NCJ Number
144315
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This report comments on the March 2, 1993 statement of Great Britain's Home Secretary, who announced his intention to introduce a new sentence, the secure training order, and a new institution, the secure training center, for juveniles aged 12-15 identified as seriously persistent juvenile offenders.
Abstract
The discussion notes that significant improvements have occurred in the handling of juvenile offenders in England and Wales in the last 15 years. One of the most important lessons of this period is that responses that rely on dealing with juvenile offenders in institutions have invariably proved ineffective in preventing recidivism in the great majority of the youths sentenced this way. Therefore, the government must demonstrate that secure training centers will be so different from what has gone before that the outcomes will be different. In contrast, community-based correctional programs have proved relatively effective in dealing even with the more serious and persistent offender. Specific concerns about the secure training order are the loose criteria involved, its disadvantages for younger children, the failure of previous similar institutions, the poor use of scarce resources, and its effect in undermining existing approaches. Thus, the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) recommends several alternative actions to improve the handling of juvenile offenders. List of specific recommendations and list of members of the NACRO Young Offenders Committee