The Troubled Teen Industry: The Social Construction of Delinquent Youth

• In Event: Evaluating the State of Juvenile Justice

Abstract

In the early 20th century, the “child saving movement” streamlined the expulsion of problem youth to institutions for redemptive intervention through reeducation. Today, delinquents are funneled into the “school to prison pipeline” or to privatized behavior modification programs such as wilderness therapy, emotional growth schools and last chance ranches. This study explores a therapeutic boarding school, “Youth Academy Services” (YAS), to understand the social construction of deviance and rehabilitation. Data was collected from online surveys and in-depth interviews of women and men who were sent to YAS during high school. These former students reflect on their experiences from childhood to adulthood sharing their perspectives on transformative identity before, during and after YAS. Analysis reveals the following three major findings: First, teens were labeled “troubled” for being outliers of some sort (disabilities, gifted, behavior, etc.), or as a student put it “everybody was a druggie or a slut”. Second, the individual’s experience of attending the total institution is seemingly paradoxical, resulting in both benefits and detriments. In the program, students learned ways to navigate the system, buying in or playing it. Finally, YAS was successful at helping all students to matriculate through high school to graduation, a promise of the program.

Author

• Heather E. Mooney, Wayne State University