A Comparison of Correctional and Mental Health Referrals in the Juvenile Court

Abstract

This article presents the results of the first study to compare only court-referred adolescents in the mental health and criminal justice systems. The study reviewed the files of all 93 adolescents whom the Connecticut juvenile courts referred from July 1, 1993, to June 30, 1994, to Connecticut's only state-run psychiatric hospital for adolescents, and the files of all 241 adolescents whom the same courts referred that same year to the state's only juvenile correctional facility. The study analyzed the relationship between seven independent variables—gender, age, race, severity and other aspects of the alleged criminal offense, the court making the referral, family constellation, and the population size of the subject's home town—and referral for a mental health evaluation. Four of the independent variables—race, whether the subject was charged with a sex offense, age, and severity of the alleged offense—were significantly related to referral.