In recent years, the percentage of juveniles with mental disorders in juvenile reformatories has been increasing to the extent that one fourth of protected juveniles are found to have mental disorders or developmental disabilities. The increase in the number of protected juveniles with mental problems has raised concern that mental disorders can cause accidents in reformatories, including self-injury and violence among juveniles Also, considering that the major purpose of the juvenile reformatory is to protect and rehabilitate juvenile offenders, it is crucial to provide effective treatment to protected juveniles with mental disorders.
Against this backdrop, this study aims to make suggestions to improve the treatment of protected juveniles with mental disorders by examining the current state of the juvenile reformatory in terms of the provision of medical care and rehabilitation. For this purpose, the study conducted a survey of staffs who work at the Juvenile Classification Review Board and juvenile reformatories. Also, this study conducted interviews of teaching staff and medical staff of juvenile reformatories concerning possible improvement measures for the effective treatment of mentally disordered juveniles under detention.
The survey and interviews were designed to identify major problems and to obtain opinions of reformatory staff regarding the treatment of juveniles with mental disorders. Especially, the questions delved into the issues of how to make dispositions for medical care and by what standards; of how to improve the medical care of mentally disordered juveniles in general reformatories; and of how to operate a facility for medical protection of juveniles.
The results of the staff survey show wide consensus among teaching and medical staff that there is an urgent need of increasing medical and rehabilitative care for protected juveniles with mental disorders or developmental disabilities. Also, in order to improve the effectiveness of medical care, it was pointed out that reliable standards for classifying juveniles should be established to provide individualized medical care. In addition, a large number of respondents and interviewees pointed out that one of the most pressing issues was the shortage of medical staff, especially full-time psychiatrists and clinical counselors, at the reformatories.
The establishment of a new juvenile medical care and protection institution was suggested as a possible solution to the issues mentioned above. The suruey questions pertaining to the establishment of a new medical facility for protected juveniles garnered positive responses among the reformatory staffs. Although the Daejeon Juvenile Reformatory is assigned to provide rehabilitative and medical care, it was pointed out that the Daejeon Reformatory has multiple functions other than medical care. Thus, the majority of respondents and interviewees suggest that a new facility that is exclusively assinged to the role of medical and rehabilitative care can be a promising solution to the issues concerning mental disorders among protected juveniles.
This study concludes with a set of suggestions on how to improve the treatment of mentally disordered juveniles. in juveniles reformatories. First, the results of the survey and interviews show that the improvement of the physical environment at the reformatories can contribute to mitigating the issues of mental disorders. Second, it was repeatedly pointed out that there was an urgent need to increase the personnel in charge of rehabilitation and medical care, especially psychiatrists and clinical counselors. Third, in addition to the establishment of a specialized facility for medical protection of juveniles, it needs to facilitate the provision of clinical service for juveniles who stay at the general reformatories. Fourth, one of the ways of providing clinical service to protected juveniles is to make use of resources in the community by strengthening cooperation with clinical experts. Lastly, it should be noted that treatment within the reformatory needs to be connected to mental health care in the community so that juveniles with mental disorders can be effectively supported in the process of returning to the society.