Re-Mediating Narratives

This chapter draws from the experiences of a veteran educator teaching and learning with youths in a public high school located within a juvenile detention center between 2014-2018. Integrating the discourse of five young people who graduated from high school while in the juvenile detention center, the author demonstrates how the young people confront and re-mediate deficit-based narratives laden with the stereotypes that often surround students with exceptionalities in simultaneous, intersectional ways. Research specifically focused on young people who manage to graduate from high school while attending schools in JDCs (especially youth who identify as disabled or have been identified as having a disability) is significantly sparse. Furthermore, disability is often missing during analyses of incarceration and resistance. This chapter seeks to contribute to this understudied domain.

Criminal liability and the motivational background of socially unacceptable behaviour of youth

The article presents an analysis of the results of research carried out among minors residing in social rehabilitation centres and adolescents from upper secondary schools complying with the legal norms. The aim of the conducted research was to analyse the previous criminal record of the respondents and to analyse the existing diff erences in the type of the declared motivational background in undertaking behaviours that violate legal and social norms among the examined adolescents. A total of 133 minors from juvenile detention centres and 133 students from upper secondary schools were examined. The diagnostic survey method was used. The results of the analysis show that in the group of girls from juvenile detention centres, the motive of getting things (money) that they do not have and imitating their colleagues dominates relatively more often. In turn, among boys from rehabilitation centres, the most frequently indicated motive was repaying someone for the harm done and willing to teach someone a lesson. Among girls from upper secondary schools, the motive of imitating friends turned out to be the dominant motive for behaviour that violates social norms. No signifi cant motive was found among boys from this group.

Implementing Response to Intervention (RtI) in a Juvenile Detention Center Using Action Research

While proponents claimed Response to Intervention (RtI) improved student learning and prevented failure, there was an absence of research in effectiveness. Applying action research within a case study, there was an investigation into the process of reforming and improving RtI within a short-term juvenile detention center in the Midwest of the United States for students in grades 5-12. Using the conceptual framework of adaptive leadership, there was an analysis of policies and procedures, observations, interviews, and student work. RtI as a stand-alone program revealed many teachers lacked evidence-based instructional methods and alternative teachers lacked content knowledge, making implementation difficult. Within the action research method, role ambiguity caused problems with fidelity, with the need to infuse strategic leadership with action research when teachers’ sense of self and professional were challenged.

Anorexia nervosa, conduct disorder, and the juvenile justice system: a case of applying traditional treatment modalities in a non-traditional setting

Background Anorexia Nervosa is highly comorbid with depressive, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. However, it has not previously been reported as comorbid with antisocial personality traits, except when substance use disorder is also identified. We present an unusual case of a patient with resistant anorexia nervosa and comorbid conduct disorder. This case was also unique in that the juvenile justice system was involved during treatment. Case presentation A 13-year-old female was admitted to our pediatric hospital for the treatment of anorexia nervosa. She had a history of violent behaviors toward family members, often jeopardizing her care. During hospitalization, she physically attacked a physician on her care team shortly before she transitioned to an eating disorders treatment program. She was diagnosed with conduct disorder, and following discharge, she attacked her father in a premeditated act. This led to her entry into the juvenile justice system. While under the custody of the juvenile justice system, she was readmitted to our hospital for further treatment of anorexia nervosa. Our treatment strategy included psychotropics, positive reinforcement, close interdisciplinary coordination among the various hospital teams, and the juvenile justice system. Following discharge from her second hospitalization back to the juvenile detention system, our patient maintained a healthy weight and appeared to show improvements in the cognitive distortions related to her eating disorder. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first reported successful treatment of an individual with resistant anorexia nervosa and conduct disorder. It was likely a combination of weight gain, psychotropic medications, and the structured milieu provided by the juvenile justice system that led to the effective treatment of our patient. This case illustrates that a non-traditional healthcare setting can be an asset to treatment through persistence and close collaboration across institutions.

Mental Health Interventions in Juvenile Detention Institutions: A Systematic Review of What Works

Background: Incarcerated adolescents within the juvenile justice system are more likely to be diagnosed with poor mental health compared with their non-incarcerated peers. Conducting clinical trials on mental health interventions among an incarcerated adolescent population is challenging due to the nature of detention facilities. Objectives: This systematic review examines available literature on Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) done to assess mental health interventions among incarcerated adolescents globally and to determine the type of intervention that would best work in this setting. In this study, a systematic review was conducted to search, identify, and recommend effective interventions best suited to preserve and improve the mental wellbeing of incarcerated adolescents within the detention institution setting. Method: The search was performed in Medline via Ovid, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to retrieve related publications released between 1970 and March 2021. The principal inclusion criteria were RCT articles issued in English that reported any mental health interventions performed in juvenile detention centers involving delinquent adolescents aged 10 to 19 years old. Results: The search discovered 10 related articles that fulfilled the required inclusion criteria. In total, there were seven different types of mental health interventions used in all the studies. The three major themes identified among the selected studies are the interventions for coping strategies, risky behavior, and attention disorder among incarcerated adolescents. The efficacy of the interventions was dependent on the level of intelligence, duration of incarceration, risk of treatment diffusion, and depression symptoms among incarcerated adolescents. Conclusions: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention that is simple, brief, unique, and targets depressive symptoms, has the potential to be most efficacious in improving mental health among incarcerated adolescents.

Implementing Response to Intervention (RtI) in a Juvenile Detention Center Using Action Research

While proponents claimed Response to Intervention (RtI) improved student learning and prevented failure, there was an absence of research in effectiveness. Applying action research within a case study, there was an investigation into the process of reforming and improving RtI within a short-term juvenile detention center in the Midwest of the United States for students in grades 5-12. Using the conceptual framework of adaptive leadership, there was an analysis of policies and procedures, observations, interviews, and student work. RtI as a stand-alone program revealed many teachers lacked evidence-based instructional methods and alternative teachers lacked content knowledge, making implementation difficult. Within the action research method, role ambiguity caused problems with fidelity, with the need to infuse strategic leadership with action research when teachers’ sense of self and professional were challenged.

Lifting the Bar: A Relationship-Orienting Intervention Reduces Recidivism Among Children Reentering School From Juvenile Detention

When children return to school from juvenile detention, they face a severe stigma. We developed a procedure to orient educators and students toward each other as positive relationship partners during this period. In Study 1, through a structured exercise, students reentering school powerfully articulated to an educator of their choosing their prosocial hopes for school as well as challenges they faced. In a preliminary field trial ( N = 47), presenting this self-introduction to this educator in a one-page letter via a third-party requesting the educator’s help reduced recidivism to juvenile detention through the next semester from 69% to 29%. In Study 2 (preregistered), the letter led experienced teachers ( N = 349) to express greater commitment to, anticipate more success for, and feel more love and respect for a student beginning their reentry into school, potentially initiating a better trajectory. The results suggest how relationship-orienting procedures may sideline bias and make school more supportive for students facing stigma.

Transformative Needs Assessment Methodology: A Mixed Approach for Organizations Serving Marginalized Communities

Needs assessments (NAs) for marginalized communities would ideally contextualize needs in the sociocultural context, use agency-supportive methods, and result in liberatory action planning. This article develops the Transformative Needs Assessment With Marginalized Communities (TNAMC) using a mixed-methods approach that examines internal and external factors of needs for marginalized communities using liberatory methods to arrive at emancipatory action planning. This nonlinear process includes identifying concerns, checking assumptions, action committee selection, identifying need areas, situating need areas in context, identifying metrics of needs, collecting and analyzing data, prioritizing needs, creating action strategies, and developing an action plan. Each phase is discussed using the examination of anti-recidivism adolescent development needs in a predominately Black juvenile detention facility ( N = 87 juveniles) as exemplar. The development of TNAMC is designed to aid NA evaluators in designing assessments that integrate social action as a primary purpose of the NA while empowering marginalized communities throughout research processes.