Over the past year, we mailed out more than 100 questionnaires to young people in prison, ranging from 18-20 years old. All of the men and women we reached out to had lengthy criminal histories as juveniles.
While similar to that of the adult criminal justice system in many ways—processes include arrest, detainment, petitions, hearings, adjudications, dispositions, placement, probation, and reentry—the juvenile justice process operates according to the premise that youth are fundamentally different from adults, both in terms of level of responsibility and potential for rehabilitation. The primary goals of the juvenile justice system, in addition to maintaining public safety, are skill development, habilitation, rehabilitation, addressing treatment needs, and successful reintegration of youth into the community.
- This brief discusses how the implementation and sustainability of Second Chance Act programs for juveniles were affected by the changing policy contexts in Houston, Texas, and Sacramento, California.
Serious juvenile delinquency is a significant and costly problem in the society. However, custodial environments often exacerbate current problems and promote recidivism.
The review suggests that in general, risk assessments do a good job in predicting recidivism across racial/ethnic groups for diverse populations inside and outside the United States.
- These and other findings are highlighted in this brief, which documents themes from interviews with key juvenile justice stakeholders. Interview findings reveal the most pressing research and practice gaps in the field, the barriers practitioners face in accessing and implementing research, and the audiences that could benefit most from research translation tools and products.
For the past eight years, photographer Richard Ross has been documenting juvenile detention centers across the country.
- The brief defines emerging adults as the group of individuals transitioning from childhood to adulthood that, despite facing the worst criminal justice outcomes and recidivism rates, signify a critical opportunity for criminal justice intervention via evidence-informed policies and programming that both reduce crime and enhance socio-economic outcomes.
Translating research into practice requires a systematic approach grounded in implementation science and input from practitioners.
- This groundbreaking study provides data for the first time revealing that adults surveyed view Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than white girls of the same age, especially between 5-14 years old (p. 2).
Legal distinctions related to age provide a unique hurdle for young people in the penal system, who face restrictive rights based on their age in a country that benefits from profit through impriso
- The Standardized Program Evaluation Protocol (SPEP) is a system that rates the potential for therapeutic services to reduce recidivism among youth, by comparing programs to what prior evaluation has shown to be effective.
- This report highlights the data on girls in the juvenile justice system and the trauma that often leads them there, examines the effect the juvenile justice system has on girls and their access to education, and offers recommendations to avoid placing girls in the juvenile justice system and instead help them receive the educational and other services they need (p. 1).