ABSTRACT
Notwithstanding its high financial costs and questions about its efficacy (Bloomquist and Schnell, 2002; Fonagy et al., 2002), residential treatment remains a necessary and widely used modality employed by both juvenile justice and pediatric psychiatry systems in the United States. A review of the utility of residential treatment is timely for psychiatrists, who often play important evaluatory, consultative, or therapeutic roles for juveniles involved (or at high risk of becoming involved) with the justice system. This chapter reviews the literature on residential treatment for juvenile delinquents and presents and discusses three cases in which placement in a residential facility was the treatment modality of choice. We present evidence to support the view that residential placement is helpful to this population. Although this view is mainly supported by clinical experience, some empirical evidence exists, which we have reviewed using the results of a Medline search 1 and the literature and data of the U.S. Department of Justice.
