The Status of Youth Incarceration in the Caribbean
by Kayla R. Freemon, Lidia E. Nuno, and Charles M. Katz
Edited by Tarik Weekes, MSc
juvenile, youth, Caribbean, incarceration, prison
While recent advancements in juvenile justice across the Caribbean have occurred, little academic inquiry has examined youth incarceration. Using data from the Caribbean Youth Detention Survey collected in nine nations between 2014 and 2015, we examine descriptive statistics and assess country-level differences in youth incarcerated in the Caribbean.
Many of our study nations have a small number of detained youth. While the average youth detainee is 16 years old, male and of African descent, some are as young as 8 and 10 years. Over a quarter of detainees are awaiting sentencing; however, this total is almost 50 per cent in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. While only about a quarter of detained youth have been remanded or sentenced for a violent offence, the majority self-report serious levels of offending prior to incarceration.
Given the relatively small number of youth incarcerated, alternative responses that are highly personalized and empirically identified as effective can be implemented with this sub-population that is at risk of future delinquency.
The Caribbean Journal of Criminology (CJC), a publication of the Institute of Criminal Justice and Security (ICJS), The University of the West Indies (UWI), is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal, published annually, and financed by the four campuses of The UWI. The CJC primarily aims to promote critical examination of the complex and persistent crime and security problems in the Caribbean.
About the author
Kayla R. Freemon is a Criminology and Criminal Justice doctoral student at Arizona State University and a Research Assistant in the Centre for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. She holds a M.S. in Justice, Law, and Criminology from American University and a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Loyola University Chicago. Kayla previously worked as an International Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Department of Justice and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guyana.
Lidia E. Nu˜no is an assistant professor of criminal justice at California State University, Fullerton. Lidia holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology, criminology and criminal justice, and justice studies from Arizona State University. Over the past 12 years, Lidia has collaborated with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, and has worked with active and incarcerated offenders, and at-risk youth in the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean. Her most recent work has appeared in Deviant Behavior, Police Practice and Research and Crime and Delinquency. Her research interests include policing, gangs, risk and protective factors for delinquency and antisocial behavior, and immigration.
Charles M. Katz is the Watts Family Director of the Centre for Violence Prevention and Community Safety and is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. His work focuses on police transformation and strategic responses to crime. He has worked under contract with the Ministry of National Security of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to reform the Trinidad and Tobago Police Services. Since then, he has completed a project funded by the UNDP to assess citizen insecurity throughout the Caribbean and worked for the Eastern Caribbean’s Regional Security System to diagnose the gang problem in nine Caribbean nations and develop a regional approach to responding to gangs. He has also completed several research projects for the US Department of Homeland Security and USAID in El Salvador and Honduras on issues involving the police and an evaluation of a violence prevention and intervention program. He is currently working on the Community, Family and Youth Resilience project and CariSECURE, both sponsored by USAID.
ISBN: CJCv2200000013
Format: PDF
Publication Date: 01/06/2020
