Analysis Of The Adolescent Diversion Project By Trevor Martin

Trevor Martin is currently in the East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility in California for petty theft. He is serving his 4th month of his 6 month sentence in the detention center. Jacob Mandolo lives in North Carolina right now. He was charged with the same crime and was sentenced to a community diversion program. Trevor and Jacob are not alone. Every year, thousands of adolescent children are arrested for commiting crimes. Every year, the courts must decide how to deal with these children. Juvenile courts use a variety of methods when dealing with juvenile delinquents. The two main techniques that the courts use are harsher methods focused on scaring adolescents out of further crime, and more compassionate methods focused on positive reinforcement.

Recently, diversion programs have cropped up in many states. The programs keep adolescents out of detention by using the communities around them to support them. The text states, that, “William S. Davidson II created the Adolescent Diversion Project, a project which pairs undergraduate students and adolescents found guilty of breaking and entering, and other crimes. These relationships have been found to cut the youths' rate of ending up back in jail for more offenses in half” (Source 4, 2). The diversion system is used by the courts to get juvenile offenders involved in their community and away from crime by showing them that there is another way to succeed in life, instead of a life of criminal activity. An electronic monitor is a program used to watch juvenile offenders and keep them out of detention. Electronic monitoring is a programming treatment that is a substitute for detention time. The monitor forces you to do the right thing in a way that feels natural (Source 5). The electronic monitor is a way that the courts use a more compassionate way to deal with a juvenile offender by not subjecting them to detention time that makes the adolescent feel like they are able to make a difference in their behavior. A psychologist created a family-based treatment that makes the family of the offender an important role in the treatment of their loved one. One method that is used to turn juvenile offenders around is, “...Growing Up FAST (Families and Adolescents Surviving and Thriving), [Stephen Gavazzi’s] program makes parents and caregivers an integral part of treatment; focuses on the strengths of the child and family instead of their weaknesses; and asks families to identify the issues they want to work on. The intervention also helps juvenile offenders avoid problem behaviors and