Juvenile Mass Incarceration: History, Harms, and Reform

Introduction

Mass incarceration has been a widely discussed issue, particularly because the United States has been identified as having the highest juvenile incarceration rates globally. According to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), youths below the age of eighteen who are found guilty of an offense should be confined to correctional facilities. State juvenile justice systems are tasked with handling cases involving defendants under the age of eighteen. However, in certain cases, youths below eighteen may be charged and tried as adults. According to the Juvenile Residential Facility Census 2016, around 46,000 juvenile offenders were confined in 1,772 residential placement facilities.

The central issue is that many youths are being locked up for minor offenses that do not warrant confinement. Such minor offenses include failing to report to a probation officer, not completing community service, and violating curfew. Placing children in correctional facilities has harmed families, society, and the young people themselves. Most incarcerated youths already have a history of trauma and victimization; therefore, placing them in confinement will not help them reform but will only deepen their traumatic experiences. This paper discusses the history and key issues of juvenile mass incarceration.

Background of Mass Incarceration

Mass incarceration refers to an exceptionally high rate of offender imprisonment. According to Western (2007, pp. 518–519), David Garland defines mass imprisonment as "the rate of imprisonment... that is markedly above the historical and comparative norm for societies of this type." This high rate of incarceration has raised significant concerns about the juvenile justice system. Mass incarceration has not served as a solution to crime; instead, it has exposed young boys and girls to violence, so-called "criminal education," and the development of problematic behaviors. Juvenile justice was substantially shaped in the 1980s and 1990s when new punitive policies were introduced (Lobel, 2020). States such as California and New York passed strict laws that led to increased arrests and detention. The number of detained boys and girls grew considerably, resulting in large numbers of young people in residential placement by 1997.

In the early 1990s, the youth crime rate rose nationally, and states struggled to sustain the high cost of an ever-expanding prison population. Subsequently, a range of reforms were enacted. Some states reduced the number of youths held in state facilities, while others opted for minimally restrictive facilities for youth offenders. Several states also raised the age of criminal responsibility. These reforms aimed to distinguish young people from adult offenders. With a declining rate of youth offenses, revised policies, and judicial sentencing limitations, states were able to decarcerate youth confinements (McCorkel, 2001).

Between 1997 and 2019, the total population of boys and girls in detention centers, long-term secure facilities, and other residential placement facilities dropped by nearly 60,000 individuals. However, the de-institutionalization of youth remains an ongoing challenge (Bouchard & Wong, 2017). Many young people continue to be detained for minor offenses, often in facilities far from their homes and families. These facilities frequently harbor inhumane conditions and are unable to rehabilitate youth offenders effectively.

Impact of Juvenile Incarceration on Young Offenders

The incarceration of youth offenders has produced more problems than solutions. Children are subjected to severe psychological trauma that results in poor emotional and physical health. Consequently, youth have difficulty reintegrating into society after completing their sentences. During confinement, children are rarely given adequate counseling or taken through meaningful rehabilitation programs to help them cope in the community, which has contributed to high rates of return to the prison system (Aalsma et al., 2015).

Young people in detention also face extreme violence and sexual abuse at the hands of guards and fellow detainees. They are subjected to various forms of torture, including physical assault and gang rape. Some teenagers are raped or sexually assaulted in juvenile detention facilities (Wilson et al., 2017). These facilities have proven to be unsafe for both boys and girls. Notably, staff-on-inmate abuse occurs at higher rates in juvenile detention than in adult prisons.

Recent research indicates a decline in formal sexual abuse reports from youth in detention; however, this decline is largely attributed to the fact that detainees are not offered protection after coming forward. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was enacted to protect detainees, but it has largely failed in practice because most detainees face intimidation if they report abuse. As a result, children lose both their dignity and their confidence in the legal system.

Detainees in juvenile correctional facilities have little or no access to adequate food, medical care, mental health services, or basic sanitary conditions. Facilities are often overcrowded and underequipped, making it easy for detainees to contract diseases such as chronic diarrhea, skin conditions, severe dental decay, and respiratory ailments. Basic sanitation, open ventilation, and proper nutrition are frequently absent.

Healthcare services in these facilities tend to focus on acute care rather than chronic conditions, largely due to limited health staffing, which results in medical neglect and delayed treatment (Harzke & Pruitt, 2018). Recent investigations have found that overcrowding has contributed to outbreaks of skin diseases such as measles, as well as airborne and respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia in several detention facilities. Additional health-damaging conditions include continuous lighting, sleep deprivation, invasion of privacy, and limited recreational time.

Children in these facilities also suffer significant educational deprivation, as the period of detention interrupts their schooling. Educational opportunities within detention centers are limited (Low, 2009). A 2016 report published by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that teachers working within justice facility school systems are often not dedicated to their roles and are more likely to miss school. Justice facilities are also less likely to offer core mathematics and science courses, causing students in detention to fall further behind in their learning.

The OCR additionally identified students with disabilities in detention centers but found that facilities are ill-equipped to provide adequate special education services to those students (Koster, 2019). Research has shown that juvenile detention reduces the likelihood of high school graduation and increases the probability of adult incarceration. Children who complete their time in detention facilities are unlikely to return to school and graduate. As a result, many end up without educational credentials, face socialization challenges, and struggle to find employment — factors that increase the likelihood of further criminal involvement.

Conclusion

Juvenile incarceration does more harm than good for the country's youth. Sentencing young people to juvenile detention for minor offenses is ineffective, unmanageable, and destructive. This population is vulnerable and faces elevated risks of suicide, victimization, physical assault, and serious health problems. Rather than arresting minors for such offenses, it would be more appropriate to develop rehabilitation programs, implement prevention measures, promote restorative justice practices, create school-to-trade pathways, and ensure that juvenile criminal records are sealed to prevent the continuation of the school-to-prison pipeline.

The justice system needs to invest in restorative justice approaches to rehabilitate young offenders rather than channeling large sums of money into ineffective detention centers. It is also essential for public schools to adopt disciplinary reforms that interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and reduce future arrests. Amending state and school policies would significantly contribute to ending this pipeline and, ultimately, to reforming the juvenile justice system. Without such action, the problems of mass incarceration will persist, and children will continue to suffer needlessly in juvenile detention.