Juvenile Temporary Detention Center

Juvenile detention centers are purposeful ways to assist delinquent juveniles to become law abiding proactive members of society while promoting the safety of society and themselves. Yet, the way most institutions, in particular Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (CCJTDC) treat juveniles in their center has violated their essential right to be treated as humans, cast them as oppressive beings, and does not adequately facilitate their re-transition into society. While I agree that there should be a degree of penalty for breaking laws, there is a clear line between punishment that is just and that which is unjust. Punishment for the sake of realigning an individual’s behavior to comply with social order is just, however punishment

They may not “have the right to claim they know what is good for them” (Young, 1990). As such, parents or legal guardians ideally help guide them in their path toward adulthood to learn to make sound life choices. However, the level of marginalization delinquent juveniles face is particularly sticking. “Being a dependent in our society implies being legitimately subject to the often arbitrary and invasive authority of social service providers and other public and private administrators, who enforce rules with which the marginal must comply, and otherwise exercise power over the conditions of their lives”( Young, 1990). At CCJTDC, there is no system in place to track the amount (or there lack of) of contact professional personnel encounter with juveniles. There is no system that tracks the counselors’ or mental health physicians’ actives with these juveniles. It is particularly alarming, considering over a third of delinquent juveniles are diagnosed with mental health issues. Additionally, no system is in place that tracks the number of times a particular staff enters a juvenile’s cell. Their privacy could be invaded at any time. They could be subject to invasive authority who enforce rules or orders the juveniles must comply with. If a parent was found to any other situation, this could be seen as abusive by child

Consequentially, they are “expelled from useful participation in social life and thus subjected to severe material deprivation and even extermination. The material deprivation marginalization often causes is certainly unjust, especially in a society where others have plenty” (Young, 1990). The marginalization these youth face once they are released are disadvantageous to their capacity to be civically engaged. They face stigma when they must note that they do have a criminal record on some job applications, college applications all of which can consequentially influence their material deprivation. Marginalization involves the “deprivation of cultural, practical, and institutionalized conditions for exercising capacities in a context of recognition and interaction” (Young, 1990). Delinquent juveniles unjustly face this every day they wake up in a cell at CCJTDC and most juvenile facilities around