violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“When I went to prison, I was around all the violence. I was like, ‘man I gotta get outof this – how am I gonna get out of this prison?’ I can’t do no life sentence hereat that age. And so I thought of that [killing himself]. Gotta end it, gotta end it...I’ve got so many cuts on me… Razor blades. They give us disposable razors.”Boy, sentenced to life without parole for an offence committed at 14, North America, 2005 VIIIto violence, neglect, or poor living conditions.Prolonged or indefinite detention and isolationalso contribute to poor mental health (discussedabove) and the risk of self-harm.In the USA, 110 youth suicides are reported tohave occurred nationwide in juvenile facilitiesfrom 1995 to 1999. 141 In 2002, a total of 122juvenile detention facilities reported transportingat least one child to a hospital emergencyroom because of a suicide attempt. 142 In theUK, 29 children died in detention between1990 and September 2005. Twenty-sevenhanged themselves, the youngest aged 14, andone died while being restrained. 143For children detained in adult facilities, therisks of self-harm are particularly great; somestudies in the USA indicate that childrendetained in adult jails or prisons are up toeight times more likely to commit suicide thanthose detained in juvenile facilities. 144Does child detention ‘work’?200Violence against Children in care and justice institutionsChildren subjected to detention are more likely to commit offences in the future thanchildren placed in diversion programmes. In the USA, virtually every study examiningrecidivism among children sentenced to juvenile detention facilities has found that atleast 50–70% of offenders are re-arrested within one or two years after their release. 145In contrast, recidivism rates for children placed in some community-based alternativeprogrammes are as low as 10%. 146 Recidivism is particularly acute for childrendetained with adults. In Cambodia, an estimated six out of 10 children detained inadult prisons are re-arrested for more serious crimes after their release. 147According to one juvenile justice expert: “Evaluation research indicates that incarceratingyoung offenders in large, congregate-care juvenile institutions does not effectivelyrehabilitate and may actually harm them. A century of experience with training schoolsand youth prisons demonstrates that they constitute the one extensively evaluated andclearly ineffective method to treat delinquents.” 148