Research

The Prevalence of Uncorrected Refractive Errors in Adolescents Incarcerated in a Youth Detention Center

  • The purpose of this study was to determine the number of residents requiring corrective lenses in a youth detention center for juveniles from 12 to 18 years old over a 2-year period.

  • A greater number of adolescents incarcerated for criminal activity in a detention center had uncorrected refractive errors (34.87 %) as compared to a comparable population in the public school system (22 %).

  • The prevalence of significant refractive errors among incarcerated adolescents in this study is significantly higher than has been reported previously.

  • The current study found a refractive error rate of almost 35 %.

  • This difference can be explained by a number of factors in their social environments and identifies an area for potential intervention to reduce antisocial behavior in this population.

Publication date

July 25, 2019

Publication

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal

Authors

Roger P. Harrie and Paul Christopher Harrie
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