How do juvenile courts approach programming in order to reduce recidivism?

Abstract

I used content analysis and observational data to determine how juvenile courts approach programming in order to reduce recidivism. After completing an internship at Remann Hall, a juvenile detention center in Tacoma, I decided to examine how Remann Hall's programs compared to other facilities across the country. I also looked at detention centers in Boise, Idaho, Madison, Wisconsin, Chandler, Arizona, Buffalo, New York, and Modesto, California. This is an important topic because it looks at youth and what can be done to ensure they correct the path they are on and avoid returning to detention. The goal of the juvenile justice system is to help youth stop engaging in their antisocial behavior before becoming adults, and I want to see how programming helps facilitate this. This topic is sociologically interesting because it assesses delinquent youth, and attempts to uncover what contributes to their behavior. The topic is also sociological because, when done right, juvenile justice can be a way to divert young people onto a law abiding trajectory.