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Here is an adjudicated youth case study I completed through Finger Lakes

Residential Center. Once a week for ten weeks, I sat and interviewed
adolescents housed at the facility. Each week, I arrived prepared with a
different theme of questions. As I spoke with the volunteer interviewees, I
was able to develop a sense of familial conditions, the impact of school, the
positive and negative effects peers could have, the resources and shape of
their communities, economic hardships, and the powerful role of respect that
permeated their lives. I interviewed a total of three residents over the course
of my time at the facility.

The objective of my study was to gain a deeper understanding of the external
and internal factors that drive youth to engage in high-risk behaviors. The
results were eye-opening, and reinforced my belief that there is a need for
more preventative interventions and resources for low SES-youth.

This study echoes and prefaces many of the challenges I may face as an
educator. A harsh fact of the world is that inequity is a reality and can
severely limit and incapacitate the strongest of individuals. As an educator, I
must confront inequity, as well as other issues related to diversity, in a
progressive manner by encouraging equitable educational opportunities, and
positive and responsive learning environments (Nieto, 1992, 2009).







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Introduction
Over the past ten weeks, I had the privilege of conducting a qualitative case study. The
object of this study was for me to gain a deeper understanding of the external, as well as
internal factors that drive the nations youth to engage in behaviors that put themselves at such
high risk of injury, as well as capital punishment. Each week, I travelled to a local correctional
facility, the Finger Lakes Residential Center. For every week, I was scheduled to meet with
the same resident. I was granted an hour with my resident in which I discussed a variety of
elements all that play crucial roles in the lives of an adolescent. However, throughout the 10
weeks, I met with three different residents, rather than one continuously. Whether or not this
proved to be a good or bad was irrelevant; each resident provided me with a plethora of first
hand information. Each week, I had a different grand tour question which I presented to my
resident. After the initial response, I broke the question down in attempts to find more precise
information about my particular residents life. As time wore on I began to develop a closer
connection with my residents, which ultimately provided me with more and more information.
I was lucky enough to have a cooperative facility, the Finger Lakes Residential Center,
to work with. The staff here was more than accommodating. However, while the staff at the
facility was easy to work with, problems were still present. At the time, the facility was
moving away from a corrections model, and towards a more therapeutic model . To be more
precise, the Finger Lakes Residential Center was beginning to adopt the Sanctuary Model.
This model promotes healing and recovery over discipline and control (Bloom, 2010). It is
essentially trauma-informed change. All of the residents within the facility have experienced
some sort of social, and/or psychosocial trauma, so it seems fitting that the Sanctuary Model be
put to use. However, change can often cause fear, apprehension, and is not always met with
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cooperation. As a result, the facility at large began to give way. The sudden lack of discipline
resulted in outbreaks of fights among the residents and a general increase in misbehavior. In
turn, I was subject to a number of different residents due to behavior issues. At first, I worked
with Angel. Angel had previously been in only one facility in Long Island, Elemo Queens.
He was sentenced to time here due to a robbery, and was eventually sent to the Finger Lakes
Residential Center due to his frequency of fighting. After working with Angel for two weeks,
I was informed that he had been taken out of the program due to a fight he had been in, and I
was assigned a new resident, Latif. Latif, a sixteen year old had just arrived at the Finger
Lakes Residential Center. Prior to this facility, he had been in a facility in Delaware County
known as YLA Boot Camp, and country jail. The YLA Boot Camp was run by ex military
officers and stressed discipline and obedience among the residents. Classes were mandatory,
students had specific dress codes, and the staff members had free reign over the residents.
That is to say, a staff member could flip over your bed without fear of any repercussions if you
werent up and ready on the dot. Despite the intensity of YLA, Latif stated that he preferred it
here over the county jail and the Finger Lakes Residential center because YLA taught
responsibility as well as accountability; two things Latif thought he lacked. However, Latif
was soon removed from YLA due to fights, and was sent to county jail. While here, Latif had
no responsibilities. To be blunt, he was simply locked up. After paper work was in order,
Latif was moved out of the county jail, and finally to the Finger Lakes Residential Center. My
last resident, Lashont, whom I had the pleasure of meeting with multiple times, had been in a
total of two facilities prior to being sent to the Finger Lakes Residential Center. The first of
the two was Pleasant Ville in West Chester, New York. Lashont stated that Pleasant Ville was
almost identical to the Finger Lakes Residential Center, the only difference being that there
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was more freedom. After Pleasant Ville, Lashont went home for about 2 years, and was then
shipped to Mercy First. In Lashonts words, Mercy First was wack. It was very strict, he
was constantly supervised, had to follow strict schedules to the T, and wasnt allowed to do
anything without permission first. In a sense, Mercy First was very much like YLA. However,
where Latif enjoyed the discipline, Lashont hated it, and was eventually sent to the Finger
Lakes Residential Center for punching a staff member in the face.
Although I had 3 residents, I only discovered how Lashont ended up in Finger Lakes.
Angel had briefly told me that he had robbed someone, but this was the first time we had met
so how accurate this information was, and the extent of the robbery is still a mystery. I had
only met with Lashont once, and we never got around to his crime. However, I did discover
what Lashont had done to get himself wrapped up in the juvenile justice system. Granted, this
took a number of meetings, but by our last meeting Lashont finally told me that he had been
caught selling crack. He was initially sentenced to 12 months at Mercy First for selling crack
(he was sent to Pleasant Ville by on his mothers account). However, after his altercation with
a staff member, he was resentenced to another 12 months at the Finger Lakes Residential
Center, meaning the previous time he served was rendered obsolete.

Facility
According to Butts and Ruth, authors of Focusing Juvenile Justice on Positive Youth
Development, our facilities need to focus in on the crimes that our youth are committing. For
instance, our juvenile justice systems currently only address about half of the residents
directly. Many youth criminals are being sent to detention/correctional facilities for petty
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crimes such as theft, disorderly conduct, vandalism, and fraud. These facilities to not directly
address the crimes, nor do they focus on the reasons why the crime was committed in the first
place. For instance, many youth commit crimes for social status, peer pressure, and in general,
for fun (Butts & Ruth, 2005). Take Lashont into consideration. He began to sell crack due to
economic hardships he was facing, and selling crack proved to be an easy, effective way to
make a substantial amount of money. However, the facility Lashont is currently in, the Finger
Lakes Residential Center, has been more focused on discipline, order, and punishment as ways
to change the attitudes, thus actions of the residents. However, this is not working. The
recidivism rate of these facilities is through the roof at roughly 90%. Clearly changes are
needed. Luckily, the Finger Lakes Residential Center has realized this and has begun a shift
away from the correctional model, and on to the therapeutic model of Sanctuary. This model is
very similar to what Butts and Ruth refers to as Positive Youth Development (PYD). PYD
programs are based on the concept that all youth can grow to thrive, given the proper social
context. The Sanctuary Model, can provide this much needed social context. By keying in on
specific concepts such as commitments to non-violence, communication, responsibility,
emotional intelligence, democracy, social learning, and growth/change, this social context
described by Butts and Ruth can be developed.
With efforts to pursue the Sanctuary Model in effect, little has changed for the
residents. Angel and Latif described the Finger Lakes Residential Center as more of a prison
then any type of therapeutic center. He stated that everything done in the day has been pre-
scheduled, free time is limited, and classes are offered but arent mandatory. At no point did
any of my residents describe any therapeutic aspects of the facility. So, the question arises as
to how effective this shift to Sanctuary is, and will become. Furthermore, all of my residents
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stated that classes were not mandatory, that if you didnt go, the worst that would happen
would be a write up which could potentially lead to a decreasing in rank. While this ranking
system may provide some sort of incentive, the fact remains that the residents considered
school an option. This is particular interesting because current theories suggest that this
population of youth is in greatest need of schooling (Noguera, 2008).
It is clearly evident that the Finger Lakes Residential Center has its flaws, and is
working to improve the overall quality of the institution to better benefit the residents.
However, the entire theory of placing troubled youngsters into a facility, whether it is based on
corrections model or a more therapeutic model, seems flawed on its own. We must work to
reach our youth not only once they reach the tertiary stages trouble, but the primary,
secondary, as well as tertiary. This can easily be done via Early Childhood Intervention (ECI),
as discussed in Effects of School-Based, Early Childhood Intervention on Adult Health and
Well-being. These ECIs have been proven to have adverse effects on the youth, increasing
rates of high school completion as well as college attendance, and decreasing chances of
criminal involvement. In addition, these intervention programs are put into practice early on,
and allow us to effectively become involved in the lives of our youth at an early age, thus
providing much needed mentoring for some, and reducing the chances of them becoming high
risk youth and ending up in facilities such as the Finger Lakes Residential Center (Reynolds
et al, 2007).

Family
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Family is quite possible one of the most important factors when discussing juvenile
justice. The lack of supportive family members or lack of family members in general can have
an extremely drastic effect on the lives of many youth. According to a criminal justice review
article, Parents, Friends, and Serious Delinquency: An Examination of Direct and Indirect
Effects Among At-Risk Early Adolescents, amount of quality parental involvement and
supervision is directly related to delinquent behavior. Essentially, parents who were more
mindful and engaged in their childs life were more likely to recognize what activities their
child was participating in, and whom their child was associating with. In turn, this knowledge
of their childs whereabouts led the children to associate with other law-abiding adolescents,
and participate in less criminal behavior (Ingram et al, 2007). More specifically, a family can
provide five essential assets that can provide a positive influence over an adolescent and can
shape an adolescents life for better or worse depending on the presence of said assets. These
assets, family support, positive family communication, family boundaries, parental
involvement in school/high expectations, and family cohesion, were all found to have profound
effects on the lives of an adolescent.
Family support was defined through a breakdown; 8 subcategories consisting of
listening support, appreciation effort, encouragement, emotional support, values clarification,
reality confirmation, tangible support, and personal support. However, although it is family
support, the majority of support was typically derived from the definitive parents and or care
takers. Limited family support was found to have resulted in prolonged seeking of help, and it
was also noted that the stronger the relationship between parent and child, the more likely t he
child will engage in health-seeking and risk-avoiding behavior. Additionally, parent-family
connectedness was found to have protective influences over numerous behaviors such as
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violence, alcohol use, tobacco use, and sexual interactions. Furthermore, increased family
involvement was observed to have positive effects on depression and antisocial behavior
among adolescents.
Family communication is defined as the ability to openly, and honestly
approach/confront a family member. The information shown throughout the article, The
Family as a Protective Asset in Adolescent Development, suggests that adolescents who
communicated more serious issues within their lives on a more frequent basis with the family,
is linked to the reduction of many health inhibiting factors. Taking smoking as a prime
example; by communicating severe problems, the likelihood that the progression of smoking
will continue from experimentation onward, drops significantly. Furthermore, it was noted
that families with stronger communication skills typically expressed a higher resilience to
depression, whereas weaker communication skills showed lower resilience levels.
The article defined family boundaries as the awareness of a young persons
whereabouts. Basically, the firmer the family boundaries, the better off the adolescent.
However, the article specifies that parental presence during waking hours, after school, dinner,
and bedtime were the most critical. It was also found that emotional distress, smoking, alcohol
use, and marijuana use were all effected by parental presence; more presence decreased the
chances of the risky health behaviors, while less presence increase the chances.
The organizational level of a family was also found to have critical impacts on
adolescents. Results proved that higher levels of organization and cohesion within a family
yielded a protective effect over the adolescent and decreased the chances of initial substance
abuse. In addition, it was found that as family cohesion increased, distress and deviance
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decreased, and that if family cohesion were high enough, parent substance abuse would have
limited impacts on the adolescents distress and deviance levels.
Lastly, the article suggests that the more involved a parent is in an adolescents school
work, the better that adolescent will do in school. Moreover, students receiving personal
assistance and support are found to spend more time studying, have better attendance, and
avoid problematic behaviors more often than others. High expectations also seemed to have a
protective role over the adolescent. With realistic expectations, the adolescent was found to
have decreased emotional distress, limited substance use, and less violent behavior (Kingon &
OSullivan, 2001).
Obviously, family interaction within an adolescents life plays a critical role in
behavior, academics, and experimentation with substances. Interestingly enough, my three
residents, Angel, Latif, and Lashont, all lacked a number of these assets. Angels parents had
divorced when he was only 11, and his mom is currently in jail for drug use. Furthermore,
Angels father didnt really stress the importance of school, or provide any substantial
boundaries for Angel. Angel reported that he would often skip out on school, and although
this angered his father, it was not enough to make him attend on a regular basis. Furthermore,
Angel was allowed to come and go as he pleased. This was partly because Angels fathers job
as a mechanic took up a majority of his time, but also because no real rules or consequences
had been established for misbehavior. Latif on the other hand, had two parents. However,
when asking about his father, Latif went quiet and wouldnt say anything other than the fact
that his dad was a dead beat. This could mean a number of things; perhaps Latifs father ran
out, maybe his father was in jail, or maybe Latif just didnt really like his father. However, it
is safe to conclude that Latif had a struggling relationship with his father, thus lacking the ever
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important paternal support that a father typically provides. Furthermore, Latif informed me
that his mother had a very demanding job as a GSA, selling building contracts in the city. As a
result, she was not around as often as she should be. Lastly, Lashont told me that his father
had passed away, and he had been raised solely by his mother. Unlike Angel and Latif,
Lashonts mother played a vital role in his life, keeping him in school, and maintaining a close
eye on him. Despite this, Lashont still got mixed up in the drug scene selling crack. However,
Lashont may have been selling crack, but he never actually used drugs, with the exception of
alcohol on special occasions such as New Years or a birthday party. We can speculate that this
is a result from Lashonts mothers involvement in his life. Although this is a mere
speculation, Lashonts mother undoubtedly played a crucial role in Lashonts upbringing by
attempting to be involved and simply caring for him.

School
Another important element to analyze in regards to juvenile justice is the school setting.
For one, youth typically spend the majority of their adolescent years in schools, and as such,
they are partially raised via their experiences within their respective schools. However, our
school systems today are faulty. Schools too often reward the gifted, strong, excelling
students, and ignore the needy students, resulting in a shadow of negativity being placed over
the youth that need the most help and attention.
Current schools closely resemble management methods similar to that of asylums.
That is, schools serve as a vehicle for controlling the minds and bodies of youth (Noguera,
1995). The thought behind this is that by controlling the students in a military type fashion,
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they would learn discipline, and respect, thus promoting easier management and learning. This
tactic however, results in gifted students succeeding and being praised, while the trouble
makers are repeatedly punished and eventually gain a negative reputation as a bad kid.
Herein lies the problem; these bad kids are often the students who are in need of the most
help, yet they are ignored simply because they are seen as students who just dont care
(Noguera, 1995).
Another prominent issue within modern schools is disciplinary action. Teachers across
the nation consistently remove the trouble making students in attempts to provide a higher
education for the other students. However, this is a rather contradicting tactic. Research has
shown that more often than not, students who consistently misbehave often to so because of a
vicious cycle, not because they simply want to be difficult. School behavioral management
works essentially because students sacrifice certain liberties, in order to receive an education.
However, certain students who are classified as underachievers and are not as prominent to
academic success dont reap the benefits associated with school. They struggle with classes
and are in a greater need of academic, social, and emotional support. As a result, they act out in
resentment towards authority figures. When taking a critical view of this, it makes perfect
sense. These students dont receive all the benefits of school, so choose not to obey the rules
that govern school.
Furthermore, there are the three primary functions of a school: sorting, socializing, and
control. Sorting refers to placing students in groups according to academic prowess in order to
better educate them, socializing refers to the teaching of social norms and values, and the
control refers to the management of students. However, while these functions all work in
conjunction with one another, with the way schools currently operate it seems impossible to
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accomplish the first two functions, with an absence of the third. While this may be true, the
fact is that our disciplinary actions are in need of critical reform. Teachers and faculty
members consider that the best way to deal with a disruptive student is by removing him or her
from the classroom. While this may effectively deal with the immediate disruption, it can have
serious repercussions for the student. The teachers and school are using the removal of students
as the only option for punishment, and do not take into factor the possible factors that result in
the consistent misbehavior. Furthermore, the only plausible explanation for the removal of
misbehaving students is to further promote the academic achievements of all the other
students. However, observational studies have concluded that by removing the disruptive
students, other students simply take their place. In other words, the tactic is flawed in
numerous ways. For one, the needy students are literally rejected, and the other students arent
truly receiving a higher education as a result (Noguera, 2008).
Of my three residents, the only one who discussed his public school experience in
depth was Lashont. Lashont stressed how much he disliked school, primarily because of his
teachers. When I asked him about the teacher he hated most, he quickly stated that he hated
almost all of them. His reasons were simple, and justifiable. Most of his teachers gave
Lashont constant put downs, didnt respect him, and he could never do anything right in their
eyes. The only teacher Lashont felt any positive feelings towards was his science teacher. The
reason being because she spoke to him as an equal and refrained from making any negative,
disappointing comments. In other words, this teacher cared for, and believed in Lashont.
However, one teacher demonstrating these emotions is not enough. Lashonts experience in
school had been tarnished by his teachers lack of care and constant disbelief in him. Lashont
also told me that while in high school, he had been suspended twice for fighting. This brings
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into factor the modern schools disciplinary action of student removal. Lashont resorted to
fighting other students as a means to settle an argument, and as a result the school rejected him
completely. As a result, Lashont was withheld from the ever important education, and was
sent to a home where no authoritative figure stayed, making him much more susceptible to
high risk situations and behavior.
It is quite evident that schools need to begin implementing new tactics when attempting
to maintain social conduct and order, as well as student management. Furthermore, teachers
must stop giving way to preconceived judgments regarding underachieving students. More
often than not, these students are struggling due to a plethora of external factors such as home
environment, peer pressures, economic hardships, and lack of family support. By casting them
aside, teachers are simply perpetuating this cycle of hardship, making it much more difficult on
the student then need be.

Peers
Peers, like family, play one of the most influential roles in an individuals life. As
such, peer groups are one of the main aspects to be analyzed when considering juvenile justice.
The article, Friendship and Risk, suggests that an individuals group of friends can determine
the prevalence of risky behavior. The study conducted involved over eight hundred sixth,
seventh, and eighth graders, all of whom participated in various surveys. The findings resulted
in proving the fact that peers do in fact hold a tremendous amount of influence over one
another. More specifically, this study focused on the use of alcohol and other substances
among this given age group. The findings were that certain peer associations resul ted in a
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higher chance of experimentation with alcohol and other substances such as cigarettes. It was
also found that associating with peers who have used alcohol or other substances, acted as an
antecedent towards alcohol use for the individual, not an influence. For instance, if a
youngsters best friend has been using alcohol, then that youngster is much more likely to use
alcohol because their friend will initiate the use, rather than attempt to persuade individual into
using the given substance alone (Sieving et al, 2000). Likewise, another study also found that
peer associating played a vital role in delinquent behavior. It was observed that adolescents
who associated with peers, whom participated in delinquent activity more often, were more
likely to also engage in such activities. This also led to them associating with anti -social peers
more often, thus engaging in more and more delinquent activities (Ingram et al, 2007).
Of my three residents, the only one who spoke much of his peers was Lashont . Lashont
informed me that he had two best friends, which he saw and hung out with literally every day.
These two individuals also happened to be his cousins, Ronel, and Munchie (a nick name
derived from Dannys constant hunger). Lashont described Munchie as fun, lovable, playful,
and in general a good kid. He seemed to avoid serious trouble on a regular basis. Ronel
however, seemed to be the trouble maker of the three. Ronels personality consists of anger
issues, a lust for women, and a certain disregard for authority and rules. However, in all,
Lashonts friends were loyal, respectable, and from what I learned, were not the reason
Lashont had begun selling crack. In fact, Ronel and Munchie found out that Lashont had been
selling crack, and asked to join in. Lashont however, chose to keep them out of the loop due to
the dangers of it, as well as the thought that the two didnt have what it took to be in the drug
dealing scene. Lashont specifically said that Ronel and Munchie would do something stupid,
cause attention to the fact that they were dealing, and inevitably get everyone involved caught.
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After hearing Lashonts description of his friends I began to realize that they were more
of a positive influence then a negative one. First off, they were family. Secondly, they
supported Lashont regardless of the situation. And third, Lashont took precautions to keep
them out of danger, rather than jump at the idea of getting them involved. These are not
characteristics of a negative influencing peer group. As far as I can tell, Lashont is better off
with Ronel and Munchie, then without. For instance, the worst degree of trouble Lashont got
into due to Ronel and Munchie was getting yelled at by a neighbor for throwing rocks at his
house. Granted, this is not suitable behavior, but when considering other possible behaviors
and actions this seems to be hold a minimal degree of risk. Lashonts close friends provide
him a great deal of support and much needed connection. Without them, Lashont may be more
susceptible to associating with worse off peers, thus becoming exposed to and involved in
more risky behavior that could have much more serious repercussions.


Community
The community in which youth are raised and live in, can easily decipher whether or
not they will be considered at risk youth or not. Lashont grew up in an area which
immediately put him a notch below everyone else. That is to say, he didnt have the benefits
of growing up in a safe, caring neighborhood. Lashont grew up in suburbs of Longs Island.
His neighborhood consists of houses, and he himself lives in a 3 story home. However, this
area contains many gangs and gang members. Lashont specifically told me of one account
where him, Ronel, and Munchie were shining laser pointers in a house, and afterwards to house
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went on lockdown, shutting all the windows, doors, and turning off all the lights for days,
indicating that it was the home of either a gang member, or a gang at large. In other words,
Lashont lived in a dangerous neighborhood consisting of limited supervision and excessive
freedom.
Living in a violent community can have its effects on an individual. These effects may
go unnoticed, but the fact remains that they are there. According to the National Center for
Children Exposed to Violence, roughly 75% of all children have been exposed to violence, and
parents/care givers only report roughly half of that exposure. Basically, a great deal of
violence is happening, and is flying under the radar. This alone is problematic because if a
parent or care giver is ignorant to the fact that their child has been subject to any type of
violence, then that child is left without support, which can lead to a number of psychological
issues in the long run. Furthermore, witnessing or experiencing violence can cause my
adolescents to develop a sense of distrust among adults, and an increase in aggression. This is
due to the fact that children learn through examples, meaning that being surrounded by
violence often leads to adolescents resorting to violence as the answer to a variety of problems
(Community Violence, 2006).
Granted I cannot prove that Lashont, Angel, and Latif were subject to some form of
violence in their communities, but to deny it would be nave. This constant exposure to
violence and risky behavior at home could potentially be one of the underlying factors
influencing the actions and behaviors of these residents. Angel, Latif, and Lashont all grew up
in inner-cities, and all ended up in the same place. Clearly, there is some correlation between
their home communities and the actions and measures taken which led them to the Finger
Lakes Residential Facility.
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This brings me to my next point. While community at home is an obvious factor
playing in the decisions of criminal youth, the community within a given facility can also play
a crucial role. For instance, Latif described YLA as a severe corrections facility that stressed
discipline, order, obedience, responsibility, and respect. As a result, Latif stated that he
learned to be more accountable and had begun to develop a sense of obedience to authority
figures. In contrast, the Finger Lakes Residential Center has been working towards
establishing a community atmosphere of healing and care. Although the results of this shift are
still unknown, based on evidence seen above we can assume that this will result in the
residents working more towards changing their attitudes and values, thus improving their lives
in general.
Respect
The last thing I aimed to talk about with Lashont was respect (I didnt have enough
time to discuss this with either Latif or Angel). According to my Family Health Problems
class at Ithaca College, this was to be one of the chief topics of discussion, and would leave me
with a vast amount of information, thus allowing me to further dissect the perceptions and
thoughts of these residents. However, when I asked Lashont what respect meant to him, and
whom he respected, his response was short, and blunt. This could be attributed to the fact that
he was having girl troubles with his current girlfriend, and an ex-girlfriend, and wouldnt stop
talking about the two. However, Lashont did say that in order for him to lose respect or loyalty
towards Ronel or Munchie, they would have to do something unforgivable, such as di sown
him as a friend. By this, Lashont meant that if Ronel and Munchie began to ditch him for a
separate group of friends, then Lashont would lose respect for them, and it would be difficult,
but not impossible for them to regain it.
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Respect is an interesting emotion in the world of these residents. Disrespecting
someone in their world, can lead to severe punishment and/or harm. However, for Lashont,
respect seemed to play a less vital role. Lashont was wrapped up in the drug game, and his
closest allies were his best friends who were also his family. As a result, respect was a
minimal issue for Lashont. However, Lashont did state that sticking up for oneself was
critical. While discussing a fight Lashont had been in, he stated that the student he was
fighting had disrespected his older brother. Lashonts brother had recently been jumped, and
this student was poking fun at the situation, so Lashont felt a need to defend his brothers
honor. His mode of defense just so happened to be a fist fight in the middle of a classroom
which inevitably led to his suspension from school for three days.
It is important that we realize the importance of respect for these residents. Granted,
this was not a crucial element for Lashont, but for many others it is. By understanding the
underlying principles that go hand-in-hand with respect, we can more easily aid these residents
by providing and developing certain life skills that will permit them to avoid violence when
defending their honor (respect).



Economic Hardships
Another prevalent factor that comes into play when discussing juvenile justice is
economic hardships. Youth coming from poverty stricken families are often at greater risk to
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engage in a number of risky behaviors simply because of the lack of money. Furthermore,
over 13 million children to date are currently living in families which are considered to be under
the poverty level, which is 11% more in comparison to 2000 from 2005. However, when
realistically looking at these numbers it becomes apparent that this information is somewhat
skewed. The federal poverty level is set at an income of $20,000 a year, yet in order for a
traditional family of four to make ends meet, they must make at least $40,000 a year, which is
twice the federal poverty level. In other words, data suggests that there are 13 million children
living in poverty, but the reality of the situation is that there are a great deal more children living
under financially burdened families. In addition, minorities such as black, Latino, and American
Indian children are most likely to be living in poverty, with black children the most prevalent of
them all. This leaves these children to additional hardships such as no health insurance and food
insecurities (Who are Americas Poor Children, 2006) . Clearly, economic hardship can have a
drastic impact on youngsters, leaving them with little opportunity to succeed.
A prime example of this is my resident Lashont. Lashont is a young, black male, who
grew up in the suburbs of the city in a family which struggled economically speaking. So, in
order to have extra money, Lashont turned to selling crack. The reason Lashont went directly to
dealing crack was because the money was better, and he made more money quicker than if he
were to sell marijuana. So, despite all the dangers surrounding this world, Lashont opted to sell.
With over four thousand dollars hidden in his room at home, it is safe to say that Lashont was
indeed making money. However, the question arises; was it worth the risk? According to
Lashont, it was. He plans to deal once more when he is released, and doesnt consider the fact
that he is locked up to be a very big issue.
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As we can see, growing up in a poverty stricken area or family can lead youngsters to
engaging in risky behaviors which can have adverse effects on the rest of their lives. In order to
combat this, we can do a number of things such as urging parents to engage their children in
Head Start programs, as this closes the achievement gap between poor children and their more
well-off peers, support families, and provide additional support for poverty stricken students in
schools (Who are Americas Poor Children, 2006).

Conclusion
My time spent with Latif, Angel, and Lashont was extremely beneficial. The three
provided me with detailed accounts of their own lives which allowed me to gain a better
understanding of their world. As a result, I can clearly see now that we must begin our
interventions at an earlier point in childrens lives. While this may not produce tangible
results, the fact is that it will provide certain individuals with the proper stepping stones to
leading a better life. Consider the refocusing up stream model; we can continue to try and save
adolescents who have fallen over the water fall, or we can work to stop the adolescents from
ever falling into the river in the first place. Furthermore, we cannot simply ignore the youth
who are already in facilities such as the Finger Lakes Residential Center. We must use the
available information we have and make the needed changes to our existing programs to better
suit the needs of these students. This may mean adhering to the Sanctuary Model, or providing
more one on one mentoring services. Regardless of the method, the fact is that reform is
needed. For instance, Lashont was locked away for selling crack. However, when I asked him
if he would return to selling crack once released, he stated that not only would he, but that he
Conklin 21

wanted to. Clearly, the system has failed in respects to Lashont. Despite this, we must remain
positive and realize that our efforts have not failed, but have in fact succeeded. Consider the
YRBSS. After browsing through a number of surveys related to violence among youth, my
findings showed that between 1991 and 2009, rates of carrying a weapon, getting into physical
fights, carrying a gun, injuring someone or getting injured, or engaging in any type of dating
violence has decreased (Trends in the Prevalence of Behaviors that Contribute to Violence,
2010). Clearly we are making a difference, we simply need to continue this work, and reach
out to more and more adolescents. We are approaching a time of reform, and as future health
service professionals, we must join the movement and provide the needed services for our
youth in order to reduce the prevalence of youth within the juvenile justice system.






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Conklin 22

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