Dissociation in Incarcerated Juvenile Male Offenders — A Pilot Study in Australia

Abstract

The objective was to compare levels of dissociative experiences in two samples of 16- to 18- year-old males using a brief structured interview. Twenty-nine juvenile offenders admitted to a juvenile justice centre were administered the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES) by the psychologist performing the admission. The A-DES was also administered to an age- and sex-matched non-offender group of 29 adolescent males.The results were that with the chosen cut-off score, 1 out of 29 of the non-offender sample and 8 out of 29 of the offender sample exhibited a high level of dissociative experience. This pilot study provides support for the author's clinical impression that a significant proportion of juvenile offenders in custody have a high level of dissociative experience. That such a group exists in custody has implications for clinical intervention.