Juvenile Justice: A National Poll
In the 1990's, driven by media accounts and political discussions about the rise of a "generation of youthful superpredators " roaming out of control through America's streets, 40 states changed laws related to the treatment of youth… instituting harsher penalties and lowering the age of youth involvement in the adult criminal system. Nearly the entire nation moved in this direction.
Recognizing the importance of taking stock of where we are and whether the public continues to support these harsh policies, NCCD undertook its second national public opinion poll of the year in December, 2006, commissioning Zogby International to ask Americans to consider our nation's response to juvenile crime. The results show that striking majorities favor rehabilitative services for young people and despite a lack of confidence in the juvenile system, are largely opposed to prosecuting youth in adult courts and incarcerating them in adult facilities.
It is clear from the survey responses that most Americans think that giving young people the help they need to mature, learn, and overcome the mistakes of youth, is key to enhanced public safety.
Of those polled, 90% felt that crime committed by young people remains a major problem in our communities. More than half responding felt very strongly about these community concerns.
A bit more than a third of those responding believe that the juvenile justice system is effective in getting youth to stop committing violent or non-violent crime.
A vast majority (89%) thinks that rehabilitative services and treatment for those youth who are in jails and prisons will help reduce crime. About half believe that these services and treatments can help prevent youth from continuing to commit crimes. More than 80% of those polled believe that spending on enhanced rehab services for youth in the system will save tax dollars in the long run.
In considering a justice policy that would always bring youth to adult courts, 92% believe that decisions about trying youth in the adult court system should be made on a case by case basis and not be automatically mandatory. Almost 70% had very strong beliefs about the case by case approach.
Nearly three in four polled believe that a juvenile court judge should be the one to decide to try a person under the age of 18 in the criminal court system instead of the juvenile system. Only 14% believe that a legislature should make this decision and only 9% believe that it ought to be made by a state or local prosecutor.
72% feel that incarcerating a youth in adult correctional facilities contributes to their continuing to commit crimes after their eventual release. 50% feel strongly about this eventuality…in fact, only 10% of those polled feel that an experience in an adult facility teaches young people to stop committing crimes.
There is strong statistical evidence that non-white youth are more than likely to be prosecuted for crime than white youth, and that non-white youth are more than likely prosecuted as adults in the correctional system. More than 60% of those polled are aware of these facts and within this awareness, African-Americans and liberals agree (74% and 82% ) as do Republicans and conservatives (58% and 52%).
Those polled were asked to consider what methods would be most effective in reducing juvenile crime: increasing educational and job skills, increasing prevention services, increasing counseling and substance abuse treatments for those within the juvenile system, harsher penalties for offenders under 18 years of age, prosecuting youth in the adult justice system.
Almost three-quarters believed that increasing educational and job skill training in the system and increasing preventive programs in the community would combine effectively to further reduce juvenile crime. Only one-third believed that harsher penalties would work as well.
NCCD considers that the poll results genuinely reflect American's attitudes towards a clear concern about youth crime, the feeling that youth should be held accountable for misconduct and that we have a limited confidence in the effectiveness of the present juvenile system. Respondents, by large majorities, do not think that trying youth in adult courts and incarcerating them in adult prisons are appropriate responses to limiting juvenile crime. They overwhelmingly believe that programs based on prevention, and education and training for young people already in trouble, are the best ways to enhance public safety.
Barry Krisberg, Ph.D., President,
National Council on Crime and Delinquency
| 
