'A memoir to shine a light in the darkest of nights . . . a story of redemption' – journalist Tony Parsons. Michael Maisey was excited the day he was locked up in the notorious Feltham Young Offenders Institute. He was going to be a legend to all his mates. The sixteen year old was in for attempted murder. He was innocent of this particular crime but amongst the violent and dangerous young men on his wing he was about to learn exactly how far he’d go to survive. In Young Offender we see what turned a good kid into a wanted criminal. Abused by his uncle, bullied at school, at the age of twelve he found the safety he craved in the ranks of a local gang in West London. He graduated from shoplifting to armed robbery and for five years Michael was in and out of Feltham, on a downward spiral of crime and drug and alcohol addiction. At rock bottom, he began attending AA meetings. But the road to recovery would mean changing himself in the deepest possible ways. Could Michael finally learn what it meant to be a good man? Honest and inspiring, this is a powerful story of redemption. Today Michael is a successful businessman and a loving father who spends time helping others find their way. 'Courageous and brutally honest' – Ollie Ollerton, ex-Special Forces soldier, author of Break Point.

Young Offenders provides one of the most in-depth studies of young males seeking, if often failing, to find a life beyond crime and punishment. Through rich interview data of young offenders over a ten year period, this book explores the complex personal and situational factors that promote and derail the desistance process.

This latest volume in the Cambridge Criminal Justice Series focuses upon young adults and their treatment in the criminal justice system. The subject is very topical because there is increasing evidence that a rigid distinction between ‘youth’ and ‘adulthood’ is not appropriate in modern societies. For example, important developmental tasks such as finishing one’s education, finding regular work and the foundation of one’s own family are now completed later than in former times; neuropsychological brain functions are still developing beyond age 18; and desistance from criminal offending occurs most rapidly in early adulthood. Despite such evidence, the United Kingdom and other countries have largely neglected policies for young adult offenders in comparison with young people under 18. Although there seems to be no general transnational solution for this problem, there is a clear need for differentiation. This book brings together leading authorities in the field to analyse theoretical, empirical and policy issues relating to this neglected group of people, exploring different approaches to both crime prevention and offender treatment. It will be of interest to researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, prisons, probation, forensic psychology and psychiatry, sociology, education and social work.

Based on some of the most interesting research of the last ten years, this book discusses effective practice in work with persistent young offenders. It contrasts two major evaluations of projects for juvenile offenders, one of which was successful and the other less so. The projects, Freagarrach and CueTen, were funded by The Scottish Office and the Scottish Executive. Freagarrach was evaluated over five years from 1995 and CueTen over three years (its entire lifespan) from 1996. This book makes the findings of these projects available to a wider readership, setting them in a wider discursive framework than is appropriate in a government report. The authors identify the factors that made Freagarrach a more successful project than CueTen, arguing that an understanding of these factors is important in drawing general conclusions from the experience of the two projects, and that this is particularly the case because some of these factors have received little attention in recent discussions of 'what works' in community-based programmes for offenders. This is a detailed and thorough study of work with juvenile offenders, which will be of particular value to those interested in less punitive approaches. It will be of interest both to practitioners and to academics in criminology, social policy and social work.

Offending behaviour in childhood is a significant predictor of subsequent offending; early intervention is more effective than that provided later. This research aimed to advance understanding of juvenile crime, its health/substance abuse patterns, cognitive correlates and offence trajectories to facilitate effective policies and reduce recidivism.

Canada has a 100-year history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems of youth in society. Has this approach worked? Not according to clinical psychologist Mary Vandergoot. In fact, this approach has ignored the reality that many youth who come into contact with the law may have developmental disabilities, mental health disorders, suffer from a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or be victims of violence or neglect. Our current approach to youth justice can actually harm such young persons and their families by ignoring their needs. Set against the backdrop of the Canadian Youth Criminal Justice Act, the author takes an interdisciplinary approach to justice issues including: a discussion of how youth crime differs from adult crime; the psychological and social consequences of charging or not charging a youth with a crime; options for dealing with troubled youth; what are appropriate sentences; a discussion of the social and emotional issues troubled youth face; and the role of the various actors in youth justice, including the role of a psychologist. In this ground-breaking analysis of the many, often complex issues that must be addressed, the author challenges us to examine the assumptions behind our approach to youth justice, and break the cycle of using legal sanctions to deal with youth who have special needs. Clinical examples and sample evaluations add to the depth of the author's analysis. This book will be of tremendous value to teachers, lawyers, community youth workers, judges, social workers, therapists, and parents -- anyone interested in or working with young persons. The author tackles head on the difficult questions that must be addressed if society is to make a positive difference in the lives of its youth in conflict with the law.

This book presents the findings from the Enhancing Positive Outcomes in Youth and the Community (EPYC) study. EPYC is a ground-breaking nationwide 10-year longitudinal study on young offenders in Singapore. It focuses on understanding crime prevention, rehabilitation, and reintegration of these youths. Data were collected through yearly interviews, external assessments, and linkage of administrative records to provide a comprehensive picture of participants. In addition, a non-offender youth sample was included as a normative comparison sample. The research and findings of this book focus on: Prevalence rates and comorbidity of Emotional and Behavioural Problems (EBPs) in young offenders Drug use and Re-offending Risk and Protective Factors for EBPs As this study represents one of the first in Asia and one of few across the globe with such in-depth investigations, it aims to advance the understanding of youth offending and associated emotional and behavioural issues. This book is best suited for criminal justice and mental health scholars, practitioners, and policy makers who are working with Asian populations or interested in cross-cultural comparisons.