Research and Evaluation Center Jeffrey A. Butts John Jay College of Criminal Justice City University of New York Presented to the symposium: Kids Behind Bars New York, NY April 23, 2012 MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE ABUSE & BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN JUVENILE OFFENDERS: EFFECTIVE NEW PROGRAMS, AND WHAT THE DATA SHOW

Research and Evaluation Center 2 Lessons from Brain Research  Adolescence is dominated by peer interactions, novelty seeking, and elevated consumption behavior, which can be adaptive despite the associated risks

Research and Evaluation Center 3 Lessons from Brain Research  Adolescents have poor self-control in emotionally charged situations, are easily influenced by peers and don’t think through consequences of some actions

Research and Evaluation Center 4 Lessons from Brain Research  Research suggests adolescence is characterized by rapid growth in brain areas governing pleasure-seeking and emotional reactivity – with much slower development in areas that support self-control and judgment

Research and Evaluation Center 5 Lessons from Brain Research  Newest research suggests that adversity and stress “down regulate” the brain systems that allow for adaptive behavior and “up regulate” the emotional systems that can hijack rational regions important for guiding choices and actions

Research and Evaluation Center 6 Adolescence is not a mental health disorder

Research and Evaluation Center 7 Arrest?

Research and Evaluation Center 8 National Conference of State Legislatures, Juvenile Justice Guidebook for Legislators, November 2011

Research and Evaluation Center 9 Cause or Correlation ?  The deeper we look into the juvenile justice process, the more we find past trauma, drug abuse, and mental health problems…  Is this because these are the causes of juvenile crime?  Or is the justice system less likely to divert youth with these problems because of their service needs, thus more likely to charge, adjudicate, place, etc.?

Research and Evaluation Center 10 Prevalence of Problems Social and Economic Disadvantages Offenders with Problems Mental Health, Drugs, Trauma Justice System Contact

Research and Evaluation Center 11 Cause or Co-Occurrence? Implications for practice and policy…