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13 - Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2009

By
Gina M. Vincent ,
Thomas Grisso  and
Anna Terry
Edited by
Carol L. Kessler  and
Louis James Kraus
Gina M. Vincent
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA
Thomas Grisso
Affiliation:
Professor, Law and Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA
Anna Terry
Affiliation:
Research Associate, Law & Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue Norh, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA
Carol L. Kessler
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Louis James Kraus
Affiliation:
Rush University, Chicago
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Summary

Mental health screening in juvenile justice

Over 106 000 youths are in the custody of juvenile justice facilities in the US daily (Synder & Sickmund, 1999). Recent estimates suggest that nearly 60 percent of boys and over two-thirds of girls involved with the juvenile justice system meet criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders, even after controlling for conduct disorder (Teplin et al., 2002). These prevalence rates are higher than those found in youth in the general population (around 14–22 percent; e.g., Kazdin, 2000; Rutter, 1989) and substantially higher than adult prisoners in areas where such comparisons can be made. For example, 13 percent of male delinquents (Teplin et al., 2002) would meet criteria for major depression in contrast to only 4 percent of male adult offenders (Teplin, 1994).

In light of these statistics, accurate identification of mental, behavioral, and emotional disturbances that require immediate attention; namely, risk of suicide or self-harm, risk of aggression, or a pressing mental disorder, is essential as youths enter the juvenile justice system. State juvenile justice facilities have a legal and moral responsibility to respond to the mental health needs of adolescents in their custody (Grisso, 2004). When youths are identified as having a high potential for serious mental health issues, it allows staff to respond immediately to these needs by making appropriate placement decisions in the institution or by referring the youth for a clinical evaluation.

Keywords

juvenile justice settingsmental health assessmentmental health screeningmultidimensional brief screening toolsmultidimensional scales identifying clinical disorderproblem-oriented screening approach
Type
Chapter
Information
The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
Forging Paths toward Reintegration and Rehabilitation
 , pp. 270 - 287
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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  • Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice
    • By Gina M. Vincent, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA, Thomas Grisso, Professor, Law and Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA, Anna Terry, Research Associate, Law & Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue Norh, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA
  • Edited by Carol L. Kessler, Columbia University, New York, Louis James Kraus, Rush University, Chicago
  • Book: The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543913.014
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice
    • By Gina M. Vincent, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA, Thomas Grisso, Professor, Law and Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA, Anna Terry, Research Associate, Law & Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue Norh, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA
  • Edited by Carol L. Kessler, Columbia University, New York, Louis James Kraus, Rush University, Chicago
  • Book: The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543913.014
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice
    • By Gina M. Vincent, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA, Thomas Grisso, Professor, Law and Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA, Anna Terry, Research Associate, Law & Psychiatry Program Department of Psychiatry University of Massachusetts Medical School 55 Lake Avenue Norh, WSH 8B Worcester, MA 01655 USA
  • Edited by Carol L. Kessler, Columbia University, New York, Louis James Kraus, Rush University, Chicago
  • Book: The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543913.014
Available formats
×