Psychiatric Disorder in Detained Male Adolescents as Risk Factor for Serious Recidivism

Abstract

Objective: A growing body of research consistently shows that detained minors bear substantial mental health needs. However, the relation between mental disorder and criminal recidivism has largely remained unexplored. Our study examines whether psychiatric disorders increase the likelihood of recidivism after controlling for time at risk, criminal history, and the presence of other disorders. Method: Participants (n = 232) were detained male adolescents from all 3 youth detention centres in Flanders, Belgium, who were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, Version IV. Two to 4 years later, information on serious recidivism was retrieved from the official judicial registration system. Serious recidivism was defined as having at least one arrest charge for violent, severe property crime, or substance-related offences. Results: Serious recidivism was high, with 81% (n = 191) of the participants being rearrested. Psychiatric disorders predicted neither serious recidivism in general nor violent and severe property recidivism. However, other drug use disorder (OR 2.41; 95% CI 1.22 to 4.75) and general comorbidity (OR 2.64; 95% CI 1.40 to 4.99) were significantly predictive of substance-related recidivism. Conclusion: Common psychiatric disorders in detained male adolescents do not significantly increase the likelihood of subsequent arrests, with the exception that substance use disorders appear to increase the risk of later substance-related recidivism. Effective treatment of these disorders may prevent detained juveniles to experience the detrimental outcomes associated with substance-related crimes as adults (for example, mental illness).

Psychiatric disorders in adolescent boys in detention: a preliminary prevalence and case–control study in two Chinese provinces

“…We did not measure rates of childhood emotional and sexual abuse in this study, which is an area for future research. Around one-fifth of the detained sample had a lifetime SUD, which is at the lowest end of estimates reported in the studies of juveniles in custody in Western countries (Colins et al, 2011). Such disorders are potentially treatable, and the findings of the current survey suggest that treatment services for substance abuse in juvenile detention facilities should be prioritized.…”

Mental disorders in Italian prisoners: Results of the REDiMe study

“…People with substance abuse in particular are reported to have a higher risk of re-incarceration, especially when they have a cooccurring severe mental illness (Baillargeon et al, 2010;Colins et al, 2011). This may depend on substance abusers' being more likely to engage in drug-defined and drug-related offences after release from prison.…”

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders, comorbidity patterns, and repeat offending among male juvenile detainees in South Korea: a cross-sectional study

“…However, this study used broad diagnostic grouping categories and did not investigate individual psychiatric disorders. Other studies have also reported that psychiatric comorbidity predicted criminal repeat offending, but there was no information regarding which psychiatric comorbidity combination contributed to these results [22, 26]. …”