Boot Camps

The notion that offenders, particularly juvenile delinquents, would benefit from military-style boot camp regimes dates from the late 1980s. It was hoped that such a setting would “build character” as it is thought to do in true military contexts and that the harsh discipline encountered there would serve as a form of “shock therapeutic corrections,” which would jolt the minor offender and delinquents into a more conformist state of mind. It should be noted that such facilities were often created at former military bases and were significantly cheaper to run than were traditional juvenile facilities. Boot camps also served to reduce overcrowding at existing more custody-based facilities. At base, however, the philosophy that underlies correctional boot camps is not primarily economic; it is essentially a punitive response to the growth in urban crime in that period and reflects the notion that all that is needed to curb delinquency is harsh discipline that would put an end to the assumed permissiveness of the juvenile's parenting.

It was thus implicit that such a regime would build accountability and pride in achieving modest goals through teamwork. Some facilities put a [Page 160]heavy emphasis on literacy and ensuring that those who completed the program were also academically on track. Offenders with alcohol and drug problems were to receive specially targeted therapeutic intervention in some programs. The sad fact is that after boot camps for both juveniles and adults had been established in the 1990s, numerous evaluative studies showed that they had little or no impact on significant behavior variables once the juveniles left the treatment milieu. Although the focus of most literature on correctional boot camps concerns those operating in the public sphere, it should be noted there are privately operated, commercial juvenile boot camps (“brat camps”) in some areas. While some of these facilities deal with court referrals, Many are the last resort of relatively affluent parents with ungovernable children. Many of these have a “wilderness” approach involving much outdoor exercise and work with domestic animals. A few have a religious orientation that involves heavy immersion in biblically-based discipline and scripture.

While Georgia opened the first boot camp for adults in 1983, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, began the first boot camp for juveniles in 1985. by the 1990s there were 70 juvenile boot camps in 30 states, most employing a program similar to that of military boot camps. Inmates went through a degrading intake procedure in which their heads were shaved, they were given military-type garb, and issued bunks. they were subject to extremely early rising (often to the tune of a bugle), calisthenics, and drills. As in the military, misbehavior or an error by one member of a squad resulted in punishment for the entire squad or individual drill collectively. Punishment usually consisted of running laps or performing meaningless exercises. Some instances have been reported of food and water being denied and sleep deprivation being used as punishment.

Much effort was expended on verbal abuse and humiliation from “drill sergeants” who had squads participate in “team-and character-building” activities that Many participants found degrading and pointless. Some shocking instances of abuses by guards and instructors have been reported. It should be noted that Many instructors were former drill sergeants, retired from the military. Camps [Page 161]differed widely in how much time was devoted to education and therapeutic intervention. It has been alleged that both education and therapy were strictly subordinate to the rigors of the boot camp milieu and the demands of custody. This, however, varied from facility to facility. It is notable that some camps made real efforts to educate, counsel, and help those offenders with special needs. Aftercare and reentry programs were generally lacking given the little attention paid to the young offenders’ need to transition to the real world and the streets.

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