Incarcerated Youth

October 1, 2016
Grades 7-10 It's estimated that 54,000 young people are held within the U.S. criminal justice system on any given dayabout 6,000 in adult jails. Most have not committed violent crimes. Many suffer from troubled home lives, including poverty, abuse, and neglect. This informative resource covers the path of young people from school to prison; the freedoms that they lose in prison; the amount of time they are kept in solitary confinement; how they find allies to protect them from sexual and physical harm; and the difficulties many face in receiving proper treatment for mental or substance abuse, as well as the often inadequate educational services available. Along with sobering statistics, it presents powerful and heartbreaking stories of young inmates and highlights some model programs that focus on rehabilitation, rather than incarceration. Stock color photos, source notes, an organization list, further resources, an index, and sidebars that highlight notable quotes and anecdotes from the text are included. This title in the Forgotten Youth series will be useful for student research.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)