Juvenile Corrections: America's Worst Fear is True

• NCJ Number: 132172
• Author(s): G W Knox; C Jackson Jr
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 27 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the Fifth International Conference on Penal Abolition, Bloomington, Indiana, May 23, 1991.

Annotation

A survey of over 150 State juvenile correctional institutions was conducted to examine the popular notion that juvenile institutions create more crime than they prevent by allowing the formation of strong and cohesive gangs. The present research confirmed historical patterns of high recidivism rates and large proportions of juvenile offenders becoming involved in the adult criminal justice system.

Abstract

The authors suggest that overcrowding is positively and significantly related to recidivism rates. Racial conflict among incarcerated juveniles was related significantly to gang damage to facility property. The findings also indicate that overcrowding significantly differentiates the problem of racial conflict among juvenile offenders. Alternatives to institutionalization, including community based juvenile corrections, might reduce the problems of racial conflict as well as recidivism among juvenile delinquents. Racial conflict and recidivism were also positively linked. 10 notes and 17 references (Author abstract modified)