Juvenile Justice Bulletin Banner 2004

J. Robert Flores, Administrator

June 2004
Detection and Prevalence of Substance Use Among Juvenile Detainees

Gary M. McClelland, Linda A. Teplin, and Karen M. Abram

Introduction

Background: Substance Use in Adolescent Development

Measuring Substance Use Among Detainees: Self-Report or Bioassay?

Findings From the Northwestern Juvenile Project

Implications

Notes

References

NCJ 203934
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.
The research reported in this Bulletin was supported by grant number 1999–JE–FX–1001 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, and grant numbers R01MH54197 and R01MH59463 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Major funding was also provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center on Injury Prevention and Control and National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention; the National Institutes of Health’s Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Office of Rare Diseases, and Office of Research on Women’s Health; the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and the William T. Grant Foundation.

Additional funds were provided by the Chicago Community Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Open Society Institute.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.
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A Message From OJJDP

Research indicates that many juveniles who enter detention facilities have used drugs. To provide effective deterrence and treatment for such youth, juvenile justice authorities need reliable information on substance use problems. While questioning detainees about their drug use does not necessarily produce valid results, alternative methods of testing for drugs also have shortcomings.

Using data from the Northwestern Juvenile Project’s study of high-risk youth detained in Cook County, IL, the authors of this Bulletin assess two widely used measures of drug use: self-reporting and urinalysis. Their assessment covers a range of substances but focuses on cannabis and cocaine, the drugs most commonly used by juvenile detainees.

The study confirms a high rate of drug use among juvenile detainees and identifies detainees who require special attention. The authors conclude that because cannabis use is so common and often leads to more serious drug use, most youth entering detention can be considered at risk of developing substance abuse problems. The study’s findings indicate that the best approach to detecting substance abuse is to combine self-reporting with urinalysis and also use other resources such as treatment and drug arrest histories and information from families and schools.
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Acknowledgments

The authors of this Bulletin are affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. Gary M. McClelland, Ph.D., is Senior Analyst, Psycho-Legal Studies; Linda A. Teplin, Ph.D., is Owen L. Coon Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director, Psycho-Legal Studies; and Karen M. Abram, Ph.D., is Associate Director, Psycho-Legal Studies. The authors thank all of the funding agencies and organizations for their collaborative spirit and steadfast support.

Many individuals contributed to this project. The authors thank OJJDP’s Karen Stern, Ph.D, who provided valuable substantive and editorial comments; all project staff, especially Amy M. Lansing, Ph.D., and Amy A. Mericle, Ph.D., who supervised the data collection; Jacques Normand, Ph.D., for insightful comments; and Laura Coats, Kate Elkington, and Erin Gregory for their meticulous library work, editing, and manuscript preparation. The authors greatly appreciate the cooperation of everyone working in the Cook County systems, especially David H. Lux, project liaison. Without the county’s cooperation, this study would not have been possible. Finally, the authors thank the study subjects for their time and willingness to participate.
  
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