Juvenile justice is the area of ​​criminal law for a person not old enough to be held accountable for their criminal actions ("Juvenile Justice"). In most states this type of categorization is determined by age, set at eighteen. In general, juvenile law is governed by state law, and most states have an individual juvenile code that contributes to the increase in the number of youth in detention centers today (“Juvenile Justice”). Despite the lowest youth crime rate in twenty years, according to Holman and Ziedenberg (2006), hundreds of thousands of juveniles are locked up every year. Detention centers are intended to provide temporary housing for youth who are described as being at high risk of reoffending before trial or who are unlikely to attend trial at all. full of young people who don't meet high risk standards. Approximately seventy percent of incarcerated youth are arrested for nonviolent crimes (Holman & Ziedenberg, 2006). So my question is: How do all the negative effects associated with youth detention centers justify arresting a child that isn't harmful to themselves or others? The juvenile justice system, in general, remains committed to the claim that the purpose of its programs is to focus on the rehabilitation, not punishment, of youth. So why then do detained youth often have higher rates of emotional trauma, unstable and unpleasant home lives, histories of violence, behavioral problems, and learning difficulties than youth who have never seen the inside of such a facility (Koyama, 2012)? In Juve the negative effects of youth centers are expressed in physical, mental, social and emotional problems...... middle of paper...... Institute of Legal Information. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Juvenile_justiceKoyama, P. (2012). The status of education in juvenile detention. Journal of Correctional Education, 63(1), 35-89. Lambie, I., & Randell, I. (2013). The impact of incarceration on juvenile offenders. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(3), 448-459. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.fgcu.edu/science/article/pii/S027273581300010X#Macro, Mezzo, and Micro Social Work. (n.d.). Social Work Licensing Map. Retrieved April 18, 2014, retrieved from http://socialworklicensemap.com/macro-mezzo-and-micro-social-work/Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.