ABSTRACT
Though a difficult task, the extent of professional misconduct against youth must be assessed if the true magnitude of the problem is to be understood. Estimates of the extent of misconduct must be viewed in the context of the relative seriousness and frequency of different types of acts. Care must be taken to avoid blowing the problem out of proportion. For example, sexual abuse, physical assault, denial of needs, and failure to protect (from other youth) are a few of the very serious forms of misconduct against system-involved youth which have been reported. But are they typical forms of misconduct? Perhaps milder forms of misconduct (verbal abuse, petty theft, inactivity with the residents, etc.) occur more often. Groze (1990) found that inappropriate treatment (violations of statutes, regulations, rules, procedures, directives, or professional standards and practices) was reported and confirmed more often than physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect at juvenile institutions in one southwestern state in the US.
