Juvenile Justice Facilities Research Articles

Academic Attainment During Commitment and Postrelease Education–Related Outcomes of Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth With and Without Disabilities

Youth with disabilities are disproportionately represented in juvenile justice populations and their education-related outcomes and rates of high school graduation are poor. This study examined academic characteristics of youth with and without disabilities ( N = 4,066) and reports on the education-related outcomes of these youth 3 years after release from juvenile justice facilities in Florida. During commitment, youth with disabilities earned high school credits and grade point averages on par with their peers without disabilities. The number of credits earned during commitment improved the likelihood that youth returned to school after release. However, only 44% of the school-age cohort returned to school after release. Students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and learning disabilities (LD) returned to school at higher rates but did not maintain gains made during commitment as they earned significantly fewer high school diplomas after return to school. Implications for transition practice are discussed.

Voices from the Field: Stakeholder Perspectives on PBIS Implementation in Alternative Educational Settings

The positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) framework is currently implemented in over 18,000 schools in the United States. Schools implementing PBIS with fidelity report school level benefits including decreases in problem behavior, increases in academic engaged time, and improved perceptions of school safety. While potential benefits exist for alternative educational (AE) settings such as AE schools, residential and juvenile justice (JJ) facilities, there are relatively few examples of implementation in these settings. This pilot sought to expand the understanding of PBIS implementation in alternative settings through a series of exploratory interviews conducted with administrators and PBIS team members in different AE settings. The interviews revealed a pattern of core themes characterizing the settings, personnel behavior, policies, and operating procedures serving as facilitators and barriers to implementation of the PBIS framework. These core themes are described in detail as a means to (a) inform the field about the implementation of the PBIS framework in AE settings, and (b) provide guidance for personnel implementing PBIS in AE settings.

Barriers and Facilitators to Integrating SWPBIS in Alternative Education Settings With Existing Behavior Management Systems

Alternative education (AE) settings such as residential and juvenile justice facilities and self-contained schools are complex settings for students with unique academic and behavioral needs. The schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and support (SWPBIS) model has proven utility in traditional schools, but little research exists to inform SWPBIS implementation in AE settings. To address this research gap, the researchers conducted two separate focus groups with similar AE settings regarding their integration of SWPBIS with an existing behavior management system. Resulting themes between and within groups are presented in terms of systems, data, and practice. The two settings discussed similar challenges, although their responses to these challenges were in stark contrast, as were the resulting success of SWPBIS integration. Limitations and future directions for researchers are described in addition to specific policy implications.

Delinquency Interrupted: Research into and Inside of Juvenile Correctional Facilities

AbstractIncarcerated juveniles are a largely invisible population in the United States. Research into training schools and other juvenile correctional facilities has uncovered a sordid history of good intentions and bad practices. Juvenile correctional facilities are generally considered a less harmful environment for serious delinquents than adult prisons but a much more severe sanction than alternative community programs or treatment would be. Studies have shown that juveniles in confinement face similar deprivation and many of the same pains of imprisonment (Sykes 1958) as adult prisoners, but the more pressing threat to adolescent inmates may be to their psychological selves rather than their physical being. New research on adolescent brain development is garnering attention and sparking questions about the culpability and punishment of juvenile offenders, even as public opinion research suggests that there is fairly widespread support for rehabilitation and a social‐welfare oriented juvenile justice system. By listening and giving voice to incarcerated youth and their “keepers,” investigating the conditions of confinement, and continuing to evaluate programs and outcomes, researchers are positioned to play a key role in the future of juvenile justice and juvenile correctional facilities.

Obstacles to Research in Residential Juvenile Justice Facilities: Recommendations for Researchers

Federal, state, and local initiatives to improve the treatment and outcomes for young people in the juvenile justice system prompt the need for additional research. Despite the call for empirical data, researchers encounter numerous obstacles when initiating and conducting studies in detention and post-adjudication facilities. These obstacles are often only briefly mentioned in publications, but they can interfere with researchers' desires and abilities to conduct studies in these settings. This paper reviews legal, ethical, and methodological challenges to successfully conducting research in detention and residential post-adjudication placements, including selecting and accessing appropriate facilities, obtaining institutional review board approval, seeking parental permission and youth assent, reporting child abuse and neglect, responding to participants' threats to harm self or others, working effectively with facilities, juvenile justice system-related attrition, and the dissemination of research findings. Recommendations are presented to help investigators anticipate obstacles when designing and executing research protocols to prevent interference and to encourage ethical responses and successful study completion.

The Baby Elmo Program: Improving teen father–child interactions within juvenile justice facilities

The aim of the Baby Elmo Program is to establish a low-cost, sustainable parenting and structured visitation program for non-custodial incarcerated teen parents. The program is taught and supervised by probation staff in juvenile detention facilities and unlike traditional programs, this intervention is not based on increasing the teen's abstract parenting knowledge, but rather in building a relationship between the teen and his child. The sessions target the interactional quality of the relationship by introducing relationship, communication, and socio-emotional enhancing techniques. Because the intervention is conducted in the context of parent–child visits, it fosters hands-on learning and increases the opportunity for contact between these young parents and their children, a benefit in itself. Twenty father–infant dyads, with infants ranging in age from 6 to 36 months, participated in the present preliminary evaluation of the program. Individual growth curve analyses showed significant gains in five of six measures of emotional responsiveness with the age of infant as a significant covariate. These results indicate improvements in positive high quality interactions and communication during sessions between infants and their incarcerated parents and this increase in the interactional quality of the relationship increases the likelihood that the incarcerated teen and child will form and maintain a positive relationship with one another.

Treatment of moderately intellectually disabled delinquent youth in a Dutch juvenile justice facility with closed and open units

This article will focus on a juvenile justice facility in the Netherlands, targeted at moderately intellectually disabled juveniles, who are sentenced because of serious crimes. All of the juveniles have a disruptive disorder (conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder) and 70% have comorbid psychiatric classifications. Treatment amounts to the activation of the following five protective mechanisms: risk reduction; breaking destructive interaction patterns; increasing capacity to solve own problems; creating new challenges; and making use of basic relations. Daily routine, feedback systems, specialist treatment, methodical procedures in everyday life and aftercare are discussed.

Effective Instructional Practices in Juvenile Justice Facilities

The majority of youths involved with the juvenile justice system struggle to make academic progress. This article reviews the characteristics of youths in these settings and highlights evidence-based instructional practices that are effective with struggling students, as well as practices that have been documented as successful in secure facilities. Implications regarding how these practices may be taught to facility teachers and security officers are presented, and suggestions for measuring the effects of such practices are offered.

Breaking the lock: Addressing ‘disproportionate minority confinement’ in the United States using a human rights approach

• Summary: Injustice, oppression, and inequality affect human experience in all contexts. This article describes the problem of ‘disproportionate minority confinement’ in the United States juvenile justice system as one manifestation of such injustice. With specific focus on overrepresentation of African American males, the juvenile justice approach to this problem is contrasted with a critical social work perspective in the form of the human rights approach. • Findings: Available data from all but one of the 50 United States indicate a disproportionate level of incarceration of youth classified as African American in juvenile justice facilities. Although the United States federal government enacted policy reforms in 1988 that require states which receive federal funds to decrease the proportion of minority youth who are incarcerated in secure facilities, few gains have been realized. • Application: The author proposes that social workers employ a human rights approach to supplant the dominant juvenile justice paradigm. Application of human rights practice to disproportionate minority confinement suggests that social workers challenge the juvenile justice/social control discourse with a human rights/social change discourse; deconstruct the constructs of ‘disproportionate minority confinement’, ‘juvenile delinquency’, and ‘race’; challenge the expert/exclusionary problem-solving process with a dialogical/inclusionary process; challenge deficit-oriented activities with strength-based and asset-building activities; and introduce critical reflectivity into professional decision-making.

Preventing AIDS through Live Movement and Sound: Efficacy of a Theater-Based HIV Prevention Intervention Delivered to High-Risk Male Adolescents in Juvenile Justice Settings

Male adolescents who cycle through the juvenile justice system are at high risk for HIV infection, yet there are few HIV prevention interventions for this high-risk population. This study evaluates the efficacy of Preventing AIDS through Live Movement and Sound (PALMS), an innovative, theory-based HIV risk reduction intervention that uses theatrical performances and role-play. The study used a nonrandomized concurrent comparison group design. A total of 289 predominantly African American males aged 12-18 from two juvenile justice facilities in Philadelphia, PA were enrolled. At 6-month follow-up, PALMS participants demonstrated greater increases in HIV and condom use knowledge and improved attitudes toward HIV testing and toward persons living with HIV/AIDS than did those in the comparison condition. PALMS participants were also significantly more likely to use a condom during their last sexual contact with a non-main female partner than comparison participants. This theater-based HIV prevention intervention is a potential resource for changing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of adolescents in juvenile justice settings.

A Method for Measuring Organizational Functioning in Juvenile Justice Facilities Using Resident Ratings

Institutional care is an enduring component of the continuum of care in the juvenile justice system, yet youth perceptions of the placement experience are often overlooked as a source of information about this practice. Little attention is paid to how institutional placements are received by youth as opposed to how they are conceived by the justice system. This article offers an empirically based framework for assessing organizational climate in facilities housing serious young offenders based on youth self-reports. The authors provide evidence that juvenile offenders can provide reliable and internally consistent ratings regarding several dimensions of an institution’s environment, using straightforward and relatively easily administered instruments. This work lays the foundation for the development of methods for ongoing monitoring of juvenile justice facilities and the testing of whether aspects of the environments of these facilities affect the subsequent community adjustment of their residents.

From delinquency to the perpetration of child maltreatment: Examining the early adult criminal justice and child welfare involvement of youth released from juvenile justice facilities

The present study prospectively tracks 999 juvenile delinquents (499 females) released from New York State correctional facilities in the early 1990s and describes their engagement in two socially problematic behaviors in early adulthood: child maltreatment and crime. By age 28, nearly two-thirds of sample girls were investigated by child protective services for alleged acts of child maltreatment and over half became clients of both the child welfare and adult criminal justice systems. Prevalence of maltreatment perpetration and dual-system contact were lower for boys but still worrisome. Findings add to a growing body of research documenting the overlap between criminal justice and child welfare populations and highlight the need for greater integration between these systems, particularly when dealing with female clients.

Coming back home: The reintegration of formerly incarcerated youth with service implications

More than 100,000 youth return each year from some form of detention in a juvenile justice facility to families and communities with needs of their own. Despite information about the offense types and general demographic characteristics of detained youth, less is known about the needs and experiences of youth as they prepare to re-enter the community after a period of detention or how they fare post-release. A heightened awareness of the complex array of needs and the match between these needs and the social and educational service sector has the potential to streamline the reintegration process, with advantages for public safety, reduced recidivism, and promotion of positive youth development. This paper analyzes the needs of formerly incarcerated youth with a focus on the implications for social and educational service systems. Results suggest that intervening with youth involved in the juvenile justice system requires a coordinated, holistic approach.

HPV Vaccination Practices Among Juvenile Justice Facilities in the United States

The juvenile justice setting provides a unique opportunity to administer the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to a high-risk, medically underserved population. We examined current HPV vaccination practices in the United States. Most states (39) offer the HPV vaccine to females committed to juvenile justice facilities.

Community-Level Successes and Challenges to Implementing Adolescent Sex Education Programs

Best practices for adolescent sex education recommend science-based approaches. However, little is known about the capacity and needs of organizations who implement sex education programs on the local level. The purpose of this research was to describe successes and challenges of community organizations in implementing science-based sex education. Using qualitative methods, we interviewed program directors and educators in 17 state-funded adolescent pregnancy prevention/sex education programs as part of a larger mixed methods evaluation. Semi-structured interviews focused on success and challenges faced in implementing science-based approaches to program design, implementation and evaluation. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using a thematic approach. Grantees included a range of programs, from short programs on puberty and HIV for late elementary students, to skills-based curricular sex education programs for high schools, to year-long youth development programs. Key aspects of curricular choice included meeting the needs of the population, and working within time constraints of schools and other community partners. Populations presenting specific challenges included rural youth, youth in juvenile justice facilities, and working with Indiana's growing Latino population. Programs self-developing curricula described challenges related to assessment and evaluation of impact. Programs using commercial curricula described challenges related to curricular selection and adaptation, in particularly shortening curricula, and adapting to different cultural or social groups. A remarkable degree of innovation was observed. The use of qualitative methods permitted the identification of key challenges and successes in a state-sponsored small grants program. Information can be used to enhance program capacity and quality.

Developmental Assets: Profile of Youth in a Juvenile Justice Facility

Possessing high numbers of developmental assets greatly reduces the likelihood of a young person engaging in health-risk behaviors. Since youth in the juvenile justice system seem to exhibit many high-risk behaviors, the purpose of this study was to assess the presence of external, internal, and social context areas of developmental assets in at-risk youth attending a northeast Missouri juvenile justice center. Male and female middle and high school students moved to a residential juvenile justice center voluntarily completed the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) instrument during a regularly scheduled "intake" session. Most respondents reported lacking risk-protective factors in the internal and social context areas. Respondents noted their lack of community involvement in the social context area and their overinvolvement with negative influences in the internal context area. Specifically in the internal and external context areas, most respondents reported having trouble with substance abuse and not having positive peer or parental support. In the social context area, many noted that they wanted to do well in activities and were encouraged to do well; however, they scored service to others and involvement in religious groups or activities as low. Students who lack protective qualities, especially those who do not feel committed to their community, are more likely to be involved in substance abuse and risky behaviors. School-community partnerships may provide the targeted health protective factors that encourage more community involvement and more positive health behaviors in these youth.

Letter

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article LetterFull AccessLetterDaniel C. Murrie Ph.D.Craig E. Henderson Ph.D.Gina M. Vincent Ph.D.Daniel C. Murrie Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorCraig E. Henderson Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorGina M. Vincent Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Jan 2010https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2010.61.1.98AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Closer Look Needed at Youths in Adult Facilities: ReplyIn Reply: We appreciate Dr. McGregor's concerns and share his desire to see more comprehensive research addressing juveniles incarcerated in adult prisons. When we began our research, no empirical studies had addressed the mental health needs of this group. Thus we faced a dilemma common to researchers approaching any understudied area: Should we wait until we can conduct "the perfect study," or should we begin with a broad "screening" that might identify where further inquiry is needed? This research dilemma is analogous to the clinical dilemma common in the juvenile justice system: Should we attempt a comprehensive assessment of every youth, or should we conduct a broad screening to identify which youths—or which concerns for a particular youth—warrant further assessment? Often, the only practical option in either context is to begin with broad screening. Because our goal was a broad overview of treatment needs among youths in adult prisons—particularly as compared with youths in juvenile justice facilities—we selected the only measure that allows for comparison to a nationally representative, ethnically diverse sample of youths in juvenile justice facilities ( 1 ). The MAYSI-2 ( 2 ), more than other measures, allows us to compare "apples to apples" when investigating self-reported symptoms among juveniles across various justice contexts. As Dr. McGregor notes, the MAYSI-2 does not provide formal diagnoses and cannot rule out symptom exaggeration or symptom minimization. Participants may have reported some symptoms for secondary gain—a possibility in any study of incarcerated juveniles or adults. It was perhaps less likely in our sample of youths, who had already been adjudicated and could not leave the Youthful Offender Program until they reached a certain age, which minimized the opportunity for secondary gain. Most of the limitations of MAYSI-2 apply to other self-report measures, and as we noted in our article, we must accept these limitations if our results are to remain in "a common metric" for comparison to juvenile justice studies. Might we learn additional detail from studies that use clinical interviews and structured personality measures? Absolutely! We hope that we—or Dr. McGregor or others—can create opportunities for research that uses such comprehensive assessments. But just as clinicians administer a screening measure to form a general impression of a patient's functioning and where further assessment is needed, we administered a screening measure to form a general impression of a population's functioning and the need for further assessment. Our study revealed many self-reported symptoms, so we certainly agree with Dr. McGregor that further research using other assessment strategies is essential. Finally, Dr. McGregor suggests that we report results by race-ethnicity. We certainly agree with the spirit of his comment. Indeed, one of us (GMV) addressed this important question in the MAYSI-2 national normative data ( 1 ). In our study, we matched our sample and the comparison sample for race-ethnicity, but we chose not to present race-ethnicity analyses because small cell sizes for some groups (eight white participants) might have yielded misleading results. Disparities, too, warrant further assessment in this population, but only with subsamples large enough for race-ethnicity analyses to be meaningful. Instead, we refer readers to the large MAYSI-2 normative data study, which found that race effects on the MAYSI-2 scales were usually negligible.

Photovoice: Addressing Youths' Concerns in a Juvenile Detention Facility

This study used the photovoice method for a participatory needs assessment and asset inventory in a juvenile detention center setting. Traditionally, juvenile justice facilities have emphasized punishments and sanctions. The positive youth development perspective offers a more balanced approach between punishment and rehabilitation that encourages youth empowerment in improving their community. The purpose of this project was to empower youth in detention to document their struggles, critically discuss the results, and recommend any improvements to the detention center's authority.

HPV Vaccination Practices Among Juvenile Justice Facilities in the United States

HPV Vaccination Practices Among Juvenile Justice Facilities in the United States

Closer Look Needed at Youths in Adult Facilities: Reply

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article LetterFull AccessLetterDaniel C. Murrie Ph.D.Craig E. Henderson Ph.D.Gina M. Vincent Ph.D.Daniel C. Murrie Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorCraig E. Henderson Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorGina M. Vincent Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Jan 2010https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2010.61.1.98AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Closer Look Needed at Youths in Adult Facilities: ReplyIn Reply: We appreciate Dr. McGregor's concerns and share his desire to see more comprehensive research addressing juveniles incarcerated in adult prisons. When we began our research, no empirical studies had addressed the mental health needs of this group. Thus we faced a dilemma common to researchers approaching any understudied area: Should we wait until we can conduct "the perfect study," or should we begin with a broad "screening" that might identify where further inquiry is needed? This research dilemma is analogous to the clinical dilemma common in the juvenile justice system: Should we attempt a comprehensive assessment of every youth, or should we conduct a broad screening to identify which youths—or which concerns for a particular youth—warrant further assessment? Often, the only practical option in either context is to begin with broad screening. Because our goal was a broad overview of treatment needs among youths in adult prisons—particularly as compared with youths in juvenile justice facilities—we selected the only measure that allows for comparison to a nationally representative, ethnically diverse sample of youths in juvenile justice facilities ( 1 ). The MAYSI-2 ( 2 ), more than other measures, allows us to compare "apples to apples" when investigating self-reported symptoms among juveniles across various justice contexts. As Dr. McGregor notes, the MAYSI-2 does not provide formal diagnoses and cannot rule out symptom exaggeration or symptom minimization. Participants may have reported some symptoms for secondary gain—a possibility in any study of incarcerated juveniles or adults. It was perhaps less likely in our sample of youths, who had already been adjudicated and could not leave the Youthful Offender Program until they reached a certain age, which minimized the opportunity for secondary gain. Most of the limitations of MAYSI-2 apply to other self-report measures, and as we noted in our article, we must accept these limitations if our results are to remain in "a common metric" for comparison to juvenile justice studies. Might we learn additional detail from studies that use clinical interviews and structured personality measures? Absolutely! We hope that we—or Dr. McGregor or others—can create opportunities for research that uses such comprehensive assessments. But just as clinicians administer a screening measure to form a general impression of a patient's functioning and where further assessment is needed, we administered a screening measure to form a general impression of a population's functioning and the need for further assessment. Our study revealed many self-reported symptoms, so we certainly agree with Dr. McGregor that further research using other assessment strategies is essential. Finally, Dr. McGregor suggests that we report results by race-ethnicity. We certainly agree with the spirit of his comment. Indeed, one of us (GMV) addressed this important question in the MAYSI-2 national normative data ( 1 ). In our study, we matched our sample and the comparison sample for race-ethnicity, but we chose not to present race-ethnicity analyses because small cell sizes for some groups (eight white participants) might have yielded misleading results. Disparities, too, warrant further assessment in this population, but only with subsamples large enough for race-ethnicity analyses to be meaningful. Instead, we refer readers to the large MAYSI-2 normative data study, which found that race effects on the MAYSI-2 scales were usually negligible.