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Investigates to which extent the Mauritius government programmes and policies address the need for reform and reintegration of juvenile detainees. The specific objectives of the author are: a) To layout the normative content of both the international and regional legal framework on the reform and reintegration of juvenile detainees. b) To establish to what extent the government of Mauritius has adopted and implemented legislation, policies and practical programmes in the Juvenile Justice System (JJS) that are in conformity with the international principles on JJS and secure successful rehabilitation and reintegration of juveniles in detention. c) To identify the challenges faced by stakeholders in implementing the relevant programmes and d) To suggest steps that can be taken by both Mauritius and other African governments to transform the JJS to guarantee rehabilitation and reintegration of juveniles. / Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The purpose of this study was to discover the current awareness of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) regarding the link between language disorder and the juvenile justice system. It is to consider how speech-language pathology, as a profession, think about the implications of language disorder on life outcomes as well as determine the need for speech-language intervention within the juvenile justice system. A Google Form was created and distributed to current speech-language pathologists that have their Certificate of Clinical competence, and have experience working with students in the educational setting. Results suggest SLPs are aware of the link between LD and the juvenile justice system as well as the aspects of language found difficult for these young offenders, but training and professional development on this topic is minimal. Participants report an interest in interprofessional practice and are positioned to become advocates for young offenders with LD in the juvenile justice system.

Topic: Structuring of inpatient behavioral programming in child-adolescent psychiatric, residential treatment, and juvenile justice settings. Purpose: To review the underlying theory underpinning current practices and recommend remedies to the uncovered problems. Sources: A review of the literature from 1965 to 2001 from selected nursing and medical psychiatric and mental health publications. Conclusions: Intensive professional and staff education and greater precision in communication about patients' behaviors are needed in many settings. There is also a need to move away from generic treatment approaches and return to individual treatment planning based on individual assessments and the unique needs of an increasingly volatile and complex in-patient population.

Juvenile direct-care officers working in juvenile correctional facilities historically responded to critical and potentially aggressive incidents using nontherapeutic strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine and to understand the lived experiences of direct-care officers' use of de-escalation skills for managing violent and disruptive behaviors in juvenile correctional facilities. The findings from this study may add to the existing literature by describing juvenile correctional officers' experiences as well as to better understand their perceptions and attitude using de-escalation strategies in correctional environments. The social learning and self-efficacy theories provided the conceptual framework to examine and understand their experiences. The phenomenological design was used to examine the lived experiences of 9 juvenile direct-care officers use of de-escalation strategies to respond to disruptive and aggressive incidents within the juvenile correctional facility. The 9 direct-care officers participated in audio-recorded interviews that were transcribed and analyzed using Moustakas's phenomenological steps that identified 3 themes using de-escalation strategies: to avoid use of force and reduce liability of injuries; to resolve conflicts using their words to de-escalate the youth or the situation; and to use according to their training, perceived level of confidence, and effectiveness of de-escalation strategies. Understanding direct-care officers' perceptions of use of de-escalation may result in positive social change for fostering caring and safe living correctional environments and strengthen current training curriculums for working with aggressive and disruptive behaviors.

Effective intervention programs play a fundamental role in reducing rates of juvenile delinquency. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that is strongly supported by research (ACT, 2010). Moral Kombat (MK) is an intervention that combines character-building and CBT concepts in programs for at-risk and delinquent juveniles with the goal to change their belief systems, thus improving their behaviors (Marchant, 2009). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the extent to which MK incorporates the principles identified in the literature as necessary for a CBT program to be successful. The occurrences of the 11 CBT principles identified in the literature found in the MK participant manuals were counted. MK appears to be a structurally sound program that has the potential to help participants but includes barriers to success such as resistance due to compelled attendance, social factors, costs, and inability to meet participant-specific therapy needs.

Privatization of juvenile facilities and services has been the norm since the inception of the juvenile justice system. However, little research has been performed examining the impact of privatization on juvenile justice, despite the possible repercussions of this policy for the juveniles served. Prior research on privatization in other fields has tended to find a connection between privatization and outcomes; however, very little research has examined how privatization impacts operations, how operations impact recidivism, and how privatization and operations interact to produce juvenile justice outcomes. This exploratory study, informed by cybernetic systems theory and principal-agent theory, examined the mechanism by which privatization influences juvenile recidivism by exploring the possible mediating effect of facility operations. Using annual juvenile facility evaluation and recidivism data collected by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice through 548 evaluations performed on 158 facilities from 2003-2006, this research examined whether facility operations mediated the relationship between ownership (public, for-profit, and non-profit) and juvenile recidivism. Multilevel analyses were completed using Stata software to account for the clustered nature of the data (facilities nested within provider companies). The results from multilevel regression analyses indicated no relationship between ownership type and either operations or recidivism. However, multilevel regression analyses indicated significant inverse relationships between recidivism and each of four of the operational variables: program management, health care services, security, and intervention management. A mediating relationship was not supported. Results also indicated that both provider company and characteristics of the juveniles served were significant predictors of both operational variables and recidivism. These results suggest that privatization concerns may be more suitably focused on identifying the appropriate provider company rather than on choosing the appropriate ownership type. In addition, during the contract negotiation stage, juvenile justice administrators may wish to incorporate policies and/or incentives into the contract that are related to juvenile characteristics. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.

<p><strong>Objectives:</strong> Compared to youth without justice-involvement, justice-involved youth are more likely to experience substance use disorders. Yet, few justice-involved youth receive appropriate, evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders. Although there are numerous barriers to the accessibility of appropriate treatment, research also suggests that it is difficult to engage justice-involved youth in treatment even when it is available and accessible. It is possible that substance use disorder stigma, or negative attitudes towards youth with substance use disorders, may contribute to low treatment accessibility, and make it more difficult for justice-involved youth to engage with available treatment. Few researchers have examined substance use disorder stigma among this population. The purpose of this study was to 1) explore the nature of substance use disorder stigma among justice-involved youth, at multiple ecological levels and 2) examine the role of substance use disorder stigma in limiting the accessibility of and engagement in treatment and justice-involved youth’s engagement in treatment. </p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> Participants (n = 44 youth-guardian dyads) were referred to the study by juvenile probation departments in two Indiana counties. In addition, 66 system personnel participants who work with justice-involved youth with substance use disorders were recruited from community mental health centers and juvenile probation departments in rural and suburban Indiana counties. All participants completed survey measures of substance use disorder stigma and familiarity with substance use; youth-guardian dyads also provided information about the youth’s substance use history and treatment utilization. A subset of participants (n = 9 youth, 11 guardians, 12 system personnel) completed qualitative interviews, providing perspectives on substance use disorder stigma and the role of stigma in discouraging treatment. Using analysis of covariance, multiple regression analyses, and qualitative grounded theory analysis, I explored the nature of stigma toward justice-involved youth with substance use disorders and examined the impact of stigma on treatment accessibility and engagement. </p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> For aim 1, as hypothesized, public stigma (assessed by survey data) varied significantly according to participant role and specific substance, with guardians endorsing greater stigma than system personnel. All participants expressed greater negative emotions towards youth with opioid use disorder compared to marijuana use disorder. Interview data revealed particularly nuanced attitudes about marijuana use. Contrary to expectations, youth reported little self-stigma. Both youth and guardians described limited knowledge of problematic substance use. For aim 2, interview data suggests that youth and guardians may identify more stigma associated with seeking treatment for problematic substance use than with using substances. All participants reported that perceived stigma has improved in recent years, and that youth feel more comfortable discussing their substance use. However, guardians identified family attitudes about behavioral health treatment as negatively impacting engagement among youth. In addition, system personnel reported that stigma continues to limit the accessibility of youth SUD treatment.  </p> <p><strong>Discussion:</strong> Youth endorsed lower than expected levels of self-stigma with no difference by primary substance type; this may have been affected by youth’s limited understanding of problematic substance use and lower than expected heterogeneity in substance use type among participants. Consistent with prior research, self-stigma was directly related to the severity of mental health symptoms. The high prevalence of public stigma among guardians of JIY with SUDs suggests that parents and guardians would benefit from interventions to better support their caregiving experiences. All participants identified complex attitudes about marijuana use, suggesting that the increasing public acceptability and endorsement of marijuana as a helpful substance may complicate treatment seeking when use becomes problematic. Although youth did not conceptualize self-stigma as a barrier to treatment, given that the primary substance used in this study was marijuana, these results may be complicated by changing societal attitudes about marijuana in particular. Qualitative perspectives from guardians and system personnel suggest that substance use disorder stigma may limit both the accessibility of treatment and youth’s likelihood to engage with treatment; this may depend on type of substance used. Particularly for the participants in this study, extremely limited treatment accessibility posed the largest barrier to evidence-based substance use disorder treatment for adolescents, making it difficult to accurately assess the role of stigma in actual treatment use. Finally, findings suggest that measuring substance use disorder stigma may be dependent on participants’ ability to accurately identify problematic substance use. It may also be important to refine both qualitative and quantitative measurement of stigma specifically with adolescents. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.</p>

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