From The Sentencing Project:
Incarceration Produces Counterproductive Outcomes
Part 1 of the report reviews the research on the outcomes
of youth incarceration. The evidence reveals these key findings:
Incarceration does not reduce delinquent behavior. State-level data on recidivism consistently show that youth who are released from correctional confinement
experience high rates of rearrest, new adjudications (in juvenile court) or convictions (in adult court), and reincarceration. Studies that track youth outcomes into adulthood have found that an alarming share of young people incarcerated in youth correctional facilities are later arrested, convicted, and incarcerated as adults. Research studies that control for young people’s
backgrounds, offending histories and other relevant characteristics have found that confinement most often results in higher rates of rearrest and reincarceration compared with probation and other community alternatives to confinement. Data show that large declines in youth incarceration do not result in increases in youth crime.
Research also shows that the initial decision to incarcerate youth in secure detention facilities pending their court adjudication hearings (akin to trials in adult criminal court) substantially increases the odds that they will become further involved in the justice system. Pre-trial detention greatly increases the odds that youth will be placed in residential custody if a court finds them
delinquent, and spending time in detention increases the likelihood that youth will be arrested and punished for subsequent offenses. Numerous research studies
have found that once youth are incarcerated, longer stays in custody lead to increased recidivism.
Read the full report here.
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