JAILING OF AMERICAN-INDIAN ADOLESCENTS - THE LEGACY OF CULTURAL DOMINATION AND IMPOSED LAW

Based on a random sample of 300 youth detained prior to trial in a Sou thwestern Indian Community, this paper analyzes the pre-trial incarcer ation of American Indian adolescents. It discusses two major similarit ies between the detention of adolescents in this Indian community and the detention of adolescents nationwide, including the minimalization of the potentially deleterious effects of incarcerating adolescents an d the detention of minor offenders. It also emphasizes divergences bet ween the detention of adolescents in the Indian community and the dete ntion of adolescents nationwide: a much higher rate of detention and r ecidivism on the reservation; the multiplicity of legal jurisdictions to which Indian adolescents are subject; administration of the reserva tion detention facilities by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) personnel with minimal training in adolescent services; the unique power of BIA police to determine unilaterally who will be detained initially; and t he extreme lack of alternative resources for adolescents and families within the Indian community.