{"title":"Exploring Ways the Youth Court System Can Address Youth Mental Health and Reduce Youth Offending: A New Zealand Comparative Study.","authors":"Jemma Stephens, Helen Butler, Terryann C Clark","doi":"10.1097/JFN.0000000000000552","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Changes to New Zealand's Oranga Tamariki Act in 2019, saw 17-year-olds moved from adult to youth jurisdiction. This study described mental distress experienced by 17-year-olds appearing in Youth Court compared to their high school peers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Seventeen-year-olds in the youth justice (YJ) system between 2019 and 2021 were compared to 17-year-olds in the Youth19 survey (Y19) by demographic characteristics, types, and prevalence of mental distress.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>YJ 17-year-olds experienced greater exposure to family violence, parental separation, and child protection compared to their Y19 peers. Depressive symptoms (OR 10.5, p < 0.0001), suicidality (OR 7.8, p < 0.0001), and cannabis use (OR 3.2, p < 0.001) were significantly more common when compared to Y19, with Māori males disproportionately affected.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Seventeen-year-olds in YJ experience elevated levels of poverty, trauma, and mental health distress. Criminalizing trauma and mental distress is preventable. Forensic clinicians must facilitate evidence-based culturally safe mental health and addiction rehabilitation as part of a crime prevention strategy.</p>","PeriodicalId":94079,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic nursing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of forensic nursing","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1097/JFN.0000000000000552","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Changes to New Zealand's Oranga Tamariki Act in 2019, saw 17-year-olds moved from adult to youth jurisdiction. This study described mental distress experienced by 17-year-olds appearing in Youth Court compared to their high school peers.
Methods: Seventeen-year-olds in the youth justice (YJ) system between 2019 and 2021 were compared to 17-year-olds in the Youth19 survey (Y19) by demographic characteristics, types, and prevalence of mental distress.
Results: YJ 17-year-olds experienced greater exposure to family violence, parental separation, and child protection compared to their Y19 peers. Depressive symptoms (OR 10.5, p < 0.0001), suicidality (OR 7.8, p < 0.0001), and cannabis use (OR 3.2, p < 0.001) were significantly more common when compared to Y19, with Māori males disproportionately affected.
Conclusions: Seventeen-year-olds in YJ experience elevated levels of poverty, trauma, and mental health distress. Criminalizing trauma and mental distress is preventable. Forensic clinicians must facilitate evidence-based culturally safe mental health and addiction rehabilitation as part of a crime prevention strategy.
背景：2019年新西兰的《Oranga Tamariki法案》进行了修改，将17岁的青少年从成人管辖范围转移到了青少年管辖范围。这项研究描述了出现在青年法庭上的17岁青少年与他们的高中同龄人相比所经历的精神痛苦。方法：将2019年至2021年青少年司法（YJ）系统中的17岁青少年与Youth19调查（Y19）中的17岁青少年进行人口统计学特征、类型和精神困扰患病率的比较。结果：yj17岁的青少年比Y19岁的同龄人更容易接触到家庭暴力、父母分居和儿童保护。与19岁相比，抑郁症状（OR 10.5, p < 0.0001）、自杀倾向（OR 7.8, p < 0.0001）和大麻使用（OR 3.2, p < 0.001）明显更为常见，Māori男性受到的影响尤为严重。结论：YJ的17岁青少年经历了更高水平的贫困、创伤和心理健康困扰。将创伤和精神痛苦定为犯罪是可以预防的。作为预防犯罪战略的一部分，法医临床医生必须促进以证据为基础的文化上安全的心理健康和成瘾康复。
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
