Justice reform is more than good intentions...

Bolivia imprisons 16 and 17 year old juveniles in adult prisons. Bolivia's prison system has some of the worst conditions in Latin America and the world. When I visited San Pedro prison, an infamous men's prison in the center of La Paz, Bolivia, I was genuinely scared and anxious to get out as soon as possible. I took a short tour of the facility, a converted convent that was at 200% of capacity. My college and I had chosen a visiting day to meet with the prison social worker and psychologist, so when we were ready to leave we had to fight the crowd at the front gate and get the guard's attention so he would pick us out of the mass of prisoners.

Considering the deplorable conditions of the adult prisons in Bolivia, it was no wonder that a Brazilian NGO had dedicated resources to build a modern facility outside of La Paz to house the juveniles that were being detained in San Pedro. The new facility was centered around treatment and rehabilitation. They had hired a full staff of social workers, psychologists, and prison officials. They had obtained all of the government permissions required. The building was built and ready to go. Except for one thing. It was completely empty of juveniles. 

The reason: only 12 of the 200 juveniles in San Pedro had been sentenced. The rest were awaiting trial and the judges would not approve their transfer. How do you rehabilitate somebody who has never been convicted? 

When I talked with the NGO in Bolivia I was not surprised. I had already finished my research for Save the Children and discovered that at least two-thirds of the juvenile prison population was awaiting trial in Bolivia. Many people talked about the deplorable prison conditions and the overcrowding - government officials, human rights advocates and NGOs. But the reality is that many of the problems in the prison system are a result of problems in the justice system. The justice system is broken and is simply sending too many people to prison for too long, often without even sentencing them. Its like a leaky dam causing a river to flood and blaming the river banks. What are the prison officials to do?

The Children in Prison Project is dedicated to creating systematic reforms to the juvenile justice system. In order to be effective, our projects have to be based on solid research and a holistic understanding of the justice system as it exists.  Justice reforms have to be more than just good intentions.

Read our research on the Mexico City juvenile justice system.