In boot camps, offenders are subjected to military style training for a period of six months or more. The daily routine is very demanding and includes running, drills, marches, and manual labor. The hopeful outcome will be an offender who has learned a valuable lesson in self-discipline and a respect for authority.

Boot camp is a short institutional sentence designed to improve offender’s self esteem and discipline. Since there inception, boot camps have been used as an alternative sanction to reduce prison populations (Wells, 142). They are also designed to reduce recidivism and rising prison operating costs.

In their original form, correctional boot camps are in prison programs that imitate the structure and military style discipline of basic training (Wells, 142). They emphasize vigorous physical activity, drill exercises, manual labor, and other activities that greatly reduce an inmates free time (Wells, 142). Like military drill instructors, correctional officers use intense verbal tactics designed to shock and break an individual’s resistance to change (Wells, 142). Today, boot camps also add more promising components such as drug treatment programs and post release supervision.

Phase two is called the Academy. Juveniles’ graduation into the Academy move from a secure individual environment to a group barracks with 30 peers. In phase two cadets learn the values of self-control, responsibility, and education. Juveniles also continue to learn trust and how to respect authority through specifically designed classes.

Prisons are also beginning to look at boot camps\' successes to apply them to an even bigger problem within the prison systems. Larger populations are harder to control and have a higher rate of violence. Officers are exploring ways to control mis-conduct and violence in these populations. Results from boot camps seem to be offering the most reasonable solutions. Boot camps fulfill a variety of important goals for both offender and correctional agencies (Hayeslip). How successful they are and their future will ultimately be determined on the quality of the programs themselves. If there is an effort made on total rehabilitation then boot camps will evolve and improve with time. If the program sets itself up for failure with unrealistic goals and time frames, boot camps may fail as a whole. It is however proven that a camp that combines a variety of rehabilitation services that includes physical, emotional, mental, and therapeutic needs can be successful in achieving the goals set forth by the idea of a boot camp. According to Mike Slusher of the Koch Crime Institute, running a boot camp is a lot like being a parent. Some will be successful while others fail. It is all about what you put into it. If a parent is a good role model and is there for the child, then the result will almost always be positive (Wells, 142).

When properly ran, female boot camps have shown the same success that other camps enjoy. The focus must be on the needs of incarcerated women. Classes on substance abuse, parenting, vocational training, counseling to victims of sexual abuse or domestic violence must be implemented in addition to discipline, exercise, and drills (Mackenzie). One example of such a program is New York\'s Shock Incarceration Program. New York\'s program models a therapeutic community approach. This includes intense drug and alcohol abuse treatment, life skills training, decision making, and academic education (Mackenzie). To graduate the six-month program a cadet must complete 500 hours of physical training and drill. They must also complete 780 hours of substance abuse treatment, as well as 210 hours of programming related to academic education (McCarty, 9). In addition, parenting, abuse issues, and domestic violence are addressed in treatment programs along with health and nutrition (Sharp, 3).

The goals of male boot camps are no different than they are for females and juveniles. Easing prison crowding is more of an issue with male camps because there is a larger number of male offenders. The same principles for success however are the same for all three. They are a combination of intense physical training, education, and drug and alcohol treatments. This is a key combination for success to be achieved in a matter of months or a year. Two programs stand out particularly in men\'s correctional boot camps. They are Louisiana\'s About Face Program, and New York\'s Shock Incarceration Program.

Phase one begins four months of shock incarceration. During this period, an extensive training program begins based upon a

Some topics in this essay:
Juvenile Justice, Overview York’s, Program York's, Incarceration Program, Institute Justice, Orleans Louisiana, Juvenile Court, Academy Juveniles’, Admission Program, Thesis Boot, boot camps, boot camp, nick 16, dale 91, juvenile offenders, kennedy 78, dale 94, shock incarceration, dale 95, york's shock incarceration, male boot, shock incarceration program, correctional boot camps, boot camps goals, female boot camps,