NCJ Number
116706
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1989) Pages: 234-253
Date Published
1989
Length
20 pages
Annotation
All county juvenile probation camps operating in California in 1984 were surveyed and 2,835 randomly selected camp releases and removals were followed up for two years.
Abstract
Although the camps provided considerable immediate and longer-term community protection, 65 percent of the cohort recidivated during the followup and 29 percent were committed to State correctional institutions. However, by comparing camps with each other, several sets of camp characteristics were found to be associated with sizable reductions in recidivism and State commitment. This and related findings suggest that substantial improvements may be possible in the degree of protection camps can provide, and this has implications for the juvenile justice system as a whole. For instance, less recidivism at the county level can lead to lower State commitment rates. This, in turn, can mean less crowding in California's State institutions, less need to construct new facilities, and proportionately more funds remaining for quality programming and for alternatives to incarceration. (Author abstract)