Thus, whilst some reductions in rates of re-offending have been demonstrated under some circumstances, it seems clear that as a general rule YOs leaving YOIs remain at a high risk o f re-offending - particularly in the early months subsequent to their
release. The continued investigation of rates o f recidivism and factors which impact upon them would therefore seem a necessary undertaking. The general need to consider outcome more holistically is also beginning to be recognised, however. As Bailey (1993, p.355-356) asserts:
“Both the Children Act 1989 and the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (England and Wales) suggest the need fo r further exploration o f the circumstances o f young offenders remanded to security, sentenced to youth custody or experiencing a community placement as an alternative to residential care. This should lead to the rescrutinisation o f programmes within and outside residential settings and particularly a comparison between child care, education, health and penal settings, focusing on fa r more broad-based outcome measures than reoffending; looking towards the overall quality o f life o f adolescents leaving establishments; their future education, vocation, avocation, nature o f relationships with fam ily and peers and their evolving physical and mental health profiles as young adults. "
Whilst sparse, some studies have highlighted the more general vulnerability o f offenders on release from custodial settings. As mentioned, Kosky et al (1996) found high rates o f mental health problems and substance misuse in young offenders subsequent to release. In addition they noted high levels o f continuing social disruption. Many lived in refuges, reflecting their continuing poor relations with parents. Furthermore, the vast majority were unemployed, with less than a third having experienced any period o f employment since release from custody. Whilst further longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate changes in YOs’ stress levels throughout the course of their contact with the Youth Justice System, it seems reasonable to assume that leaving a YOI may represent a crucial time for young people. At such a time they may be particularly vulnerable to either developing or exacerbating pre-existing mental health problems.
From the literature pertaining to adults, it has also been found that offenders released from prison may be at an increased risk o f mortality subsequent to release (Harding & Frye, 1988; Harding, 1990), commonly from overdose (Seaman, Brettle & Gore, 1998). Similar results are beginning to emerge for adolescent offenders, with murder found to be a common cause o f death in one US sample - particularly among YOs with a history o f gang involvement, drug arrests or institutional violence (Lattimore, Linster & MacDonald, 1997). More generally, there is evidence to suggest that difiBculties experienced pre-sentence tend to persist. In the case o f mentally ill adult offenders, for instance, problems in criminological and psychiatric domains were found to persist subsequent to release, with high rates o f recidivism and psychiatric admissions reported (Lynette, 1992). Whilst caution should always be exercised in extrapolating findings from adult offenders directly to young offenders, these findings would nevertheless seem relevant.
Perhaps the most comprehensive study to date providing insights into YOs’ experience o f release is that o f Lyon et al (2000). In their study, commissioned by the Home Office, Lyon et al (2000) investigated the experiences o f young people in prison relating to three areas: life leading up to prison, experiences o f custody and hopes, fears and plans for the future. Across these broad domains, Lyon et al (2000) investigated the views of both male and female young offenders during discussions of focus groups held in 10 different prisons. In drawing out YOs’ opinions regarding the third domain - of particular relevance to the current study - the researchers guided the young people in groups towards thinking about how prison prepares them for release, whether or not they would be able to stay away from re-offending, possible ways to prevent young people from offending, whether they had plans for housing and
employment and the barriers to these, and how they felt they could help their own children not to offend.
In talking about the transition from custody, some YOs in the study talked o f their dependence on prison and their feelings o f being ‘like a lost sheep’ subsequent to their release from previous sentences (Lyon et al, 2000). YOs were also concerned about the difficulty they might experience in avoiding re-offending. They felt in particular that peer pressure and their possible return to drink and drugs might be primary reasons for their re-offending on release. Their return to estates where criminal activity was rife, a lack of employment and the need for money were also viewed by young people as placing them at risk. In relation to this vulnerability, YOs criticised the lack o f preparation for release, and voiced the importance o f support following custody. Finally, the provision o f adequate benefits, education and gaining qualifications and subsequent employment emerged as vital if offending was to be avoided in the future, although the idea that only the young person had the power to effect change in his/her life also proved dominant.
That YOs’ transition on release is being made at quite a crucial stage o f development clearly needs to be recognised. Whilst the traditional view that adolescence is, by definition, a stage o f inevitable trauma and disorder is no longer accepted (Coleman & Hendry, 1999), it is agreed that for a minority it may be experienced as a stressful period. Certainly it is generally recognised that any individual may undergo a variety o f events, changes and transitions during the adolescent period, some o f which may be negotiated relatively easily, while others may be experienced as stressful (Coleman & Hendry, 1999). How the changes associated with release from a prison sentence are
experienced and negotiated by individuals in such an already turbulent life stage remains unclear and is the focus o f the current study. Whilst Lyon et al’s (2000) study clearly represents an important first step, conclusions drawn by the study in relation to this were limited by a number o f factors - which will be commented upon in a later section. Before commenting further however, it would seem helpful to consider Rice, Herman & Petersen’s (1993) conceptualisation o f how adolescents cope with life’s challenges more generally.