NCJ Number
232097
Date Published
2009
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes the findings of a study of substance use among male adolescents undergoing mandatory treatment in juvenile justice institutions in the Netherlands.
Abstract
Compared to a control group of same-age boys attending regular education, special education, or a residential youth care institution, the incarcerated boys had a high level of alcohol and drug use prior to their detention or pretrial arrest. Compared to male adolescents in regular education, incarcerated boys were 13 times more likely to be a daily tobacco smoker and 7 times more likely to have used cannabis prior to their placement in a juvenile justice institution. For the incarcerated boys, the use of alcohol since detention or pretrial arrests was less frequent compared to the use of alcohol prior to their detention or pretrial arrest. Approximately one-third of the boys reported alcohol use since detention. Sixty-five percent reported using cannabis since incarceration, and 64 percent of the study population used cannabis within the institution. The use of hard drugs decreased since the detention or pretrial arrest; just over 20 percent of the incarcerated boys reported using hard drugs before admission to the juvenile institution, compared to hard-drug use by 6 percent since detention. These hard drugs were all used within the institution and not while on leave. Ninety percent of the interviewed boys reported that it is easy to obtain cannabis in the institution. The study recommends starting preventive interventions at an early age in order to prevent future problematic substance use. It also recommends focusing on the use of alcohol and drugs in the mandatory treatment regimes of Dutch juvenile justice institutions. Questionnaires on substance use were completed by 155 boys who were placed in 10 (out of 12) juvenile justice institutions in the Netherlands between March and July 2009.