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A five year study of the juvenile justice system, done by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) and called "Criminal Neglect: Substance Abuse,Juvenile Justice and the Children Left Behind" found that while 44 percent of juvenile offenders from 10 to 17 met the clinical definition of substance abuse or dependence less than four percent received treatment(13 ). Youth concerns: Researchers found family issues that can cause youth violence are family violence, mental illness, parental depression, poor parenting skills, immaturity, adolescent parenting, parents with little education, and family disruption, including moves, illness, death, divorce, and incarceration (14 ). Teachers who said of children had behavior problems eighty to ninety percent had experience experienced parental crime, arrest, and incarceration. The cycle of arrest, incarceration, and release can have a cumulative effect on a child. When a child is two to six and witnesses the arrest of a parent it can have an impact. Researchers said, "The long-term effects of these experiences may be worse at this stage of childhood...because young children have the ability to perceive and remember traumatic events, but they cannot process or adjust to trauma without assistance...". Then when the child reaches fifteen to eighteen, "Their experiences have left many with negative attitudes toward law enforcement and the criminal justice system. The parents of many have served multiple jail and/or prison sentences and will not reunify with them. A large but unknown proportion will engage in criminal activity...". This research also noted |
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Treatment or prison??