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Juveniles Why Do They Keep Re-Offending


Roderick D. Morrison
Brightwood College
Spring 2016

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Introduction
Children under the age of eighteen do not integrate information or understand the world
as adults do. Studies have shown that children and adults have different combine
perspective and binocular depth of what is a crime and what is not. Labeling a child, a
delinquent can have a couple of effects on the childs outcome. Some children that are
considered a delinquent uses the punishments such as detention centers and become
better citizen. Other take the title of delinquency and try to become more delinquent
citizen to intimidate fear in their peers. If the juvenile decides to take the less civil way it
can turn their life into a life of crime. Depending on the childs environment, social, and
educational background many children as well as adults have a different time span of
getting the concept of legal and illegal activities. In North Carolina there a many juvenile
that commit violent and non-violent crimes. Due to the number of recidivism of juveniles
many people in the community are having concerns about their educational needs, mental
health needs and the rehabilitation of the juvenile. In North Carolina there are only six
juvenile detention centers throughout the state. Although the justice system tries to place
juveniles close to home to help with the emotional needs from feeling abandoned,
sometimes its impossible due to overcrowding. Even though the juvenile detention
centers were put in place to be a deterrent for juveniles, it is the responsibility of the
detention centers to provide adequate mental health programs, education, and training
that will allow the juvenile to return back to society and not recidivate.
Problem Statement

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In North Carolina there are many juveniles who commit violent and nonviolent crimes.
Many of the teenagers who are in the Juvenile Justice System have anger problems,
learning disabilities, and academic challenges and are receiving little to no help on these
issues. The number of recidivism rate has risen, causing many of the young adult
offenders to later become adult offenders. Although the centers were put into place to
become a deterrence for juvenile offender, the lack of needs being meet in the centers has
started to become a major concern for the families and the community in which they live
in.
Background
With the rise of juveniles committing more and more crimes, many citizens are
concerned about the needs of the juveniles being meet. Non-adults within the Criminal
Justice System have a wide range of needs, such as mental health, recidivism, education.
In North Carolina, there are many juveniles that commit violent and nonviolent crimes
(Howes, 2015). The United States juvenile system has not contributed to the special
needs of minors in the system. The United States has more Juvenile detention centers
than any other country (Pursuing Justice 2014). In a 2015 report Juvenile Recidivism
Study it was reported that Two-Thirds of non-adult offenders are being held for
nonviolent offenses (Howes, 2015). The recidivism percentages have increased
tremendously within the juvenile population, almost half of the juveniles in the sample
were black and black juveniles received fewer diversions as a percentage than all other
race categories (Howes, 2015). In a North Carolina Juvenile Recidivism Study, it states
that every three years a follow-up of juveniles behaviors is evaluated by gender, race,
and age (Mark et al., 2015). During this follow up they are checking to see if the juvenile

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has committed any other crimes, how their behavior is and whether or not they are at risk
of becoming a habitual criminal. Overall, males had higher recidivism rates than
females. It has been recognized that for some time juveniles involved within the criminal
justice system have high rates of substance abuse and psychiatric disorders (Mark et al.,
2015). Many detained juveniles are in need of care and with a large number of mentally
ill youth in detention centers, injuries, suicides, and other adverse health effects are
increasing (Rani et al., 2016). The adult population in prisons has grown, making prison
incarceration a billion-dollar business. Many counties in North Carolina can gain large
amounts of money for their facilities, causing a major concern for taxpayers in the local
areas. With these facts about the juvenile system facing us, we must ask what change
needs to happen, if any, that can resolve the juvenile offense problem, not perpetuate it.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to illustrate whether or not Juvenile Detention
Centers facilitate the needs of non-adult offenders. I think that the facilities need to take a
closer look at why juvenile offenders make the same mistake over and over. They need to
observe the many situations which causes non-adult offenders to commit crimes. By
getting an understanding of how mental health, education, poverty, and the environment
effects the overall rates in which juveniles become delinquent, this will allow the
researchers options in decreasing the recidivism rates. When it comes to mental health,
more attention needs to be focused on the causes and the proper treatment associated with
an individual. Education, or the lack of it, causes many juveniles to enter back into the
juvenile detention centers. Knowing that 88% of juvenile[s] had a misdemeanor as
their most serious offense (Howes, 2015), shows that there is hope to rehabilitate. In an

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effort to improve juvenile detention centers, police need to construct better management
of juveniles within their facilities. Programs need to be tailored to meet the special needs
of individuals, with both nonviolent and violent offenses.
Significance
Significance
This research will be a significant to juvenile detention centers within the United States. It also
will be a learning tool to the members of the community and to the juveniles themselves.
Many detention centers throughout the United States have wondered how to stop
recidivism that occurs on a yearly basis. By gaining an understanding of the problems
associated with juveniles before a crime occurs, will actually allow the community the
security of knowing the juvenile detention facilities are trying to meet the needs of
juveniles. In order to be considered recidivism, a juvenile arrests have to occur within the
three-year follow up from the date of arrest, and had to occur after the juvenile turned
sixteen years old. With a growth in non-adult offenders, rates and no immediate solution,
many citizens are at mercy of becoming victims of the juveniles treated at detention
facilities. This study will become a helpful tool within the Juvenile Justice System when
it comes to identifying the issues associated with mental health, education and recidivism.
Mental Health
When it comes to mental health issues, juvenile detention facilities have come under
increasing legal pressure to provide mental health services to detainees (Rani et al.,
2015). Many of the detainees have drug, alcohol and psychiatric problems leading them
to commit crimes. In a study done by Attkisson, Roberts it stated that in a review of

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several decades of research on psychiatric disorders in children, determined that


prevalence rates for current psychiatric disorders, were estimated to be 26.5 percent in
adolescents (Robert, 2015). The results showed that at least 16 percent of the detention
population will have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder.
Recidivism
On any given day, 70,000 students are in custody in juvenile-justice systems across the
country. Nearly two-thirds of those young people are either African-American or
Hispanic, and an even higher percentage are male (Morones, 2014). The citizens in the
community may wonder, how do you stop recidivism? I believe that if you educate,
rehabilitate, and train the individuals they will have a greater chance of not re-entering
the system.

Education
Education is a major concern for the juvenile in the detention center. Knowing that
proper education can lead to the success of a non-adult offender, I believe that it is the
most relevant cure to recidivism. Morones also stated that We have kids who have not
done well in school, but, more or less, they have to come every day. Theyre a captive
audience, he said. We can transform their perspective on school. But the reality is,
education has been forgotten [in juvenile-justice systems] (Morones, 2014). We as a
community and a juvenile system must educate our young adults so that they can succeed
in life.

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Methodology
In my research paper I plan to use many secondary articles, statistics, and
juvenile justice websites. With the use of these sources I will be able to find different
facts to support whether or not juvenile detention centers are meeting the needs of the
non-adult offenders. With the use of statistics, the facilities can be broken down into the
three major concerns: mental health, education, and recidivism. By understanding that
each facility has different recidivism rates, mental health concerns and educational needs
the juvenile justice website will allow me to get a large overview of the totals within the
United States. It will also help to find out which systems are working and which ones
need to be revised in an effort to meet the needs of the non-adult offenders.
Literature Review

In the article Mental Health Care in Juvenile Detention Facilities, the


author Desal, Rani talks about how the juvenile detention center are under legal
pressure to provide mental health services to detainees. It confirms that many
juveniles in detention center suffer from mental illness and that there has been an
increase in injuries, suicides, and other adverse health effects.

In Children with Emotional Disorders in the Juvenile Justice System, the Mental
Health America (MHA) places a high priority on the care of children and youth
with behavioral problems reflecting mental, emotional and substance use
conditions causing behavioral health conditions. It talks about how mental health
and substance use treatment services can prevent children with behavioral health

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conditions from committing offenses that result in juvenile justice scrutiny and
from re-offending.

Dr. Candice Odgers, and her colleagues did a research on the statistics of
juveniles in detention centers. Their finding showed that many of the juvenile
suffer from "depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity and substance
use... (Odgers, et al.). They also talk about how juveniles suffer Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) from childhood abuse and exposure to violence during
their growing up.

Do juveniles receive beneficial education in detention center?

In the article Juvenile-Justice System Not Meeting Educational Needs by Alyssa Morones
opinion of the juvenile justice system is "Many of the teenagers who enter juvenile-justice
systems with anger problems, learning disabilities, and academic challenges receive little or
no special help for those issues, and consequently fall further behind in school ...the needs of
students entering the system, little coordination between learning and teaching during a
students stay, and inconsistency in curricula. Many of the teaching methods were also
inappropriate, outdated, or inadequate, and little or no educational technology was used"
(Morones, 2014).

In an article Pipeline to Prison: How the juvenile justice system fails special education
students by Sarah Butrymowicz and Jackie Mader. Sue Burrell, a staff attorney at the San
Francisco-based Youth Law Center said that every day theyre not getting a real education,
then thats a day that weve lost. (Burrell, 2014). In the article she spoke about "Incarcerated
juveniles have the same educational rights as those outside five hours of instruction a day
that meet their learning needs, including special education. The state does not currently track

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how many of those juvenile offenders are entitled to extra education services, but according
to a 2010 federal survey, 30 percent of youth in custody of the juvenile justice system have a
diagnosed learning disability six times the amount in the general population"
(Butrymowicz, 2014 et al.,).

In a YouTube video, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice released an interview of
California Chief Justice, Tani Cantil-Sakauye. In the video it reveals why it is important for
juveniles to get adequate education which will help them transition back into public schools
and the community. She believes High-quality juvenile correctional education also requires
effective reentry procedures that will help youth transition back to school and into the
community upon release and continue on a pathway toward postsecondary and workforce
success (Cantil-Sakauye, 2014).

The article Juvenile Education: Inside a Confined World, the authors Mike Fritz and April
Brown discuss how a professor Richard Ross of the University of California, Santa Barbara
went to 300 juvenile detention facilities in thirty states to investigate and interview juvenile
in the centers. He talked about how many of the kids are dropouts and needed special needs
in education. He stated that the problem lies in what he called culture of expectation
This is where families have limited expectations of who the juveniles can be and they
themselves have limited expectations (Ross, 2012). He talked about how stopping juveniles
education, stops any chance of the juvenile having a better future.

Why is there a rise in recidivism in the Juvenile Detention Centers?

In the Study Juvenile Recidivism Study, the author Kim Howes breaks down the studies of
juvenile recidivism. She explains the percentages of juveniles and the most common offenses

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that causes them to recidivate. She too goes into detail about which race has the most needs
in the detention center.

In a study Long-term juvenile incarceration fails to decrease reoffending rates by Brian


Heller de Leon it talks about how long term incarceration doesnt reduce the recidivism rates.
He talks about how Substance use is a major factor in continued criminal activity by serious
adolescent offenders. It shows that lower level offenders with longer stays in a detention
center will increase recidivism.

The Prediction of Criminal Recidivism in Juveniles, did A meta-analysis was conducted to


identify risk factors that best predict juvenile recidivism. Cindy C. Cottle and her colleagues
from MCP Hahnemann University, compared eight groups of predictors : (a) demographic
information, (b) offense history, (c) family and social factors, (d) educational factors, (e)
intellectual and achievement scores, (f) substance use history, (g) clinical factors, and (h)
formal risk assessment (Cottle, 2016), These eight where the highest factors of predictors in
the juvenile detention centers.
Hypotheses
In my studies to find out if the juvenile detention centers meet the need of non-adult
offenders, I believe that the juvenile justice system has failed but can be reconstructed to
meet he needs in their facilities. I believe that the education in the facilities are not to
standard. They should have guidelines that instruct the staff on how to educate minors
with learning disabilities. When it comes to controlling the mental health issues that arise
within the centers. There need to be properly trained psychologist, and drug treatment
specialist to help control the mental stability of the non-adults. Recidivism is the number
one reason for detention centers. The detention center is supposed to act as a deterrence

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but with the rate of recidivism increasing in the United States, it has proven that the
juvenile detention center has failed.
Definition of Terms
1. Juveniles- a person below the age at which ordinary criminal prosecution is possible (18
in most countries).
2. Recidivism- Refers to a person relapse into criminal behaviors.
3. Violent Crimes- Crimes that composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent
manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
4. Nonviolent Crimes- Are crimes defined as property, drug, and public order offenses
which do not involve a threat of harm or an actual attack upon a victim.
5. Sample Testing- Is a subset containing the characteristics of a larger population. (used for
statistical testing)
6. Habitual Criminal- Is a person convicted of a new crime who was previously convicted of
a crime(s).
7. Incarceration- Is the state of being imprisoned or confined.
8. Environment- Is the area, community, or social living in which a person lives in.
9. Delinquent- A young person or persons behavior showing or characterized by a tendency
to commit crime, particularly minor crimes.
10. Rehabilitate- The restoration of former rights, authority, or abilities.
11. Secondary Articles- Are materials such as newspapers or popular magazines, books, or
movies reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that discuss or evaluate someone
else original research.

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Assumptions
When it comes to the juvenile detention centers in the United States many of the people in
the community believe that they are working and are meeting the need of the offender that
are placed in the facilities. They believe that the juveniles are getting the proper education,
mental health treatments, and that the non-adult offender are returning to society as a better
citizen. Many of citizens think that the problems that the community is having stems from
other sources such as poverty, environment, and social-economics, but not the malfunction of
the correction facilities. On the other hand, there are more individuals that believe that the
system is broken and needs to be corrected. They believe that many of the young males and
females that enter into the centers have problems getting an education and that their mental
health concerns are going under noticed. Many citizens in the US have the assumption that
the juvenile detention centers are set up just like adult prisons as a big business and are
designed to recirculate offenders, causing a higher rate of recidivism. With the inflation of
recidivism in the juvenile justice system, I believe that the center is not meeting the needs of
the offenders. Although many of the crimes do stem from environment, poverty, and socialeconomic, if the justice system wants to take the young offenders out of society then the
responsibility of their needs belong solely to the detention center. So if there is a concern of
why so many young offenders are reentering the justice system, it's because they are not
getting the proper education, mental health treatment, and skills they need to return to
society.

Scope and Limitations

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Although there are many secondary data such as blogs, website, and videos detailing the
effectiveness of juvenile detention centers, finding information that is 100% correct is
impossible. The use of secondary sources helped in my research to align the focus of a
large scale of primary researches. It helped with the detailing of information and the
procedures used in data collection and the difficulties encountered in conducting the
primary research. With the assumption that many centers in the United States may not
report all their information, I find it hard to believe that all the statistics Ive researched is
correct. Some of the information that was researched came from states with a larger
population of juveniles in their facilities, causing a higher rate in the effectiveness of the
center. Knowing that North Carolina only have six juvenile detention centers and none in
my current city, it limits the use of primary data such as an interviews of a juvenile and
the ability to actually visit a center for a hands on experience.
Procedures
With an incarceration rate of 716 per 100,000 people, the United States (US) is the most
punitive country in the world. Its no surprise that the United States also punishes
children more harshly than any other country. There are approximately 4,600
delinquency cases heard in the United States per day. In the US, 1 out of every 5 youth
who is brought before the court with a delinquency case is detained and put in a detention
center. Juveniles who misbehave in school or make bad choices such as getting into
fights or hanging with the wrong type of people have been removed from their homes and
incarcerated in juvenile detention centers.

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In the United States 18-20% of all children suffer from a mental disorder. In the juvenile
detention centers across the country nearly 70% of all children in the center suffer from
one or more behavioral issues. Over 53% of juvenile in detention center do not receive
Mental Health evaluations. In addition, 50% of all adult mental health issues are
discovered during their juvenile days. Children diagnosed with mental health disorders
that are not properly treated are approximately 80% more likely become adult prisoners.
Many of the juveniles have issues with substance abuse, attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. As many as 72% juveniles
have experienced one or more serious traumas such as emotional and physical responses
to terrible events. [See graph below]

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Education is one of the major concerns in the Juvenile Justice System. 65% of the
juvenile detention center offer Educational Services. In addition to Educational Services 32%
offer vocational for technical education and 21% offer post-secondary educational opportunities.
[See graph below] While centers are offering education many of the teaching methods are
inappropriate outdated, or inadequate and little or no education technology was used. According
to Federal reports only 15% of all student in Juvenile Justice Facilities, and 26% of longer-term
students improve to some extent in reading during their custody. Nearly one-third of the
individuals in the Juvenile Justice facilities who are tested or diagnosed with learning disabilities,
fewer than 25% receive special education services and support to address those disabilities. Only
9% of students ages 16 to 21 in facilities are on track to earn a GED or high school diploma.
Only 2% were accepted and enrolled in a 2 or 4-year College.

In order for a juvenile to be counted recidivism an adult arrest has to occur within three
years and the date of the arrest had to occur after the juvenile turned 16 years old. In a sample
done by the North Carolina sentencing and policy advisory Commission 42% of juveniles had a
subsequent juvenile complaint and/or adult arrest. 56% of the most serious recidivist offenses
were misdemeanors while 43% of the offenses were felonies. The most alarming findings from
the risk or needs assessments indicate that 81.2% of the juveniles that recidivate had school
behavior problems, 57.3 indicates a need for mental health care, 26.6% had a substance abuse
problem, and 57.6% had a negative peer relationship. Overall, 37.6% of combined juveniles in

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detention centers had one more adult arrest compared to only 19.2% of juveniles who were not
confined.

Long-Range Consequences
There is no minimum age to be sent to a juvenile detention center. Children as young as
six years old have been sent to juvenile court and accused of being delinquent. With the
rise and fall in juvenile delinquent rates and recidivism it is the facilities duties to make
sure that all juveniles received the proper treatment needed to become modest citizens. If
the cases involving mental health, do not become treated many of the juveniles that are in
the centers will grow up to become adult offenders causing a rise in crime in our
communities and there will be and inflation of the number of adults in adult prisons.
Many of the harsh crimes such as murder and rape will increase due to the lack of
services juvenile receive during their stay in detention centers. Not only will crimes
against others be in Jeopardy but individuals facing mental illnesses also faces the
likelihood committing suicide. Domestic terrorism will be on the rise due to the
unstableness of juveniles. Also if you don't correctly juveniles the with mental illnesses

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violence in the community and schools will increase causing contagious reaction to
juveniles who are not delinquent.
By making sure that juveniles in detention centers receive adequate education,
this would lower the recidivism rate and turn juveniles into hard-working citizens of the
United States.
Knowing that many of the juvenile offenders commit crimes such as burglaries,
carjacking, and thefts to support their economic wants. Education or the lack of it causes
many of the juvenile not to get employment causing an increase in crime. Many of the
juveniles that dont get education will not be able to continue their education making
them a menace to society. The statistics on the population of unemployed and welfare
will increase. Juveniles will grow up to become mothers and fathers without education
trying to raise their children and lead them on the right path. They will not be able to help
their kids with their school work causing a snowball effect from generation to generation.

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References
Brian Heller de Leon Study 2013: Long-term juvenile incarceration fails to decrease reoffending
rates http://www.cjcj.org/news/5476
Fritz, M., Brown A. 2012, Juvenile Education: Inside a Confined World
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/american-graduate-jan-june12-richardross_02-02
North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, 2015: Juvenile Recidivism Study
2010/11 Juvenile Sample https://ncjuveniledefender.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/juvenilerecidivism-study/
Morones, A. 2014 Juvenile-Justice System Not Meeting Educational
Needs:http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/04/17/29justice.h33.html
howes , K. 2015 Juvenile Recidivism
Study:https://ncjuveniledefender.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/juvenile-recidivism-study/
Holman, B., Ziedenberg, J 2006: The Danger of Detention: The Impact of Incarcerating Youth in
Detention and Other Secure Facilities: http://www.justicepolicy.org/research/1978
Cantil- Sakauye, 2014:Improving Education in Juvenile Correctional
Facilities:https://csgjusticecenter.org/youth/posts/improving-education-in-juvenilecorrectional-facilities/
King, C. 2015 Smarter, Cheaper, More Effective Approaches to Juvenile
Justice:http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article48881005.html

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Desal, R., Goulet, J., Robbins, J., Chapman, A., Migdole, S., Hoge, M. 2006 Mental health care
in juvenile detention facilities: a review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16844801
Juvenile Law Center 2014: Pursuing Justice:A Juvenile Law Center Blog
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-conservative-case-against-moreprisons/
Youth Justice 2012 Key Facts:Youth in the Justice System:
http://www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/documents/KeyYouthCrimeFacts.pdf
Cassie A. 2012 Mental Health Screening in Juvenile Detention Facilities:
http://www.cdfohio.org/research-library/2012/mental-health-juvenile.pdf

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