Vocational Training in Juvenile Detention: A Call for Action

Abstract

Given high recidivism rates and the vulnerability of detained youth, the authors posit that juvenile detention centers may be most efficacious by serving as both place and process to create career opportunity through vocational training. The authors review the psychosocial factors contributing to delinquency and the primary theories of rehabilitation that extend to detained youth. They highlight key ingredients to effective vocational programming in juvenile detention, such as integration of traditional career theories with constructs pertinent to this population (emerging adulthood, sociopolitical development, social cognitive career theory). Considerations for successful implementation of vocational programs in juvenile detention are also offered.