Title page for ETD etd-09132005-192859

Type of Document

Dissertation

Author

Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique Eve

Author's Email Address

dominique.roe@asu.edu

URN

etd-09132005-192859

Title

Indicators of Self-Mutilation: Youth in Custody.

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Social Work, College of

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name	Title
C. Aaron McNeece, Ph.D.	Committee Chair
Bruce Thyer, Ph.D.	Committee Member
Laura Bedard, Ph.D.	Committee Member
Marc Gertz	Committee Member

Keywords

Juvenile Justice
Adolescence
Suicide
Self-Harm
Self-Mutilation

Date of Defense

2005-08-02

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

Juvenile offenders have a number of factors that contribute to their delinquency including family dysfunction, substance abuse, negative peers, and limited education and employment opportunities. The focus for juvenile delinquency research has historically been focused on the youth’s behavior in the community and crimes against the “public”. The behavior of the youth while in the custody of the juvenile justice system is critically important to the safety of all youth. Self-mutilation by youth in juvenile justice custody is a behavior that elicits fear, frustration and consternation from staff. The incidence rate in juvenile settings and possible indicators that may influence a youth to self-mutilate have had limited attention from researchers and none from the State of Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
The purpose of this dissertation research is to explore self-mutilation to determine if specific aspects of demographics, substance abuse, mental health or criminal behavior influence the likelihood of self-mutilating. A purposive, non-random sample was obtained (N=261) composed of youth residing in juvenile detention and residential programs in the State of Florida. Incident reports of self-harm were collected over a six-month period and examined by two raters. The incidents were classified into three categories, angry/impulsive self-harm, self-mutilation, and suicidal behavior. Far fewer than expected reports of self-mutilation were found. Subtle differences were found between the three groups using chi square, ANOVA and logistic regression analyses. Specific variables that appeared to influence group membership included race, program type (detention or residential), mental health issues and substance abuse.

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