Jessica D. Turral, Marianna E. Carlucci, Ph.D., Adanna Johnson-Evans, Ph.D., Rachel L. Grover, Ph.D.
Behind Bars, Hearing a Child’s Cry: Experiences of Juveniles Incarcerated as Adults
Each year in the United States, approximately 200,000 youth are charged as adults
in the criminal justice system, with an average of 10,000 youth being housed in an
adult facility on a daily basis (Griffin, Addie, Adams & Firestine, 2011; Minton,
2011). Due to racial disparities, African-American youth make up 62% of the youth
prosecuted despite only accounting for 17% of the overall youth population (Arya &
Augarten, 2008). Furthermore, African-American youth are 9 times more likely than
Caucasian youth to receive an adult sentence for similar crimes (Arya & Augarten,
2008; Minton, 2011). There have been very few studies that have investigated the experiences
(social, emotional, racial, etc.) of African American youth incarcerated in adult
prisons.
Research has shown that 82% of juveniles housed in adult facilities will reoffend
within 3 years of their release from incarceration, currently there is no research
on what percentage of those juveniles are African American (Langan & Levin, 2002).
Previous literature has illuminated that juveniles incarcerated in adult prisons view
their experience as not rehabilitative. Rather, the perceived lack of resources and
training ground for criminal activity, increases their vulnerability to recidivism
(Woolard et al., 2005). Additional research has associated juvenile’s negative perceptions
of their institutional environment (e.g., safety, services available) to their outcomes
upon release, including increased future criminal activity (Schubert et al., 2012).
Further research has shown that a common experience among juveniles leaving adult
facilities is stunted psychosocial maturity development compared to their peers both
not involved in the correctional system and those involved in the juvenile justice
system (Dmitrieva et al., 2012). Taken together, these studies suggest that a relationship
may exist between what juvenile’s experience in prison, their future criminal behavior
and identity development. The dearth of data on juveniles is even greater when focusing
upon African American juveniles housed in adult prisons. Earlier research has associated
ethnic development as most predictive of overall development and most important to
the self-definition of African-American adolescent, with identity achieved status
being linked to a reduction in risk behaviors (.ie criminal behaviors) (Brittian,
2012; Helms, 1990). However, the researcher is not aware of any research studies that
have investigated the associations between racial identity development, criminal behavior
and an individual’s experience in prison, and thus is likely an area that needs to
be further explored.
It is clear that youth housed with adults have negative outcomes both during incarceration
(e.g., stunted development) and after incarceration (e.g., recidivism rates). However,
further research is needed to explore the developmental trajectories of African American
males who have been housed in adult facilities as juveniles and how stunted development
may be linked to future offending.
The goal of this present study is to describe the experiences and identity development of African-American young adults who were incarcerated in adult prisons while juveniles, in order to investigate the prison ability to provide African American males with developmentally appropriate services that would lead to the development of positive self-identities and lower recidivism rates.