Finding The Alternatives To Juvenile Detention

Reasons Behind Alternatives To Juvenile Detention

The current youth incarceration and detention methodology of the United States is very unproductive and expensive and can extremely harm youngsters (McCarthy, Schiraldi & Shark, 2016). A plethora of studies suggest that the country and/or states should find alternatives to juvenile detention and adopt different approaches, which we will concisely discuss in this research essay. The first and foremost need for alternatives is overcrowding in confinement and detention centres over the past two decades. Harms (2003) finds that detention cases were amplified by eleven per cent between 1990 and 2000. In terms of facility management, these crowding effects can seriously damage the circumstances. Also, crowded situations have some inherent problems like logistical issues, such as violence, sleeping, and issues with education facilities. Another subject that has been highly sensitive and widely discussed during the last couple of years is sexual or physical abuse in these juvenile detention centres. What is more, the unproven effectiveness of detention is another need for detention alternatives because youth spend time there to keep them away from negative activities but also widen the gap with families, which significantly affects the youth’s behaviours.

Incarceration Alternatives

Plenty of alternatives for incarceration and detention are suggested by researchers in the literature. For a large number of offending youth, community-based programs provide the best cost-effective solutions. An effective community-based program is house arrest or home confinement, which restricts juveniles from negative activities. Another convenient feature of this alternative is that the offenders can work or attend school and fulfil other essential everyday jobs but are monitored closely by the authorities. A renowned example of this system is the electronic monitoring program practised in Florida in which offenders wear bracelet trackers. Secondly, an evening reporting centre is also a community-based substitute but nonresidential and highly structured, which offers rigorous care to juvenile offenders. AMIkids is a special example of this alternative. Likewise, another alternative option is shelter care, which provides short-term, non-secure housing care outside the family. This is designed for youngsters who need a settlement because no household can arrange their own house. As far as long-term alternative facilities are concerned, the group home community-based program is the best one for offenders to be allowed to stay connected with the community. Methodist Home for Children’s Value-Based Therapeutic Environment (VBTE) is a good example of this option. Specialized foster care programs and Intensive supervision programs are also good options due to their cost-effectiveness.

Alternatives To Incarceration

Societal and Individual Benefits of Imposing Sanctions

The imposition of punishment or sanctions that do not involve eliminating criminal from their families is recognized as a good initiative towards the right track. Individual treatment deals with every perspective of human life, including social, familial, developmental, emotional, psychological, physical, and cultural factors. This type of sentence can be hard because if the juvenile is using illicit drugs, then they will be assisted with this issue, too. I am a great supporter of commanding punishments that do not include removing family because I think the change will only happen if parents get involved in the children’s lives.

References

Cox, S. M., Kochol, P., & Hedlund, J. (2018). The exploration of risk and protective score differences across juvenile offending career types and their effects on recidivism. Youth violence and juvenile justice, 16(1), 77-96.

Harms, P. (2003). Detention in delinquency cases, 1990-1999. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

McCarthy, P., Schiraldi, V., & Shark, M. (2016). The future of youth justice: A community-based alternative to the youth prison model. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.