The Traumatic Effect of being Incarcerated

• In Event: Can We Talk? Necessary Conversations about the School - Prison Nexus

Abstract

While approximately one in three youths are identified by juvenile probation officers as needing mental health services, researchers estimate that between 67% to 90% of detained and adjudicated youth meet criteria for at least one mental health diagnosis, and almost half for two or more comorbid psychiatric disorders. This staggering prevalence of mental health disorders amongst justice-involved youth is more frequent than in the general adolescent population. The purpose of this proposal is to present how trauma affects system-involved youth by creating emotional, mental, spiritual and physical distress by examining data from a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project with system-involved youth and their allies.

Author

• Shiv R. Desai, University of New Mexico