NCJ Number
192606
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 427-437
Date Published
2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined the characteristics of a population of 471 juveniles committed for treatment/habilitation and restoration of their competence to proceed in the delinquency process.
Abstract
The 471 study participants comprised the entire population of juveniles who were adjudicated incompetent to proceed in the juvenile justice process in Florida between May 1997 and August 2000 and were referred to the JITP (Juvenile Incompetent to Proceed) program. Data were entered into a database by JITP staff from numerous documents relevant to the juveniles' legal cases and treatment. Extensive quality checks were conducted on the data before their analysis. This population differed from their adult counterparts in important ways; for example, 58 percent of the juveniles had a diagnosis of mental retardation, and 57 percent of the juveniles with an Axis I diagnosis also had a diagnosis of conduct disorder. Only 17 percent had a diagnosed psychotic disorder. Diagnoses among cohorts of adults found incompetent differed markedly; however, similar to adult defendants who were adjudicated incompetent to proceed, the majority of the juveniles were returned to court after treatment staff determined that they were competent to proceed. Contrary to expectation, there were no significant age-related differences with respect to the recommendation of clinical staff regarding restoration of competence. The data suggest the need for further research that will examine that subset of children in the juvenile justice system whose competence to proceed is questionable. 6 tables and 24 references