Am J Psychiatry 1980; 137:953-955
Copyright © 1980 by American Psychiatric Association
The use of a correctional setting for follow-up care of psychiatrically disturbed adolescents
DO Lewis and SS Shanok
The authors studied the first 88 adolescents boys who were placed on the
secure unit of a correctional school during an 18-month period and found
that 52 (59.1%) of the boys had previously received psychiatric residential
treatment or psychiatric hospitalization. The authors hypothesize that many
of these boys may have been transferred from a psychiatric setting to a
correctional facility during adolescence when long-standing aberrant
behaviors became more threatening to staff. At present the number of
psychiatric hospital beds is decreasing and the criteria for
hospitalization of children are becoming more stringent. The data indicate
that correctional facilities are now expected to function as psychiatric
treatment centers for disturbed adolescents no longer welcome in
therapeutic settings.
