CJCJ's Executive Director Daniel Macallair, is a practitioner-in-residence at San Francisco State University (SFSU)'s Department of Criminal Justice Studies. These slides are from his Juvenile Justice course materials.

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© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Institutionalization in Juvenile Justice
Why Congregate Institutions Fail

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© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Congregate Institution
• An institution (building) designed for the
efficient management of large numbers of
people through rigid structure, strict
regimentation, and harsh enforcement of
rules

3. www.cjcj.org
© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Evolution of Congregate Institutions in Juvenile Justice
• Adult Penitentiary (1790-Present)
• Houses of Refuge (1825-1850)
• Reform/Training Schools (1850 -2000)
• Youth Correctional Institutions (1996-
present)

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© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Management Requisites for Youth Congregate Institutions
• Maintaining Order
• Avoiding Escapes
• Staying within Budget
• Maintaining Positive Image

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© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Involuntary Confinement and the Cycle of Abuse
• Youth forcibly removed from home
• Youth involuntarily confined
• Youth resents confinement
• Staff impose rules to maintain order
• Youth resist rules
• Staff impose punishments for rule violations
• Youth rebel against punishments
• Staff resort to harsher punishment to force
conformity
• Youth become more rebellious and resentful towards
treatment
• Staff resort to abusive practices in escalating
struggle for control
• Institution descends into cycle of resentment,
defiance, distrust, alienation, and cruelty

6. www.cjcj.org
© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
California Law Requires that Judges must Determine Material
Benefit before committed youth to state correctional institution
• Youth committed from a juvenile court will
be accepted if they can be “materially
benefited”, provided that necessary
facilities, programs, staff and
rehabilitative services are available.15
CCR 4171

7. www.cjcj.org
© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Realities of Life in a California Youth Correctional Institution
• Status is achieved through violence, and
aggression
• Youths vie for status and dominance
• Sophisticated and streetwise wards
victimize weaker and vulnerable wards
• Youth seek protection and solidarity by
joining gangs based on race, ethnicity
and geography
• Youth understand that staff can not
protect them

8. www.cjcj.org
© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Why congregate institutions cannot rehabilitate (or provide material
benefit)
• Problem youth are hoarded together in a
subculture where violence and aggression is
prized
• Institutions are impersonal and cannot
provide individualized attention
• Custodial control always supersedes
therapeutic needs
• Correctional institutions do not provide a safe
and secure environment
• Institutional isolation does not address
circumstances of the home and community
• Institutional confinement is primarily a political
and administrative method to avoid the
societal complexities of delinquent behavior

9. www.cjcj.org
© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Institutional populations and the development of subcultures
Number of Living Unit Residents Possible Relationship Pairings
10 45
20 190
40 780
60 1770
80 3160

10. www.cjcj.org
© Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2013
40 Boardman Place
San Francisco, CA 94103
Homer Folks Critique of the American Congregate Youth Institution
(1891)
• The Temptation it offers to parents and
guardians to throw off their most scared
responsibilities
• The contaminating influence of association
• The enduring stigma of having been
committed
• …renders impossible the study and treatment
of each child as an individual
• The great dissimilarity between life in an
institution and life outside