Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among juvenile offenders in Malaysian prisons and association with socio-demographic and personal factors.

Purpose: The number of juvenile offenders admitted to Malaysian prisons is alarming. The purpose of this paper is to determine the presence of any psychiatric disorders and their association with personal characteristics of juvenile detainees in prisons across Peninsular Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach: Detainees were recruited from five different prisons in Peninsular Malaysia and interviewed by a psychiatrist using the MINI-Kid and FACES-IV, relevant personal and family information was also collected.