Miller Jerome G. Miller\'s Book

Miller

Jerome G. Miller's book Last One over the Hill: The Massachusetts experiment in Closing Reform schools, analyzes many topics related to the Juvenile justice system in America. The purpose of this discussion is to summarize the first nine chapters of Miller's book.

The book begins by characterizing the nature of the juvenile justice system in America. The author explains that the penile system for juveniles is problematic because it is not therapeutic. That is the system is designed to simply hold the juveniles until they can be released. The system does not have, as a central goal, the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. For this reason the juvenile justice system in America is not beneficial to the juvenile or to society.

The author also asserts that efforts to reform the system are nothing more than rhetoric. "We have never had a period of permissiveness or authentic rehabilitation in juvenile justice in the United States. Juvenile justice has always been, and continues to be, neglectful, demeaning, frequently violent, and largely ineffective (Miller, 3)." Miller also focuses on the idea that poor children are often treated differently by the court system. He asserts that middle and upper class children are more likely to evade the juvenile system altogether. Overall the beginning chapter of the book emphasizes the idea that the Juvenile justice system is broken and in need of repair.

The book also discusses the use of reform schools in the state of Massachusetts. The author explains that these schools were used for juveniles to keep them out of jail. Although these schools existed for a great deal of time in the state, they were ultimately disbanded. The initial purpose of reform schools was to rehabilitate juveniles. The state believed that the treatment of juveniles in reform schools would be advantageous to society as a whole because the focus of the reform school would be on attempting to make sure that juveniles would not continue to offend once they were released. Miller was on the founders of this system and he endeavored to keep these system in tact along as it would remain caring and decent (Miller). However, over time these schools were closed and a new system to detain juveniles emerged. This new system was little more than juvenile jail.

Miller also discusses how he came to be interested in rehabilitating young people. He explains that while serving in the military, he came across several young people who had committed or were likely to commit terrible acts against other people. It was this experience that prepared him for working with juvenile offenders.

Ultimately Miller was given the opportunity to work with the Department of Youth Services for the state of Massachusetts. While interviewing for the position Miller was able to discuss his ideas about juvenile detention facilities with those who already worked for the department. Although he was not the first choice for the position, he ultimately received the job. Miller recounts some of the difficulties that he had in his new position and the political hostility that he faced as an outsider. Ultimately many people in the department developed a great deal of respect for Miller and his unconventional approach to assisting juvenile delinquents.

In the book, Miller also discusses the differences between punishment and restoration. The author asserts that the early juvenile facilities practiced a balanced approach between these two elements. The author explains that the oldest reform school in Massachusetts was Lyman. This particular school existed for more 150 years and came into existence in the late 1850's. For a substantial period of time the juveniles that came there were from immigrant families. They were Italian, Irish and Portuguese. The author also explains that in the early years of the state reform schools, delinquents had an alternative to the schools because they could serve on boats instead. However, most chose to remain at the schools. Initially Lyman was an all boy's school. Eventually an all girls school was developed and several other reform schools developed throughout the state of Massachusetts. Miller explains that

"Though there was never much evidence that any of these nineteenth-century institutions was effective at its stated goals -- curing the mentally ill, humanely caring for the retarded, reforming the delinquent, or calming the recalcitrant -- all were highly successful at exiling the unmanageable, the unproductive, and the threatening. Their purpose was custodial, despite the gloss succeeding eras placed upon them (Miller,46)."

Miller also describes juvenile detention facilities as waiting rooms and warehouses. At certain times in state history the juvenile detention facilities were nothing more than waiting rooms where delinquents were kept. The author asserts that the juvenile homes in Massachusetts had the feel of waiting rooms because they were boring and the children did not have activities and other things to keep them busy. They just sat around and waited all day long.

The author further explains that some of the state's juvenile detention facilities appeared to be warehouses. This warehouse feel was present in such reform institutions as the boy's Industrial school at Shirley. Although these warehouses had activities and structure for the inmates, the staff did not appear to be very caring towards the boys or attempt to address the needs of the boys. In addition, many of the most difficult offenders were sent to Shirley. Some of the juveniles were even hidden.

Miller also discusses correctional reform and the manner in which he went about finding a direction for the juvenile corrections system in Massachusetts. Miller believed that the structure of the Juvenile justice system in Massachusetts was broken and as such he desired to make it more caring and end the brutality that existed within the state's juvenile facilities. Miller complains that previous reforms did nothing to change the juvenile system although a great deal of money was spent on attempts to change the system. Miller explains that he had to fight against the government and the system of bureaucracy that was in place that did not want to see the types of changes that he desired to enforce.