Opinion: The loneliness of a modern young offender

The main character, Smith, is an "Out-law", uninterested in "reform", convinced he will always live on the wrong side of the tracks. This young man is today's equivalent of Smith and is very unsure of what awaits him on the outside, pessimistic that he will be able to turn his life around.

In any work with young people, the structured programmes and interventions often pale into insignificance when set against those chance moments to make a deeper, more personal connection that just might make a difference. On my first encounter with the young man in question, I noticed he spent much of his time drawing. On my second encounter, he noticed the symbols engraved on the gold bracelet I always wear. I promised to send him the chart from which I had selected those Native American symbols and which explains what they mean.