Across the past decade, the juvenile justice community has been shifting its thinking from being “tough on crime” to being “smart on crime.” This change has been largely attributed to an enhanced understanding of both youth development and the effectiveness of interventions to reduce recidivism and promote positive outcomes for youth. In fact, in 2013 the National Research Council concluded that:
Evidence shows convincingly that reforming juvenile justice in accord with well-established principles of adolescent development can reduce offending and promote accountability while treating juvenile offenders fairly and serving their individual needs. There is no need to trade public safety for due process and individualized treatment.
Although progress has been made in incorporating more evidence-based practices, programs and policies into the juvenile justice system, the system still often operates in contradiction to available research. For example, research indicates that the incarceration of juvenile offenders, especially nonviolent offenders, is ineffective at reducing recidivism, and can actually increase the likelihood of recidivism.
This is because incarceration can negatively influence young people’s mental health, stunt their cognitive and social-emotional development, disrupt the development of healthy, pro-social relationships, and interfere with key developmental milestones (such as the completion of schooling and entrance into the workforce) that are essential for successful transition to adulthood. Despite this substantial body of research, on any given day, there are just over 54,000 youth incarcerated in residential facilities throughout the United States, the majority of whom (76 percent) are nonviolent offenders.
[For more of this story, written by Kelly Murphy, go to http://jjie.org/2017/01/09/bri...in-juvenile-justice/]
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