If I Get Out Alive - United States

"If I Get Out Alive" uses radio in an effort to debunk the myth that criminals are faceless aggressors who deserve whatever punishment they receive. The premise behind this documentary, which was produced after a 1-year investigation, is that most juvenile criminals are misbehaving adolescents who need guidance and support - not the harsh treatment they may receive in adult prisons. Many of them (50%, according to LCM) suffer from mental health problems that their schools or parents have been unable to cope with. To that end, the programme addresses what organisers call "the abysmal mental health conditions in prison and jails faced by young people". A special focus of the documentary is the disproportionate impact of these problems on minority populations. "If I Get Out Alive" also examines alternative sentencing programmes that have diverted young offenders from prison. The documentary's message is that a line between necessary discipline and cruel and unusual punishment must be drawn.

Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress and child advocate Diane Keaton, "If I Get Out Alive" features first-hand accounts from children currently behind bars, rehabilitated young people who survived the system, people whose children died in adult prisons, legal experts, policy makers, and correction officials. The strategy here involves covering the juvenile justice issue not through policy debates, but, rather, by focusing on human and emotional dimensions of the issue through interviews designed to allow subjects to fully express their opinions and thoughts. The voices are from a broad range of perspectives on all sides of the juvenile justice debate, including:

• Rodney Hulin, father of 16-year-old Rodney Hulin, who was convicted of arson in 1995 and sentenced to 8 years. Rodney hung himself after 75 days of being sodomised, raped, and beaten in an adult prison in Texas.
• Donna Ratliff, a sexually abused 14-year-old who set fire to her home, killing her mother and sister. Convicted as an adult for murder, she was sent to an adult women's prison, where she was threatened and sexually harassed, and offered no rehabilitative services. More than 60 editorials in local and national newspapers resulted in Donna's transfer to "a more appropriate juvenile rehabilitation center", where she remains
• Mark Soler of the Youth Law Center, who works to defend the rights of young people.

"If I Get Out Alive" is being distributed over the National Public Radio Satellite System to more than 530 public radio stations nationwide. It may also be listened to on the LCM website.

Youth, Rights, Mental Health.

According to LCM, a U.S. Justice Department study found that only 6% of adolescent arrests in 1992 and 1994 were for violent crimes. LCM claims that "Across the United States, tens of thousands of children are locked up in with adults in prisons and jails every year. This is not only immoral and unwise; it is a violation of the U.S. Constitution and of United Nations standards. And the threat is growing. Currently, laws are pending in Congress and in several states that would double or even triple the number of young people in adult prisons." LCM cites a University of Florida study finding that juveniles sent to the adult system are significantly more likely (by almost 30%) to be re-arrested than those kept in juvenile court.

"If I Get Out Alive" is available as a printed transcript and on audio cassette for home use and educational outreach purposes. Click here for purchasing details. An educational kit will be developed for use by public policy makers, schools, universities, and for distribution to local advocacy organisations. The programme forms the basis for LCM's "Juveniles in Crisis", a 4-part public television series examining the interconnections between the juvenile justice, juvenile mental health, foster care, and education systems.

After mental illness impeded his career in network news, LCM founder and president Bill Lichtenstein created his own media company to focus on issues of social justice, human rights, and mental health.