NCJ Number
189745
Date Published
July 1997
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper analyzes the data regarding how juveniles fare in adult institutions as the U.S. Congress considers new juvenile justice legislation that calls for the jailing of juveniles with adult criminals and would force States to transfer large numbers of young offenders to adult prisons in order to be eligible for Federal funds.
Abstract
There is a dearth of data on rape, suicide, and assault rates among the 4,000 juveniles who are sentenced to adult prisons or the 65,000 children who pass through the jail system every year. The most recent American study on juvenile suicide in adult institutions and youth facilities was conducted in 1980. This study found that the suicide rate of juveniles in adult jails was 7.7 times higher than that of juvenile detention centers. A more recent British study found that although persons aged 15 to 21 composed only 13 percent of the prison population, they comprised 22 percent of all suicide deaths. A 1989 study compared how youth reported being treated at a number of juvenile training schools compared with those serving time in adult prisons. Five times as many youth held in adult prisons reported attempted sexual attacks. Surveys in other countries have found similarly higher rape rates for young offenders in adult institutions. Studies have also reported higher assault rates for juveniles in adult facilities. Such research findings are currently being ignored by Congress as it considers legislation that would have the effect of increasing the number of juveniles housed in adult institutions. The Justice Policy Institute recommends that Congress conduct a 2-year State-by-State evaluation of the changes in America's juvenile justice system while holding off on sweeping and ill-advised legislation during this time. No legislation that would reverse a century of juvenile justice reform and put thousands of youth into adult prisons should be undertaken until such research is conducted. 25 notes