Treatment as Punishment What Every Drug Treatment Provider

Treatment as Punishment: What Every Drug Treatment Provider Should Know About Juvenile Justice Jeffrey A. Butts, Ph. D. University of Chicago Presentation to the Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness 2006 Baltimore, Maryland March 29, 2006 www. chapinhall. org Slide 1

Summary • The juvenile justice system is a complicated blend of political symbols and conflicting or hidden agenda • Overlap between crime and substance abuse suggest that justice and treatment agencies should work together, but they should do so with full knowledge of each other’s perspectives and missions • Juvenile justice has always been a pseudo-legal process that uses treatment to advance punitive goals • Substance abuse interventions involve considerable risks for youth • The benefits of imposing treatment on youthful offenders should at least outweigh the risks www. chapinhall. org Slide 2

Historical Origins • Popular accounts of juvenile court history too often accept the self-interested views of reformers • Juvenile courts were founded to serve punitive goals too • Criminal courts were unable to intervene aggressively with youth • Not hindered by due process, juvenile courts had powers similar to “civil commitment” for mental health cases • Early 1900 s police and prosecutors altered procedures to send more youth to the new juvenile courts rather than keep them in adult court • e. g. , a Congressional study in the 1920 s estimated that more than half the so-called “misdemeanors” handled in D. C. juvenile court were actually felonies downgraded to qualify for juvenile court Sources: Butts, Jeffrey A. & Ojmarrh Mitchell (2000). Brick by brick: Dismantling the border between juvenile and adult justice. Criminal Justice 2000, Volume 2. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice. Schlossman, Steven L. , Love and the American Delinquent, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977. Watkins, John C. Jr. , The Juvenile Justice Century. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 1998. www. chapinhall. org Slide 3

Recent Changes • Ironically, “liberal” Supreme Court rulings during the 1960 s and 1970 s led to the gradual criminalization of juvenile courts and this helped to set off a movement toward greater punishment 1960 s 2004 Automatic criminal court transfer laws 3 States 37 States Prosecutor transfer laws 2 States 15 States Blended sentencing laws 0 States 26 States Sources: Feld, Barry C. , “The Juvenile Court Meets the Principle of the Offense: Legislative Changes in Juvenile Waiver Statutes, ” Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 78 (1987): 471 -533. Griffin, Patrick. 2005. "National Overviews. " State Juvenile Justice Profiles. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice. Online. Available: http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/. www. chapinhall. org Slide 4

Is the juvenile justice system still treatment oriented, just because it says it is? What can we learn from the official “purpose clauses” of state juvenile court laws? www. chapinhall. org Slide 5

Official purposes of juvenile justice TRADITIONAL Child Welfare Approach: statues emphasize promotion of the welfare and best interests of the juvenile as the sole or primary purpose of the juvenile court system. For example: … juveniles should be "treated, not as criminals, but as children in need of aid, encouragement and guidance. " legal authorities should use "all reasonable means and methods that can be established by a humane and enlightened state, solicitous of the welfare of its children, for the prevention of delinquency and for the care and rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents. " Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 6

Official purposes of juvenile justice TRADITIONAL Purpose clauses adapted from the National Council’s (NCJFCJ’s) "Standard Juvenile Court Act“ (1959) Juveniles should receive. . . "the care, guidance, and control that will conduce to his welfare and the best interest of the state, and that when he is removed from the control of his parents the court shall secure for him care as nearly as possible equivalent to that which they should have given him. " Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 7

Official purposes of juvenile justice TRADITIONAL Purpose clauses adapted from the “Legislative Guide” published by the federal Children’s Bureau (1960 s) (a) "to provide for the care, protection, and wholesome mental and physical development of children" involved with the juvenile court; (b) "to remove from children committing delinquent acts the consequences of criminal behavior, and to substitute therefor a program of supervision, care and rehabilitation; " (c) to remove a child from the home "only when necessary for his welfare or in the interests of public safety; " and (d) to assure all parties "their constitutional and other legal rights". Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 8

Official purposes of juvenile justice BARJ Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ): juvenile courts should balance three primary interests: 1) public safety, 2) individual accountability to victims and the community, and 3) the development in offenders of skills necessary to live law-abiding and productive lives. Some states are less faithful than others to the BARJ concept, focusing on the first 2 elements, while diluting the meaning of #3 Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 9

Official purposes of juvenile justice PUNITIVE Clauses that emphasize language emerging in the 1980 s and 1990 s: punishment, deterrence, accountability, and/or public safety Purpose clauses loosely characterized as "tough, " in that they stress community protection, offender accountability, crime reduction through deterrence, or outright punishment, either predominantly or exclusively. In some states, lawmakers simply adapted traditional legislation by inserting words like “punishment” and “protection of public safety” as the first in a longer list of juvenile court purposes. Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 10

Approach Followed in State Purpose Clauses TRADITIONAL Explicit Implicit or Partial GA IA KY LA MA MI AR ME MO MS ND NH NM NV OH RI SC TN VT WV BARJ AK FL ID IL KS MD NJ PA WI Are these the least punitive AL MNstates? PUNITIVE CT HI NC TX UT WY CA MT DC OR IN WA Not classified: AZ, CO, DE, NY, OK, SD, VA Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 11

Indicators of “Punitive“ Juvenile Justice State has legislatively expanded use of punitive sanctions in juvenile courts 1 point State excludes all 17 -year-olds from juvenile court jurisdiction 1 point State excludes all 16 -year-olds from juvenile court jurisdiction 1 point State imposed death sentence for crime committed under age 18 (before 2005) 1 point State actually executed offender for crime committed under age 18 (before 2005) 1 point State juvenile courts have authority to "blend" adult-system sanctions 1 point State uses prosecutor discretion for criminal court transfers 1 point State uses automatic (i. e. , legislative) exclusion for criminal court transfers Source: Various statutory analyses by the National Center for Juvenile Justice. www. chapinhall. org 1 point 8 points possible Slide 12

Most Punitive States in Red States Ranked According to Scores on the Punitive Scale Least Punitive States in Green 4+ GA LA TX 4 AZ AR CT FL IL MA MI MO MT SC 3 CO IN MN NM NY NC OH OK VT VA WI 2 AL AK CA DE DC ID MD MS NE NV NH NJ PA RI WA 1 IA KS KY OR SD UT WY 0 HI ME ND TN WV Sources: Griffin, Patrick (2005). National Overviews. State Juvenile Justice Profiles. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice. Sickmund et al. (1997). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1997 Update on Violence, Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. www. chapinhall. org Slide 13

Approach Followed in State Purpose Clauses TRADITIONAL Explicit Implicit or Partial GA IA KY LA MA MI AR ME MO MS ND NH NM NV OH RI SC TN VT WV BARJ AK FL ID IL KS MD NJ PA WI AL CA DC IN MN MT OR WA PUNITIVE CT HI NC TX UT WY Not classified: AZ, CO, DE, NY, OK, SD, VA Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 14

Approach Followed in State Purpose Clauses TRADITIONAL Explicit Implicit or Partial GA IA KY LA MA MI AR ME MO MS ND NH NM NV OH RI SC TN VT WV BARJ AK FL ID IL KS MD NJ PA WI AL CA DC IN MN MT OR WA PUNITIVE CT HI NC TX UT WY Not classified: AZ, CO, DE, NY, OK, SD, VA Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 15

Approach Followed in State Purpose Clauses TRADITIONAL Explicit Implicit or Partial GA IA KY LA MA MI AR ME MO MS ND NH NM NV OH RI SC TN VT WV BARJ AK FL ID IL KS MD NJ PA WI AL CA DC IN MN MT OR WA PUNITIVE CT HI NC TX UT WY Not classified: AZ, CO, DE, NY, OK, SD, VA Source: National Center for Juvenile Justice (http: //www. ncjj. org/stateprofiles/overviews/faq 9. asp) www. chapinhall. org Slide 16

Drug Treatment in Punitive Systems • In systems that express both rehabilitative and punitive goals, research shows that the punitive mission inevitably prevails • In cases of drug-using youth, the desire to treat substance abuse problems leads justice officials to lose sight of their mission to provide a just and proportionate response • Eventually, possible drug “problems” are used as leverage to coerce youth into compliance with court-ordered sanctions • Even minor drug problems and minor delinquent charges, taken in combination, can result in detention and other serious punishments • An example – juvenile drug courts www. chapinhall. org Slide 17

The use of punishment is also justified by the prevalence of substance abuse problems among youthful offender populations… But, the amount of drug and alcohol problems you see among juvenile offenders depends on where you look… www. chapinhall. org Slide 18

Prevalence of AOD Problems in Juvenile Offenders Any drug Specific drugs Incarcerated males (1) 43% Alcohol Cannabis Amphetamines Cocaine 27% 38 7 11 Detained males (2) 51% Alcohol Cannabis 26% 45 Non-incarcerated, system -involved youth (3) 37% Alcohol Cannabis Amphetamines Cocaine 28% 15 10 3 Male youth at intake (4) 26% Alcohol Cannabis Any Other 10% 22 7 1. Domalanta, D. D. , M. L. Risser, R. E. Roberts, J. M. H. Risser (2003). Prevalence of Depression and Other Psychiatric Disorders Among Incarcerated Youths. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(4): 477 -484. 2. Teplin, Linda A. , Karen M. Abram, Gary M. Mc. Clelland, Mina K. Dulcan, and Amy A. Mericle (2002). Psychiatric Disorders in Youth in Juvenile Detention. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59(Dec): 1133 -1143. 3. Aarons, Gregory A. , Sandra A. Brown, Richard L. Hough, Ann F. Garland, and Patricia A. Wood (2001). Prevalence of Adolescent Substance Use Disorders across Five Sectors of Care. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40 (4): 419– 26. 4. Wasserman, Gail A. , Larkin S. Mc. Reynolds, Susan J. Ko, Laura M. Katz, and Jennifer R. Carpenter (2005). Gender Differences in Psychiatric Disorders at Juvenile Probation Intake. American Journal of Public Health, 95 (1): 131 -137. www. chapinhall. org Slide 19

The Evidence Suggests 3 Key Conclusions: 1. Drug use is fairly common among youth in the juvenile justice system, but widespread among youth in general 2. At least 80 to 90 percent of all substance use by juvenile offenders involves the use of alcohol and marijuana – the use of other drugs is far less prevalent. 3. The vast majority of drug-involved juvenile offenders, at least 90 percent, are not dependent or addicted – they use and sometimes abuse alcohol and other drugs, but have not reached a state of dependence. www. chapinhall. org Slide 20

Policy Question: How do we balance justice goals with substance abuse concerns? www. chapinhall. org Slide 21