Juvenile Confinement - Juvenile Boot Camps

Boot camps for juvenile offenders began around 1985, when such a program was established in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. By 1995, states operated thirty juvenile boot camps, while larger counties across the country operated another eighteen camps in local jails. Boot camps for juveniles are typically intended for "mid-range" offenders—those who have failed with lesser sanctions like probation but are not yet hardened criminals. Juvenile programs typically exclude some types of offenders, such as sex offenders, armed robbers, and youths with a record of serious violence. Definitions of terms like "nonviolent" vary from program to program. Boot camps initially had three main goals: reducing recidivism among juvenile offenders, reducing prison populations, and reducing costs.

TABLE 7.5
Number of inmates under age 18 held in state prisons, by gender, selected years 1990–2003
SOURCE: Paige M. Harrison and Jennifer C. Karberg, "Table 5. Number of Inmates under Age 18 Held in State Prisons, by Gender, June 30, 1990, 1995, and 1999–2003," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2003, Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2004, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim03.pdf (accessed April 3, 2005)

	Inmates under age 18
Year	Total	Male	Female
2003	3,006	2,880	126
2002	3,038	2,927	111
2001	3,147	3,010	137
2000	3,896	3,721	175
1999	4,194	4,027	167
1995	5,309	*	*
1990	3,600	*	*
Note: Federal prisons held 39 inmates under age 18 in 1990, but none in 1995 and 1999 to 2003.
*Not available.

TABLE 7.6
Characteristics of youths and adults in state prisons, 1998
SOURCE: James Austin, Kelly Dedel Johonson, and Maria Gregoriou, "Table 7. Characteristics of State Prison Inmates, 1998," in Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails: A National Assessment, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, October 2000, http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/bja/182503.pdf (accessed April 3, 2005)

	Youths		Adults
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Total
Offense/crime
Persons	2,772	57%	473,821	44%	476,544
Property	974	21%	216,756	20%	217,730
Alcohol related	135	3%	20,457	2%	20,592
Drug related	467	10%	210,975	20%	211,442
Public order	185	4%	40,468	4%	40,653
Parole/probation	79	2%	90,260	8%	90,339
Unknown	92	2%	5,676	1%	5,768
Other	85	2%	13,327	1%	13,412
Total	4,739	100%	1,071,740	100%	1,076,479
Race/ethnicity
Asian	65	1%	11,056	1%	11,121
Black	2,706	55%	497,343	48%	500,050
White	1,309	26%	355,960	35%	357,269
Hispanic	689	14%	156,782	15%	157,471
Native American	176	4%	9,421	1%	9,597
Total	4,945	100%	1,030,562	100%	1,035,507
Housing type*
Single cell	1,019	30%	120,221	22%	121,240
Double cell	670	19%	193,754	35%	194,424
Dormitory	1,757	51%	237,801	43%	239,559
Total	3,446	100%	551,776	100%	555,222
Note: Discrepancies in totals are due to rounding.
*Housing type statistics are reported for 21 states that house juveniles in adult correctional facilities.

Most juvenile boot camps share the 90–120-day duration typical of military boot camps. They employ military customs and have correctional officers acting as uniformed drill instructors who initially use intense verbal tactics designed to break down inmates' resistance.

TABLE 7.7
Juvenile offenders in residential placement, by offense, 1999
SOURCE: Melissa Sickmund, "More than One–Third of Juvenile Offenders in Residential Placement Were Held for Person Offenses," in "Juvenile Offenders in Residential Placement, 1997–1999," in Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report Series Fact Sheet #07, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, March 2002, http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200207.pdf (accessed April 3, 2005)

	Juvenile offenders in residential placement		Percent change 1997–99
Most serious offense	Number	Percent
Total juvenile offenders	108,931	100	3
Delinquency	104,237	96	5
Person	38,005	35	7
Criminal homicide	1,514	1	−21
Sexual assault	7,511	7	34
Robbery	8,212	8	−13
Aggravated assault	9,984	9	5
Simple assault	7,448	7	12
Other persona	3,336	3	50
Property	31,817	29	−1
Burglary	12,222	11	−3
Theft	6,944	6	−5
Auto theft	6,225	6	−5
Arson	1,126	1	23
Other property	5,300	5	13
Drug	9,882	9	6
Drug trafficking	3,106	3	2
Other drug	6,776	6	9
Public order	10,487	10	8
Weapons	4,023	4	−4
Other public order	6,464	6	17
Technical violationb	14,046	13	12
Violent Crime Indexb	27,221	25	3
Property Crime Indexb	26,517	24	−3
Status offense	4,694	4	−32
aOffenses against other persons include kidnapping, violent sex acts other than forcible rape (e.g., incest, sodomy), custody interference, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment, harassment, and attempts to commit any such acts.
bTechnical violations include violations of probation, parole, and valid court orders. Violent Crime Index offenses include criminal homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property Crime Index offenses include burglary, theft, auto theft, and arson.

Boot camps emphasize vigorous physical activity, drill and ceremony, and manual labor. The offenders are allowed little free time and strictly enforced rules govern all aspects of conduct and appearance. Because of state-mandated education rules, programs spend a minimum of three hours daily on academic education. Most programs also include some vocational education, work-skills training, or job preparation.

In a study of three boot camps in Cleveland, Ohio, Denver, Colorado, and Mobile, Alabama, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention found high rates of program completion among those randomly assigned to the camps. There were also improvements in the academic performance of boot camp participants, with over 80% of those attending the Mobile camp showing a rise of one grade level. Unfortunately, the recidivism rates between the experimental groups who attended boot camp and control groups who did not attend showed that the boot TABLE 7.8
Juvenile residential facilities by state, 2000
SOURCE: Melissa Sickmund, "In October 2000, 4 in 10 Juvenile Facilities Were Publicly Operated and Held 70% of Juvenile Offenders in Custody," in Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 2000: Selected Findings, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, December 2002, http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/196595.pdf (accessed April 3, 2005)

	Juvenile facilities			Offenders younger than 21
State	All facilities	Public	Private	All facilities	Public	Private
U.S. total*	3,061	1,203	1,848	110,284	77,662	32,464
Alabama	46	12	34	1,583	926	657
Alaska	19	5	14	339	261	78
Arizona	51	16	35	2,248	1,752	398
Arkansas	45	11	34	639	295	344
California	285	116	169	19,286	17,551	1,735
Colorado	73	12	61	2,054	1,112	940
Connecticut	26	5	21	1,360	900	460
Delaware	7	3	4	295	246	49
Dist. of Columbia	17	3	14	272	159	113
Florida	166	53	113	7,278	3,269	4,009
Georgia	50	29	21	3,270	2,593	677
Hawaii	7	3	4	122	107	15
Idaho	22	14	8	580	470	110
Illinois	46	26	20	3,402	3,074	328
Indiana	97	41	56	3,334	2,239	1,095
Iowa	76	18	60	1,166	395	771
Kansas	51	17	34	1,185	831	354
Kentucky	58	31	27	950	757	193
Louisiana	64	20	44	2,663	2,105	558
Maine	17	3	14	300	248	52
Maryland	43	11	32	1,492	690	802
Massachusetts	71	18	53	1,481	567	914
Michigan	108	42	66	3,896	1,782	2,114
Minnesota	121	22	99	1,922	986	936
Mississippi	20	19	1	787	785	2
Missouri	65	57	8	1,540	1,290	250
Montana	18	8	10	260	173	65
Nebraska	23	6	17	789	577	212
Nevada	15	10	5	1,176	750	426
New Hampshire	8	2	6	193	123	70
New Jersey	57	45	12	2,274	2,171	103
New Mexico	27	19	8	885	838	47
New York	210	59	151	5,081	2,883	2,198
North Carolina	67	27	40	1,555	1,237	318
North Dakota	13	4	9	203	105	98
Ohio	106	71	35	4,890	4,342	548
Oklahoma	52	14	38	1,034	535	479
Oregon	48	27	21	1,637	1,415	222
Pennsylvania	163	29	134	5,085	1,241	3,844
Rhode Island	11	1	10	360	211	149
South Carolina	42	16	26	1,592	1,072	520
South Dakota	22	9	13	646	365	265
Tennessee	63	28	35	1,824	1,041	783
Texas	138	77	61	8,354	6,475	1,879
Utah	51	17	34	1,135	453	682
Vermont	5 1	4	158	26	132
Virginia	74	62	12	2,868	2,616	252
Washington	42	31	11	2,064	1,938	126
West Virginia	27	6	21	381	241	140
Wisconsin	94	27	67	2,017	1,271	746
Wyoming	24	2	22	379	173	206
Note: State is the state where the facility is located. Offenders sent to out-of-state facilities are counted in the state where the facility is located, not the state where their offense occurred.
*U.S. total includes 158 offenders in 10 tribal facilities. These offenders were located in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.

camp experience had little effect. As for saving costs, a 1999 study of boot camps in four states (Final Report: Boot Camps' Impact on Confinement Bed Space Requirements, National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC, August 30, 1999) showed some savings in the number of prison beds required in three of the four states: "Washington and South Dakota saved a substantial number of prison beds, while Oregon's boot camp achieved a modest bed space savings."

Several factors seem to have a direct bearing on the success or failure rates for boot camp participants, including the length of the sessions and the amount of post-release supervision. In a study of many boot camps across the country (Correctional Boot Camps: Lessons from a Decade of Research, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, June 2003), it was reported that:

• Participants reported positive short-term changes in attitudes and behaviors; they also had better problem-solving and coping skills.
• With few exceptions, these positive changes did not lead to reduced recidivism. The boot camps that did produce lower recidivism rates offered more treatment services, had longer sessions, and included more intensive post-release supervision. However, not all programs with these features had successful results.
• Under a narrow set of conditions, boot camps can lead to small relative reductions in prison populations and correctional costs.