Juvenile Delinquency around the World: Public Psychiatry

Abstract

Delinquency population in the world increased from 18 million to 250 million between 1992 and 2007. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that approximately 200,000 youth homicides occur among individuals aged between 10 and 29 years old, with the main perpetrators being youths themselves. For many young people today, traditional patterns guiding the relationships and transitions between family, school, and work are being challenged. Lifestyle trajectories are becoming more varied and less predictable. The restructuring of the labor market, extension of the maturity gap, and limitation in the opportunities to become an independent adult are all challenges. About 70% of delinquent youth are affected with the mental disorder, and 1 in 5 suffers from mental illness so severe as to impair their ability to function. Treatments that include professional clinical care, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions are helpful. The WHO advocates a need to develop a comprehensive guideline to deal with almost every social area with main environmental and socialization processes including family, school, and community to prevent and treat juvenile delinquency.