NCJ Number
76034
Date Published
1980
Length
147 pages
Annotation
Various aspects of the incarceration of juvenile females in the New Jersey correctional system were examined, including social and demographic characteristics, the classification system, treatment program adequacy, and institutional social climate.
Abstract
The entire State female resident population (39 subjects) and 35 staff members were included in the study. Data were gathered from observations of classification meetings and programs, questionnaries and interviews, and institutional records. Female residents are placed both in secure care and in programs offering work experience, education, and therapy. Girls placed in the secure facility are the most troubled and, in programmatic terms, the most deprived and neglected. A total of 25 percent of the residents had no prior convictions, 82 percent had been Division of Youth and Family Services clients, and 80 percent of the subjects placed in the secure unit spent time in the punishment section. Classification decisions were related to committing offenses, prior delinquency, and age. Time goal decisions were related to sentence length, committing offense and intelligence score. The classification process was not regulated to ensure fairness or integrity. While considering individual cases the classification committee engaged in policy formation; however, its policy decisions were not enduring. Programs offered at alternative facilities were also deficient, although they offered more and better services than the secure facility. Staff and residents differed significantly in their perceptions of staff supportiveness, resident involvement, and other components of the institutional social climate. Institutional adjustment and perceptions of personal progress were related to these social climate perceptions. The classification system should be standardized and regulated to ensure fairness. Committee members should not have access to therapy information, and treatment programming should be improved overall and specifically at the secure care facility. Community involvement should be increased, parental involvement encouraged, and aftercare services implemented. Consideration should be given to closing the secure care unit and centralizing all female residents on one campus. Also, an alternative to the secure unit punishment section should be found. Tabular data, graphs, and footnotes are included. Appendices contain descriptions of the data collection process, copies of data collection instruments, 27 references, and a 17-item bibliography.