The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs

How the "boot camp" industry tortures and kills kids

Maia Szalavitz from the January 2007 issue

(Page 4 of 4)

Because Anderson was African-American, some activists raised the question of racism. (Most teens killed in these programs have been white, since blacks are less likely to be able to afford the private camps and more likely to be incarcerated instead of diverted to public boot camps.) On April 19, students occupied the governor’s office in an attempt to spur the arrest of the guards responsible for Anderson’s death. Two days later, more than 1,500 people attended a rally at the state Capitol in Tallahassee calling for the state to shut down its boot camps. (Full disclosure: I spoke there about the dangers of the tough love approach.) The event was also aimed at keeping pressure on prosecutors to indict the guards and the nurse who didn’t stop the beating. At the rally, two Florida legislators spoke in favor of legislation that would shut down the boot camps. Tunnell was forced to resign as head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after he mocked two men invited to speak at the rally, referring to Jesse Jackson as “Jesse James” and to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (who ultimately did not attend the event) as “Osama bin Laden.”

This series of events has placed an unusual spotlight on tough love, connecting it not with rehabilitation but with death, cronyism, and bigotry. Previous deaths haven’t generated anywhere near as much activism.

To his credit, Jeb Bush recently signed into law a bill that shuts down the state’s youth boot camps. The replacement programs it creates are prohibited from using physical punishment or “harmful psychological intimidation techniques,” including humiliation and attempts to “psychologically break a child’s will.” But the kinder, gentler programs will still be run by the county sheriffs, and the regulations (which are limited to Florida, of course) do not apply to the majority of programs, which are private. Right now, children sent to private tough love programs have fewer rights than convicted prisoners. A parent can send a child to a private program where he can be held incommunicado until he turns 18, without any medical diagnosis or rationale for the treatment and without any oversight or means of appeal.

In both public and private programs, policies on the use of force are far less stringent than they are for adult prisoners or psychiatric patients. At the government-run boot camp where Anderson died, for example, restraint, punches, and kicks were routinely applied to teens to punish them for not completing exercise, for “whimpering,” or for “breathing heavily.” Administrators who reviewed 180 “use of force” reports found inappropriate actions in only eight cases, even though most people would think that beating someone for “breathing heavily” is not acceptable. In a prison or mental hospital, by contrast, force is officially permitted only if the prisoner or patient is an immediate threat to himself or others. Parents who engaged in such practices could be charged with child abuse.

And the parents who send their kids to these camps? For the most part, they are uninformed about the absence of evidence supporting tough love programs and often desperate to save their kids from drugs and delinquency. Until we figure out a better balance between the right of parents to place their kids in whatever programs they choose and the right of kids to be free from inappropriate punishment by agents of their parents or the state, the abuse will continue. The shame of it all is that we know hurting kids doesn’t help them.

Maia Szalavitz ([e-mail]) is the author of Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids (Riverhead).

Comments

|10.4.09 @ 3:00PM|#

I think parents now consider on how well they can control their troubled teens by learning & training their selves with the tools that are necessary for effective parenting of today's teens. Limits and rules are critical in the development of safety, growth, and fulfillment of individuals or groups. If you are dealing with a troubled or defiant teen you are already familiar with the need for more defined structure. When setting rules for troubled teens you need to create several layers of preventative rules to assist your teen. For example: It probably would not work to have a rule of "Don't Use Drugs" but then allow your teen to associate with drug using friends or hang out at the wrong places. You should set some very clear preventative rules with your teens concerning "WHO" they may associate with, "WHAT" types of activities they are allowed to attend and/or participate, "WHERE" they are allowed to go, and "WHEN" they may go, as well as expected to return.
http://www.helpfortroubledteen.....tions.html , these suggestions might be very helpful for parents of troubled teens.

Pingback| 10.9.09 @ 10:32AM

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with Troubled Teen Programs - Reason Magazine | Finally! Be free from smoking Finally! Be free from smoking Home The Trouble with Troubled Teen Programs - Reason Magazine January 1, 1970 Jonathan Foulds, MA, MAppSci, PhD wrote an intriguing post today on Here’s a little taster As far back as 1978, however, employees had begun to quit Straight and contact regulators, reporting beatings and other…

Jacob W|10.12.09 @ 1:07PM|#

Anderson's death never should have happened. The biggest problem with these types of programs is the lack of staff training. If the staff think a kid is faking they should treat the kid just as if they were having a serious problem. Most deaths occur within the first few days of being admitted. The first days are very challenging for the teens and the staff. The problems with many of these kids are deeper than the outward signs they are displaying. There needs to be better oversight on these programs and better training dealing with new admissions. There are also reviews available for many of these places online http://fortroubledteens.com