British Journal of Social Work (2003) 33, 739-752
© 2003 British Association of Social Workers
Are Young People in Correctional Institutions Different from Community Students Who Have Never Been Convicted?: Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviours
Byoungduk Sohn is a doctoral fellow in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Oxford University, and holds an MSW and MDIV from Washington University (St Louis) and Harvard University, respectively.
Correspondence to Byoungduk Sohn, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, Barnett House, 32 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER, UK. E-mail: byoungduk.sohn{at}linacre.ox.ac.uk
Summary
By comparing the prevalence of emotional and behaviour health problems among institutionalized juvenile offenders with that amongst a non-offending sample of adolescents, this study indicates common characteristics of the perceived emotional and behavioural problems, and describes risk factors pertinent to persistent juvenile offending. Familial backgrounds, behavioural and emotional measures were collected through self-report surveys. Results showed that young people in secure units claimed significant high levels of emotional and behavioural problems and that those problems were associated with their disadvantaged familial socio-economic backgrounds and perceived parenting factors. Various policy implications are recommended to tackle problems amongst these disadvantaged young people in correctional institutions in Korea. In particular, for those working with young people in correctional institutions in the UK, the findings highlight the importance of culturally relevant programmes.