Boot Camps,Exercise,and Delinquency

Abstract

With violent juvenile crime increasing and the public's concern over the juvenile crime problem at a high point, alternatives to traditional juvenile incarceration are of paramount importance. A recent development intended to address the problem of juvenile delinquency entails the use of a boot camp atmosphere, the defining characteristic of which is extensive rigorous exercise. Although fairly widely used across the country, no clear theory is offered as to why the use of exercise may decrease criminal propensities. This article will examine those disciplines most relevant to the use of shock incarceration—criminology, social psychology, psychology, and physiology—and draw upon their theoretical frameworks in an effort to apply them to juvenile boot camps. It is argued that available research in these disciplines does not provide a strong rationale supporting the use of exercise to decrease criminality in juvenile offenders.