When I worked in juvenile justice I would often hear the rational for sending a youth to detention was to "teach a lesson" or "give the youth pause". Yes, detention is a service that is sometimes needed to protect a youth and protect the greater community from harm, however; it should not be leveraged to "teach a lesson" or "give pause".
Consider how well using detention to teach a lesson works for a youth who has experienced ACEs and/or is in foster care. Detention teaches a lesson through- loss of freedom, loss of luxury, loss of contact with loved ones, and time controlled by others. Children who have experienced any of the ACEs have already had these losses and have already had their life controlled beyond their means. So, what does detention teach these youth? Detention, very clearly, defines itself as confinement, not treatment and not behavioral health interventions. Detention is a place for a youth to reflect how their life can be controlled by others and a place to reflect on loss, but haven't many of these youth lived this reality long before their involvement with the juvenile justice system?
It is time to rethink our use of detention.
Comments (0)