The Juvenile Justice System: A Case Study

The juvenile justice system was originally set up to be a rehabilitative and preventative approach, and to assess the needs and rights of children…the ultimate goal of the juvenile justice system was to divert youth from formal punitive processing of the adult justice system (Underwood and Washington, 2016). Mental illness in the juvenile justice system has become a complicated process when determining how to proceed in each step of the process. It may not be the only way into the juvenile justice system, but mental health problems are seen as a significant risk factor in youth who are entering the system (Desai, Falzer, Chapman, & Borum, 2012). Mental illness can affect the whole process from before it even starts because of family and community
factors. There are about 50-75% of the 2 million youth who enter the juvenile justice system that meet criteria for a mental health disorder (Underwood and Washington, 2016).
These children are being put into the system and through the process, and sometimes are not recognized with a mental illness until later on. If and when a juvenile is adjudicated and sent to a detention center, there is still not the support or resources in many places to help juveniles with mental illness. Another goal that should be part of the juvenile justice system could be working with juveniles who have mental illness, and find the likeliness of recidivism. The juvenile justice system is challenged when it comes to youth with mental illness, and do not have the best resources to help these children get the help that they need. The problem with this is that about 65% of incarcerated juveniles and 60% of detained juveniles meet the criteria for a mental disorder (Hoeve, McReynolds, Wasserman, & McMillian,
2013). Children can be exposed to violence in many ways whether it be from television, video game, family issues, or community violence. Society can blame children becoming violent because of TV, movies, or video games, but in all actuality 80-90% of children witness, learn about, or are victims of violent acts (Baskin and Sommers, 2014). The urban, poor, and minority youth are impacted by community violence which exposure rates are from 75-90% (Baskin and Sommers, 2014). There is a stigma for anyone from those types of communities and a connection of crime. Youth who are exposed to community violence show development of many different mental disorders (Baskin and Sommers, 2014). When a family lives in this situation, it is not just the child that is being affected by community violence and the development of mental disorders, but parents are likely to be already suffering from it too. In the study conducted by Deborah Baskin and Ira Sommers, they used a sample of juvenile’s offenders labeled as serious offenders, they found that they were exposed to more community violence than those who were not involved in the justice system. They also found that they have greater mental health problems. When a juvenile comes in contact with the juvenile justice system, maybe the first that can be looked at to determine mental health problems is where they come from and the violence in that area. This may be a form of stereotyping, but it can give a start to what that child is going through because of where they come from. The first stage in the juvenile justice system is a youth’s arrest and referral to juvenile court. The first thing that should be done is to identify if that child has a mental disorder, and that should be diverted from the process and to a treatment service (Underwood and Washington, 2016). Avoiding to put a juvenile through a court process to a possible detention center focused on their crime and not a treatment center to help with their mental disorder could end up causing more harm. That is because if you leave them to suffer and not get any help, that juvenile will be likely to reoffend. If juveniles with mental health problems are identified early, then the formal juvenile justice process can be diverted, and these juveniles can go to a system-of-care option (Underwood and Washington, 2016). According to the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice, youths who receive immediate mental health screens are more likely to have their problems identified and treated…however the screening and assessments take place after a juvenile has been adjudicated (Hammond, 2007). Juveniles with identified or unidentified mental health problems that are sent to detention centers are not getting the help that they need because some places do not have the resources to help. Juveniles who live in urban areas may find it more difficult to access mental health services because those populations have less access to mental health treatments (Desai, Falzer, Chapman, & Borum, 2012).
States don’t always have the funds to get people the help that they need, but if the purpose of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate and prevent further crime, they need to find a way for these programs to be accessible. Sending a juvenile to a detention facility can be a poor choice if they have existing mental health disorder because it can heighten trauma and emotions (Hammond, 2007). Facilities need an efficient way to identify youth with mental disorders, as well as understanding the prevalence of mental health problems in their populations, by type and severity (Cauffman, 2004). Looking at mental health by populations, type and severity, relates back to community violence, and where youth’s development of mental illness started. If every juvenile justice intake center and detention program documented and archived screening and assessment results, they could provide data needed for planning and development that are specific to the communities that these youths come from (Underwood and Washington, 2016). If given better information and resources, agencies can start to identify, implement, and evaluate programs and services to reduce mental health related behavior problems and improve rehabilitative efforts by taking down the barriers to treatment (Cauffman,
2004). By finding ways to help juveniles with mental illness whether it be from sending them to a detention center and they get focused help, or if they are sent to a mental health treatment center, professionals can find ways to help them in ways they will not reoffend. The primary goal for juvenile justice agencies is identifying which youths will reoffend…there is evidence that mental health disorders increase the likelihood of recidivism (Hoeve, McReynolds, Wasserman & McMillan, 2013). Knowing that information of recidivism is high in youth with mental illness, there would be more programs to work with kids to reduce the numbers. In a number of studies, it has been found that youth with mental health concerns are more likely to reoffend, but findings with regard to re-offense severity is lacking (Hoeve, McReynolds, Wasserman & McMillan, 2013). Not knowing the severity of a juvenile’s likeliness to reoffend can put can other people in harm’s way. Earlier it was mentioned that putting a juvenile in detention can make matters worse. Detainees are more likely to commit more severe re-offenses than youths at probation intake, and the juveniles who were in residential juvenile justice interventions had negative impacts contributing to reoffending (Hoeve, McReynolds, Wasserman & McMillan, 2013). If during the process of a juvenile in a detention center is getting treatment for mental illness, they might not get that help after being released. Juveniles cannot be expected to be better once they leave; they are going to need additional help after detention. Studies show that youth with mental health disorders challenge the juvenile justice system and, after their release for larger mental health systems (Teplin, Abram, McClelland, Dulcan & Mericle, 2002). Also, access to mental health services upon release is important for a comprehensive approach to address mental health needs for juvenile offenders (Hammond, 2007). Mental illness does not just go away, the systems has to work with the juvenile and the adult they will turn into, and keep working with them to get better. If the system keeps working with people with mental illness, hopefully that will lead to reduced recidivism in this population. Considering the research that has been done on the topic of mental illness in the juvenile justice system, it seems to need more looking into. Most of these studies did not have representative populations or they looked at juveniles with severe mental illness with severe offences. Within that statement it still seems that the juvenile justice system faced challenges over 10 years ago and are still facing them now when figuring out how to put juveniles with mental illness through the process. It is hard to get the funds to assess the needs for juveniles with mental illness, and that should be a focus in the criminal justice system in the future.