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A look at the lives of incarcerated juveniles

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Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
Intake at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, Calif.
Courtesy of Richard Ross

The photos of Richard Ross are bleak: incarcerated children in cells, behind locked doors without windows. It's a stark view inside places that many of us are unfamiliar with.

Ross spent five years visiting more than 200 juvenile detention centers taking photos and learning about the kids behind bars. There are currently 60,000 young behind in the corrections system. The photos are part of his latest book, "Juvenile-In-Justice."

Ross joined The Daily Circuit Thursday, Dec. 6 to talk about his experiences working on the book.

Xavier McElrath-Bey also joined the discussion. He was locked up in a Chicago jail when he was 13 and tried for murder as an adult. He served 13 years and came out rehabilitated. He now works to help keep track of other kids who have been locked up in Chicago as part of one of the largest studies of incarcerated youth in the country.

Up for discussion: Is this the best way to address juvenile offenses? Is it the best way to persuade kids not to re-offend and to get their lives on track?

PHOTOS: View more from Ross' book.

READ MORE:

After the violence, the rest of their lives (New York Times)

Should juvenile offenders get life in prison? (MPR The Daily Circuit)

Gallery
5 of 5
Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center
A 12-year-old juvenile in his windowless cell at Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi, operated by Mississippi Security Services, a private company.
Courtesy of Richard Ross
1 of 5
Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
Intake at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, Calif.
Courtesy of Richard Ross
2 of 5
Orleans Parish Prison
Orleans Parish Prison (O.P.P), New Orleans, La. Currently houses about 23 juvenile boys, two per cell. The cell at its narrowest portion measures about 6 feet wide.
Courtesy of Richard Ross