Physicians for Criminal Justice Reform (PfCJR) CORE ISSUE: Juvenile justice reform to identify and divert at-risk youth.
Isolation in juvenile detention centers persists despite ample data demonstrating the traumatizing consequences to youth who often already have been traumatized. Dr. Brittany Raffa writes a poignant piece that was published in the December 1, 2015 issue of Family Practice News regarding the practice. Highlights:
- Youth are kept in isolation for several days, with a vague definition by staff on the limit of “several days.”
- While in isolation or segregation – whatever it is called – mental illness and posttraumatic stress disorder are exacerbated. Youth do not participate in school classes, and they are barred from the daily hour of physical activity.
- The use of isolation in juvenile centers has led to increased suicide rates in those children.
- More than 50% of all youths’ suicides in juvenile facilities occurred while young people were isolated alone in their rooms, and … more than 60% of young people who committed suicide in custody had a history of being held in isolation.”
Read the entire article at www.familypracticenews.com
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