NCJ Number
169323
Date Published
1997
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This analysis of research findings on the incarceration of juveniles in adult facilities and proposed Federal juvenile justice legislation concludes that Congress should postpone such legislation and instead fund a 2-year, state-by-state evaluation of the changes in the juvenile justice system in recent years.
Abstract
The new juvenile justice legislation calls for the jailing of juveniles with adult criminals and would require State corrections departments to transfer large numbers of young offenders to adult prisons to be eligible for Federal funds. However, the available research indicates that placing youth in adult institutions increases criminal behavior after release and that juveniles placed in adult institutions are at increased risks of being raped and assaulted and of committing suicide. However, few statistics are available on the issue. All States have laws that allow juveniles to be tried as adult; 42 States have toughened those laws in the past 2 years. Therefore, Congress should examine the facts rather than try to promote further State action. It should fund research that examines the different reoffense rates of similar groups of youthful offenders held in juvenile and adult institutions, the rates of sexual and physical victimization and suicides of juveniles in adult and juvenile institutions, and rates of juvenile crime in states with high and low numbers of juveniles in adult institutions. Reference notes