Abstract
A number of investigators have reported the presence of soft neurological signs and measurable neuropsychological dysfunction among incarcerated juveniles. This study was undertaken to further explore the relationship between parameters of neurological dysfunction and delinquent behavior. Seventy-one teenagers admitted to an urban detention center were evaluated utilizing neurological examination, neuropsychological testing and an assessment of reading levels. Although the group studied was selected at random from among the detainees it included a disproportionate number of alleged serious offenders as compared with the general detention center population. Fifty-one percent of the youth were found to have two or more soft neurological signs including left-right confusion, lack of coordination, mirroring, dysdiadochokinesis, choreiform movements and astereognosis. The mean reading level for the group was three grade levels below the norm for age. Continued difficulties with both experimental design and the separation of environmental factors from inherent disabilities mandate caution in labeling delinquent youth as being neurologically impaired. However, these results would suggest that incarcerated youth may have a greater than expected incidence of neurological and neuropsychological dysfunction.
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Meyer, M., Bennett, H., Luck, D. et al. 79 NEUROLOGICAL AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL STATUS OF DETAINED YOUTH. Pediatr Res 15 (Suppl 4), 453 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-00088
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-00088