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Peer Review

In Jail or In Treatment

Reviewed:
Dec 11, 2008 by Criminal Justice
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Quality: 3.2 stars
Effectiveness: 3.5 stars
Ease of Use: 4.0 stars
Overview:
This learning object is a single page from a Website entitled, Jailing the Mentally Ill. It presents transcripts of brief interviews with four juveniles in South Carolina’s youth system: two still in the evaluation process, and two who have been transferred out of the juvenile justice system and into a locked treatment program run by the state's Health Department. The author makes the claim that “Many young people in South Carolina have better access to mental health care in juvenile jail than they do outside the fence, back in their own communities.”
Type of Material:
Case study/Audio recording
Recommended Uses:
In class, Homework
Technical Requirements:
Browser and RealAudio Player
Identify Major Learning Goals:
• To critically examine the way that mentally ill juveniles are processed in the juvenile justice system. • Describe the perceptions of youths undergoing evaluation or already placed in a South Carolina mental health facility.
Target Student Population:
• Criminal justice, sociology, or social work students. • Undergraduate students
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
An understanding of the difference between the criminal and juvenile justice system, and under what circumstances juveniles are waived or transferred to the adult jurisdiction.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:
• It will be very powerful for students to hear the voices of the mentally ill juveniles themselves. • The site presents the perceptions of inmates with four different mental health problems.
Concerns:
• The opinions expressed are those of the youths under evaluation or already committed to a mental health facility. • None of the opinions expressed are corroborated by treatment staff or an authoritative source. • This material does not stand alone, and requires an understanding of the complexity of the place of mentally ill offenders in the adult and criminal justice system.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:
• This site presents cases studies with which students might be able to identify • It would be easy to write assignments for this material.
Concerns:
• The site does not identify any learning objectives. • The site does not give users any indication of the credibility of the opinions expressed • The author provides no statement about the accuracy of the perceptions of the inmates.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:
• It is only one page of reading; therefore it could be used to stimulate class room discussion. • The audio could be beneficial to those with reading deficiencies.
Concerns:
• Persons with little computer background may have difficulty figuring out how to download/use the audio player. • It is not interactive and is no more engaging than a news paper or magazine article.
Creative Commons:
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