PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (September 2, 2020) – Juvenile diversion programs have been developed to help prevent high-risk youth from entering (and staying in) the criminal justice system. However, few evidence-based programs or research, particularly related to non-violent offenses, analyze the long-term effects of these programs on young people’s lives.
Sesha Kethineni, Ph.D.
Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) Professor Sesha Kethineni, Ph.D., (in PVAMU’s Department of Justice Studies) has spent more than four years researching cybercrime and juvenile incarceration and recidivism. Her research has taken her around the globe, from the cyber laws and regulations of India to diversion programs here in the United States.
She recently completed 18 months of research on juvenile recidivism rates among youth participating in the Redeploy Illinois (RI) diversion program. She and co-author Jonathan A. Grubb of Georgia Southern University published their findings in the June 2020 issue of the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.
Kethineni analyzed juvenile offending data from 15 counties in Illinois from state fiscal years 2006 through 2010. Youth who successfully completed RI were compared to those who did not. Those who finished RI had fewer convictions and longer survival times.
“The research on this juvenile diversion program is a promising one that showed a reduction in reoffending, and it was cost effective,” Kethineni said.
The RI program incentivized counties to provide community-based services instead of incarceration for nonviolent, moderate- to high-risk youth.
“There is a need for evidence-based programs to reduce juvenile reoffending. These can include offering mental health services and other services in the community,” Kethineni said.
In addition to the journal article, Kethineni also wrote a chapter in The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance. Her chapter, titled “Cybercrime in India: Laws, Regulations, and Enforcement Mechanisms,” examines current cyber law in India, including crime statistics, current legislation, types of crimes, and prevention efforts.
“Industry research group Gartner, Inc. estimates the global cybersecurity market has ballooned to more than $124 billion as of 2019. Cybercrime is big business, and digital theft and fraud may draw young people into criminal behavior. Programs like RI and others aim to prevent recidivism, whether in the U.S. or abroad,” she said.
Beyond these publications, Kethineni plans to continue her research on juvenile diversion programs and cybercrimes.
“It pertains to reducing juvenile incarcerations in a more humane way,” she said.
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By Jocelyn Kerr