Too Little Too Late

Chapter 3 focuses on the youths’ experiences of the punitive and rehabilitative aspects of juvenile justice. This chapter contextualizes depictions of inner-city men as being subject to top-down control mechanisms within a range of alternatives. Left without any support from the juvenile justice system, poverty and violence are as limiting as constant supervision and control.

Conclusion

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Two Cities, Two Systems, Similar Problems

Chapter 2 introduces the teenagers in this study and provides a précis of the structural conditions of juvenile justice at both field sites. The two systems are contextualized within historical and contemporary developments of juvenile justice in the United States.

Introduction

Tell meWhy should it be my lonelinessWhy should it be my songWhy should it be my dreamdeferredoverlong Langston Hughes 1951 When our oldest daughter turned two, my husband bought The Little Engine That Could for her. Having grown up in Germany, I had never read the story before. The plot fascinated me. The children’s books I grew up with definitely did not include tales of overcoming one’s limitations. In the 1980s in Germany ...

“I know how to control myself”

Relying on Michel Foucault’s lectures, published as Hermeneutics of the Subject, chapter 7 presents the distinction between “creative desistance” and “automatic desistance.” Based on four cases studies, these concepts describe different strategies of action that develop in response to specific structural limitations the juvenile justice system imposed.

The Uncertainty of Freedom

After their release from juvenile justice facilities, many teenagers have to wear ankle bracelets and are supervised by probation officers or caseworkers. Being constantly supervised conflicts with the teenagers’ narrative of agency and self-reliance. On the other hand, it allows them to negotiate a volatile environment and to go through a manageable process of rehabilitation without confronting persisting and disempowering structural forces.

Weak Ties—Strong Emotions

The interactions with staff members, clinicians, and probation officers are either fleeting or are shaped by power imbalance and mistrust. Even as they are embedded in a network of social workers, clinicians, and regular staff members, the young men realize that these connections are temporary and won’t translate into sustained support on the outside.

Imagining Desistance

The concept of “imagined desistance” accounts for the observation that all the young men who participated in this study are convinced that they won’t be rearrested after their initial stay at a detention facility. The institutional structures of juvenile justice encourage teenagers to frame their incarceration as a positive turning point, but they don’t allow young men to create a nondeviant identity that is built on positive experiences of an alternative self.

The Role of Agency in the Desistance Process

Chapter 1 connects the narrative of the American dream to the teenagers' cycles of desistance and recidivism. The rhetoric of the American dream generates unrealistic expectations about desisting from crime. The concepts of “imagined desistance,” “automatic desistance,” and “creative desistance” capture the discrepancy between theory and practice of the reentry process.