Juvenile Inmates in an Adult Prison System

• Author: Jon R. Sorensen,Attapol Kuanliang,Mark D. Cunningham
• DOI: 10.1177/0093854808322744
• Published date: 01 September 2008
• Date: 01 September 2008
• Subject Matter: Articles

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JUVENILE INMATES IN AN ADULT

PRISON SYSTEM

Rates of Disciplinary Misconduct and Violence

ATTAPOL KUANLIANG

University of Louisiana at Monroe

JON R. SORENSEN

Prairie View A&M University

MARK D. CUNNINGHAM

Dallas, Texas

Rates of disciplinary misconduct and violence among juvenile male inmates (N=703) admitted to a state prison system

from 1998 to 2002 are retrospectively examined. The prevalence and frequency of prison misconduct and violence are

higher among juveniles than comparison groups of nearest age youthful adults (N =3,640) and adult prisoners generally

(N=33,114), and this disparity between juvenile and adult inmates increases along with the severity of violence. This rela-

tionship is found to hold true even when other known correlates of prison violence are considered. In a logistic regression

model that included educational level, gang affiliation, offense of conviction, and sentence length, age is found to be the most

consistent and strongest determinant of prison violence, with those younger than 18 at entrance to prison being far more likely

than adults to be involved in various levels of prison misconduct and violence.

Keywords: disciplinary infraction; incarcerated juveniles; prison misconduct; prison violence; rule violation

Although offenders who are less than 18 years old at admission to prison represent a

minority of inmates in adult prisons nationwide, they are a growing presence. A

Bureau of Justice Assistance publication reported that the number of offenders younger

than 18 admitted to state prison more than doubled from 3,400 in 1985 to 7,400 in 1997

(Austin, Johnson, & Gregoriou, 2000). In 2000, juveniles accounted for around 2% of new

court commitments to adult state prisons (Sickmund, 2004). The Bureau of Justice

Statistics estimated that there were 4,100 new court commitments to adult state prison

systems in 2002 involving youth younger than 18 at the time of admission (Snyder &

Sickmund, 2006).

The increasing number of juveniles in adult prisons is an outgrowth of two interrelated

trends. First, juvenile crimes began a dramatic ascent across the nation during the 1980s.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, Vol. 35 No. 9, September 2008 1186-1201

DOI: 10.1177/0093854808322744

© 2008 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The authors wish to thank the Bureau of Research and Data Analysis of the Florida

Department of Corrections and, in particular, Mr. David Ensley and Mr. Deloy Henry, for invaluable assistance

in compiling and clarifying the data for the study. The authors also wish to thank the Miami-Dade Public

Defenders Office, and in particular, Ms. Mary Nubiola, for liaison efforts with the Florida Department of

Corrections. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jon R. Sorensen, College of

Juvenile Justice & Psychology, Prairie View A&M University, P.O. Box 519, MS 2600, Prairie View,TX, 77446;

e-mail: jrsorensen@pvamu.edu.

Kuanliang et al. / JUVENILE INMATES 1187

From 1984 through 1994, the arrest rate of juveniles for violent offenses increased by 78%

(Austin et al., 2000). Diverging from declining adult rates, the crime rate for youth, particu-

larly for violent crimes, continued to rise throughout the early 1990s. For example, although

the rate of murder committed by persons ages 25 and older declined by 25% from 1985 to

1994, the homicide rate among 18- to 24-year-olds increased 61%, and among 14- to 17-year-

olds, it increased 172% (Fox, 1996). It is important to note that the juvenile crime rate,

particularly the violent crime rate, has declined in recent years, returning to the pre-crime

wave rate of the mid-1980s (Zimring, 2005).

Second, the increasing incidence and severity of juvenile crime in the 1990s led many to

question the efficacy of the juvenile justice system and to call for a harsher response to

juvenile crime (Austin et al., 2000). Both federal and state legislatures responded, with

47 states and the District of Columbia revising their laws during the 1990s to facilitate the

transfer of juveniles to adult criminal courts (Griffin, Torbet, & Szymanski, 1998). The

changes mandated by these laws included lowering the age at which juveniles could

be transferred to adult court, expanding the list of crimes for which juveniles could be

transferred, and modifying the transfer process, such as by making it easier for prosecutors

to file cases directly in adult courts (Parent, Dunworth, McDonald, & Rhodes, 1997). These

revisions have had a substantial impact on the adjudication of juvenile offenders. In 2005,

more than 23,000 youths younger than 18 years old were prosecuted in the adult criminal

court (Perry, 2006). In addition to transferring cases to adult criminal court, 20 states as of

1999 had developed provisions for blended sentencing. Under certain conditions, this

allowed juveniles sentenced to lengthy terms in juvenile court to be transferred to the adult

correctional system after reaching a particular age (Redding & Howell, 2000). It is not

surprising that the marked change in public policy toward juvenile offenders in the past

30 years has resulted in higher numbers of juveniles who enter into adult prisons (Sickmund,

Snyder, & Yamagata, 1997).

The expanded presence of juveniles in adult correctional institutions is not without

controversy. Some scholars (e.g., Bishop & Frazier, 2000; Ziedenberg & Schiraldi, 1998)

have noted that the incarceration of juveniles in adult facilities may increase the potential

for creating career criminals among these youth. Criminal trajectories may be encouraged

by factors that are common to adult correctional facilities, such as association with hard-

ened adult criminals and lack of rehabilitative programming. Other research has demon-

strated that juveniles in adult facilities are at much greater risk of harm than youth in the

custody of juvenile institutions (Austin et al., 2000). This includes research examining

comparative rates of suicide (Flaherty, 1980), victimization (Austin et al., 2000; Maitland &

Sluder, 1998), sexual victimization (Forst, Fagan, & Vivona, 1989), and physical violence

by staff (Austin et al., 2000; Forst et al., 1989; Ziedenberg & Schiraldi, 1998).

Less studied has been the potential for juveniles in adult correctional systems to perpe-

trate acts of violence, as opposed to being targeted for victimization. Research findings of

an inverse relationship between inmate age and the commission of prison disciplinary

infractions and violence suggest that juvenile offenders may be disproportionately involved

as perpetrators as well as victims of aggressive misconduct when placed in adult prisons.

Numerous studies have reported that younger prisoners are more likely to participate in

institutional violence and other rule infractions during confinement (e.g., Camp, Gaes,

Langan, & Saylor, 2003; Cooke, 1998; Cunningham & Sorensen, 2006a, 2006b; Gendreau,