Voices from Inside the Walls: Views of the Juvenile Justice System from the Youthful Offenders

Abstract

ABSTRACTPublic support for rehabilitation has remained fairly steady over the last few decades especially for juvenile offenders. However, most of the public opinion research on the juvenile system has focused on the opinions of the juvenile probation officers and juvenile correctional staff, but the research on the views of juvenile offenders themselves is scarce. The current study examined the actual participants within the juvenile justice system - the juvenile offenders housed within two conservative, Midwestern facilities - to gauge their perceptions of the system. The results indicate that the opinions held by juvenile offenders are in tune with the opinions held by the general public and that child-saving should be the main purpose of the juvenile justice system.