By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
Research by a Fort Hays State University graduate student will be published in the Journal of Correctional Health Care.
Ashley Lockwood, psychology graduate student, Brooke Mann, lecturer of psychology and director of the clinical psychology program and Dr. April Terry, assistant professor of criminal justice, published research on mental health training in juvenile correctional facilities.
Lockwood began this research as an undergraduate project surveying corrections officers working at a juvenile correctional facility over their mental health training.
A survey of juvenile correctional officers was conducted to better understand their attitudes towards mental health, mental health training and ideas surrounding treatment needs for incarcerated youth suffering from mental illness.
Researchers found that, overall, the correctional officers held positive views of juvenile mental health issues. However, there was a reported need for increased mental health training.
The publication was accepted to the Journal of Correctional Health Care in September 2019 and will be published in the July 2021 volume.
“We hope our findings will help this facility, and others, to consider the nature of their mental health training,” Terry said.