Citation

Owusu Ansah K, Atindanbila S, Osei Owusu J, Agyemang Duah C. Int. J. Law Psychiatry 2022; 83: e101808.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijlp.2022.101808

PMID

35667133

Abstract

Victimization is considered a serious issue which affects children across the globe and this is particularly accentuated in the prison environment Research on prison victimization and psychological health however, has primarily focused on adult prisoners. There is little documentation on how victimization impacts the psychological health of juvenile offenders in correctional facilities. This article therefore explores the experiences of victimization among juvenile offenders in the Senior Correctional Center, Ghana. A total of 20 juvenile offenders were purposively sampled from Ghana's Senior Correction Center. Using thematic analysis, three themes were generated and discussed: forms of victimization, causes of victimization and impacts of victimization. It was revealed that, besides taking the form of either direct and or indirect physical assault, victimization also manifested in the form of verbal assault. Moreover, victimization was found to usually occur when young offenders direct their built-up frustrations at others or when victims possess specific attributes that make them targets. The various forms of victimization experienced by these young offenders impacts their well-being physically, psychologically and socially. It is recommended that stakeholders should practice stress management exercises, and establish a buddy system for juvenile offenders in the correctional facility.

Language: en

Keywords

Direct physical assault; Indirect physical assault; Juvenile offender; Senior correctional Centre; Verbal assault