The Mental Health Status of Adolescents Released from Custody: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Objective: To describe the prevalence of mental health problems and the social circumstances of young offenders after their release from custody in a juvenile detention centre. Method: The subjects were 37 adolescents from an original sample of 101 adolescents who had been remanded in a juvenile detention centre in Adelaide, South Australia. The adolescents were evaluated at the time of their initial detention in custody and again 1 year later. Results: The adolescents reported having a large number of social and mental health problems after their release from custody. One year after their release, 32% of the adolescents scored above the recommended ‘cut off score on the Youth Self Report. This represents a rate of disorder three to four times higher than that reported by adolescents in the community and is comparable to the rate reported by adolescents attending mental health clinics. Conclusions: Adolescents remanded in juvenile detention centres experience continuing mental health problems after their release from custody. As well, they experience considerable social dysfunction. There is an urgent need for more active therapeutic follow-up of these young people.