RESOURCES: Review - Give young offenders a chance to rehabilitate
Reviewed by HOWARD WILLIAMSON
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Based on an analysis of 31 inspection reports since 1998 (in which Ashfield is conspicuous by its absence) and other official documentation, it points to the "breathtaking levels of neglect" in the young offender institutions catering for young people aged between 15 and 17.
The report advocates a rights-based approach to youth justice, one that establishes formal recourse to appeal and compensation when a range of human rights are breached. Young people who are locked up in England (which includes young people from Wales, where there are no prison service facilities for convicted young offenders) are, the report maintains, locked up for too long, in the wrong places and in the wrong way. It puts forward a host of recommendations to reduce the numbers imprisoned - currently around 3,000 - and to ensure humane provision for those who are.
The catalogue of recommendations is extensive. The chapter on recent experiences includes no fewer than 19 subheadings, covering such diverse issues as health, bullying, staff attitudes, exercise, clothing and complaints.
Each subsection documents the key concerns that have been recurrently identified by inspectors, and identifies the basis of a rights agenda within international law and existing UK regulations. The gulf between the two is gaping.
But the report acknowledges that, since the Youth Justice Board was charged with the commissioning and purchasing of places for young offenders, there have been significant improvements. These have derived, however, from what is described as an appalling base to start from.
In a powerful play on words, the report questions how much we are willing to give, or snatch away, from children who seriously trouble and offend us.
Young people who are locked up may be troublesome but they are also invariably troubled, the victims of a sequence of discriminatory and exclusionary practices throughout their lives.
Their experiences in custody are a far cry from the bland media stereotyping of holiday camps, soft options and unwarranted treats. The crunch question, as always, is not only whether anyone will listen. It is also whether or not they can, and will, act on it.
Rethinking child imprisonment: A report on young offender institutions by Rachel Hodgkin Published by the Children's Rights Alliance for England 2002. 146 pages ISBN 1 898961 09 6.
