Who are we incarcerating?
(data reported by Gagnon & Richards, 2008)
•Of students with disabilities in public schools
–8.1% are classified with emotional disturbance (ED)
–48.3% with a learning disability (LD) (U.S. Department of Education, 2006)
•Of students with disabilities in JC schools
–More than 42% are classified with ED
–42% are classified with LD (Gagnon et al., 2008; Quinn et al., 2001; Quinn et al.,
2005)
•Youth with mental disorders may have a greater likelihood of arrest, due to
problems with interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, and with impulsivity
(Mulford, Reppucci, Mulvey, Woolard, & Portwood, 2004)
•Compared to youth in the general population, youth in juvenile correctional
facilities
–Are about ten times more likely to be identified as having a diagnosis of conduct
disorder or psychoses
–Are two to four times more likely to have ADHD
–Girls are 2-4 times more likely to have major depression and boys were twice as
likely (Fazel, Doll, and Langstrom, 2008)
•Excluding conduct disorder, 2/3 of males and 3/4 of females met diagnostic
criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders (Skowyra & Cocozza, 2006; Teplin et
al., 2002)
•More than half of youth have oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder
(Teplin, Abram, McClelland, Dulcan, & Mericle, 2002)
•One in ten youths in juvenile detention has recent thoughts of suicide and another
one in ten has attempted suicide (Abram et al., 2008)
•Youth in custody are three times more likely to complete suicide than youth in our
communities (Gallagher & Dobrin, 2006)
•Youth involved in child welfare and juvenile justice are five time more likely to
complete suicide than youth in the general population (Farand et al., 2004)
•Approximately 2/3 of incarcerated youth attempters used violent means that (e.g.,
cutting, hanging) that are more likely to succeed. About 85% of adolescents in the
general population who attempt suicide, do so by overdose, which has less
likelihood of completing suicide (Penn et al., 2003)
About half of detained males and almost half of detained females have a substance
use disorder (Abram, McClelland, Dulcan, & Mericle, 2002)
•11% of detained youth were identified as having posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)
•About 90% of youth in juvenile corrections have witnessed someone hurt very
badly or killed (Abram, Teplin, Charles, Longworth, McClelland, & Dulcan, 2004;
Teplin, Abram, McClelland, Dulcan, & Mericle, 2002)
•16% of youth have themselves sustained a gunshot or stab wound in the previous
year (Shelton, 2000)
•70% of females had been physically abused and 70% sexually abused (Evans,
Alpers, Macari, & Mason, 1996)
•Over 50% of males had experienced physical abuse and 20% has been sexually
abused (Evans et al., 1996)
• 35% of detained youth reported being physically abused and 18% reported being
sexually abused (Shelton, 2000)