Exploratory Paper
The topic of young offenders caught my eye as I was scanning for an idea to write my paper. Criminals of any fashion are of interest to me, and youth in the justice system is a subject that I have dealt with throughout my high school career. A friend of mine has been in and out of correctional facilities, and it was not till later that they discovered he had a mental disorder that he was not being treated for. This is upsetting because if he had been scanned for an issue such as this, he could have been helped rather than incarcerated. Aiding this friend the first time that he was arrested might have helped him avoid reliving these situations repeatedly. This goes not just for him, but many juvenile offenders who suffer
They conducted an experiment to see who the certain people are that receive treatment and how it is decided that they do. It was found that in some institutions that there is no proper screening test (which seems to be the primary problem in most cases) and that it is the various different caregivers who decide who needs the aid, which could be biased opinions. In conclusion to their study they find that only a small portion of youth detained receive referrals to mental health services. This will be helpful in supporting my argument in that there are not the proper screenings instilled that should be present. The fifth article that I have chosen is written by Copeland et al. and is also an experiment conducted by the authors. I felt there was support from this because rather than discussing how and who is treated in correctional facilities for youth, it talks about what disorders may be the ones that are actually comorbid with offending. They found that emotional disorders as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder tend to be associated with criminality. This is interesting because although it is clear that just because one has a disorder like this does not by any measure mean they will be a criminal, but it could allow for prevention programs to be put in place and help keep youth out of correctional facilities. The authors also point out that there is reason for these preventative actions with disturbed youth because there is a