Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Criminality Continued Care - Research Paper

Introduction

Attention Deficit Hyper Reactive Disorder is a brain condition that affects the entire functioning of a human being. The signs of the disease are seen early enough by the caregivers of children and the teachers. The signs manifestations are restlessness and inability to focus. Research shows that children with A.D.H.D. if not assisted with the medication, grows up to be criminals due to their aggressive nature. The research question Continued care for the children and adults suffering from the condition is very low. The parents stop this as children progress. The objective of the research is to determine if continued care by the provision of resources such as education and health facilities to the affected, is a solution to ADH-related crimes in the future. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Criminality (A.D.H.D.) is a mentor disorder associated with criminal behaviors that usually detected in early ages. The problem is pharmacologically treated as well as undergoing psychological therapy. Most of the patients suffering from this disorder are discovered after they commit serious crimes and at times upon conviction. Continued care for these patients is very significant; it helps them deter or minimize criminal habits. Family, medical, school, and social services support contribute to changed behaviors of young people. This paper analyses how it is important to continue giving care to A.D.H.D. patients to help them improve their habits.

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Research Question

Is continued care of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Criminality the answer?

Paper Objectives

• To find out whether it is necessary to continue the care of A.D.H.D. patients.
• To find out how medical, school, family, and social services take care of A.D.H.D. patients.

Literature Review

Early childhood mental problems are highly associated with factors like growing up in crime areas, poverty, and peer pressure (Mohr-Jensen & Steinhausen, 2016). Children tend to engage in harmful behaviors wherever they need to fill an empty gap. Therefore, such differences should be filled up to prevent A.D.H.D. in young people. School should be a significant pillar in the up-right growth of children. According to Allison Cuellar on "Preventing and treating child mental problems," children experiencing emotional disturbances are likely to suffer from A.D.H.D. in their early ages. The study shows that emotionally disturbed children poorly perform in school. Teens with mental disorders are expected to drop out of school, and only a few of them reaches college. These children end up engaging in criminal activities when in or out of school. The school has the responsibility of understanding such students and pay close attention to their behavior changes. Most institutions have experts who analyze students' behaviors; however, it is sometimes impossible to detect A.D.H.D. symptoms on time. Most researchers note that treatment of A.D.H.D. has fragmentation. The fragmentation means that the justice system, school, and medical system does not work together in the screening and prevention of the disorder.

Methodology

The research reviewed several works of various authors which have been conducted based on investigating measures taken to take care of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Criminality in the past. The resources used included scholarly articles written by different researchers.

Results

According to a study by (Young et al., 2011), the medical treatment improved the behaviors of the prison population who suffered from A.D.H.D. After conducting a research on 25% of the prison population; who were all diagnosed with the disease, both below and over 18 psychological and medical treatments were reported to work towards better lives of the prisoners. It was also noted that it was critical to find the right combination of therapy that would work to help the patients. The treatments were based on age and gender, among other factors. Throughout the research, there were primary barriers that hindered the A.D.H.D. treatment. Such factors include small staffs to identify the symptoms of A.D.H.D., poor care management, few mental health providers, unsupportive services, and inadequate preparation of jail release. Prisoners, on the other side, needed proper identification, treatment, and multiagency liaison. The therapy was affirmed to have a positive impact on offenders and society in general. The results showed low rates of re-offending, improved productivity, and reduced resource utilization. Reduced rates of re-offending clearly show that the treatment method of care is appropriate.

Early medical intervention can help to reduce the severity of criminal behaviors in A.D.H.D. patients (Gaines &Barry, 2008). In the United States, no facility is preserved for treating children with mental disorders. Health care units and pediatric hospitals often screen for psychological problems with children but rarely treat them. After testing, they are referred to caregivers who only deal with severe cases. Minor mental facts are often ignored, which later lead to worse criminal cases. Psychiatrists and pediatrics treat severe cases with a medicinal prescription only. School also play a role by revealing autism in children joining schools. In most cases, children with mental disorders are discovered while in schools or Juvenile detection. Although constitutional act gives special services and education, it does not cover children with special needs. Various treatments, like treating autism and training parents how to deal with A.D.H.D. children, are applied in the process of treatment intervention.

Multimodal intervention is another method used by caregivers to improve the behaviors of A.D.H.D. patients. Even though a single dose of medication is considered appropriate to alter the habits of the patients, adding behavior intervention is reported to provide self-control and self-regulation to the children. A notable behavioral intervention change is that it allows withdrawal of some stimulants that are used in medication. Children who used multimodal intervention performed better in school, home, and showed less antisocial behaviors than those that used medical treatment only. Gaines &Barry (2008) on their multimodal intervention study, found that a team of 600 students diagnosed with A.D.H.D. were more improved in behaviors than the 24 students who were just on medical management alone. The 600 students reported enhanced social skills, parent-child relationship, academics, and better lifestyle habits. The study concluded that multimodal intervention is another right way to deal with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Criminality and make sure that the diagnosed children do not go back to old habits. The improved parent-child relationship implied that there would be more reasoning between the children and parents before taking any action.

The family has a significant role to play in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Cuellar, n.d). For the family to take good care of the patients, they must be trained on how to handle them. In this case, parents are taught how to deal with their diagnosed children to help them recover or at least improve their behaviors. For pre-school children, the A.D.H.D. guidelines recommend parents training programs as the first step treatment. The parents training, Triple P, and Incredible years are expressly provided. The programs conducted in groups take twenty to twenty-four weeks. They entail home exercises and various roles to play. Incredible Years training involves understanding A.D.H.D. along with its effects, anger management, strengthening the bond between the child and parent, and how to work with teachers. Other practices included in the training include making the environment conducive for the child with A.D.H.D., learning how children improve from the treatment with time, development of personal goals, and how children change their behaviors. The parents training can be combined with children practice elements and teacher components that involves classroom management, which dramatically improves the academic outcome of such children. The only existing parenting programs are for children of the age 12 to 13. Parents to children above 13 have not been trained despite their significant contribution to problem behavior (Cuellar, n.d). At the age of 13, caregivers believe that children can be taught personally. Therefore, children above 13 are treated with A.D.H.D. medications. Their parents are excluded from the treatment process. The most applied treatment at this stage is a multimodal intervention which sees to concentrate on the behavior of the child rather than the medicinal treatment.

Study shows that untreated Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Offenders leads to severe risks (Mohr-Jensen & Steinhausen, 2016). The advanced level of A.D.H.D. tends to abuse substances, grow antisocial, and changed lifestyle, which makes it hard them to be rehabilitated. Treatment of A.D.H.D. should be addressed by behavioral, psychological, academic, and occupational needs. This kind of therapy is not limited to the betterment of the offender but also to acquire justice and protect society from criminal behaviors. For offenders in institutions, the treatment should focus on reducing violence outbreak and behavioral disturbance. Furthermore, it encourages educational participation and therapeutic activities. However, medication alone cannot achieve these aims. The patients need to be introduced to social events. In prison, social movements like physical exercises help in boosting the metabolism of the brain. Although many children may find exercising as important as adults, they can be introduced to field games like baseball and football.

Discussion

Over time, the need for addressing A.D.H.D. and continuity of care with resources such as social services, family, school, and medical interventions have emerged, especially intending, to divert criminal activity. However, research indicates that there seems to be a gap in the continuity of follow-up with children because their parents get tired of intervening in indiscipline cases noted by the school administration. That is why the National Criminal Justice Board has made an effort to undertake various meetings at the regional and national level with representatives attached police, courts, probation, and prison services (Young et al., 2011). It is of the essence to acknowledge that the Criminal Justice System service has been in existence but lacked strategies of building a plan for enabling identification and screening procedures for A.D.H.D. patients. Developing an effective screening protocol calls for the determination of the level of awareness that exists in the community because the gap in the continuity of follow-up with children who have A.D.H.D. is what leads to a crime in the future.

There is a need to come up with new policing culture. The current policing strategies tend to focus more on crime reduction without identifying its source (Belluck, 2012). Additionally, most police custody is full of activity due to the high turnover of detainees, making it difficult for any form of systemic screening being undertaken. However, over time, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act has streamlined how the information of detainees is recorded regarding their behavior, mental, and physical health. However, it is of the essence to note that psychological needs of detainees are not perceived as a priority in these cases (Young et al., 2011). That is why internal cultural changes should be facilitated by exposing custody officers to training opportunities. This will raise awareness and recognition...