Young men feel unsafe in custody
Neil Puffett
Monday, April 27, 2009
A report has found that a third of young men in custody feel unsafe while a quarter claimed to have been victimised by others.
The Children and Young People in Custody 2006-08 study found that the opposite was true for young women, with significantly fewer feeling unsafe than in previous years.
The report, compiled by the Prisons Inspectorate and Youth Justice Board, charts the experiences of 15-to 18-year-olds in custody, drawn from Inspectorate surveys over the last two years.
As in previous years, it showed many young people were marginalised and excluded before being sentenced to custody, with one in three having been in care and the great majority being excluded from school.
The report found that an increased proportion of young men were in education (81 per cent) or learning a skill (more than half).
Meanwhile nearly all the young women said that they were involved in education, and six out of 10 also said they were learning a skill.
Frances Done, chair of the YJB, said: "The findings will be used to inform our strategies for driving further improvements across the YOI estate in the coming year. Many of the issues raised in the report link to areas which are already a focus for the YJB and in which we aim to make young people's custodial experience more effective and positive."
