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African-American Youth in The Juvenile Justice System

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populations relative to their representation <strong>in</strong> the general population. A recent report<br />

from the National Council on Crime and del<strong>in</strong>quency found that m<strong>in</strong>ority youth are<br />

treated more severely than white youth at every po<strong>in</strong>t of contact with the system—from<br />

arrest, to detention, to adjudication, to <strong>in</strong>carceration—even when charged with the same<br />

crime. [12] In 1995, <strong>African</strong> <strong>American</strong> youths made up 12% of the population, but were<br />

arrested at rates double those for Caucasian youths. <strong>The</strong> trend towards adult<br />

adjudication has had implications for the racial make-up of the juvenile prison population<br />

as well. M<strong>in</strong>ority youth tried <strong>in</strong> adult courts are much more likely to be sentenced to<br />

serve prison time than white youth offenders arrested for similar crimes.<br />

Criticisms Based on Adverse Effects<br />

<strong>Juvenile</strong> detention facilities are often overcrowded and understaffed. <strong>The</strong> most <strong>in</strong>famous<br />

example of this trend is Cheltenham center <strong>in</strong> Maryland, which at one po<strong>in</strong>t crowded<br />

100 boys <strong>in</strong>to cottages sanctioned for maximum capacity of 24, with only 3–4 adults<br />

supervis<strong>in</strong>g. Young people <strong>in</strong> these environments are subject to brutal violence from<br />

their peers as well as staff, who are often overworked, underpaid and under stress. <strong>The</strong><br />

violence that <strong>in</strong>carcerated youth experience—fights, stabb<strong>in</strong>gs, rapes—is well known to<br />

those who work <strong>in</strong> the crim<strong>in</strong>al justice system, and those who oppose it.<br />

Congregat<strong>in</strong>g del<strong>in</strong>quent youth has a negative impact on behavior—it actually serves to<br />

make them more deviant and more of a threat to themselves and others. Social<br />

scientists call the phenomenon "peer del<strong>in</strong>quency tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g", and have found significantly<br />

higher levels of substance abuse, school difficulties, del<strong>in</strong>quency, violence, and<br />

adjustment difficulties <strong>in</strong> adulthood for offenders deta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> congregated sett<strong>in</strong>gs<br />

versus those that were offered treatment <strong>in</strong> another sett<strong>in</strong>g.<br />

Incarceration can aggravate mental illness. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to detention center adm<strong>in</strong>istrators<br />

who testified to United States Congress <strong>in</strong> a 2004 Special Investigation by the House of<br />

Representatives, many <strong>in</strong>carcerated youths could have avoided <strong>in</strong>carceration had they<br />

received mental health treatment. Detention centers do not promote normal cognitive<br />

and emotional development. A recent report <strong>in</strong>dicated that for up to one-third of<br />

<strong>in</strong>carcerated youth suffer<strong>in</strong>g from depression, the onset of depression occurred after<br />

their transfer to a detention center. <strong>The</strong>se youth face a greater risk of self-<strong>in</strong>jury and<br />

suicide. Researchers have found that <strong>in</strong>carcerated youth engage <strong>in</strong> self-<strong>in</strong>jurious<br />

behaviors at a rate two to four times higher than the general youth population.<br />

Furthermore, prison adm<strong>in</strong>istrative policy often <strong>in</strong>tensifies the risk by respond<strong>in</strong>g to<br />

suicidal threats <strong>in</strong> ways that endanger the deta<strong>in</strong>ees, such as putt<strong>in</strong>g them <strong>in</strong> solitary<br />

conf<strong>in</strong>ement.<br />

Deta<strong>in</strong>ed youth with special needs often fail to return to school upon release. Among<br />

those young students receiv<strong>in</strong>g remedial education dur<strong>in</strong>g their detention, roughly 43%<br />

do not return to school. Among those that do re-enroll, between two-thirds to threequarters<br />

drop out with<strong>in</strong> a year. Not only does this pose a serious threat to the exoffender's<br />

well-be<strong>in</strong>g—high school drop-outs face high unemployment, poor health,<br />

shorter life spans, and low <strong>in</strong>come—it also poses a threat to public safety. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to<br />

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