INCARCERATING JUVENILES IN ADULT PRISONS 1
Research Paper
Incarcerating Juveniles in Adult Prisons
If Not the Juvenile System, Then Where?
Bobbie J. Smith
Criminal Justice Administration Organizations
Liberty University - CJUS 300 – B01 LUO
Wayne Duff, Adjunct Instructor
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Abstract
The occurrences of juveniles placed in adult prisons have increased over the last several
decades. This research paper will provide some understanding of the experiences of juveniles by
observing the relationship between age and prison behavior among juveniles in adult prison
facilities. It will also show the effects and the results of juveniles who have been committed to
adult prisons and how they accrue more misconduct charges than are committed by older adults.
The results will also show how African American youth, youth with mental health issues, youth
with an extensive history in the juvenile system, and youth that have committed property and
weapon offenses have contributed to increased prison misconduct (Sage Journals).
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I. How Juveniles Are Handled in the Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system treats juveniles charged with violent offenses in ways that are
unnecessarily expensive, unsuccessful and unjust. Research is clear that many juveniles that are
convicted of a violent crime are best treated in a community-based setting. The automatic
response to juvenile violence is still confinement (Justice Policy).
An organization called “Smart, Safe, and Fair,” along with the Justice Policy Institute
(JPI) and the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) spoke with the victim’s community
to take a closer look at the barriers of treating juveniles that are involved in violent crime in their
community. By doing this, it gauges the community’s support for these possible reforms for
juveniles (Justice Policy).
Since the beginning of the '90s, an overwhelming amount of juveniles have been and are
continuously being prosecuted at the adult level. In 2008 there were over 93,000 juveniles
incarcerated and individual states spend approximately $5.7 billion each year imprisoning
juveniles and most are being held for nonviolent offenses. Incarcerating juveniles has negative
consequences for the juveniles and their communities (The Sentencing Project).
There have been positive steps observed in the juvenile justice system on an individual as
well as on the national levels, but there is so much more that has to be done. By moving the
resources for juveniles into community-based projects and developing these juveniles in vital.
There is a continuous commitment to secure appropriate juvenile facilities for those who have
been adjudicated delinquent as the statistics show there has been a decrease of from 77,835 in
1999 to 31,487 in 2015 (The Sentencing Project).
The problems do not end here because in addition, juveniles are transferred to the adult
prison system every year and are tried as adults, and many are automatically sent to adult prisons
and jails to serve their sentences. The juvenile justice system intercedes in delinquent behavior
through law enforcement, the court, and correctional involvement, with the goal of rehabilitation
(The Sentencing Project).
Juveniles and their guardians can face a variety of consequences, including probation,
community service, youth court, youth incarceration, and alternative schooling. Some of the
issues that need to be investigated more are listed below (Council of Juvenile Correctional
Administrators (2017).
a. Juvenile Crimes
There are approximately 25 top crimes and offenses that are listed as the most
common juvenile crimes. These crimes are theft/larceny, vandalism, alcohol offenses,
disorderly conduct, simple assault or battery, marijuana possession, tobacco offenses,
violating curfew, school disciplinary, traffic, truancy, criminal trespass, mischief,
possession of drug paraphernalia, harassment, fraud, burglary, false reporting, loitering,
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weapon possession, reckless endangerment, resisting an officer without violence,
runaway, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle (Global Youth Justice).
b. Criminal Responsibility of Juveniles
The criminal responsibility of a juvenile continues to be one of the most debatable
matters in the juvenile justice system and is an extremely complicated issue. There is not
a "fixed" age of the juvenile criminal because it varies from state to state (Cairn).
This age was established over 100 years ago, which means it is completely outdated.
It also shows that these juveniles were charged as adults and were entered into the adult
court system without the review of their case(s) by the juvenile court system. When this
happens, the juvenile’s risks and needs are not accessed, which leaves them completely
out of the juvenile justice system.
Progress has been made in recent years where approximately 38 states, including
Washington, D.C., have passed laws to keep more juveniles in the juvenile justice system.
Since these laws were passed, there has been a 58% decrease in juveniles in adult prisons.
Adult prisons was not meant for juveniles nor can it handle the issues of juveniles in an
appropriate manner to be able to prevent the juvenile’s prison return.
c. Racial Disparity Among Juveniles
It has been reported that juvenile incarceration has declined sharply in recent years,
but racial disparity has substantially increased. Research has been conducted nationwide
for the status of racial and ethnic disparities. Juveniles of color enter the criminal justice
system much more often than white juveniles and they are more likely to be sentenced to
harsher terms of punishment. Also, the impact of the growing racial disparities of arrests
as juveniles of color is still more likely to be prosecuted than white juveniles (The
Sentencing Project).
Racial disparity between black and white is more than ten to one in the following
states: New Jersey, Connecticut, Utah, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin
(The Sentencing Project).
d. The Pros and Cons of Prosecuting Juveniles at the Adult Level
Many organizations such as The Sentencing Project and 60 other organizations are
persuasively pressing the passage of "Raise the Age" legislation. Presently, New York remains as
one of two states that still prosecute all 16 and 17-year-olds in the juvenile justice system as
adults. They also house 16 and 17-year-olds in adult jails and prisons. The juveniles are at
severe risk for rape, physical abuse, suicide, and the services offered to them are not age-
appropriate (The Sentencing Project).
II. Juveniles Trapped Between Two Systems – Juvenile and Adult Criminal Justice
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a. Adult Prisons Do Not Serve Juveniles Effectively - Despite federal statues that
prohibit imprisoning juveniles under the age of 18, along with adults, they will suffer
sexual abuse and violence (The Atlantic).
In some states, if an individual is under the age of 18 years old and the law is
broken, the juvenile will be treated as an adult and it does not matter how small the
crime. Juveniles in New York and North Carolina are still processed in the criminal
justice system as adults at the age of 16 years old. They are also housed with adults in
prisons and jails. The age in Georgia, Michigan, Texas and Missouri still process
juveniles at the age of 16 years old. These juveniles are automatically processed and
prosecuted as adults (The Justice Policy).
If the age of prosecuting juveniles were raised, it would have a huge impact in the
lives of these young individuals. The juveniles that are “funneled” into adult prisons do
not have access to the rehabilitative services that the juvenile justice system provides.
Though prosecuting juveniles as adults was more common in previous years and the
prosecuting has decreased, it has bought about an awareness that a juvenile’s brain is still
developing and they may not be fully aware of the consequences of their actions (The
Justice Policy).
There is also evidence that juveniles who have been prosecuted as adults are
likely to commit additional crimes. Over the past decade, at least seven states have raised
the age of criminal responsibility to 18, and today most states set it there. And more
changes are on the way. The National Inmate Survey conducted by the Department of
Justice indicates that "1.8% of 16 and 17- year-old juveniles that are imprisoned with
adults have reported being sexually abused by adult inmates."
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Only 75% of the cases report being victimized repeatedly by correctional officers
(staff). Only one in ten juveniles report the abuse they suffer. Juveniles who are housed
with adults are also 36 more times likely to commit suicide than if housed with their age
group (The Atlantic).
b. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (34 USC 11103)
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) is a United States
federal law providing formula grants to states that follow a series of federal protections on the
care and treatment of youth in the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems.
This requirement ensures that accused and adjudicated delinquents, status offenders, and non-
offending juveniles are not detained or confined in any institution where they may have contact
with adult inmates. Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law applicable to persons not old
enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states, the age for criminal culpability is
set at 18 years. Juvenile law is mainly governed by state law, and most states have enacted a
juvenile code (34 USC 11103).
c. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (42 U.S.C. 15601; 28 C.F.R., Part 115.14)
For centuries, the juvenile justice system was developed because juveniles were subjected to
unspeakable atrocities in adult jails and prisons. As a result, they returned to society as hardened
criminals. As time went on and the juvenile system was being developed, it was extremely
apparent that incarcerating juveniles with adult inmates were self-destructive and self-defeating
moves. The fear of what would happen to thousands of juveniles if they were placed in adult
prisons and jails was the likelihood that they would be raped, assaulted, and even commit suicide
(The Justice Policy Institute).
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Surveys have been conducted and there is documentation that the juveniles that are
considered higher risk face these attacks when placed with adults. These crimes against
juveniles happen also between staff and inmates. An example of this is a story about a 15-year-
old juvenile (female) that was sexually assaulted by a deputy jailer after she was placed in an
adult facility for a minor infraction. Another example is another 15-year old juvenile (male)
from Kentucky that, only after being in jail for 30 minutes for arguing with his mother, was
found hanged in his cell – he hung himself (The Justice Policy Institute).
In Kentucky alone for one year, there were four juveniles held in jail “for offenses ranging
from disorderly conduct, to non-offenses, like running away from home." All of these juveniles
committed suicide.
In the United States, this Act has a "zero-tolerance standard" for rape in prisons and applies
to all public and private prison facilities that incarcerate adult and juvenile offenders. The Prison
Rape Elimination Act addresses inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse as well as staff sexual
misconduct (NICIC).
III. Strategies to Improve Processing Juveniles in the Criminal Justice System
a. Alternatives to Adult Incarceration
Alternatives to incarcerating juveniles with adults include, but is not limited to probation,
restitution, community and rehabilitative services. These are the most appropriate sentences for
non-violent, non-serious juvenile offenders and prison or jail is only appropriate if these
alternatives fail.
Alternatives would also include supervised release programs, such as home detention,
electronic monitoring, day and evening reporting centers, and local treatment programs. Other
options are "foster care, community service, house arrest, etc."
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b. Preparing Juveniles for Return to Society
Juvenile reentry—sometimes called aftercare —has been defined as the reintegrative services
that prepare juveniles in out-of-home placements for their eventual return home. This establishes
the necessary collaboration with the community and its resources to ensure the delivery of
needed services and supervision for juveniles.
National recidivism rates for juveniles do not exist, but state studies have shown that rearrest
rates for juveniles within one year of release from an institution average 55%, while
reincarceration and confinement rates during the same timeframe average 24% (Snyder and
Sickmund 2006).
These statistics emphasize the need to reduce reoffending by providing logical services to
address reentry issues and to facilitate a juvenile's restoration into society (Mears and Travis
2004; Altschuler 2008).
Juvenile reentry is referred to as aftercare and has been defined as the reintegrative services
that prepare juveniles in out-of-home placements for their ultimate return home. This establishes
the necessary partnership with the community and its resources to ensure the delivery of needed
services and supervision (Altschuler and Armstrong, 2001; Gies, 2003).
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c. Healing the Wounds of Juveniles
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice
describes restorative justice this way:
"While most approaches to juvenile justice concentrate on punishing or treating
delinquents, the restorative justice process seeks to repair the harm by including the
entire community in rehabilitating juvenile offenders and holding them accountable
for their behavior."
The Campaign for Youth Justice addressed the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice
Statistics regarding their recent proposal to raise the minimum age for juveniles of the National
Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to ask juveniles about their sexual orientation and gender
identity from ages 16 to 18. The proposal request that the Bureau not raise the minimum age for
juveniles and inquire about their sexual orientation and gender identity and to continue to collect
this critical data as part of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) (Campaign for
Youth Justice).
IV. Conclusion
The incarceration of juveniles in adult prisons is not an answer to the
rehabilitation of our youth. In fact, it does more irreparable damage than the crime itself.
Juveniles should not be held accountable in an adult facility because they have not developed
fully.
Though juveniles think they know the consequences of their actions, they don’t.
Juveniles operate on impulse and it is not until a major crime is committed they realize what they
have done is irreversible.
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As a society, we must pool communities together to help in solving the crimes
being committed by our juveniles. We must develop programs that give them guidance and hope.
References
Altschuler, David M., and Troy L. Armstrong. 2001. "Reintegrating High-Risk Juvenile
Offenders Into Communities: Experiences and Prospects." Corrections Management Quarterly
5(1): 79–95.
Cairn - Criminal responsibility of minors in national and international legal order -
https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-de-droit-penal-2004-1-page-51.htm#
Campaign for Youth Justice. (2018). National Policy Statements and Resolutions –
Federal Legislation - http://campaignforyouthjustice.org/federal-work/federal-policy
Gies, Steve V., 2003. Aftercare. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice, and Delinquency Prevention.
Global Youth Justice - TOP 25 CRIMES, OFFENSES AND VIOLATIONS -
https://www.globalyouthjustice.org/resources/top-25-crimes/
If Not the Adult System, Then Where? Alternatives to Adult Incarceration for Youth
Certified as Adults - https://jjie.org/hub/newly-added-
resources/http://cfyj.org/images/ALT_INCARCERATION__FINAL.pdf
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from www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/
N.I.C. – National Institute of Corrections - Review Panel on Prison Rape Report on
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https://nicic.gov/review-panel-prison-rape-report-sexual-victimization-prisons-jails-and-juvenile-
correctional
Prison Rape Elimination Act's Youthful Inmate Standard (42 U.S.C. 15601; 28 CFR, Part
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arrests/
The Atlantic - The Steep Costs of Keeping Juveniles in Adult Prisons -
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prisons/423201/
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (34 USC 11103)
The Justice Policy Institute & National Center for Victims of Crime. (2018). Smart Safe & Fair:
Strategies to Prevent Youth Violence, Heal Victims of Crime, and Reduce Racial Inequality,
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