Juvenile boot camps refer to the alternative sentencing option for a non-violent juvenile offender in which rather than being incarcerated in a juvenile detention center, offender are put through physical and psychological exercises similar to those developed from military basic training. To be sure, similar to military boot camp offender are required to obey their “drill sergeants”, complete a range of daily tasks and challenges, and do so with a minimum level of defiance. In fact, defiance to orders results in increased confrontation and pressure from one’s drill sergeant. The goals of a boot camp, like all criminal punishments, was to incapacitate, deter, and rehabilitate. To be sure, rehabilitation was seen as the foremost goal. In fact, the hope was that through the boot camp the offender will develop the skills, attitude and will to be able to make a positive contribution to himself and the community upon completion of the sentence (OJJDP, 1997).
Juvenile boot camps became increasingly popular in the 1980s and 1990s (Muscar, 2008)). The idea behind them was that if military basic training was successful in transforming young men into “officers and gentleman” then the same should be possible for transforming non-violent juvenile offenders into outstanding citizens. Initially, they were quite popular. By 1996, over half the states in the national had established boot camp programs (MacKenzie et al., 2001). However, as time passed and more research was able to be completed on boot camps; it became clear that they were not perfect and in some cases they were detrimental to the purposes for which they were established, namely rehabilitation.
The case of Martin Lee Anderson is illustrative. Anderson, who was a boot camp participant in Florida, from suffocation as a result of extreme physical activity and the physical trauma cause by boot camp guards that were trying to get Anderson to complete his tasks. Despite, Anderson’s death, boot camps seem to be a valuable sentencing alternative for non-violent juvenile offenders. More specifically, they are a viable alternative as long as they are properly regulated and staffed so that the situation that led to Anderson’s death does not happen again. The alternative, is to house non-violent offenders in juvenile detention centers don’t seem to provide any positives for non-violent offenders.
References
Mackenzie, D.L., Gover, A.R., Armstrong, G.S. & Mitchell, O. (2001, Aug.). A national study comparing the environments of boot camps with traditional facilities for juvenile offenders. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/187680.pdf
Muscar, J.E. (2008). Advocating the end of juvenile boot camps: Why the military model does not belong in the juvenile justice system. Retrieved from http://jjlp.law.ucdavis.edu/archives/vol-12-no-1/Muscar.pdf
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). (1997). Boot camps for juvenile offenders. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/164258.pdf
