"Would the experience of being incarcerated for a day and a night be enough to deter teenagers from committing crime? This is the motivation behindBeyond Scared Straight.
Taking this quote from the exclusive authored piece by South African criminal psychologist and expert on rehabilitation Dr Micki Pistorius into account leads me to look at, in this article, the ways we can prevent young people offending and spending time behind bars.
Beyond Scared Straight, the hard-hitting Emmy award winning television programme returns to our screens for a second series. The programme shown Weekdays from Monday 27 August at 8pm on Crime & Investigation Network Sky 553 / Virgin Media 237 follows the fortunes of American trouble making youths who were picked for this series, and subjected to the harsh environment of the US prison system in a bid to stop them offending and leading a life behind bars.
The episode starts with overview of the rather difficult characters we shall meet in the course of the programme. We are given snapshot interviews to establish why each young person in the programme is being sent there. This includes interviews with their parents that for me spell out where many of the problems are occurring in the first place. As Katrina Key licensed professional counsellor points out: "Gang life is appealing for kids who don't have a family structure."
The first of the youngsters we meet are identical twins Monique 14 who likes to "fight all the time" and Monet, also 14 who has been suspended from school and she also gets in fights. Next we meet 12 year old Jordan who gets in fights and is beginning involvement in gang related trouble at school. Leigh and her 15 year old sister Cassie both have taken drugs and Cassie is a particular worry has run away from home, and has smoked crack.
One of the first scenes we are greeted with is Cassie taking a wild swing at a police officer who is then arrested. In the early stages of the episode we witness the youths being broken down mentally and physically. It is in this fragile state that they can absorb positive and negative information more readily.
The temporary inmates are treated like prisoners and handcuffed, treated roughly and introduced to full time prisoners, most of whom are completing lengthy spells in incarceration.
At the start of the episode all the youths are adamant they will not end up in jail even if their actions and behaviour could lead them down the wrong path. Investigative filmmaker and Executive Producer, Arnold Shapiro, comments: "The problem with teenagers is that they are governed by the pleasure principle; they believe themselves to be invincible and superior in intelligence compared to their parents, older people and authoritative figures. They do not consider the long term consequences of their actions."
However, I would have to disagree with Arnold Shapiro's comments. Young people can change and see the consequences of their actions if they are shown a tough time like they are in this programme. By the end of the episode all of the youths in question are in tears and are desperately sorry for their actions. And it seems that the techniques used in the series to deter these young youths from leading a life of crime have worked.
We discover at the end of the programme that Monique and Monet attended a Christian summer camp and plan to play in school sports teams. They now help with housework and cleaning up after family meals. Jordan is a quarter back for his school, is playing basket ball at his youth club and goes fishing with his Grand father.
Although we can see a clear and positive impact of this rough prison treatment on the young subjects seen in Beyond Scared Straight; we must consider the reality in the UK for attempting to reduce the number of young offenders ending up in jail.
In the UK it currently costs around £40,000 to house an in mate for a year. To that end it almost seems more worthwhile to offer that staggering sum of money to young people to prevent them spending a life behind bars. While this idea is never likely to succeed, it maybe worthwhile to invest money in initiatives to stop young people offending and save money in the long run. So what can we do and what is being done?
An additional £8.4m is to be invested into reducing youth re-offending and creating safer communities through improved resettlement & rehabilitation arrangements for young offenders leaving prison.
Over the next 2 years, new programmes will be established across England & Wales to break the cycle of offending for young people leaving custody each year.
Designed to ensure that young offenders make a positive contribution to society by developing essential skills and so turn their backs on a life of crime, this youth rehabilitation project will offer funding to help local areas establish & maintain the services necessary to provide practical alternatives to crime.
Another organisation that aims to reduce the numbers of offenders reoffending is Sova, Supporting others through voluntary action. Sova is a charity that works in the heart of communities in England and Wales to help people steer clear of crime. They do this by making sure that when people find themselves in difficult situations that they have someone on their side to help them make better choices so they can stay out of trouble and build better lives.
So there are initiatives in place to help those who end up in jail, and to prevent young people from ending up there. Given the harsh but real treatment dished out to young people who are likely to offend in Beyond Scared Straight, a scheme in the UK that mimics the programme could be the most positive way of reducing this level.