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Abstract: How will the carceral state be dismantled? This Article claims that the path forward is revealed by examining the carceral state’s interactions with children. By focusing on the juvenile system—the primary carceral system for children—it identifies a foundational insight: that more than age or status, it is the systemic belief about one’s capacity for change that drives significant shifts in carcerality.
When a critical mass of society or key decision-makers such as judges, legislators, or policymakers, believed that children could change, this perception spurred meaningful changes in state carceral practices. In other words, more than merely the age or status of “children” or “youth,” it is their presumed potential for change that matters. This foundational concept of change and carcerality is woven throughout all four distinct eras of juvenile law. And if indeed this narrative about the capacity for change, rather than mere age or childhood status, is the actual driving force behind changes in state carcerality, then lessons from the juvenile system hold broader implications for dismantling the carceral state as a whole.
The juvenile system not only provides compelling evidence for this concept of change and carcerality but also offers insights into how it should be construed and implemented. While powerful, narratives about change are not a panacea. Rather, they can cause grave harm when misinterpreted or misapplied. By examining how the concept of change and carcerality manifested in the juvenile system, this Article analyzes the broader significance of the belief in one’s capacity for change, and explores how it should be framed and applied to help dismantle the carceral state.
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