The health profile of Spanish incarcerated delinquent youths.

Abstract

To the Editor: Over an 8-year period (1993–2000) 405 delinquent youths were admitted to a juvenile correctional facility in Zaragoza City (Community of Aragón), Spain. Of these, 91.3% were boys and 55% were of ethnic minority (Gypsies). At the time of admission, the youths were between the ages of 13 and 17 years, with an average age of 15.6 years. All the adolescents were in custody because of a legal offense, including property offenses (49%), offenses against persons (26%), offenses related to the use of alcohol and drugs (7%), probation violations (1%), and other offenses (17%).