Young male offenders aged 18 to 20 are the highest offending group, and also have one of the highest reconviction rates. Almost seven in 10 are released within two years.
The Howard League for Penal Reform study, Out for Good, based on interviews with 86 young offenders in three institutions, found this is partly because being locked up does not address the causes of young people's offending, and instead confirms their view of themselves as criminals.
Finola Farrant, the author of the report, said: "They have all these kinds of ideas of why you get involved in offending and crime, and then going to prison reaffirms that. Rather than having their views changed, it just reconfirms them."
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