Abstract
Dowd argues that the juvenile justice system hurts our children, particularly the most vulnerable, poor, and minority children, and must be reinvented through evidence-based practices to divert youth away from the system; rather than deeper into it. Through a series of essays by academics and advocates, Dowd argues eloquently that as a society, we may intervene effectively in the lives of youth by restricting the system and using evidence-based practices to keep youth as productive members of society. Dowd builds the argument in four sections—systematic restricting of juvenile justice; the disparate impact of public policies on vulnerable populations based on race, gender, and sexual orientation; legal socialization and policing; and finally, model programs that work effectively with at risk youth.
Section 1 outlines the body of research that our current approach to juvenile justice has resulted in a cradle to prison pipeline, in particular, for minority and poor children, and the best option to break this course requires a holistic model to work across the systems from prevention to intervention. Specifically, Bilchik advocates for a prevention focus from infancy through childhood including a revisioning of the school system, integration of the court system, transformation of the detention and correction system for youth, and re-envisioning of aftercare and parole based on effective evidence-based practices. To foster her argument, she highlights programs that have demonstrated positive outcomes for families and children, such as nurse–family partnerships, High Scope/Perry preschool, functional family therapy, multisystemic therapy, multidimensional treatment foster care, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
The remaining essays in Section 1 examine the lack of comprehensive day care and afterschool programs, the overuse of foster care, the excessive reliance on the juvenile justice system to treat emotionally disturbed youth, and the debilitating effect of federal policies, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and zero-tolerance policies, which have channeled minority youth into jails. Katner argues that comprehensive day care and afterschool programs offer improvements in educational outcomes for youth, as well as positive role models for youth, while promoting cost-effective methods to reduce delinquency, thereby decreasing the need for state and local entities to fund residential placements. Harris argues that our continual overuse of foster care contradicts a century of research about the disastrous outcomes and disproportionate impact on minority and poor youth. She advocates for a re-evaluation of public policies that prevent effective assistance to poor parents, especially parents of color.
Gagnon and Barber examined the impact of zero-tolerance policies, NCLB and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and found that they did not change the trajectory of emotionally disturbed youth. Instead of these policies, they advocate for the adoption of collaborative approaches including universal programs in schools and selective programs that offer an ecological framework to help these youth. Glennon suggests that our current approach to education exacerbates racial inequities.
The second section highlights three populations, African-American youth, girls, and queer youth. Nunn argues that the root cause of the disproportionate minority contact (DMC) derives from the dysfunctional African community resulting from its continued oppression in America. It is only through the end of oppression across life domains; economic, political, education, and social that the DMC will end. Ravoira and Patino assert that the lack of gender responsive prevention, early intervention, and treatment options available in the community lead to higher rates of young female incarceration. The authors highlight case studies and two promising model programs: Justice for Girls and PACE Center for Girls to support their argument. Valentine describes a public health approach to address efforts to protect queer youth from discrimination and violence. In particular, she recommends a similar approach as to the intimate-partner movement, including educating those who work with these youth, creating safe spaces, and prohibiting violence and discrimination based on sexual identity.
The third section highlights legal socialization of our youth and the role of parents during interrogations. Loughran, Piquero, Fagan, and Mulvey report their findings from the Pathway study and suggest that sanction threats may deter some offenders more than previously believed. Reba, Waldman, and Woodhouse espouse that our current role of parents during interrogations erodes the parent–child relationship and that it is in our best interest to keep the relationship strong, as research has shown that youth are less likely to recidivate with strong relationships. They suggest that parent–child conversations receive the same confidentiality as that of attorney–client.
In the last section, advocates discuss three successful programs. All three essays provide concrete steps to create similar programs and highlight case studies to show how they work. Finally, they show successful outcomes in graduation rates, college entrance numbers, and recidivism. Gonzalez and Cairns demonstrate that restorative justice policies and practices in Denver public schools keep kids safer and in school; thereby making it a viable alternative to zero-tolerance policies. Lazarre-White describes the 15-year success story of Brotherhood/Sister Sol program (BHSS) in Harlem and how they use a family-like system to help youth get the skills they need to succeed and to stay on the right path. BHSS has learned that the best approach to youth must be holistic, comprehensive, and long term. Domenici and Forman provide a blue print for other juvenile facilities to build a successful school to meet the needs of academically challenged delinquents.
This book offers a theoretical and practical framework to guide educators, community leaders, and policy makers from the national to local level, and juvenile justice practitioners to construct successful systems to divert youth from the cradle to prison pipeline. Discussion of current public policies and their disastrous results provides a broad foundation to examine how society may change its approach to juvenile offending, and how to implement successful plans and programs to keep youth out of jail. This book is best suited for practitioners in education, psychology, social work, juvenile justice, probation, and community leadership.