Y O U N G V O I C E S I N T H E H O O D

treated, could be salvaged and returned to their communities as

healthy and productive citizens. What clearly distinguished juvenile justice was the idea that young people should be treated diĆłerently than adult oĆłenders. But in the 1980s and 1990s that philosophy

came under increasing attack, as the image of juvenile crime became more graphic and sensational.

In response to the perception that youth oĆłenders were more vio-

lent and dangerous, a much more aggressive approach was adopted

by the juvenile justice apparatus. Throughout the nineties manage-

ment of the agency California’s young wards simply called �śthe YA”

reflected the shift toward punishment in the U.S. criminal justice

system. By 2000 the CYA was a $427 million a year operation whose

eleven institutions and four fire-fighting camps housed 7,563 wards.

But its approach to dealing with young oĆłenders generated statewide conflict and controversy. Several prisoners’ rights and youth advo-cacy organizations began to document what they called systematic

abuses and a poorly run state department that was wasting the pub-

lic’s money and, most significantly, causing juveniles more harm

than good.

As an assortment of first-hand accounts and outside reviews

began to shed light on life inside the CYA, the concerns and scrutiny intensified. Many wards of the CYA shared stories that were often

haunting. Discussing his experience, one former ward said, �śWhen

they put me in YA, they didn’t sit down with me and say, �ŚWe’re feel-ing what you’re going through, we want to help you.’ It wasn’t like that. What they did was lock me up, throw me in the cage, take me to the psychologist, he diagnosed me as crazy, and they gave me drugs.

That was the solution.” Like many other wards, he described the CYA as a place where rehabilitation was an afterthought and staĆł abuses were common.

In addition, family members had to face the growing likelihood

that life in the CYA for their children would be full of harsh treat-ment and inadequate care. One mother, discussing the CYA experi-

ence of her son, expressed the fears of many parents in an editorial

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