Screening for personality disorder in incarcerated boys

Personality disorder screening in incarcerated boys
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Personality disorder screening in incarcerated boys
Personality disorder screening in incarcerated adolescent boys: preliminary validation of an adolescent version of the standardized assessment of personality – abbreviated scale (SAPAS-AV), 2012, by Mickey Kongerslev, Paul Moran, Sune Bo and Erick Simonsen.
Overview
Personality disorder or PD is linked to major functional injury or impairment, as well as a high risk of suicidal and/or violent behavior, and its occurrence among populations of young offenders is probable to be high. Previous research indicates an excessively elevated pervasiveness of mental illnesses or disorders in younger offenders in relation to community youth or adult prison populations, and nearly 75 per cent of incarcerated young offenders meet the criterion for at least one mental disorder (Kongerslev et al., 2012). Moreover, earlier research has also shown that there are high levels of suicide as well as suicide attempts, high levels of untreated and undiagnosed physical disorders, and high rates of mortality associated with premature death due to unnatural causes. Such findings necessitate the development and implementation of standardized as well as validated regular screening instruments within juvenile prison/correctional facilities. This is to ensure that the mental health care requirements of juvenile offenders are not ignored but treated (Kongerslev et al., 2012). This empirical journal article effectively highlights the urgent need for an immediate diagnostic assessment of adolescent boys’ personality at the time of their incarceration. The article also clearly states its goal is to benefit researchers and clinicians who work in juvenile justice settings.
This article review will analyze the goals and methods of research; and discuss the probable impact the research results will have on the criminal justice process. Description of the Research Problem Clinicians and researchers who work in juvenile settings understand the importance of a proper diagnosis in order to treat juveniles before they become violent criminal adult offenders. American judges place the greatest blame for the delinquency of juveniles on family breakdown and drugs (Inciardi, 2010). However, criminologists believe the roots of such delinquency most often can be explained by personality disorders that the sooner diagnosed the sooner the appropriate treatment can begin and be effective. Without proper diagnosis, many judges incarcerate juveniles without ordering further psychological testing. This empirical article attempts to address the gap between diagnosis and treatment; and show how scientifically based mental health assessments given at critical times can prevent juveniles from becoming violent criminal adult offenders.Description of the Research Problem
The researchers designed and carried out a prospective stud...