Minors in Jail

Since 1992, 45 states have passed or amended legislation making it easier

to prosecute juveniles as adults. The result is that the number of youth under 18 confined in adult prisons has more than doubled in the past decade.

This phenomenon is challenging the belief, enshrined in our justice system

a century ago, that children and young adolescents should be adjudicated

and confined in a separate system focused on their rehabilitation.

In 1997, the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded a nationwide study of juveniles in adult correctional facilities to help policymakers and criminal

justice practitioners form an effective response to this critical issue. Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails: A National Assessment is the product of that

study. This report begins to answer important questions about this vulnerable population: What is the extent of juvenile confinement in federal,

state, and local facilities? What types of facilities are used to house juvenile

offenders? What happens to juveniles in the adult system? Are juveniles in

adult facilities educated, treated for substance abuse, and taught skills that

will help them find a job after their incarceration? Are prisons and jails

protecting young offenders from physical, sexual, and psychological

abuse? What are the alternative strategies for housing offenders sentenced

to long terms in adult facilities?

As the findings of this study show, there are important steps we can take

now to improve the well-being of juvenile offenders in adult facilities. We

can develop specialized vocational, sex offender, and substance abuse programs tailored to the developmental needs of youth. We can ensure that

staff in adult facilities take seriously their federal mandate to provide

regular and special education services to youth in their care. And we can

do much more to ensure the safety and care of young offenders who interact with adult offenders.

It is our hope that this work engages public officials, administrators,

judges, prosecutors, public defenders, scholars, and other criminal justice

practitioners in a frank and meaningful discussion about the incarceration

of juveniles with adults

Finley, Laura L. Encyclopedia of Juvenile Violence. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2007. 

Shumaker, David, and Robert Heckel. Kids of Character: A Guide to Promoting Moral Development. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.