The mental health development program in juvenile delinquents at the Juvenile Delinquency Correction Center, Region 5

Abstract

Objectives  To study the mental health development program in juvenile delinquents, aiming to reduce the re-committing rate and staying duration in the  juvenile delinquency correction centers.

Materials and methods The research and development is operated with action research method.  The training contents are uncovered by focus groups and literature review which are the activity topics as  the following : self understanding, self appreciation, acceptance of differences, conflicts resolution and judgment, attitude to others, goal of life and help seeking behaviors.  The  fifty-four  juvenile  delinquents are voluntarily sampled.  The activities are one hour session weekly for 8 times. The measurement are done at the beginning of 1st and the end of 8th  session comparatively. The instruments comprise of two parts : happiness assessment and self›mental health care assessment tests.  Analysis is achieved by percent and Mann›Whitney U statistics.

Results Most were male delinquents and average age was 15.9 years.  The average scores of happiness and self mental health care assessments after the activities were improved significantly compared with those prior to entering the activities.

Conclusion  the mental health development program helped the juvenile delinquents having better attitude toward themselves and others surrounding.