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Morbidity and Mortality Risk Among the “Forgotten Few”: Why Are Girls in the Justice System in Such Poor Health?

  • Original Article
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Law and Human Behavior

Abstract

The present study assessed the physical health of a population of girls sentenced to custody in a large US State via medical examinations and clinical assessments in adolescence and young adulthood. Findings indicated that injuries, obesity, and sexually transmitted diseases were the norm, with over 50% of the population meeting criteria for each of these health problems. A dose–response relationship was documented between childhood victimization and injuries and injury risk in adolescence and self-harm, HIV risk, physical health symptoms, and hospitalizations in young adulthood. The relationship between childhood victimization and poor adult physical health was fully mediated by health-risk behaviors in adolescence. Clinical and policy implications of the high mortality and morbidity risk among female juvenile offenders are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (#54020 and #84567) and the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice. Candice L. Odgers is a William T. Grant Scholar. The authors thank Co-Investigators Marlene Moretti and Dick Reppucci, the Gender and Aggression Research Team-Virginia Site (Mandi Burnette, Preeti Chauhan, Emily Marston and Barbara Oudekerk), those at the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice that supported this research (Drs. Dennis Waite, Dale Schulz and Molly Alcott), and the young women who participated in this study.

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  1. Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, 4312 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Candice L. Odgers, Summer J. Robins & Michael A. Russell

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  1. Candice L. Odgers
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Correspondence to Candice L. Odgers.

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Odgers, C.L., Robins, S.J. & Russell, M.A. Morbidity and Mortality Risk Among the “Forgotten Few”: Why Are Girls in the Justice System in Such Poor Health?. Law Hum Behav 34, 429–444 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-009-9199-3

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