After the Doors Were Locked, A History of Youth Corrections in California and the Origins of Twenty-First Century Reform

The California youth corrections system is going through the most sweeping improvement in its 154- year history. The amazing nature of this modification is exposed by the striking decrease in the state’s youth imprisonment rate.

In 1996, with 10,000 youth restricted in 11 state-run reformatories, California boasted the country’s 3rd greatest youth imprisonment rate. Now, with just 800 youth staying in a system consisted of simply 3 organizations, California has among the country’s least expensive youth imprisonment rate.

How did such extraordinary modifications take place and what were the important conditions that produced them? Daniel E. Macallair responds to these concerns through an assessment of the California youth corrections system’s origins and advancement, and the patterns and practices that eventually resulted in its death.

Starting in the 19 th century, California followed nationwide juvenile justice patterns by consigning mistreated, disregarded, and overdue youth to gather together care organizations referred to as reform schools. These organizations were defined by their focus on regimentation, stiff structure, and extreme discipline.

Behind the walls of these organizations, kids and youth, who varied in age from 8 to 21, underwent offensive ruthlessness. In spite of regular public protest, life in California reform schools altered bit from the opening of the San Francisco Industrial School in 1859 to the dissolution of the California Youth Authority (CYA) in 2005.

By accepting popular nationwide patterns at different times, California encapsulates much of the history of youth corrections in the United States. The California story is extraordinary because the state typically presumed a management function in embracing ingenious policies meant to enhance institutional treatment.

The California juvenile justice system stands at the limit of a brand-new period as it shifts from a 19 th century state-centered institutional design to a decentralized structure constructed around localized services provided at the county level.

After the Doors Were Locked is the very first to chronicle the distinct history of youth corrections and institutional care in California and examine the origins these days’s reform efforts. This book provides important details and assistance to present and future generations of policy makers, administrators, judges, supporters, trainees and scholars.

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