The United States spends $88,000 on average per year to lock a child up, compared to $10,652 to educate a child. It has over 66,000 children locked up, 87% of them boys, and its police arrest 2 million juveniles each year.
A recent study of 35,000 young offenders found that those who are locked up are over twice as likely to be locked up as adults compared to those who committed similar offenses and came from similar backgrounds but were given an alternative penalty or were just not arrested. In some states over 80% of those locked up as kids will be convicted of later crimes. Studies have found that, more than family difficulties or gang membership or any other factor, the best predictor of criminality is whether someone has been imprisoned in what amount to factories for crime. Isn’t the best predictor the initial commission of a crime that led to the initial incarceration? Actually, no. 80% to 90% of teenagers in the United States commit illegal acts that could land them behind bars. A third of all teenagers have even committed a somewhat serious crime, but most are never arrested, much less imprisoned. Almost all grow out of it. Most of those put behind bars are put there for minor, nonviolent offenses.
A non-white child is far more likely to be arrested for the same act than a white child, far more likely to be charged and detained, far more likely to be sentenced to prison, and far more likely to be given a longer sentence. The U.S. locks kids up at a higher rate than any other nation. The next closest is South Africa, which locks up children at one-fifth the rate of the U.S.
Torture in these houses of “correction” is the norm, not the exception. Isolation is the central abuse, combined with food deprivation, assault, rape, temperature extremes, deprivation of medical care, deprivation of education, sadistic exercises in humiliation, forced nudity, stress positions, piling on, attacks by dogs, and of course indefinite detention without criminal conviction. Solitary confinement greatly increases suicide rates, and yet is used as a punishment for the offense of being suicidal. Much of what is routinely done to tens of thousands of youths in the United States would be illegal if done to prisoners of war. A review found only 8 states where there was not conclusive evidence of system-wide mistreatment.
The science has long been crystal clear: juvenile prisons are worse than nothing. They increase rather than reducing crime. If the goal were preventing crime, the prisons are worse than nothing. We’ve tried alternatives within the prison system, and found that reforms help but can only go so far. We’ve tried alternatives outside of the prison system, and found them far superior in results. We’ve even seen states shut down lots of juvenile prisons, primarily because of the financial cost, and seen the benefits in cost savings, in the lives of young people, and in reduced crime rates.
There is a hurdle to be overcome, however, higher than the false belief that injustice only happens to those who deserve it, or the corruption of our misrepresentative government by profiteers, or the co-option of the corporate media by the government. The hurdle is this: everything that’s wrong with prisons for children is also wrong with prisons for adults.
Taken from here
A recent study of 35,000 young offenders found that those who are locked up are over twice as likely to be locked up as adults compared to those who committed similar offenses and came from similar backgrounds but were given an alternative penalty or were just not arrested. In some states over 80% of those locked up as kids will be convicted of later crimes. Studies have found that, more than family difficulties or gang membership or any other factor, the best predictor of criminality is whether someone has been imprisoned in what amount to factories for crime. Isn’t the best predictor the initial commission of a crime that led to the initial incarceration? Actually, no. 80% to 90% of teenagers in the United States commit illegal acts that could land them behind bars. A third of all teenagers have even committed a somewhat serious crime, but most are never arrested, much less imprisoned. Almost all grow out of it. Most of those put behind bars are put there for minor, nonviolent offenses.
A non-white child is far more likely to be arrested for the same act than a white child, far more likely to be charged and detained, far more likely to be sentenced to prison, and far more likely to be given a longer sentence. The U.S. locks kids up at a higher rate than any other nation. The next closest is South Africa, which locks up children at one-fifth the rate of the U.S.
Torture in these houses of “correction” is the norm, not the exception. Isolation is the central abuse, combined with food deprivation, assault, rape, temperature extremes, deprivation of medical care, deprivation of education, sadistic exercises in humiliation, forced nudity, stress positions, piling on, attacks by dogs, and of course indefinite detention without criminal conviction. Solitary confinement greatly increases suicide rates, and yet is used as a punishment for the offense of being suicidal. Much of what is routinely done to tens of thousands of youths in the United States would be illegal if done to prisoners of war. A review found only 8 states where there was not conclusive evidence of system-wide mistreatment.
The science has long been crystal clear: juvenile prisons are worse than nothing. They increase rather than reducing crime. If the goal were preventing crime, the prisons are worse than nothing. We’ve tried alternatives within the prison system, and found that reforms help but can only go so far. We’ve tried alternatives outside of the prison system, and found them far superior in results. We’ve even seen states shut down lots of juvenile prisons, primarily because of the financial cost, and seen the benefits in cost savings, in the lives of young people, and in reduced crime rates.
There is a hurdle to be overcome, however, higher than the false belief that injustice only happens to those who deserve it, or the corruption of our misrepresentative government by profiteers, or the co-option of the corporate media by the government. The hurdle is this: everything that’s wrong with prisons for children is also wrong with prisons for adults.
Taken from here
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