JUVENILE
INSTITUTIONS
IN GENERALThe following is more related to children that are growing up or are confined for long periods of time in institutions, where there is a great danger of them becoming institutionalized, children that started off in institutions because of no fault of their own.
I would like to say, that I would like to see the elimination of all juvenile institutions but I am a realistic person and can see instances where they may be needed. But not in the form I grew up in and many still are. The orphanage I was in still stands but is no longer used as an orphanage. The Iowa State Juvenile Home and the Iowa Training School for Boys are still serving the purpose that they were built for. According to letters, interviews with ex-students of the training school and newspaper articles and what I have personally viewed of the juvenile home, they are still having abuse problems, among other things in both of those institutions. To me it sounds like business as usual.
The Colorado Training School for Boys I was in is no longer for juveniles but for adults as it is the same for the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood, Colorado. The Federal Reform School for Boys at Elreno, Oklahoma is still for boys as far as I know.
I will not go into what I feel institutions were like when I was in them, I think I have pretty well covered that already. I will go to what I think institutions (If they are really necessary.) should be like.
First off I do not believe that they should be large institutions like I was in. If it should be found that it is necessary for them to be large then those institutions should be built and operated as Boys' Town in Omaha, Nebraska is. As a early teen-age boy I had no problem in wanting to go there. And from what I have learn about Boys' Town since I was an early teen-age boy I wish I had gone there.
I believe that those large institutions should be replaced with group homes. They should be operated as close to a normal family life as possible. Those group homes should have a mix of the sexes, boys and girls. Children should never be separated to the extent that boys and girls do not have a normal relationship between them. The children should be counseled so they may learn to live in a free and normal society.
These group homes should be scattered well throughout a community, not closely together. The children should be allowed to go to normal public schools, churches and other activities that children with normal lives attend.
If a child has a runaway problem then this child has to be confined in such a way that he or she will not be able to run away but not isolated. The sole purpose of confining a child in this way is to be able to counsel that child. For children that run away are in great danger for they have no protection from those who will harm them and there are many out there that will harm them.
A child or adolescent should never be looked upon as though they are a problem but rather they have problems and need help with them. Their problems are due to events which have happened in their lives, due to the neglect and abuse of others.
To restrain or to drug a child is a very questionable decision on my part. A drug is not a cure but only a temporary tool. If a drug had been used on me in the orphanage, the juvenile home or even the training school it may have slowed me down a bit but unless I had received professional help with my problems it would not of helped me. The use of a drug may have reduced some of a institution's problems though and that is what the staff of most institutions seem to be most concerned about.
The use of restraints, whether it is handcuffs, shackles, straps or any other method, to me is another questionable practice. First off is the child in the right institution that he or her may get the right professional help? To find it necessary to use restraints on a child is a very drastic decision. I have data in my files, as recent as the last five years, were restraints are being used on juveniles in the Toledo Juvenile Home and elsewhere. One statement by a leading person at one of the institutions, that they have to use restraints, for the child is a danger to themselves or others. It is kind of hard to argue that.
Have you ever noticed, when a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or anyone that professionally deals with children states that it is necessary to do something to a child it is so hard to argue the fact? Don't we think, "Who am I to argue with them, they are trained in these things?" I'm sorry but I don't look at it that way, I question each case, as to whether or not it is beneficial to the child or is it really a convenient way to maintain control of the institution.
Though I may find a lot of argument from many but I feel that all professions just mentioned are still in their infancy. True they do know a lot more about children than I do but I look at it from the point of view of a child that was there. I don't suppose that there are very many in the professions that were there as a child.
Corporal punishment in any form as far as I know is strictly forbidden by every state in the union. It was in Iowa when I was a child and still is but it still happens. In my case it was even condoned by the head of the institutions. There is suppose to be checks and balances in the system that is suppose to prevent this but apparently they don't always work. From a small slap to the conditions of the Iowa Training School for Boys in 1945 is but a small step. Corporal punishment is only a defective tool in maintaining control of an institution and can only instill fear within a child. There are no positive benefits derived from it.
Isolation as I knew it is an unacceptable practice it serves no other purpose but to cause harm to a child's mind. If it should be found necessary to separate a child from others then only an unlocked "quite room" should be used and then only for a limited number of hours not to extend into the next day. At no time, not even in a training school, should a child be locked alone in a room for long extended periods of time for any reason. If a child should be considered a "chronic runaway" then a confined environment must be provided for that child but not alone with an older adolescent in a locked and an unmonitored room. To do so is to only setup the younger one to be raped, and it will happen.
It must always be remembered by all of those who are involved with children in the juvenile system that the children have problems and those problems were created by the neglect and abuse of others and that they need help with those problems. I don't buy that "Bad seed" stuff. A child is not a "bad child" but a confused and misguided one. They desperately need a "Big brother" or "Sister" in their life. Someone that they can turn and open up to. They need to know that they are not a "bad child," that someone cares and loves them. They need a lot of attention and as it was once put to me in a negative way, "A lot of hugging and loving." In that sense they are no different than any other child that is home with their parents. Am I saying you should sit down and cry with them? Tell the child how sorry you are for the bad deal they got in life? No. That is about the worst thing you could do to the child.
Never should murders, rapist and other violent offenders be allowed to mix or associate with adolescents that have been sent to an institution for shop-lifting, joy riding, runaway problem or for any other nonviolent behavior that may be causing problems within a community. Violent offenders should not even be in the same institution as nonviolent offenders. Violent offenders need special handling but not under the heading of brutal treatment. They need a place where their specific problems can be dealt with in a constructive way.
A child must be able to express his or her feelings in a constructive way. A child is not always happy, especially ones in institutions. A child needs to cry and to be angry at times. How else can a child learn to deal with those emotions? It is healthy for children to cry and to be angry at times, to deny them these emotions is to only blind them.
I am fully aware that there is a division in most of the juvenile systems that investigates child abuse cases in institutions. But when there is a failure to prevent abuse, the common "excuse" I hear from those divisions, they are underpaid, under trained and drastically understaffed. I use the word "excuse" for that is all it is, nothing is ever done about it.
What do I see that could possibly oversee this system and the institutions to prevent abuses? If there is anything that the institutions and politicians fear it is a negative report to the public as to conditions in institutions or group homes. Yes abuses do happen in group homes too. If the leading newspapers of a state have free, unannounced access, on a regular basis, to any and all juvenile institutions, group homes or anywhere children are confined, and if they have the un-escorted freedom to go anywhere in those institutions and to talk to any child, I believe that you will find that the trend in abuses will be greatly reduced. Lets put it this way, adults will become "gun shy." Those adults will scream but what is more important, the good feelings of adults who are paid to protect and care for a child to do as they please or the safety and well being of a child.
I also realize that some children will complain of abuse when no abuse actually occurred but this is no reason to ignore all abuses or let some slide by. Every child that complains of abuse should have his or her day in court. I might also point out, children do not always know they are being abused.
I also believe that a qualified person needs to be in the large institutions, that has close contact with all of the children as their advocate, not answerable to the head of the institution but to a higher authority.
If a child goes into any private institution, hospital, mental health center, daily reports are made out on all aspects of that child. Is it being done in state juvenile institutions? Not very likely. I can hear the cry going up, "We don't have the time to do all of that." I would say that they are already over- burden and need more help. "But that will cost more money!" I hear from the state legislature. It is quite simple. If a society feels they need a system that will protect and help children and they want it, then they must pay the cost willing or not or get out of the business and let private corporations do the job. The corporations would probably do it better for they would be closely monitored.
When I speak of daily reports on a child, what I should find in those reports: That child's attitude, disposition any behavior problems noted. Was the child lighthearted and happy maybe laughing a lot and associating quite freely with other children? Was the child sullen, depressed and stayed mostly off to himself or herself? Did the child show anger and if so what were the circumstances surrounding that anger? Was there any physical contact between an adult and the child? What were the circumstances? Those and many more questions should appear on a daily, weekly and monthly "form" report.
If a child should be disciplined in any manner, a detailed report needs to be made out to all of the particulars. If there had been physical contact between the adult and the child this is the time, while it is still fresh in the adult's mind to describe the circumstances surrounding the event. If it is not reported then it could very easily be considered child abuse.
With the computers of today there is no limit as to the information that could be kept about a child. There are many personnel at the institution that should have this information available to them, it should also be freely disclosed to the child's advocate.
Sexual abuse in juvenile institutions is much more common than what most people would think. Based on my time I was in the institutions the practice was alive if not well. After leaving the orphanage I do not know of one institution where dominate boys didn't have some form of sex with less dominate boys. I don't know of any sexual abuse by adults toward their charges other than what happened to me. But I am a very strong believer in the "Tip of the iceberg" and "Where there is smoke there is fire" theory. Then there is Murphy's Law, "If it is at all possible, it will happen."
A few years ago I happened to be in a juvenile institution and needed to use the rest room open to visitors. There was only one stool and it was in use so I patiently waited. As I waited I noticed that there were two boys in the booth. From the position of their legs and their clothes it was very obvious to me what they were doing. I banged on the door, seeing that it was locked, and told them to come out.
The big boy was a mid-teen-age boy, the younger one about nine or ten. I was somewhat angry, which was unusual for me, I told the older boy if I caught him near the little boy again I would report him and sent him on his way.
The little boy was crying and scared. I talked with the boy for a few minutes telling him I understood and I knew that it wasn't his fault. I told him that no one should ever do that to him and if they tried to he should report it. There had been a canteen area near by and we had walked to it and sat down and talked as he drank a can of pop. We had talked about how he was and some of the things he was doing in the institution. I never reported that incident to any of the staff of the institution out of respect for the little boy's wishes. I knew full well where he was coming from. But I have often wondered if I had done the right thing.
Yes, sexual abuse is alive if not well in institutions. Steps have to be taken to prevent it. You can't have the attitude, "It don't happen here." You have to be aware of the possibilities and be on guard. Unlike girls when in some instances sex is normal between male and female, sex between males is never normal. Because of that a boy never wants anyone to know when he has been raped by another male. It most likely will be a secret he will carry with him the rest of his life and it can be devastating to him. A boy being raped by another male, adolescent or an adult, is not quite like a girl being raped, I think that it is much worse.
Where man is involved, there is nothing on this earth that is perfect. The way it looks I will have to soon say beyond our solar system. I have an old saying, "There isn't anything that has been invented that someday, someone won't improve on it." It is the same way with the child welfare system, it needs a lot of improving but it will never be perfect. I just hope that someday, no child will have to go through a life like I did. Right now there are too many. I hope that in some way this book will make a difference.SUMMERY
If you want to know what the institutions are doing in your state, go to the library and look at the microfilm of the leading newspapers in your state. Look in the index for the microfilm, the institutions you will want to look at will be listed individually. Or if you have the time go visit one. But if you do visit one I am sure they will only let you see what they want you to see and tell you only the good news about themselves. I am sure what you hear and see will be most favorable -- to them. Pardon my sarcastic attitude but remember, I grew up there, they were my homes, I know where the dirty linen is kept. Check out the Isolation units. The disciplinary areas. By all means talk to the kids that seem to always be running away and have emotional problems. There is a reason as to why they are running away and it isn't always necessary because of physical mistreatment in the institution. But how do the institutions respond to run away problems?
I am sure that there are many people out there that will disagree with me on many things I have said, some with some very impressive degrees, I want to remind them, I lived it and they only read about it in books and a limited amount of case studies in their practice. I think I speak for all of those that had the misfortune of being raised in a state institution and and group homes and all but had their lives destroyed because of it. Also the ones who felt couldn't make it and had jumped from "Suicide bridge."
Today I am still searching, trying to understand who and what I really am. Wondering, with what I have left what I can make of the future. But I am extremely proud of the little boy who once lived there and I no longer feel a need to cry for him. I only cry for those of today and of the future. This boy's story has now been told and by that maybe there was a point in his life, a reason for it. Maybe it wasn't all for nothing.
The answer to all of these above problems is for many to care enough to remove these children from those group homes, institutions and elsewhere and give them a good home and a chance for a happy life.In closing I wish to express to my ex-wife, my daughter, my two sons, my mother, my brother and any others who I may have hurt along the way, my deep sorrow for hurting them. I can only say, I did my best.
Larry Eugene The Orphan Boy
