The vast majority of young offenders are in critical need of psychiatric help and are failing to get it, a major new report finds. Kitty Hollandreports.
The report, presented at a conference in Dublin yesterday, says the State's failure to provide intensive psychiatric help to these children when in detention is a lost golden opportunity.
The first of its kind in the world looking at levels of emotional intelligence among young people in detention, Emotional Intelligence, Mental Health and Juvenile Delinquency studied 30 boys in four detention centres over a period of three years.
It found 83 per cent of the boys - who were aged on average just under 15 years - had three times as many psychiatric problems as boys referred to psychiatric services in the community and 20 per cent had suicidal thoughts.
About 20 per cent reported they had attempted to take their lives on at least one occasion.
The authors, Dr Jennifer Hayes and Dr Gary O'Reilly of UCD, compared the psychiatric well-being of young people across three groups - residents of detention centres, young people referred to a community psychiatric service and young people with no mental problems.
Dr Hayes said 37 per cent of detained people in the study were "experiencing internalising psychiatric problems such as anxiety disorders and depression" and 68 per cent met the diagnostic criteria for such disorders as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and ADD (attention deficit disorder).
"The levels of substance use and substance dependency disorders among the young people detained is a matter of grave concern," she said.
"Fifty-six per cent of detainees met diagnostic criteria for at least one substance use disorder. Approximately equal numbers of the detained young people with addiction problems reported using cocaine as did the numbers using alcohol and cannabis.
"Such young people ... reported that they first began to use alcohol and cannabis at an average age of just nine years and cocaine use at 13."
The level of criminality among these young people in detention is seriously high, say the authors.
"Results demonstrate that approximately one in three boys were serving time on foot of at least one interpersonally violent crime and on average each child has 11 charges made against them."
The findings on emotional intelligence were particularly worrying, with the children found to have a reduced capacity to perceive emotions in themselves and in others, and to regulate their own emotions.
"In addition to reducing the debilitating effects that mental health problems have on a child's functioning and development, treatment will lead to a significant reduction in offending behaviour and criminality."