Troubled Times

A lot of young people watch television crime dramas and think "that's what I want to do." Irlene Ross's interest in criminal justice also may have been sparked that way, but her internship with a youth camp for troubled juveniles gave her a real-world view into this career path—and yes, she's still interested.

With an interest in criminal justice and the outdoors, senior Criminal Justice major Irlene Ross interned last summer with the Youth Forestry Camp #3 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The camp runs a number of programs for youths aged 12 to 18 who are adjudicated delinquent by the courts and appointed to the Camp. Ross was assigned to an eight-week intensive program, which she likens to "an intensive Boy Scout camp. You do a lot of outdoor kinds of things and incorporate drug and alcohol counseling, while they also attend school on the grounds," states Ross.

The camp is all-boys; Ross was the only female assigned to her program, which included eleven boys, four counselors, two aids, and another intern. "Being the only female for the dorm was the biggest challenge because the boys felt like they couldn't discuss certain things with me. But none of them ever gave me a hard time about being female. They are told to respect the staff and they did," notes Ross.

Entering her internship, Ross admits to being nervous. "I was nervous about everything—that I wouldn't fit in or that I would find out that I didn't like it." Still, she went with an open mind. "I hoped to just learn. Since I'm not an adolescent anymore, I wanted to learn what the new issues are for adolescents and discover the things that they are into," states Ross.

Ross's program involved taking the boys on a daily run, hiking, camping, outdoor activities, and fun. "It is a detention facility, but you have to understand that they still are children; you have to let them grow and experience things that they never thought they would."

The program also incorporates a great deal of counseling. "The goal each day was to get them to learn to be individuals, but at the same time to be able to ask for help," explains Ross. "For a lot of the boys, they got into trouble because they have an 'it's all about me' attitude or feel that they have to stand up for themselves because no one else will. We try to teach them that it is okay to ask for help and that you don't have to always be aggressive; you can simply ask for something in a rational manner."

Taking them out of the environment that had gotten them into trouble made a positive difference in their behavior, observed Ross. But the key is to help them stay positive once they reenter that environment. States Ross, "We talk to them about envisioning their future."

Do they want to come back to a facility like this and spend their life in a restricted environment or do they want to lead a normal life, have a family, or something like that. We also try to help them make better decisions and to think before they act."

Ross's commitment to a career in juvenile justice was solidified through this internship experience. "I feel like I really made a difference," she states. "I was at the camp the first day these boys arrived and I was there the day they left.

I could see all the changes that they had made by the time they graduated. When we first got there, they stayed to themselves; by the end, a lot of them were talking to us about the issues they were having and why they had ended up there."

Ross acknowledges that burn-out is a problem in the field of juvenile justice, but she is not deterred.

"I really care. You have to care. You can't just look at the kids as a workload or a number. I know it's a job where you can get burned out very easily. But I know it's what I want to do."
—Irlene Ross