Trauma within the Psychiatric Settings: A Preliminary Empirical Report – Because empirical data on the phenomena of “sanctuary trauma” and “sanctuary harm” (trauma within the psychiatric setting) are virtually non-existent, the present study was designed to gather preliminary empirical data related to (a) the frequency of such experiences among mental health consumers […]

Torture in the Name of Treatment: The Mission to Stop the Shocks in the Age of Deinstitutionalization – As autistic activists, Shain M. Neumeier and Lydia X. Z. Brown have been working to close the Judge Rotenberg Center in the US, which has engaged in some of the most egregious forms of such abuse, […]

The Use of Restraint and Seclusion in Residential Treatment Care for Youth: A Systematic Review of Related Factors and Interventions – Children placed in residential treatment centers (RTCs) typically present challenging behavior including aggression. In this context, restraint and seclusion (R&S) are seen as “last resort” strategies for educators to manage youth aggression. The […]

The Troubled Teen Industry and Its Effects: An Oral History – The troubled teen industry (TTI) is a term used to describe a system of underregulated residential youth treatment facilities that operate primarily in the United States. My research, which was funded by a 2021 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) through the Hamel Center for Undergraduate […]

The Right to Consent, Competency and Responsibility in Teens – A rather exceptional stand was taken in the 1970’s by Washington State regarding youth rights.  Their legislature acted to lower the age of consent for mental health and substance abuse treatment to 13. This came on the heels of legislation assuring the right to […]

The Problem – The growth of the largely unregulated and improperly monitored troubled teen industry (sometimes called boot camps, wilderness camps, therapeutic boarding schools) has given rise to wide spread inhumane treatment of youth. Between July 17 and December 26, 2006, the Alliance for the Safe, Therapeutic, and Appropriate use of Residential Treatment (ASTART) […]

The outcome of non-residential youth care compared to residential youth care: A multilevel meta-analysis – This multilevel meta-analysis compared the outcomes of Treatment Foster Care Oregon for Adolescents (TFCO-A) and home-based treatment programs (HBT) with residential youth care for children and youth aged 0 to 23 years. We found a small statistically significant overall […]

The Influence of Youth Gender and Complex Trauma on the Relation Between Treatment Conditions and Outcomes in Therapeutic Residential Care – Complex trauma (CT) is the experience, or witness, of prolonged abuse or neglect that negatively affects children’s emotional and psychological health. Youth in residential care experience higher incidences of complex trauma than youth […]

Influence of Selected Aggression, Demographic, Gender Role, and Temperament Factors on the Level of Physical Restraint Among Staff in Residential Treatment Centers – The purpose of this study was to examine the predictability of the aggression (physical, hostility, indirect aggression, verbal, and anger), demographic (age, education level, gender, length of employment, level of agitation […]

The influence of residential workers social climate on the use of restraint and seclusion – Restraint and seclusion (R&S) are two types of interventions residential workers can use to manage aggressive behaviors in youth residential treatment centers (RTC). Factors related to the environment, children, and residential workers have all been associated with their use. […]