Expert Calls for Aggressive Action in Treating, not Incarcerating, Troubled Youths
February 26th, 2010
The fact that detention facilities such as jails and juvenile halls tend to operate poor programs for therapy and other forms of psychological treatment probably isn’t new to many professionals in the industry, but while some work towards improving the quality of these programs, others are questioning why those with psychological concerns are being detained in the first place. Suggesting that children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, as well as conduct disorders, are too often overlooked for treatment and eventually end up in jail, an expert in the field has suggested that raising awareness of these issues among parents and doctors could prevent incarceration.
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Comments
although this may sound like the best way to do things, it surely is anything but it…this kind of a rule or law can easily be abused for the benefit of the a certain few…people will definitely take advantage of such a loophole.
It’s about time that we looked more at a treatment solution rather than a punishment solution. If you are just punished you may be a whole lot more likely to repeat the behavior than if the behovior is looked at and resolved. it is sad that there are too many cries for imprisonment and not enough to find out what is going on beneath the surface that made you exhibit that behavior in the first place.
Punishment will not assure a repeat of the crime or offense, but treatement will…moreover it is a better way to do things and also a better path to take in the long pursuit of reducing crime and other things.
what a novel thought. . . offer positive counseling and a positive experience instead of locking the up and throwing away the key. . . wow, I think this might actually do some good
What we have today is a growing crime rate, number of people commiting these crimes shooting through the roof and so is the number of people sauffering from mental problems…while not all offenders may do this because they have a problem, those who do so should be treated and not sentenced … this may draw criticism from certain people but will definitely be the better of the two options in the long run.
I’ve never believed that incarceration of young people in such facilities does anything positive. Jail is a school to them and fellow inmates teach them all the wrong lessons.
if a young person is suffering from a psychological problem and is put into prison,it is only going to degrade his situation further and it will not act as a ‘correctional facility’, atleast for such individuals.what can help for such people is first of all having psychologists and other professionals from the field being a part of advisory committee to the judiciary.this will go a long way in ensuring that such individuals are treated and not put into prisons.
While I agree that young people who commit crimes and do things that are illegal probably do need some help and counseling they also need to be punished for their actions. It is not a great message to be sending to them that it is ok to commit a crime because they will just have to talk to someone about it and not have to worry about doing their time in jail. I too hate to see young people make mistakes that will affect the rest of their lives, but what about the people on the receiving end of the crime and the people that they hurt? What good is counseling the perpetrator of the crime going to do for them? I strongly feel that there is a justice system for a good reason and that no matter the age of the offender it still needs to be taken into consideration.
Showing toughness is not always the right thing.Similarly,dealing with each and every person with the same rules espcially when the person has a psychological problem is not wise either.We need professionals from the field to take it onto themselves to bring in a change…a change so vast that our future generations should thank us for having taken it up.
The judges that send them there also need educated on ADHD and similar conditions before they swing the gavel. They are educated about the law. Not many are up to speed on ADHD, and yet these kids’ lives are in their hands. Ignorance is not an excuse when it will prevent their accessing of treatment.
Sentencing will only create criminals…treatment will create good humans…this is the probably the shortest and simplest thing that the judiciary needs to read and understand…after all, human life is much more than punishment.
But how will they learn right from wrong if they are not punished in some way? I want them to end up as productive members of society too but they should ahve to make some sacrifices to make up for the actions that they took which were wrong.
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