Young Prisoners in the United Kingdom

This article discusses the challenges faced by young prisoners in the United Kingdom and the importance of meeting their health needs. It explores different types of sentences for young offenders, the prison culture for younger offenders, and the concept of resettlement. The article also highlights the role of health professionals in transforming the lives of young people in detention camps and institutions.

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Young Prisoners in the United Kingdom
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Younger Prisoners in the United Kingdom
Introduction
When younger people are handed over to the care of the state, their protection and
well being becomes the responsibility of the state (Prison Reform Trust, 2012). In the year
2013 for example, young offenders placed in custody 2,780 and the average period they spent
as inmates was 85 days. However, ever since, the number receiving custodial sentences has
been rapidly decreasing (Ministry of Justice, 2014). Child detention has remained to be a
significant feature in the youth justice system of the United Kingdom. The reduced number of
custodial sentences indicates that most of those in custody are serious or multiple offenders.
Custodial sentences should be aimed at dealing with serious offences, with the aim to punish
the offending act, protection and support to the concerned youth, and if need be, for the
protection of the wider public.
Meeting the health needs of the young offenders is a fundamental state responsibility.
This must be adhered to through the treatment of their various illnesses and promotion of
their well being and health generally. The secure atmosphere for the custodial sentences may
be dangerous to human well being due its harshness, understaffing and underfunding. This
means that even though it does offer all the solutions to the problems of the young offenders
in custody, the services of health professionals are required to enable the state to fulfil its role
and responsibilities with regards to the young offenders. These health professionals can help
in the tremendous role of transforming the lives of the young people and children in detention
camps and institutions.
When the state limits the liberty rights that are fundamental to the young offenders
and deprives them of the care and support from their parents and guardians, it becomes the
state’s fundamental obligation to protect and promote the welfare of the young offenders. The

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state is placed in a conflicting position where it limits the youth’s rights where the strongest
sanction is imprisonment and again it is the same state which is obliged to ensure that the
rights of those individuals have been realised. In the prison setting, a potential risk surfaces
where the doctors face the pressure of subordinating the interests of the patient for the sake of
the institutions (International Dual Loyalty Working Group, 2002, p.1). This normally results
to the undermining of the individual patient’s rights. The scope for the research is for children
below the age of 18 years old and young people which is used to describe older children who
are vulnerable and should therefore not be treated as adults merely because they are over 18
years of age.
The Structure of the Rights of Young People
The three basic sources of rights of children in the United Kingdom include the
Children’s Act of 1989, the United Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the
Human Rights Act of 1998.
The Children’s Act 1989; this is the main legislation which provides the legal
framework for the protection procedures of the child in the United Kingdom. It recognises the
fact that it is not always a possibility for children to be taken care of by their own family
members, and gives the court, local authorities and other agencies in the United Kingdom the
obligation of ensuring the safeguarding of the rights and well being of the children.
Human Rights Act of 1998; this Act provides legal protection for the children as well
as young people. It incorporates the European Convention of Human Rights into the laws of
the United Kingdom whose effect is that the violation of human rights can be heard directly
by the United Kingdom courts.

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UNCRC; this convention comprehensively defines the child’s fundamental political,
civil, economic, social, health and cultural rights. It applies the ‘4 Ps’ which are protection,
provision, prevention and participation with regards to the rights of the children. The United
Nations General Assembly provided Rules meant to protect juveniles who have been
deprived of their freedom and liberty.
Types of Sentences for Young People
The younger people are subjected to different sentences compared to the adults. These
sentences include;
Detention and Training Order; this may be given to an offender who is between 12
years and 17 years old. The order ranges from 4 months to 2 years. The young offender will
then serve the first half of the sentence in custody and the second half is dedicated to
community service.
Sexual or Violent Crimes; these may be categorised as severe crimes and the young
perpetrators can be subjected to extended sentences. This may involve a long period in
custody and when they get to be released, they are subjected to further supervision for a long
time. Methods such as tagging of the offender may be employed to ensure effective
supervision.
Murder; the minimum period of time is set by the court for the offender to remain in
custody. Any application for parole by the young offender before the lapse of the minimum
period that has been set cannot be accepted.
Other Serious Crimes; under rare circumstance, a young offender may be sentenced
for a period that is similar to the sentence of an adult for a similar offence. However, the

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sentence period cannot be longer than that of the adult. The sentences can go as long as life
sentences.
Prison Bullying and Victimisation
There have been increasing concerns for the prisoners’ safety especially across the
prison estate of the males which has experienced an increase in the number of inmates who
die while in custody, incidents of assault and self-harm (Gooch & Treadwell, 2015). Another
increasing problem is the problem of prison bullying especially within the young offender
institutions. It is very difficult to understand the prison bullying problem. However,
victimisation has significant effects and impact on the affected individuals as well as the
wider community within the prison. It is very crucial to understand the circumstances and
factors for the occurrence of prison bullying and violence.
According to a research by the Birmingham Law School, to counter the increasing
problems of prison bullying and violence, measures must be put in place to ensure there is the
existence of strong leadership, good relationships between the prison staff and the prisoners
and a holistic prison approach to that discourages victimisation at all costs. These measures
include implementing institutional and national strategies of anti-victimisation and providing
effective support to both the victim of victimisation and violence as well as the perpetrator.
Pains of Imprisonment for the Young Offenders
Pains of imprisonment may refer to the difficulties and deprivation of different kinds
that the offenders may be exposed to while they are in custody. (Gaitan, 2015). These
include:

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Liberty deprivation; when they are taken into custodial sentences, the younger
prisoners, just like all the other inmates, are deprived of their liberty and their movement and
freedom restricted by specific and customized institutions. The prisoners move in military
formations from one point of the institution to the other. They have to follow direct
instructions to remain in their cells until they are given the permission to step out of them.
The young inmates are confined to and within the institution, hence restraining their liberty.
Autonomy deprivation; the young inmates do not enjoy any power given to them to
be and make their decisions independently. The power to decision making is totally imposed
against them and they are mere subjects to such power from the rulers as they are regarded as
the ruled.
Denial of access to certain goods and services; the wants and needs of the inmates
are not available in accordance with their tastes and preferences as they may have been used
to before they were put into custody. These may include amenities such as clothing, shelter,
space and privacy.
Security deprivation; the prisoners are exposed to the violence within the prison walls
which are prone to fights on the slightest provocations. The inmates have to be strong and
defend their possessions and person from security threats and harm.
Denial of heterosexual relationships; the inmates are not granted the privilege of
relationships with the opposite sex because the institutions are run and operated separately
according to the genders. This has promoted increased cases of coercion, bribery or seduction
into acts of homosexuality. This may result to guilt feelings to the conscience of those
involved in the homosexual acts.

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Closed Institutions for Younger Offenders
Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) refer to institutions where prisoners between the
ages of 15 and 21 years are placed. The Prison Service runs them concurrently with the rest
of the prison estate. YOIs are different from Local Authority Secure Children’s Homes and
Secure Training Centres which place their focus on the various youth offenders and have
distinct specifications of accommodation and staffing. The ratio of staff to offender is lower
for YOIs as they are focused on incarceration and not care and rehabilitation. They are
generally larger than the rehabilitation institutions, an example being Feltham that is located
in west London. The wings for young offenders are also found within the adult prisons.
YOIs have historically faced criticism from the public as well as the Government. This
is because of the challenges to which they have been exposed which include prison bullying,
unsafe prisoner conditions and suicide. These institutions experience the highest rates of
assault in Wales and England. Those who criticise YOIs are of the view that it is
inappropriate to imprison young people. Most of the young offenders within the YOIs have
complex social, mental health and educational needs which the critics think are not
thoroughly addressed by the YOIs. The institutions are seen to provide intimidating
atmospheres and lack resources and this hampers the work of rehabilitation. They also think
that incarcerating the young people only exposes them to a life characterised by crime. These
institutions are also prone to disorder, racism and violence.
The unhealthy conditions for YOIs prompted the Government to establish a review that
is independent to look into the application of restraint in the settings of juvenile security. The
review made recommendations which had the effect of concluding that such restraint was
unsafe for the young offenders. This is because it has the impact of physical injury as well as
psychological damage. It is imperative to provide custody for the young offenders. However,

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there should be access to essential support and services to the young offenders so that they
are able to lead a fulfilled and successful life that is free from crime when they return to the
society.
Prison Culture for Younger Offenders (Types of Prisons and Prisoners)
The United Kingdom has both privately and publicly owned prisons which depict the
different nature of inmates they maintain and keep. The inmates are categorised in
accordance with the risk that they present to the society as well as to each other. There are
also Local Prisons where the offender is sent initially and his or her assessment is conducted.
These prisons are established within the locality of the court holding the suspect’s trial. One
may spend the whole of his sentence in a local prison if the sentence is less than 4 years.
Otherwise they will be taken to a Dispersal Prison to serve the longer sentence.
All the prisoners are categorised so as to enable the system of prison to set out the ways
of handling the various hierarchies and categories of prisoners. Category A is for serious
crimes male prisoners who are viewed as a threat to national and public security. Those who
are held in remand are put under Category B. Category C is for offenders with a lower profile
who are viewed as untrustworthy in conditions that are open but are not likely to escape.
Category D is for prisoners held in open prisons where the regime is more relaxed and be
reasonably trusted not to make attempts of escaping. The offenders normally progresses
through these categories depending on their sentences and behaviour within the prison walls.
Resettlement
It is doubtful whether the prison system is operational and healthy for the younger
prisoners. The perception is that the prison system simply introduces a void and a sense of
deprivation in the lives of people (Gentleman, 2011). The ideology of resettlement is meant

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to return young people to the life that they had settled for before they were put in custody and
detention. Many young people who are in custody suffer a chaotic and turbulent home life.
According to a 2010 study by the Prison Trust Reform, more than half of the young offenders
grew up in a household which was deprived (Jacobson et.al, 2012) where they experience
abuse and neglect and most of them absconded from school or ran away from home when
they had regained their liberty. Many hold the perception that when they leave the secured
estate or prison, then they have been freed from the routine, constancy and security which
they may have detested for most of their youthful lives. Others return to the circumstances,
influences and environments which had actually resulted to their actual offending and led to
their initial detention. These are some of the difficulties which counter efforts for effective
resettlement. It is very difficult for the young people to find accommodation after they have
been released from prison (Murray, 2012). After their releases, the young people do not find
an arrangement for a place for them to live (Youth Justice Board, 2007) which always results
into them reoffending or becoming homeless (Glover & Clewett, 2011). In such extremes,
YOIs refer the young people to charity where their priority is the housing of the young
offenders.
The framework of the Youth Justice Board for resettlement provides that efforts should
be put wherever possible for the young people to return to their homes and live with the
members of their families, where additional support should be availed to them if need be.
However this proves to be impracticable because most of the young offenders were in the
care of the local authorities or were homeless before they had been initially taken into
custody. The local authorities have the statutory responsibility of providing accommodation
as well as other support for the youth under the age of 16 years old who are not able to live
with the members of their families or relatives (Youth Justice Board, 2006). It more
complicated for those that are of 16 and 17 years of age and the responsibility is with the

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social services with the presumption that these are “relevant” or “eligible” children as per the
Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000. If the young people are homeless but the fault is not
theirs, it is still the responsibility of the local authorities to make accommodation available to
them.

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References
Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000.
Gaitan, K. (2015). The pains of imprisonment. https://prezi.com/m/bfe3-vry8k3y/the-pains-
of-imprisonment.
Gentleman, A. (2011). Life in a young offender’s institution. The Guardian, Monday 21
November 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/nov/21/young-offenders-institution-
ashfield.
Glover, J. & Clewett, N. (2011). No fixed abode: the housing struggle for young people
leaving custody in England. London: Barnardo’s.
Gooch, K. & Treadwell, J. (2015). Prison bullying and victimisation. Birmingham Law
School: Research Spotlight. University of Birmingham. Retrieved from
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk.
International Dual Loyalty Working Group (2002). Dual Loyalty and Human Rights in
Health Professional Practice. Cape Town: Physicians for Human Rights/ University
of Cape Town.
Jacobson, J., Bhardwa, B., Gyateng, T. et.al (2012). Punishing disadvantage: A profile of
children in custody. London: Prison Reform Trust.
Ministry of Justice (2014). Youth Justice Statistics 2012/2013 England Wales. London: MoJ.
Murray, R. (2012). Children and young people in custody 2011-2012: An analysis of the
experiences of 15-18 year-olds in prison. London: HM Inspectorate of Prisons/Youth
Justice Board.

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Prison Reform Trust (2012). Fatally flawed: has the state learned lessons from the deaths of
children and young people in custody? London: Prison Reform Trust.
Youth Justice Board (2006). Youth resettlement: A framework for action: London: YJB.
Youth Justice Board (2007). Accommodation needs and experiences. London: YJB.