Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511543913.014

13 - Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 August 2009

Gina M. Vincent ,

Thomas Grisso and

Anna Terry

Edited by

Carol L. Kessler and

Louis James Kraus

Show author details

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

Book contents

Get access

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 settings mental health assessment mental health screening multidimensional brief screening tools multidimensional scales identifying clinical disorder problem-oriented screening approach

Type: Chapter
Information: The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
Forging Paths toward Reintegration and Rehabilitation
, pp. 270 - 287

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543913.014 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. & Edelbrock, C. (1984). Psychopathology of childhood. Annual Review of Psychology, 35, 227–256.Google Scholar

Bailey, S., Doreleijers, T. & Tarbuck, P. (2006). Recent developments in mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice systems. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 15, 391–406.Google Scholar

Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC): Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (1995). Developmental Psychopathology: Theory and Methods, Vol. 1. New York, NY: Wiley.

Cicchetti, D. & Rogosch, F. A. (1996). Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 597–600.Google Scholar

Dembo, R. & Anderson, A. (2005). Problem-oriented screening instrument for children. In Grisso, T., Vincent, G. and Seagrave, D., eds., Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. Guilford Press, pp. 112–122.

Dennis, M., Titus, J., White, M., Unsicker, J. & Hodgkins, D. (2002). Global Appraisal of Individual Needs: Administration Guide for the GAIN and Related Measures. Bloomington, IL: Chestnut Health Systems.

Dennis, M. L., Scott, C. K., Funk, R. R. & Foss, M. A. (2005). The duration and correlates of addiction and treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 28(Supplement 1), S51–S62.Google Scholar

Estroff, T. W. & Hoffmann, N. G. (2001). PADDI: Practical Adolescent Dual Diagnosis Interview. Smithfield, RI: Evince Clinical Assessments.

Grisso, T. (2004). Double Jeopardy: Adolescent Offenders with Mental Disorders. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Grisso, T. (2005). Why we need mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice programs. In Grisso, T., Vincent, G. and Seagrave, D., eds., Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. New York, NY: Guildford Press, pp. 3–21.

Grisso, T. & Barnum, R. (2006). Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument – Version 2: User's Manual and Technical Report. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.

Grisso, T. & Quinlan, J. C. (2005). Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument – Version 2. In Grisso, T., Vincent, G. and Seagrave, D., eds., Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. Guilford Press, pp. 99–111.

Grisso, T. & Underwood, L. (2004). Screening and Assessing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Youth in the Juvenile Justice System: A Resource Guide for Practitioners. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Grisso, T. & Vincent, G. (2005). The context for mental health screening and assessment. In Grisso, T., Vincent, G. and Seagrave, D., eds., Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. New York, NY: Guildford Press, pp. 44–70.

Grisso, T., Vincent, G. & Seagrave, D. (eds.) (2005). Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. New York, NY: Guildford Press.

Hodges, K. (2000). Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale, 3rd edn. Ypsilanti: Eastern Michigan University.

Hodges, K. (2005). Child and adolescent functional assessment scale. In Grisso, T., Vincent, G. and Seagrave, D., eds., Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. New York, NY: Guildford Press, pp. 123–136.

Hodges, K. & Wong, M. (1997). Use of the child and adolescent functional assessment scale to predict service utilization and cost. Journal of Mental Health Administration, 24, 278–290.Google Scholar

Kazdin, A. E. (1993). Adolescent mental health: prevention and treatment programs. American Psychologist, 48, 127–141.Google Scholar

Kazdin, A. E. (2000). Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents: Directions for Research and Practice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Loney, B. & Counts, C. (2005). Scales for assessing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In Grisso, T., Vincent, G. and Seagrave, D., eds., Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. New York, NY: Guildford Press, pp. 166–184.

Lyons, J., Griffin, E., Fazio, M. & Lyons, B. (1999). Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths: An Information Integration Tool for Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Challenges (CANS-MH), Manual. Chicago: Buddin Praed Foundation.

Mash, E. J. & Dozois, D. J. (2003). Child psychopathology: A developmental-systems perspective. In Mash, E. J. and Barkley, R. A. eds., Child Psychopathology, 2nd edn. New York, NY: Guilford Press, pp. 3–74.

Mash, E. J. & Terdal, L. G. (eds.) (1997). Assessment of Childhood Disorders, 3rd edn. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Miller, F. & Lazowski, L. (2001). The Adolescent Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-A2 (SASSI-A2) Manual. Springville, IN: SASSI Institute.

Rahdert, E. (1991). The Adolescent Assessment/Referral System. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Rudd, P. (1989). The prevalence of suicidal ideation among college students. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 19, 173–183.Google Scholar

Rutter, M. (1989). Isle of Wight revisited: twenty-five years of child psychiatric epidemiology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 633–653.Google Scholar

Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Dulcan, M.et al. (1996). NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-2.3): description, differences from previous versions, and reliability of some common diagnoses. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 865–877.Google Scholar

Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Lucas, C., Dulcan, M. & Schwab-Stone, M. (2000). NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV (DISC-IV): description, differences from previous versions, and reliability on some common diagnoses. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 28–38.Google Scholar

Synder, H. & Sickmund, M. (1999). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Teplin, L. A. (1994). Psychiatric and substance abuse disorders among male urban detainees. American Journal of Public Health, 84, 290–293.Google Scholar

Teplin, L. A., Abram, K. M., McClelland, G. M., Dulcan, M. K. & Mericle, A. A. (2002). Psychiatric disorders in youth in juvenile detention. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 1133–1143.Google Scholar

Trupin, E. & Boesky, L. (1999). Working Together for Change: Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System (Curriculum). Delmar, NY: The National GAINS Center.

Wasserman, G., Jensen, P. & Ko, S. (2003). Mental health assessments in juvenile justice: report on the Consensus Conference. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 751–761.Google Scholar

Wasserman, G., McReynolds, L., Fisher, P. & Lucas, C. (2005). Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children: present state voice version. In Grisso, T., Vincent, G. and Seagrave, D., eds., Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice. New York, NY: Guildford Press, pp. 224–239.

Book contents

13 - Mental health screening and assessment in juvenile justice

Summary

Keywords

Access options

References

Save book to Kindle

Save book to Dropbox

Save book to Google Drive