High Rate of Sex Abuse at Juvenile Centers

[chanel]

A government study issued Thursday finds 13 juvenile detention facilities around the country have high rates of sex abuse and victimization, with nearly 1 out of every 3 inmates reporting some type of victimization.

The Justice Department study found that nationwide, about 12 percent of youths held in state-run, privately run, or local facilities reported some type of sexual victimization -- but those rates varied widely from place to place. Six sites had reported victimization rates of 30 percent or higher.

"What those numbers say to me is that there are failures in hiring, training, supervision and response and accountability around this issue," said Linda McFarlane, deputy executive director of Just Detention International, which fights to end sexual abuse of those who are detained.

About 10 percent of youths surveyed reported incidents involved facility staff people, and nearly all of those complaints were against female staffers.

About 2 percent of the reported incidents involving other young inmates.

The study identified six facilities where the survey found at least 3 out of every 10 inmates said they were sexually victimized while in custody: Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana; Corsicana Residential Treatment Center in Texas; Backbone Mountain Youth Center in Swanton, Md.; Samarkand Youth Development Center in Eagle Springs, N.C.; Cresson Secure Treatment Unit in Pennsylvania; and the Culpeper Juvenile Correctional Center, Long Term, in Mitchells, Va.

At Pendleton, the rate of incidents was double the national average for such facilities.

Another seven sites reported nearly as high levels of sexual abuse or victimization: Victory Field Correctional Academy in Vernon, Texas; Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility; Shawono Center in Grayling, Michigan; Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, Tenn.; L.E. Rader Center in Sand Springs, Okla.; Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Virginia; New Jersey Training School in Monroe Township, N.J.Staff sexual misconduct was higher in state-run facilities than in privately or locally operated sites, the study found, and smaller facilities tended to have fewer incidents of sexual victimization.

New Jersey 101.5 FM - Report: High Rate of Sex Abuse at Juvenile Centers

Does anyone else think these numbers may be bullshit?

 

[strollingbones]

the key term is "some type of"....hell i experience some type of hell daily.....maybe the standards are low there...maybe not...

 

[AkronGuy]

A government study issued Thursday finds 13 juvenile detention facilities around the country have high rates of sex abuse and victimization, with nearly 1 out of every 3 inmates reporting some type of victimization.

The Justice Department study found that nationwide, about 12 percent of youths held in state-run, privately run, or local facilities reported some type of sexual victimization -- but those rates varied widely from place to place. Six sites had reported victimization rates of 30 percent or higher.

"What those numbers say to me is that there are failures in hiring, training, supervision and response and accountability around this issue," said Linda McFarlane, deputy executive director of Just Detention International, which fights to end sexual abuse of those who are detained.

About 10 percent of youths surveyed reported incidents involved facility staff people, and nearly all of those complaints were against female staffers.

About 2 percent of the reported incidents involving other young inmates.

The study identified six facilities where the survey found at least 3 out of every 10 inmates said they were sexually victimized while in custody: Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana; Corsicana Residential Treatment Center in Texas; Backbone Mountain Youth Center in Swanton, Md.; Samarkand Youth Development Center in Eagle Springs, N.C.; Cresson Secure Treatment Unit in Pennsylvania; and the Culpeper Juvenile Correctional Center, Long Term, in Mitchells, Va.

At Pendleton, the rate of incidents was double the national average for such facilities.

Another seven sites reported nearly as high levels of sexual abuse or victimization: Victory Field Correctional Academy in Vernon, Texas; Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility; Shawono Center in Grayling, Michigan; Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, Tenn.; L.E. Rader Center in Sand Springs, Okla.; Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Virginia; New Jersey Training School in Monroe Township, N.J.Staff sexual misconduct was higher in state-run facilities than in privately or locally operated sites, the study found, and smaller facilities tended to have fewer incidents of sexual victimization.

New Jersey 101.5 FM - Report: High Rate of Sex Abuse at Juvenile Centers

Does anyone else think these numbers may be bullshit?

I did time at juvenile centers and there is a lot of sexual abuse, by youths and staff. When I was locked up at them, it wasn't so much different than that one movie about those kids from Brooklynn who go to that reformatory and're terrorized and brutalized. I can't even begin to count how many times I'd personally witnessed the brutal beating of youths by staff entrusted to care for them. And the sexual abuse thing is a reality, you have emotionally distrubed teenagers with hormones going and a lot of sexual abuse in their history, so it's going to happen sadly enough. But where I've seen, staff would facilitate it and collaborate with sexual predators or were predators themselves.