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Use of Secure Detention for Juveniles and Alternatives to Its Use

NCJ Number
73751
Author(s)
D M Pappenfort; T M Young
Date Published
1979
Length
108 pages
Annotation
The use of residential and nonresidential programs as alternatives to secure detention for juveniles awaiting adjudicatory hearings in juvenile courts is analyzed through a literature review of empirical studies done in the 1970's.
Abstract
Additional information was gleaned from interviews carried out and statistics assembled during site visits to 14 juvenile court jurisdictions where alternative programs were in use. This summary analysis of what is known about detention in its conventional form and about alternatives to detention that have been tried in various jurisdictions is intended as a supplement to the guidelines of the amended (1977) Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Thus, it is a planning tool for officials to help them shape realistic strategies for implementing and evaluating Federal policy in this area. The juvenile processing system has been conceptualized through a general process-flow diagram that shows seven decision points, each indicating a critical moment of possible exit from the system. The focus is on what happens to juveniles between court or detention intake and adjudication. The arrangement of the material follows the structure of the decision points shown in the process-flow diagram. Thus, the decisions of police and other adults that create a pool of youths for referral to court are described first, followed by an analysis of the juvenile court process and the decisions which determine whether selected youths are placed in secure detention, referred to alternative programs, or sent home. Then, the variations in use of secure detention are discussed in terms of the psychological consequences of detention for juveniles. Detailed descriptions are given of the programs used as alternatives in the 14 jurisdictions visited. A crucial finding of the study is that in 11 jurisdictions alternative programs listed administrative convenience, immediate punishment, future deterrence, and rehabilitation as their functions. Historically, these 'reasons' have been acknowledged as leading to misuse of secure detention. The study recognized symptoms of overreach through alternative programs: youths are being brought into the juvenile justice system because these alternatives to imprisonment exist. Individual chapters are provided with notes, and 20 tables complement the text. The bibliography contains approximately 200 entries.