Citation

Mulvey EP, Schubert CA, Odgers CA. Crim. Justice Behav. 2010; 37(11): 1255-1277.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0093854810380186

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Institutional care is an enduring component of the continuum of care in the juvenile justice system, yet youth perceptions of the placement experience are often overlooked as a source of information about this practice. Little attention is paid to how institutional placements are received by youth as opposed to how they are conceived by the justice system. This article offers an empirically based framework for assessing organizational climate in facilities housing serious young offenders based on youth self-reports. The authors provide evidence that juvenile offenders can provide reliable and internally consistent ratings regarding several dimensions of an institution’s environment, using straightforward and relatively easily administered instruments. This work lays the foundation for the development of methods for ongoing monitoring of juvenile justice facilities and the testing of whether aspects of the environments of these facilities affect the subsequent community adjustment of their residents.