According to a study published in Pediatrics in June 2005 almost three-quarters of young people who enter the juvenile justice system have already been physically or sexually abused, or have experienced some other form of trauma. Once in detention, those forms of abuse are most likely to re-occur. According to the study, the subjects are also most likely to be murdered after their release.
The research examined 1,829 juveniles, and after tracking them over a three year period discovered that, compared to the general population, the subjects were four times more likely to have died. Murder was the main cause of death, comprising 90% of the deaths. A startling finding was that young females who had been incarcerated in a juvenile facility were eight times more likely to have died upon release than those who were not a part of the juvenile justice system. Over twenty percent of male and female offenders attempted suicide.
Those sentenced to a juvenile detention center have to cope with isolation from family members, little redeeming rehabilitation programs, aggressive fellow inmates, an overworked staff, sexual abuse or harassment, and ill thought out or nonexistent reentry plans. According to the study, these factors account for the high recidivism rate among this group of young people.
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