NCJ Number
161860
Date Published
1991
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Following an overview of the disproportionate involvement of Native American Youth in the juvenile justice system, particularly in juvenile institutions, this paper proposes a model for community-based corrections for Native American youth.
Abstract
Three concepts form the basis for the model. First, it relies on the use of traditional tribal values and mores for promoting behavioral change and reducing adolescent alienation from the primary social group. Second, treatment and competency- based interventions are linked to the individual causes and correlates of delinquency among targeted youths; and third, customary sanctioning approaches serve as alternatives to confinement and promote and reinforce tribal solidarity. Implemented in combination, these concepts will enhance self- esteem, promote education achievement and skill development, create a sense of self-identity, address problems of substance abuse and violence, reinforce social integration within the tribal unit, and thereby reduce the level of youthful alienation from elders. The major challenge that will face this program initiative is the tailoring of the concept of community-based social control and sanctioning to the norms and values of the specific sociocultural system dominant on a particular reservation. 16 references