NCJ Number
175062
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 78 Issue: 4 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 423-438
Date Published
1998
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study surveyed 178 children incarcerated in training schools in North Carolina to estimate the proportion of children who had been witnesses to or victims of neighborhood and family violence, the children's levels of depressive symptoms, and relationships between violence exposure and depressive symptoms.
Abstract
Neighborhood violence was assessed through the use of questions adapted from Richters and Martinez; family violence was measured by using questions from the Conflict Tactics Scales; and depressive symptoms were assessed by using the Children's Depression Inventory. Findings showed that the majority of children reported having been exposed to neighborhood and family violence. Children evidenced high levels of depressive symptoms, with more than 70 percent showing clinically relevant levels of symptomatology. Multiple linear regression procedures found that both neighborhood and family violence were predictive of the levels of depressive symptoms. These findings underline the need to provide high-quality therapeutic services to children during incarceration in training schools and after their discharge. Although the internalizing problems manifested in incarcerated youth can be treated individually, family-based and community- based interventions must be developed to address the systemic problem of exposure to violence. Health professionals should respond to the many needs of incarcerated youth by designing, implementing, and evaluating models of innovative preventive and therapeutic health programs for this population at risk. 3 tables and 42 references