Does Juvenile Detention Work?
Most juvenile justice systems rely heavily on the use of restrictive out-of-home placement as a sanction for delinquent behavior. However, relying heavily on this restrictive activity has several negative consequences for a juvenile justice system. First, out-of-home placement is exceedingly expensive. Second, it increases the number of juveniles in institutions, which are already dangerously overcrowded. Third, it does little to correct delinquent behavior. Because youth are often released to disorganized communities, where it is easy to slip back into the habits that resulted in arrest in the first place, any gains made by juvenile offenders in correctional facilities may quickly evaporate following their release (Deschenes and Greenwood, 1998). In fact, a large percentage of serious juvenile offenders continues to commit crimes and reappear in the juvenile justice system (Krisberg, 1997).
