Juvenile offenders, being mostly teenagers, are at an age marked by rebellion, self-consciousness and deep need to be accepted by the group. Such factors as not being to wear their own clothes She idleness that does not allow them to use up the surge of energy that occurs during adolescents of energy that occurs during adolescence, the boredom (to which teens are especially susceptible), I suppose the prevalence of tattooing in inmates (although I do not know how they obtain them) gives them a sense of identification with a group yet distinctiveness at the same time. It also might satisfy the need for self-injury due to shame or remorse. Prisoners are apt to develop mental disorders while incarcerated basically because they are
