Alignment of Vietnamese Law on the Treatment of Juvenile Prisoners With International Standards and Norms

Criminal sanctions, in spite of their obvious limitations, play an important role in the prevention of juvenile crime. In spite of international admonitions against the use of detention, Vietnam like many other South-East Asian countries still relies heavily on the deprivation of liberty, in both specialized juvenile institutions and adult prisons, in handling juvenile offenders. Because imprisonment, according to international standards, is meant to be used only as a last resort and for the shortest period of time possible, juvenile justice research has tended to ignore what is going on in places of detention and focus instead on diversion and alternatives to detention. This article focuses on Vietnamese law concerning the prison regimes applicable to juvenile detainees and the extent to which it complies with internationally accepted standards and norms. It reviews existing measures for the protection of juveniles against all forms of violence during their incarceration, including abusive disciplinary measures and the absence of independent oversight of prisons. It also considers arguments for and against the building of juvenile prisons to separate juveniles from adults as required by article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It concludes with recommendations for legal reforms.

BUSINESS LITERACY AS A FACTOR OF SOCIAL ADAPTATION AND RESOCIALIZATION OF JUVENILE CONVICTS

The authors of the study propose to solve the problem of re-socialization of juvenile detainees after their release through their inclusion into the self-employment system, i.e. small business. Teaching juvenile offenders the basics of entrepreneurship will help them to provide themselves with the future workplace. The paper describes the positive experience of such training conducted in Sterlitamak youth detention center (educational colony) in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

The Efficacy of a Compassion-Focused Therapy–Based Intervention in Reducing Psychopathic Traits and Disruptive Behavior: A Clinical Case Study With a Juvenile Detainee

Conduct disorder (CD) is the most diagnosed psychopathological disorder in juvenile detainees. The presence of a CD diagnosis, especially when associated with psychopathic traits, contributes to a poor prognosis, high recidivism rates, and low responsivity to treatment in these youth. Although group intervention programs have proven to be effective in decreasing antisocial behavior, studies testing their efficacy in reducing psychopathic traits are scarce and limited. Moreover, there is a lack of research focused on the efficacy of individual treatment approaches specifically designed to reduce psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior in juvenile detainees. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) shows promising results in the treatment of several psychopathological disorders. Besides, there is some theoretical support to consider CFT a suitable approach to treating juvenile detainees. However, there are no treatment programs based on CFT that are designed to target psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior in these youth. Consequently, treatment outcome research in this area is absent. This clinical case study presents the treatment of a juvenile detainee with CD, a high psychopathic profile, and a very high risk for criminal recidivism using the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP program (a 20-session individual CFT program), which was specially designed to reduce psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior. The treatment outcome data revealed a significant reduction in psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior. The treatment gains were maintained and/or increased over time (3 months after program completion). This clinical case study demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP program in reducing psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior in a juvenile detainee.