Treatment of Juvenile Delinquents

• NCJ Number: 80469
• Journal: Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1981) Pages: 3-7
• Author(s): K A Turner
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Prepared for the Joint Education Session of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law and the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, October 16, 1980.

Annotation

A judge from the Juvenile Court of Memphis (Tennessee) discusses the role of psychiatrists in the treatment process within the juvenile justice system as well as the trend toward community corrections.

Abstract

Most juvenile delinquents can best be corrected, reeducated, or rehabilitated in the communities in which they live rather than in distant, overcrowded reformatories. To test methods of diverting young people away from the justice system, the Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion project diverted over 1,500 juveniles to 30 community agencies during its first year of operation and has continued to help the courts avoid official adjudication or institutionalizations. To reduce the juvenile crime rate and ultimately the adult crime rate, optimum psychotherapeutic services should be provided for delinquents. Unfortunately, both judges and psychiatrists often avoid their responsibilities toward the less affluent children caught up in the justice system. Mental health professionals have been reluctant to assist the juvenile courts, largely because they are concerned about testifying in court and the availability of funds for their services. Court personnel should cooperate with public and private agencies to identify juveniles in need of mental health services. Treatment can be on a voluntary basis or by court order if necessary. Recent court decisions have upheld the due process rights of minors, and lawyers have become as important in juvenile proceedings as social workers. There is no absolute legal formula for dealing with the biopsychosocial phenomena confronting the juvenile court, but the court must respond to changing times. There is a definite trend toward deinstitutionalizing juvenile delinquents, as evidenced in many States' declining use of large juvenile correctional institutions. The Juvenile Court of Memphis has found that psychiatric hospitalization and psychotherapy benefit many seriously delinquent and unruly juveniles. The article contains 2 footnotes.