Children in Adult Prisons
More children than ever are being sentenced and sent to adult prisons. The United States is still nearly one of the only developed countries in the world that continue this practice. Countries like China, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Haiti have prohibited the practice of trying kids as adults. A few western countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, allow children to be sentenced as adults. However, they do not place them in adult prisons.
Why does it need to be banned?
The United States needs to ban this practice. There are many adverse effects on children being sent to adult prisons. Children should not be sentenced and sent to adult prisons. Children have a higher chance of being sexually assaulted in adult prisons than in juvenile facilities, face the increased risk of suicide, and they lose out on educational benefits offered by juvenile-detention facilities.
Children face an increased risk of sexual assault.
Children placed in adult prisons have a higher risk of being sexually assaulted than children placed in juvenile facilities. Studies have shown that children incarcerated in adult prisons are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted. This evidence demonstrates that children alone face a much higher risk. According to research, children are often sexually assaulted within their first 48 hours of incarceration. Adult prisoners see children as prey and target them. Children are younger and weaker than most adults. Because of this, they become easy victims. Children are repeatedly raped and sexually abused by other inmates. Often, this assault will disturb the children. Once they are released from prison, they are either traumatized by the sexual assault or extremely violent from learning to fight off the threat. The abuse children face while in prison takes a toll on their mental health. It does not just affect them while in prison, but also once they are free.
Research has shown that 1.8 percent of 16 and 17-year-olds in adult prisons have reported being assaulted by another inmate. Older inmates will target younger inmates because children are more likely to be weak and vulnerable in prison with adults at much higher ages. While 3.2 percent of the 16 and 17-year-olds were abused by staff. This is because frequently, people employed in prisons abuse their power. They feel a sense of power being “prison wardens” or “guards”. They often will use their power to blackmail inmates. They might make an inmate perform an unwanted sex act or beat an inmate for no reason. . Not just inmates are abusing children, but even prison staff, which is another major problem in our Criminal Justice System.
Children face an increased risk of suicide.
Also, children face an increased risk of suicide. Research has shown that children incarcerated in adult prisons are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than children detained in juvenile detention centers. Prison has a dramatic effect on younger individuals. Most children, when admitted to prison, are still young, and their brains are still developing. Many children sentenced to adult prisons suffer from untreated mental illnesses. In contrast to adults with mental illness, children have limited experience in managing their disabilities, anxieties, fear, and trauma. They often act impulsively, recklessly, and irresponsible. In adult prisons, this behavior results in more hostile punishment, which can than worsen a child’s mental health problems. Children are just not mentally prepared for the challenges that come along with prison. Children’s and teen’s brains and bodies are still developing and are at a higher risk of physical and psychological harm. Factors such as sexual abuse can lead to depression, which can cause a child to inflict self-harm or possibly even commit suicide. Also, Children get raped, beat up, and sold to provide sexual favors and money. All of these contribute to kids imposing self-harm and suicide. For inmates aged 17 or younger, the annual average mortality rate is 32 per 100,000 prisoners.
Children lose out on educational benefits offered by juvenile-detention facilities.
Lastly, children lose out on educational benefits offered by juvenile-detention facilities. Juvenile detention centers help children, even repeat offenders, turn their lives around before they commit crimes as adults, and end up back in jail. The purpose of a juvenile detention center is to help children develop insight, change their attitude and behavior, and create goals that they can achieve when they get released. Juvenile detention centers have many positive benefits for children. They provide students with education, guidance, and it is sometimes even life-changing for some children.
When children lack educational opportunities while incarcerated, it makes re-entry into the community difficult. When children go to adult prison, they lose out on educational programs offered at juvenile facilities. Without education, it is difficult to find a stable job. Additionally, At least one prison offers only half-day education, and the John Howard Study stated the schools are funded at only one-third the minimum level of regular public schools. This shows that prisons do not even give children a proper education. They are funded with very little money, which shows that they are not deemed significant. They are viewed with very little importance. Children’s educational needs are being abused in prison. Children should be given a proper education, and this can not be achieved in adult prisons.
Do the crime, pay the time — Should kids be sentenced to adult prisons?
One might argue that juveniles should be sentenced and sent to adult prisons because they know right from wrong. Victims and the families of the victim deserve justice if one if their family members are affected or killed by a juvenile defender. Also, many believe that juvenile detention center tends to focus on age more than the actual crime. A child could commit a grave crime such as murder and show no remorse and would be given a light sentence because of his age. Juveniles also have the right to a trial by jury when they are tried as adults versus juvenile courts, which only have a judge.
While all of this is reasonable, trying juveniles as adults still put them at high risk for abuse and sexual assault. Many juveniles are young and lack the maturity to handle adult prison. Also, sentencing children to adult prisons gives them a sense of lost hope. They might not have any hope of ever becoming anything besides a criminal that is harmful to society and that juvenile’s mental health state. Juveniles in adult prisons might become involved in gang activity and violence and more susceptible to criminal activity. This could affect their life once they are released from prison. Once they go through adult prison, they will have a criminal record that will follow them their whole adult life and affect their chances of getting a job.
Overall, children should not be sent to adult prisons. Children have a higher risk of being sexually assaulted than children placed in juvenile facilities. They are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adult prisons than in juvenile facilities. Adult inmates and guards prey on juveniles because they are weak and vulnerable. Children also face an increased risk of suicide. They are 36 times more likely to commit suicide in an adult prison rather than a juvenile detention center.
Juveniles brains are not fully developed, and adult prisons cause many adverse effects on their mental health. Children also lose out on educational benefits offered by juvenile-detention facilities. In 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled juvenile life sentences illegal for crimes less than murder. Juveniles still are being sentenced and sent to adult prisons. They are just not being given life sentences for anything other than murder. Although the government has taken steps to eliminate children in prison, it is still a significant problem today. The United States needs to ban the practice of sending children to adult prisons and instead send children to juvenile facilities where they face safer conditions and gain useful life skills.
