Juvenile Criminals and Their Mental Health

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Mental health treatment among juvenile is a subject that has been ignored by society for far too long. It has always been one of those intricate issues that lead to the argument of whether juveniles should receive proper treatment or imprisoned like any other criminals, and often trialed as adults. Many times, young people are often deprived of proper help (Rosenberg) However, we often overlook the fact that while they are criminals, they are still young, and fact or not, it is a matter of compassion that must be played from our side to help these youth overcome their harsh reality. As such, we do however see signs of sympathy shown towards juvenile. Juvenile health courts give help to youth to youth who have serious mental illness (Rosenberg). It is often asked in general, would mental health treatment cure juvenile criminals? In my opinion, when you look at the background of these young criminals, it is frequently initiated from negligence and feelings of betrayal (Browne and Lynch), of course leading to mental disorder. However, further zooming into their background, it is always proper treatment that saves them from their unfortunate circumstances. Research shows that giving juvenile criminals mental health treatment did not only reduce re-arrests but also further improve their ways of living among the society. The juvenile justice system has many flaws that affect juvenile’s mental health, for example, a strong lack of physical and mental health service, inadequate staff training and lack of safety. Because of the lack of training that the staffs receive regarding mental health for juveniles, they fail to provide adequate needs that the juveniles would require (mental health). In the prompt we see that ‘AUGASTA YDC” had no o... ... middle of paper ... ... working with. Overall it helps distinguish juveniles who are in immediate needs of treatment from a large group in a short amount of time, thus making it efficient and gives a more likely reason to send them to be treated properly, rather than sending them to be imprisoned. Many Juveniles have been deprived of their proper treatment due to society’s lack of understanding and compassion, yet research clearly shows that mental health treatment not only keeps them at bay from repeating their crimes, but also helps them live a more positive lifestyle in society. In times we blame the juvenile for their mistakes, however instead of pointing fingers at them, we can come together as community to help them overcome their “inner demons”. After all, it is not the children committing the crimes, but their mental disorder that is hindering them from living a normal lifestyle.

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