Unsuccessful Boot Camp Prisons

572 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effectiveness of military-style boot camps

Unsuccessful Boot Camp Prisons
Juvenile delinquents who have committed crimes from low risk to high risk offenders are often sent to Military style boot camps as opposed to prison. Being in the Military myself, I know exactly how a boot camp is ran. Judges, the public, and politicians promote boot camps as opposed to prison. However, research has shown that boot camps are not successful in keeping juvenile delinquents out of handcuffs. Military based boot camps for juveniles are not effective in reducing recidivism because boot camps model aggressive behavior, bond delinquents together, target unnecessary needs, and the juveniles are forced to attend. Military style boot camps are very aggressive, demanding, and challenging for attendees. …show more content…

Written in the text book, Corrections in America: An Introduction, “Boot camps tend to do the following: Target non-crime-producing needs, such as physical conditioning, drill and ceremony, and self-esteem” (Allen 145) Drill and ceremony may teach delinquents discipline, only if they are able to apply to real life situations, self-esteem can make delinquents more confident to commit crimes, and physical conditioning can get delinquents in better shape to run or fight the police. These attributes learned in boot camp can be put to good use if applied to living a straight life, but these delinquents tend to live a life full of crime. In conclusion, research shows Military based boot camps are not successful for juvenile delinquents. I like the idea of having young offenders go to boot camp to hopefully turn their life around and live a law-abiding life. I agree with the text in terms of, boot camps should shy away from militaristic style and lean towards education, substance abuse treatment, aftercare, job corps, and industrial components. Because the best way to get away from a crime filled life is to find a new and better life abiding the law and being a contributor to

Show More
Related

  • Burning Down The House Summary

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nell Bernstein, the author of Burning Down The House: The End Of Juvenile Prison has a very strong opinion about juvenile facilities. He believes that children do not learn to correct their behavior by being forced into these facilities because the main root of their behavior stems from their “broken” family structures, in more cases than not. This is supported from the text when he states “In fact multiple studies have shown that putting youth behind bars not only fails to enhance public safety; it does just the opposite, driving low-level delinquents deeper into criminality and increasing the likelihood that they will end up behind bars again and again.” Bernstein really tries to push his audience to agree with his opinion; to stop putting

    Read More

  • Parris Island

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Phase I of boot camp focused on three main issues; Physical Training (PT), Drill, and Learning the History of the Marine Corps. This is the foundation for which the rest of boot camp is built on. Physical training is geared toward strength and conditioning. By the end of boot camp we will be able to run five miles without breaking a sweat. Drill is learning to perform as one. There are no individuals in the Marine Corps. It’s all about being a team. On the battlefield you need to perform as a cohesive unit in order to be successful. Learning the history of the Marine Corps is to let you know who came before you and Marine Corps values. You learn the famous battles the Marines fought in. They teach you to take pride in the uniform you wear and always uphold the reputation of a Marine.

    Read More

  • The Stanford Prison Experiment: Taking a Deeper Look

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    A local newspaper ad reached out for volunteers to participate in a Psychological study, created by Philip G. Zimbardo and his research team, which sounded interesting for many individuals. Was it the best option to follow through with it? Volunteers were given a promise of being paid fifteen dollars a day of the study. Multiple members probably considered this a once in a life time event that could result in quick, easy money. Many may have heard about the Stanford Prison Experiment, but may not have been aware of the scars that it left upon the participants. Taking a deeper look into the study and the impacted outcomes on individuals will be elaborated on (Stanford Prison Experiment).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Adult Criminal Justice System

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    The adult system’s shifts leaked into the juvenile system, causing an increase in incarcerations even when delinquency rates were declining at the time. Juvenile reform legislations prompted more compulsory sentencing and more determinate sentences for juveniles, lowering of the upper age of juvenile jurisdiction, considerable ease in obtaining waivers to adult court for juvenile prosecution, and made it easier to gain access to juvenile records as well. Furthermore, it led to greater preoccupation with chronic, violent offenders, which in turn led to a redirection of resources for their confinement. Thereby, the absence of reliable criteria for identifying such offenders tends to stereotype all delinquents and is more likely to raise the level of precautionary confinements. These three major shifts in juvenile justice policy demonstrate the power and depth of traditional beliefs about the causes and cures of crimes in U.S. society. It also shows how the system can bend for a time in the direction of new approaches to prevention and control. Today, we are presently in a time of conservative responses where the prevailing views about crime express beliefs about prevention, retribution, and incapacitation that are profoundly rooted in our

    Read More

  • The Stanford Prison Experiment Review

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Stanford Prison Experiment, a study done with the participation of a group of college students with similar backgrounds and good health standing who were subjected to a simulated prison environment. The participants were exposed completely to the harsh environment of a real prison in a controlled environment with specific roles of authority and subordinates assigned to each individual. The study was formulated based on reports from Russian novelist Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky had spent four years in a Siberian prison and his view on how a man is able to withstand anything after experiencing the horrors of prison prompted Dr. Philip Zimbardo a Professor of Psychology at Stanford and his

    Read More

  • Juvenile Boot Camps Do Not Reduce Juvenile Delinquency

    2996 Words  | 6 Pages

    Juvenile delinquency is a relatively new phenomenon. For this reason, society’s reactions and solutions to the problem of delinquency are also modern developments. The United States developed the first youth court in 1899 and is now home to many new and formerly untested methods of juvenile rehabilitation and correction. One of many unique programs within the Juvenile Justice system, boot camps are institutions designed to keep delinquent juveniles out of traditional incarceration facilities and still provide a structured method of punishment and rehabilitation. Boot camps developed in the early 1990s and quickly proliferated throughout the nation. Specifically, they are “…short-term residential programs modeled after military basic training facilities” (Meade & Steiner, 2010). Designed with the goal of reducing recidivism and preventing violent offenses, boot camps target non-violent individuals under the age of 18 and typically exclude already violent offenders. In theory, boot camps apprehend juveniles while they are committing minor delinquency and prevent more-serious crime by “giving the juvenile offender a more optimistic, community oriented outlook” (Ravenell, 2002). Fundamentally, boot camps have four central purposes; rehabilitation, punishment, deterrence, and cost control (Muscar, 2008).

    Read More

  • The Scared Straight Program

    1537 Words  | 4 Pages

    The recent media obsession with the scared straight program, juvenile boot camps and other scare tactics has lead to the question as to whether they actually are beneficial or not in treating adolescent criminal recidivism. On television programs like Maury (Pauvich) the answer to treating the troubled young girls who are brought to the show is boot camp. Those in charge take these girls to prisons, dangerous streets at night and often morgues to make a visual argument as to where they will end up as a result of the path they've taken. They also go through a rigorous run with drill sergeants to break down their egos. Of course it only last one day as opposed to any length of time a judge would sentence, but they get a small taste of it. Without surprise, at the end of every program of this nature, all the girls are rehabilitated and promise to go back to school, quit drugs, stealing, prostituting, and stop the abusive behavior.

    Read More

  • Boot Camp - Shock Incarceration Programs are Useful

    2293 Words  | 5 Pages

    Since their beginning in 1983 in Georgia, boot camps have spread to half the States and have gained wide popular appeal for their "get tough" policies. Proponents of boot camps cite their potential for rehabilitating offenders and curbing future criminal behavior. Opponents caution that more information is needed on a variety of issues including costs and the potential for abuse of power. Research into boot camps began with a 1988 study of Louisiana's boot camp program and continued with a multi-site evaluation in 1989 (Cowels, 1995). Fueled primarily by growth in the number of offenders incarcerated during the past decade and changing views of the role of punishment and treatment in the correctional system. Shock incarceration programs, or "boot camps" as they have been more recently called, have emerged as an increasingly popular alternative sanction for nonviolent crimes.

    Read More

  • Problems with the American Prison System

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Recidivism

    3195 Words  | 7 Pages

    Introduction: Recidivism or, habitual relapses into crime, has time and time again proven to be an issue among delinquents, which thereby increases the overall juvenile prison population. This issue has become more prevalent than what we realize. Unless a unit for measuring a juvenile’s risk of recidivism is enacted and used to determine a system to promote effective prevention, than the juvenile prison population will continue to increase. Our court system should not only focus on punishing the said juvenile but also enforce a program or policy that will allow for prevention of recidivism. So the question remains, how can recidivism in the juvenile prison population be prevented so that it is no longer the central cause for increased juvenile delinquency? Simply put, we must create a means of measuring juvenile’s level of risk and in turn, form an effective rehabilitation program that will decrease their risk level for future recidivism.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Justice: Restorative Justice

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the years many laws and policies have been created and altered. As a result many activities have become illegal. With so many laws in place now, juvenile crime is also on the rise. More and more juveniles are being sent to prison than ever before. The goal of the juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate but now it is more focused on punishment. However, many rehabilitation programs are still in place to help delinquent juveniles get back on the path to becoming successful productive members of society. One program that comes to mind is the restorative justice program.

    Read More

  • Prison Rehabilitation

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the substantial increase in prison population and various changes that plague correctional institutions, government agencies are finding that what was once considered a difficult task to provide educational programs, inmate security and rehabilitation programs are now impossible to accomplish. From state to state each correctional organization is coupled with financial problems that have depleted the resources to assist in providing the quality of care in which the judicial system demands from these state and federal prisons. Judges, victims, and prosecuting attorneys entrust that once an offender is turned over to the correctional system, that the offender will receive the punishment in which was imposed by the court, be given services that aid in the rehabilitation to those offenders that one day will be released back into society, and to act as a deterrent to other criminals contemplating criminal acts that could result in their incarceration. Has our nations correctional system finally reached it’s critical collapse, and as a result placed or American citizens in harm’s way to what could result in a plethora of early releases of inmates to reduce the large prison populations in which independent facilities are no longer able to manage? Could these problems ultimately result in a drastic increase in person and property crimes in which even our own law enforcement be ineffective in controlling these colossal increases of crime against society?

    Read More

  • Military Justice System in the United States

    1582 Words  | 4 Pages

    When one joins the United States military, one becomes subject to a completely new justice system. While the primary purpose of the United States justice system is to dispense "justice," that is not the primary reason for the creation of a separate justice system for America's Armed Forces. The primary purpose of the military's system is to provide the military commander with necessary tools to enforce good order and discipline. That's why, for example, it's not considered a "crime" to be late for work at your civilian job, but it is a "crime" to be late for work in the Military. The purpose then is to keep soldiers acting as soldiers so the correctional philosophy in the military has evolved in such a way to do just that. In discussing the UCMJ and corrections, the following topics are significant.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Juvenile Offenders

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Such perception may also interfere or affect cooperation between juvenile offenders and correction services or the justice systems, which may lead to negative outcomes. Tough punishments may also expose juvenile offender to harsh conditions, which may encourage recidivism. Usually, when placed in institutions such as adult prisons, juvenile offenders may be exposed to other vices including drug abuse, which can encourage their involvement in criminal activities in future. As such, giving them tough punishments that would lead them to end up in prison may work against the intention of rehabilitating juvenile offenders (Sickmund and Puzzanchera 151;

    Read More

  • Juvenile Delinquency: Is there a solution?

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    Juvenile delinquency is one of the major social issues in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is when “a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Merriam-webster.com). Although we have one justice system in America, the juvenile system differs from the adult juvenile system. Most juvenile delinquents range from as low as the age of seven to the age of seventeen. Once the delinquent or anyone turns the age of eighteen, they are considered an adult. Therefore, they are tried as an adult, in the justice system. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. In addition, there are a variety of effects that juvenile justice systems can either bad effects or good effects. Finally there are many different solutions that can reduce juvenile delinquency. As a result, juvenile delinquency is a major issue and the likeliness of it can be reduced. In order to reduce juvenile delinquency there has to be an understanding of the causes and the effects.

    Read More

More about Unsuccessful Boot Camp Prisons

Open Document