The Power of Treating Troubled Teens

Teens and young adults who abuse drugs and commit crimes are more likely to have repeated involvement with the criminal justice system than those who engage in either behavior alone, research reveals. New findings suggest that treating their addictions could significantly reduce recidivism for youths on an especially risky, high-crime trajectory.

The study, published in the Journal of Criminal Justice, examined 3,000 children between the ages of 10 and 16. They were broken into three groups: “no or low convictions,” “moderate-incline convictions” (an average of three convictions), and “high-incline convictions” (an average of 10 convictions that follow a steep upward trajectory). Within each group, the researchers compared youths who had spent more than 30 days in residential drug treatment with those who were referred but didn’t attend. Their involvement with the criminal justice system was tracked over a five-year period.

There was no difference in outcome for teens in the low and moderate groups. Yet for youths in the high-incline group, entering drug treatment had a significant positive effect, corresponding to nearly five fewer convictions, on average, between the ages of 17 and 22.

The number of serious teen offenders is small, but the findings suggest that comorbid drug problems, and their corresponding socio-emotional difficulties, may play a major role in escalating criminal behavior. Focusing on treatment, rather than punishment, could divert teens from the criminal justice system and, potentially, alter their lives for the better.

That’s Horrible—I’m Hooked

Disgusting scenes may make crime dramas feel more satisfying.

Procedural police shows such as Bones or CSI vary in their details, but most follow the same general formula: a crime is committed, an investigation is carried out, and justice, in the end, is served.

One key piece of that formula is often an early scene that elicits physical revulsion: the discovery of a rotting corpse, say, or the witnessing of a violent murder. Disgust feels bad, so why do we keep watching? It may be that our brief discomfort renders the final resolution more satisfying, a new study suggests.

Study participants watched clips from an episode of Bones in which a young man is murdered. Some watched a version that contained graphic images of his decomposing corpse; others watched a control version with this edited out. As expected, those who watched the disgusting scene felt more unhappy and enjoyed it less than those who saw the control.

Yet participants who saw the graphic version also rated the man’s murder as more serious than those who had seen the control. And when they learned that the episode ends with the man’s killers being apprehended, those who had watched the disgusting clip felt significantly more satisfied.

Disgust may therefore play a pivotal role in our love of crime dramas: Because it makes the murders seem more serious, the ultimate justice feels all the sweeter. Study author Marcus Wardley of CSU San Marcos speculates that if viewers were left unsatisfied, such grisly scenes could feel gratuitous, even off-putting. “On balance, we have to get more positive emotion out of consuming something—otherwise, we wouldn’t do it.”