Decarceration: A Promising Approach to Closing the Incarcerated Youth Educational Attainment

Abstract

While many juvenile detention facilities may reach the general public school standards, the education that incarcerated juveniles receive is inequitable. The centers do not provide youth with the resources that they need to succeed, thrive, and fully participate in society. There are certain things that humans need for a sufficient life, and a proper education is one of them. Juvenile detention education systems are not responsive to the academic needs of incarcerated youth and thus harms them by providing an insufficient education which limits the outcomes and opportunities for many youth offenders upon release. The lack of sufficient education in juvenile detention centers is harmful to the capabilities of youth that spend time incarcerated, notably their thought, control over environment, and affiliation. Moreover, the educational attainment harms faced by these youth are often immensely disproportionate to their actions that involve them in the criminal justice system, especially since many of these criminal behaviors are due to circumstances beyond the youth's control. [From introductory section]