Issues Juveniles Face in Adult Prisons

With juvenile transfer laws, our courts are allowed to try juveniles as adults. Upon conviction, the juvenile may find himself or herself in an adult prison, serving time with adult criminals. These criminals are bigger and tougher than the juvenile who is placed in the prison with them. There are many horrible issues that juveniles will face when placed in an adult prison. When dealing with the issues that juveniles face in adult prison, I will be presenting you with the facts. Use the facts to form your own opinion on the matter, as I will not be lending my own opinion at this time.

One issue that comes up with juveniles placed in adult prisons is the higher rate of suicide. A juvenile in adult prisons have a higher rate of suicide than juveniles who are placed in a juvenile facility. The reason attributed to this is the lack of supervision in adult prisons.

Sexual abuse is another issue that juveniles face. A juvenile in adult prison is more likely to be the victim of sexual abuse than a juvenile in a juvenile facility. Sexual abuse happens in adult prisons for various reasons. Mostly sexual abuse is used to put another person in their place. Another reason is that some hardened criminals get off on terrorizing other people who cannot fight back. A juvenile is more likely to be smaller and less equipped to fight back against these grown men.

Juveniles in adult prisons have a higher number of disciplinary reports than the adults inside the same prison. Adults know how to live and play the game within the prison system. A young juvenile is green in this area and will learn the hard way by screwing up and getting wrote up for disciplinary problems.

One major issue that arises is that juveniles seem to be coming out of the adult prison system worse than when they went in. In most situations instead of reforming and being a more productive member of society, these juveniles are becoming career criminals. After all, they are being taught by the repeat offenders that they are housed with for the duration of their incarceration.

Take the time to read my article Juvenile Transfer Laws that States Use to see just how our juveniles end up in this situation. After all each state has, its own ways of sending juveniles to adult courts that may land them in adult prisons.