Forensic Settings and Juvenile Justice

Abstract

The National Center for Juvenile Justice estimated that 54,000 juveniles are held in out-of-home placements daily and indicated that in 2013, over 31 million youth were under juvenile court jurisdiction. Detainment of juveniles often triggers or exacerbates mental health issues. The breadth and depth of the juvenile justice system means that there are several different points at which clinical psychologists and other mental health professionals might serve youth within the system. The most effective intervention approaches tend to rely on cognitive behavioral strategies, behavioral skill development and generalization, and family involvement. For clinicians wishing to enter the juvenile justice field, it is important to understand the goals of the juvenile justice system, how this system was established, and how its structures and processes affect involved youth.

Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Needs Among Adolescents Involved With the Juvenile Justice System

“…The regularity by which justice-involved youth report experiences of childhood trauma suggests a critical need for documenting lifetime exposure to traumatic events at the statewide level. Differences by race, gender, child protective services (CPS) involvement (via maltreatment), gang affiliation, and juvenile status (committed/waived/probationer) are particularly salient when considering mental health and substance use treatment needs; a one-size fits all approach to mental health treatment is unlikely to be successful among justice-involved youth (Herrera et al, 2019). In this study, we consider the following research questions: (a) What is the prevalence of trauma among a justice-involved population in the custody of the NJ JJC?…”