten Ways to Reduce Detention Population

“Juvenile detention is regularly overlooked, maligned, and misunderstood. Its embattled condition is best described as severely abused and neglected. It is underfunded, understaffed, crowded and largely ignored.”¹ “Detention caseloads increased 38 percent between 1987 and 1996. The increase in the number of delinquency cases handled by the courts has driven the growth in the number of juveniles in the detention system. In 1987, 1.2 million delinquency cases were disposed of in juvenile courts. By 1996, this number had risen 49 percent, to almost 1.8 million. This increase in the volume of juveniles in the justice system resulted in a 38 percent increase in the number of delinquency cases that involved the use of detention. The number of juvenile delinquency cases detained in 1996 was 89,000 more than in 1987. This has resulted in increased demand for juvenile detention bed space across the country.”² “Changes in statutes allowing more detainable offenses have significantly increased the number of youths admitted to regional detention centers.”³ “Although minority youth constituted about 32 percent of the youth population in the country in 1995, they represented 68 percent of the juvenile population in secure detention…⁴     

Juvenile Justice Processing:The entangled effects of race and urban poverty

This study addresses the issue of how race and urban poverty affect minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system, using data from 2,003 court cases referred to 13 urban Ohio juvenile courts in 1989. Results of logistic regression analyses show that: 1) minority offenders are more likely to be detained than whites; 2) detention status augments juveniles' chances of being adjudicated and confined; 3) minority juveniles who are from welfare families are more likely to be confined than their self-sustaining counterparts. A cultural stereotype based on juveniles' race and class constitutes the basis of differential treatment.     

Youth In Prisons and Training Schools: Perceptions and Consequences of the Treatment-Custody Dichotomy

Transfer (or waiver) of juveniles to criminal court is one of the most extreme responses to serious youth crime. Although many states have recently revised their transfer statutes, and the number of juveniles prosecuted as adults increases each year, little research has been conducted to assess the correctional experiences of delinquent youth convicted in criminal court and sentenced to adult prison. Evaluations of such experiences are important to policymakers and juvenile justice officials who are considering juvenile transfers as a strategy for securing longer and harsher confinement for offenders. Based on interviews with 59 chronic juvenile offenders placed in state training schools, and 81 comparable youths sentenced to adult correctional facilities, this article presents a comparison of offenders' perceptions of their correctional experiences. Juveniles incarcerated in training schools give more positive evaluations of treatment and training programs, general services, and institutional personnel than do those youths in prison. Juveniles housed in institutions which emphasize security over treatment — i.e., prisons — are more often victimized during their confinement than youths in the treatment-oriented training schools. Once placed in prisons, adolescent inmates are more likely to be victims of prison violence and crime from both inmates and staff. These research results suggest some paradoxical effects of the treatment-custody distinction implicit in judicial waiver practices. The differential socialization into crime and violence for youths in adult prisons may increase the risks of having these types of behavior repeated by transferred youths once released.     

Systemic Self-Regulation: A Framework for Trauma-Informed Services in Residential Juvenile Justice Programs

Most youth detained in juvenile justice facilities have extensive histories of exposure to psychological trauma. Traumatic stress plays a key role in their mental health and behavioral problems and needs, and in their safety and rehabilitation and the security and effectiveness of detention facilities. We provide an overview of the barriers to successful provision of mental health services for youths in juvenile justice facilities, including those involving youth, parents, and juvenile justice residential facility staff and administrators. Next, we discuss the relevance and potential utility of approaching mental health needs using posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more broadly posttraumatic dysregulation, as an organizing framework. Examples of how a posttraumatic dysregulation perspective can enhance juvenile justice residential facility milieus and services are presented, with an overview of traumatic stress intervention models that have shown promise, or potentially could be deployed, in developing and sustaining trauma-informed juvenile justice facilities.     

关于对现行犯适用先行拘留的思考

现行犯是指正在预备犯罪、实行犯罪或者犯罪后即时被发觉的人。刑事诉讼法规定对现行犯可以适用先行拘留。对刑诉法所规定的"先行拘留",理论和实践中众说纷纭,诸如立案前拘留、逮捕前拘留、无证拘留和有证拘留等等。这些观点均有违立法精神,造成了司法实践中对拘留的适用无所适从。先行拘留和拘留是有区别的,对现行犯可以先行拘留,应当理解为"先抓获后拘留"。     

Jailing of American Indian adolescents

Based on a random sample of 300 youth detained prior to trial in a Southwestern Indian Community, this paper analyzes the pre-trial incarceration of American Indian adolescents. It discusses two major similarities between the detention of adolescents in this Indian community and the detention of adolescents nationwide, including the minimalization of the potentially deleterious effects of incarcerating adolescents and the detention of minor offenders. It also emphasizes divergences between the detention of adolescents in the Indian community and the detention of adolescents nationwide: a much higher rate of detention and recidivism on the reservation; the multiplicity of legal jurisdictions to which Indian adolescents are subject; administration of the reservation detention facilities by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) personnel with minimal training in adolescent services; the unique power of BIA police to determine unilaterally who will be detained initialy; and the extreme lack of alternative resources for adolescents and families within the Indian community.     

Preadjudicatory detention in a large metropolitan juvenile court

While the use, and possible abuse, of detention by the juvenile court has been the subject of heated controversy in recent years, this issue has received very little systematic empirical attention. A few studies of detention have been conducted, but they have produced mixed findings, which may be a result of the different locations and time periods considered, and the different methodologies employed. To shed additional light on this important question, we examine in this investigation the effect of a variety of legal, extralegal, and other case characteristics on the preadjudicatory detention practices of a large metropolitan juvenile court. Over 60,000 cases disposed of by the court during a seven-year period (1969–1975) were considered in a detailed multivariate analysis of detention outcomes (detained/not detained). The analysis produced no evidence that the court operates on a double standard—discriminates—along sexual, racial, or socioeconomic lines in the use of detention. Both additive and interaction statistical models considering the extralegal variables showed a youth's sex, race, and social class to be largely independent of detention decisions. In contrast, a legal factor—a youth's previous court experience—was found to be an important predictor of detention. This factor better accounts for detention outcomes than any, or all, of the other legal, extralegal, and other case history variables considered in the analysis.     

Most in Need But Least Served: Legal and Practical Barriers to Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for Federally Detained Minors

Abused, neglected, and abandoned immigrant youth face numerous obstacles to physical safety, including potential repatriation (deportation) to abusive caretakers from whom they fled. In recognition of the special needs of abused children, Congress enacted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) to provide a previously unavailable child welfare defense to deportation. The remedy is contingent upon a State court declaration that the youth is, in fact, in need of protection. However, unlike their counterparts in foster care or guardianships, youth detained by the federal government face numerous practical and legal roadblocks to accessing the necessary State court declarations. This article identifies several gaps in State laws which impede detained youths' access to State court declarations, and proposes several remedies which would enable the States to carry out Congress' intent that detained youth have access to SIJS, regardless of detention status.     

Perceived Conditions of Confinement: A National Evaluation of Juvenile Boot Camps and Traditional Facilities

In a national study of juvenile correctional facilities, the perceived environment of 22 juvenile boot camps was compared to the perceived environment of 22 traditional facilities. Self-report surveys completed by 4,121 juveniles recorded information on demographics, risk factors, and perceptions of the facility's environment. Compared to juveniles in traditional correctional facilities, boot camp residents consistently perceived the environment as significantly more controlled, active, and structured, and as having less danger from other residents. Boot camp juveniles also perceived the environment as providing more therapeutic and transitional programming. Overall, from the perspective of the juveniles, boot camps appear to provide a more positive environment conducive to effective rehabilitation considering almost allof the conditions measured. A major concern is that in both types of facilities, juveniles perceived themselves to occasionally be in danger from staff (rated as rarely to sometimes).     

An analysis of juvenile law in Taiwan and some comparisons with the U.S.

Juveniles have been treated differently from adults in legal matters throughout Chinese history. However, a special comprehensive juvenile law was not published until 1962. The law deals with juvenile delinquents and potential delinquents, ages 12–18. Juveniles involved in espionage against the government are not protected by juvenile law. Juveniles in general have less due process protection compared to their counterparts in the U.S. However, this is compensated by the better trained judges in Taiwan. Cultural differences also resulted in Taiwan putting more emphasis on the family responsibility for the care and Supervision of juveniles.     

Juvenile Transfers to Adult Court: An Examination of the Long‐Term Outcomes of Transferred and Non‐Transferred Juveniles

Juveniles who are transferred to adult court are more likely to recidivate than non‐transferred juveniles, but limited research has examined how transfer can impact other life outcomes like attending college and employment. To examine this issue, data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) were analyzed from 1998 to 2011. It was found that court involvement during adolescence does not harm educational attainment. However, prosecution of juveniles in adult court significantly impairs earning potential well into adulthood. The current study provides further evidence of the long‐term harms caused by transfer and demonstrates how transfer further disrupts the desistance process.     

Public-Private Venture to HELP Youth in Juvenile Detention

The most reliable barometer on the status of Michigan's children reported a noteworthy decrease in juvenile crime in Calhoun County, Michigan, during the period of time when the W. K. Kellogg Foundation funded a model program for the county's most criminally active juveniles. This article summarizes how the confluence of need and resources led to the development of an exemplary solution to some of the problems facing contemporary juvenile justice programs and services. The irony is not that a public-private venture to develop effective community-based collaboratives proved successful, but that this effort occurred in the local juvenile detention center.     

Assessing the Impact of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI): Predictors of Secure Detention and Length of Stay Before and After JDAI

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) seeks to reduce the reliance on pre-dispositional detention. While anecdotal evidence indicates that the program has enjoyed some success in reducing detention populations, no controlled study has assessed the efficacy of the program. The current study investigated the impact of JDAI following its adoption in one Virginia juvenile court. Specifically, using data on all juveniles referred to intake over a seven-year period, the research analyzed predictors of detention and length of stay before and after JDAI. Results indicate that after the implementation of JDAI, greater emphasis was placed on legal factors including offense seriousness and prior record, though the increased emphasis was greater for non-whites than for white youth. Additionally, results suggest that after JDAI’s adoption, older non-white youth were more likely to receive secure detention while non-white females received some degree of leniency compared to non-white males.     

Perceptions of Gender Bias in the Promotional Process of a Detention Staff

With growing numbers of female staff in correctional settings, issues relating to promotional fairness are certain to occur. Historically, female detention staff held perceptions of being discriminated against in the promotional process due to gender biases. However, there is almost no recent examination of these perceptions. The current study addresses this shortcoming in the literature by using a sample of 362 sworn detention deputies ranked Sergeant and below at a large southern-central United States jail. Contrary to the data from a generation ago, more male detention staff perceive gender biases in the promotional process than females, and report that promotional decisions are based on arbitrary and informal factors. Women are more likely to perceive promotions to be fair and based on merit. Results are discussed in relation to two theoretical perspectives: the importation-differential experiences model, and the work-role prisonization model.     

Towards a Comprehensive Legal Aid System in Bangladesh: The Need for Early Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Proceedings

The government-funded legal aid system in Bangladesh has been undergoing development. Bangladesh has guaranteed the right to legal assistance in different laws and particularly in the Legal Aid Services Act (LASA) with specific and greater detail. Moreover, it acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2000. In this context, the purpose of this article is to examine the current practice of the country with respect to the granting of early access to legal aid in criminal proceedings in light of international human rights standards. The article indicates that the prevailing problem of arbitrary arrest and pre-trial detention of those who are living in poverty is a matter of grave concern in Bangladesh. The author, therefore, recommends a mechanism to ensure early access to legal aid in the government-operated legal aid framework, as a fundamental aspect of a comprehensive system, for the protection of the interests of those who have been arrested or detained prior to being interviewed and formally charged of a criminal offence.