NCJ Number
77850
Journal
Behavioral Disorders Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (1977) Pages: 95-101
Date Published
1977
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The characteristics of juvenile offenders processed in Virginia during 1974 are reviewed to demonstrate the need for more special education professionals to help socially disturbed youth.
Abstract
Although Congress included the category of seriously socially disturbed youth among those to be helped through Public Law 89-164, little effort has been made to treat this population group. The Virginia data on 1,360 juveniles processed into State care demonstrate that about 14 percent may have qualified as educable or trainable mental retardates. Although less than 7 percent of the total were of elementary school age, the majority were so educationally handicapped that they needed instruction in basic reading and arithmetic skills. In addition, 18 percent were from culturally deprived backgrounds, while more than 15.6 percent showed moderate to severe distortions of perceptual motor performance on the Bender Gestalt tests. Eighty-one percent were considered to have moderate to severe problems in psychosexual adjustment, and over 30 percent were moderate to severe drug users. These data suggest that the total population would be an exceedingly difficult one to teach. Motivation is a major problem, followed by behavior management, and specific and general academic remediation. More special education resource teachers are needed, as well as special training. Special emphasis is needed on cooperative training programs between colleges and correctional authorities. Related literature is reviewed. Data tables and a 19-item reference list are included.