Policy Center: Juvenile Justice
Criminals and violent offenders getting older and older… not “younger”
submitted on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 11:55 by Mike A. MalesHundreds of news stories and expert commentaries, with few exceptions, depict juvenile crime as soaring, becoming more violent, and involving ever-younger killers and criminals. Occasionally, youth crime is depicted as declining, but only when interest groups are positioned to take credit.
More Abuse in Youth Prisons
submitted on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 07:07 by Randall G. SheldenAbuse in the LA County Juvenile Justice System
submitted on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 12:53 by Daniel MacallairIn my previous blog I wrote about the endemic nature of abuse in juvenile institutions. No sooner had I written that blog than the following article appeared in the Los Angeles Times regarding the beating and molestation of youths under the custody of the Los Angeles Probation Department.
Abuse in Youth Correctional Institutions
submitted on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 13:53 by Daniel MacallairOne of the most common examples of widespread abuse in American juvenile correctional institutions is the callous and malicious treatment often employed by institutional staff. Institutional abuse can mean many things, but usually refers to the physical or emotional cruelty inflicted on youth by staff. This pernicious reality has been constant throughout American history
Media Distortions of Youth Crime
submitted on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 16:29 by Randall G. SheldenI could not help but notice the first of a series of articles appearing in the Cape Cod Times shortly after I arrived for the holidays. The title itself (“Younger and twice as violent”) conveys a message to the reader that is not uncommon in this day of media hype and distortion. The message se
Life for kids: a follow-up
submitted on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 09:36 by Randall G. SheldenMy previous blog concerned the current Supreme Court case about juveniles serving life without the possibi
Life sentences for kids?
submitted on Wed, 11/11/2009 - 08:44 by Randall G. SheldenKids Die all but invisibly
submitted on Sun, 10/11/2009 - 23:00 by Randall G. Shel...I thought that after studying and writing about juvenile justice for more than 30 years nothing would shock me, that I had seen and heard everything. I was wrong. The title of a recent story in the Los Angeles Times gives a hint to what it is about: “Flawed county system lets kids die invisibly.”
Dropping Out and Crime
submitted on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 23:00 by Randall G. Shel...It has become a truism that there is a close connection between school failure and juvenile crime, as demonstrated by literally hundreds of studies over the past 100 years. As if to remind us once again, here comes yet another study, this one by the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara. As reported in today’s
The end of an era?
submitted on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:00 by Randall G. SheldenA story in the Los Angeles Times caught my eye. The title tells most of the story: “California to close its largest juvenile prison.” The institution is the Heman G.