The Goal & The Current Reality
Established in 1899, the U.S. Juvenile Justice System was created with the goal of deterring youth offenders from the damaging punishments of criminal courts while encouraging rehabilitation based on the individual juvenile’s needs.[1,2] Although the number of arrests of minors has been decreasing since 1997, nearly 60,000 minors are incarcerated daily in the United States. While roughly two-thirds of youth in juvenile facilities are 16 or older, more than 500 confined children are no more than 12 years old.[3-5] Youth who are incarcerated may be exposed to negative circumstances such as overcrowding, physical and sexual violence, risk of suicide and death.[6]
Violence and abuse
Youth are exceptionally susceptible to many types of abuse during incarceration.[7] Many types of violence may occur in youth prisons, including:[8]
physical violence amid detainees
excessive violence committed by prison staff towards detainees amounting to torture or ill-treatment
sexual assaults of inmates by other inmates or by prison staff
psychological violence (e.g., verbal aggression, intimidation, etc.)
suicides, attempts and other self-harm.
In “Victims Behind Bars: A Preliminary Study on Abuse During Juvenile Incarceration and Post-Release Social and Emotional Functioning,” researchers Dierkhising, Lane and Natsuaki (2014) examined the consequences of abuse while incarcerated. Of the youth surveyed, 96.8 percent had experienced at least one type of abuse during their incarceration (e.g., neglect or witnessing of abuse); 77.4 percent experienced a direct form of abuse, including physical injury.[9] The most common forms of direct abuse were the excessive use of solitary confinement, peer-to-peer physical assault between youth and psychological abuse of youth by staff.[10,11] Although violence is difficult to assess and address due to it being underreported, roughly approximately 25% of incarcerated youth are victimized by violence each year; 4-5% of whom experience sexual violence, with 1-2% subject to rape.[12] Psychological and physical effects of abuse may persist after the release of inmates.[13]
The abuse endured and exposure to violence in prisons and jails are associated with long term problems. These long term issues include post-traumatic stress symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, avoidance, hypersensitivity, hypervigilance, suicidality, flashbacks, difficulty with emotional regulation, and increased risk of criminal involvement.[14,15] Quandt & Jones (2021) note that the lasting effects of the trauma experienced while incarcerated can lead to Post-Incarceration Syndrome.[16] Similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Post-Incarceration Syndrome is a set of symptoms present in many currently incarcerated and recently released prisoners; it is caused by being subjected to prolonged incarceration in environments of punishment with few opportunities for education, job training, or rehabilitation.[17] In addition, a study conducted by Piper & Berle (2019) examined the relationship between trauma experienced during incarceration and PTSD outcomes. They found that incarcerated people experience high rates of potentially traumatic events, and that there was a relationship between experiencing these events behind bars and the rate of PTSD upon release.[18] The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2007) found an average of 30% of previously incarcerated youth develop some form of PTSD.[19]
Mental Health in the Juvenile Justice System
The National Conference of State Legislatures found that the juvenile justice system is ill-equipped to handle minors with mental health needs.[20] Approximately 1-in-4 children and adolescents arrested each year suffer from a mental illness so severe it impairs his or her ability to function as a young person and grow into a responsible adult.[21] The lack of treating a minor’s mental illness can increase the chances of delinquency transforming into adult criminality.[22] It is estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the 2 million children and adolescents that enter the juvenile justice system have one or more diagnosable disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities).[23] The most common diagnoses found in incarcerated youth include: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities (LD), depression, developmental disabilities (DD), conduct disorder, anxiety disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse.[24]
Many youth experience conduct, mood, anxiety and substance disorders that frequently put them at risk for troublesome behavior and delinquent acts.[25] Symptoms of mental health disorders often start in childhood; behavior disorders such as ADHD impact about 9-10 percent of children in America and emotional disorders (e.g., depression) impact 1 in every 33 children.[26] Mental health disorders in youth can be difficult to treat; however, assessing and treating issues early can create positive outcomes.[27]
Many youth with mental health disorders also engage in substance abuse and there is an overrepresentation of this co-occurrence within the juvenile justice system.[28] Two-thirds of juveniles within the system with a mental health diagnosis also had dual disorders; this most often involves substance abuse in addition to another diagnosis.[29]
Methods of Reform
In order to reform the juvenile justice system, the subsystems within it need to be addressed. While reform is a long process that can take many years, Sander (2021) notes that many states have already made such reforms over the last 15 years to reduce youth incarceration.[30]
Eliminating violence and abuse while incarcerated poses a difficult task, however there are many policies currently in place that can accomplish this. Jocelyn Fontaine, Director of Criminal Justice Research at Arnold Ventures believes that, “The pathway to reform is in opening them, making the invisible more visible so by revealing what’s happening, then we hope that people would be motivated to change them.”[31] Fontaine considers transparency and accountability of reform as shedding light on a situation due to the public and policymakers wanting to change it because they didn’t know about it before.[32] Other suggested reforms include increasing programs in order to keep juveniles focused to avoid violence. This notion, Social Bond Theory, was founded by Travis Hirschi and is based on the basic assumption that humans naturally tend towards delinquency.[33] Hirschi states that the stronger amount of social control and the denser the network of social bonds are, the more likely people are to behave in accordance with standards.[34]
The Healthy Returns Initiative is another way to combat the juvenile mental health crisis. This initiative was created to strengthen the capacity of county juvenile justice systems to improve health and mental health services, and ensure continuity of care as youth transition back to the community.[35] The Healthy Returns Initiative, created by The California Endowment, follows practices considered critical to any systems reform effort.[36,37] Life-changing reform practices have been implemented by the Initiative, such as: screening using validated mental health screening tools; connecting youth and families to benefits and resources (e.g., health care, housing assistance, and food stamps); collaboration and integration across services; and providing funding and resources to sustain multi-disciplinary, collaborative, holistic approaches.[38]
In addition to HRI, the Comprehensive Systems Change Initiative (CSCI) is a model that brings together juvenile justice and mental health systems to identify youth with mental health needs at their earliest point of contact with the juvenile justice system to develop an effective service delivery system to meet their needs.[39] This includes collaborating among all relevant youth-serving agencies and families, identifying youth with mental health needs through use of standardized screening and assessment tools, diverting youth from the justice system to community programs where possible and treating youth who remain in the system using a continuum of evidence-based mental health services.[40,41]
By applying and executing reform in the juvenile justice system, society as a whole can better understand, assess and treat mental health disorders in children and adolescents. This implementation will allow youth in America to remain on-track to do better academically and subsequently have better odds at leading healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Contributed by: Ariana McGeary
Editor: Jennifer (Ghahari) Smith, Ph.D.
REFERENCES
1 Juvenile Justice History. (n.d.). Retrieved from Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice: http://www.cjcj.org/education1/juvenile-justice-history.html
2 McCord, Joan; Spatz Widom, Cathy; Crowell, Nancy A.; National Research Council. (2001). Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice. Washington: National Academy Press.
3 ACLU. (n.d.). America’s Addiction to Juvenile Incarceration: State by State. Retrieved from ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/youth-incarceration/americas-addiction-juvenile-incarceration-state-state#:~:text=On%20any%20given%20day%2C%20nearly,prisons%20in%20the%20United%20States.
4 Youth Involved with the Juvenile Justice System. (n.d.). Retrieved from Youth.gov: https://youth.gov/youth-topics/juvenile-justice/youth-involved-juvenile-justice-system
5 Ibid.
6 Stephens, R. (2021, May 28). Trauma and Abuse of Incarcerated Juveniles in American Prisons. Retrieved from Interrogating Justice: https://interrogatingjustice.org/prisons/trauma-and-abuse-of-incarcerated-juveniles-in-american-prisons/
7 Modvig, J. (n.d.). 4. Violence, sexual abuse and torture in prisons - WHO/Europe. Retrieved from WHO/Europe: https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/249193/Prisons-and-Health,-4-Violence,-sexual-abuse-and-torture-in-prisons.pdf
8 Dierkhising, C. B., Lane, A., & Natsuaki, M. N. (2014). Victims Behind Bars: A Preliminary Study on Abuse During Juvenile Incarceration and Post-Release Social and Emotional Functioning. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 20(2), 181-190.
9 Repka, M. (2014, March 26). Confronting an Unseen Problem: Abuse and Its Long-Term Effects on Incarcerated Juveniles . Retrieved from Chicago Policy Review: https://chicagopolicyreview.org/2014/03/26/confronting-an-unseen-problem-abuse-and-its-long-term-effects-on-incarcerated-juveniles/#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20forms%20of,staff%20was%20also%20widely%20reported.
10 Dierkhising, C. B., Lane, A., & Natsuaki, M. N. (2014)
11 Modvig, J. (n.d.).
12 Dierkhising, C. B., Lane, A., & Natsuaki, M. N. (2014)
13 Repka, M. (2014)
14 Quandt, K. R., & Jones, A. (2021, May 13). Research Roundup: Incarceration can cause lasting damage to mental health . Retrieved from Prison Policy Initiative: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/05/13/mentalhealthimpacts/#:~:text=Exposure%20to%20violence%20in%20prisons,and%20difficulty%20with%20emotional%20regulation.
15 Ibid.
16 Post Incarceration Syndrome (PICS). (2021, October 16). Retrieved from BarNone, Inc.: https://barnoneidaho.org/resources/post-incarceration-syndrome/#:~:text=Post%20Incarceration%20Syndrome%20(PICS)%20is,%2C%20job%20training%2C%20or%20rehabilitation.
17 Piper, A., & Berle, D. (2019). The association between trauma experienced during incarceration and PTSD outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 30(5), 854-875.
18 Bierkhising, C. B., Ko, S. J., Woods-Jaeger, B., Briggs, E. C., Lee, R., & Pynoos, R. S. (2013). Trauma histories among justice-involved youth: findings from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 4.
19 National Conference of State Legislatures. (2012, May 25). Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Offenders. Retrieved from NCSL: https://www.ncsl.org/documents/cj/jjguidebook-mental.pdf
20 Ibid.
21 Sawyer, W. (2019, December 19). Youth Confinement: The Whole Pie 2019. Retrieved from Prison Policy Initiative: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/youth2019.html
22 Juvenile Justice Issues. (n.d.). Retrieved from Pacer Center: https://www.pacer.org/jj/issues/
23 Ibid.
24 National Conference of State Legislatures. (2012)
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022, March 22). Criminal and Juvenile Justice . Retrieved from SAMHSA: https://www.samhsa.gov/criminal-juvenile-justice
28 National Conference of State Legislatures. (2012)
29 Sanders, C. (2021, July 27). State Juvenile Justice Reforms Can Boost Opportunity, Particularly for Communities of Color. Retrieved from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-juvenile-justice-reforms-can-boost-opportunity-particularly-for#:~:text=Though%20much%20work%20remains%2C%20several,shifting%20to%20community%2Dbased%20approaches.
30 D'Abruzzo, D. (2020, August 24). How Can Prisons Eliminate Violence? One Researcher Is Determined to Find Out. Retrieved from Arnold Ventures: https://www.arnoldventures.org/stories/how-can-prisons-eliminate-violence-one-researcher-is-determined-to-find-out
31 Ibid.
32 Wickert, C. (2022, April 18). Social bonds theory (Hirschi). Retrieved from SozTheo: https://soztheo.de/theories-of-crime/control/social-bonds-theory-hirschi/?lang=en
33 Ibid.
34 Healthy Returns Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved from i.e. communications, llc: https://www.iecomm.org/healthy-returns-initiative/
35 Reform Trends: Mental Health & Substance Use. (2022)
36 Healthy Returns Initiative.
37 Reform Trends: Mental Health & Substance Use. (2022)
38 Ibid.
39 Chayt, B. (2012, December). Juvenile Justice and Mental Health: A Collaborative Approach. Retrieved from ModelsforChange: https://www.modelsforchange.net/publications/350/Innovation_Brief_Juvenile_Justice_and_Mental_Health_A_Collaborative_Approach.pdf
40 Reform Trends: Mental Health & Substance Use. (2022)