A real commitment to improving the juvenile system requires “assessment” centers like this one to truly assess young offenders for past victimization rather than routinized criminal justice processing. Image: CrimeDime
Plenty of research has established the link between victimization and offending. But establishing the fact that the link exists is easier than understanding why it happens. Even harder? Figuring out what to do about it.
Bethany Case, a visiting fellow at the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), suggests some approaches in the June 2012 OVC News & Program Updates newsletter.
- Early identification of child victims provides a mechanism to intervene with families and children, particularly when there is risk of continued victimization.
- Accurate identification of adolescent victimization, particularly when youth enter the juvenile justice system, can ensure that adolescents get resources to address the victimization that may be the root cause of the offending.
- Comprehensive interventions address the full spectrum of ways that youth are affected by victimization (e.g., educational difficulties, substance abuse, mental health issues, behavioral problems, family struggles).
- Cross-agency collaboration ensures that systems (e.g., education, juvenile justice, child welfare, victim services) that are working with the same youth and families will communicate and develop strategies that are comprehensive, are based on the child’s and family’s needs, and are not duplicative.
In my own experience working in the criminal justice system, I do think that there is a much greater chance of these ideas being implemented than in adult correctional facilities. Whereas the general public is pretty happy to lock up adults, throw away the key, and inflict the harshest possible punishments, there is still a lingering protective attitude when it comes to juvenile offenders.
People still think there’s a chance to help kids.
But that’s not to say that this willingness to do more for the juvenile offender is uniform across people, programs, or funding structures. I’ve seen a number of juvenile justice programs that have been working to implement these ideas for years, while others still function as little more than mini-models of adult prisons.
Here’s what I would add to Case’s recommendations:
- Victim-centered aftercare provides a safety net after they complete their correctional programs or time in facilities. More than mere probation, these services should focus on supportive, rather than punitive, goals.
- Gender-specific programs for girls will more adequately meet their unique needs. Girls in the system have much higher rates of victimization than their male counterparts, and their victimization experiences are fundamentally different than those experienced by males.
What else do you think we can do? Do you know of a successful program? What makes it work?
Related articles:
- Justices Bar Mandatory Life Terms for Juveniles (nytimes.com)
- Welcome The Juvenile Justice Blog To The Blogosphere (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
- What Do We Know About Gangs? (crimedime.com)
- Is it OK to Polygraph Juveniles? (crimedime.com)
- Cuffing Kids: How Young is Too Young? (crimedime.com)
- Kids and Social Messages About Crime (crimedime.com)
- Rethinking Children and Crime: Children’s Exposure to Violence (crimedime.com)
CrimeDime 
Louise Behiel
June 28, 2012
difficult question, isn’t it? at what point do we become insalvageable? a program here in Calgary centered around school showed that early identification and mega amounts of support would take likely drop outs and convert them to high school graduates. BUT it took many, many, many, many people to create this success. and of course the problem was that the assessment didn’t mean those kids wouldn’t have succeeded on their own. I think it’s so fascinating that 2 kids from the ‘same’ environment (if that’s possible given my views about the roles we learn to play in our families) will go on to function so differently.
bitcodavid
June 28, 2012
I see a commonality between the youth offenders you discuss in this article, and a great many of the Deaf offenders I deal with on DeafInPrison.com. Many of them are abuse victims long before their incarcerations, and the overwhelming majority were abuse victims in youth. Naturally, I will be reposting this excellent piece. You guys are the greatest.
bitcodavid
June 28, 2012
Reblogged this on deafinprison and commented:
Anybody who’s on this site will agree that this article applies to the Deaf inmate, just as it does to the youth offender. My thanks – as usual – to CrimeDime.com for doing a wonderful job in exposing this issue.