| Abstrakt: |
In February 2014, the Ministry of Justice announced an independent review into self-inflicted deaths in NOMS custody of 18-24 year olds. The Review panel, led by Lord Toby Harris, examined whether appropriate lessons had been learned from the selfinflicted deaths of young adults that had occurred after the introduction of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) system for managing those who are believed to be at risk of self-harm or suicide. The Review used a multimethods approach, including the commissioning of a review into the literature and independent qualitative research on staff experience, a survey of young adults in custody, consultation with a range of senior experts, stakeholders, family members and young adults themselves, the consideration of submissions sent to the Review, and an unprecedented examination of case material for the 87 cases (83 young adults and 4 children under 18) who died between April 2007 and December 2013. The final report. Changing Prisons, Saving Lives, was published in July 2015 and sets out 108 recommendations that call for a re-thinking of the purpose of prison, a strengthening of leadership to ensure the most vulnerable young offenders are diverted from custody and, when custody is inevitable, in ensuring they are more effectively supported through their rehabilitation and safe reintegration into society. While many of the recommendations are applicable to all of those in custody, the Review was commissioned to focus on young adults (18- 24) and many of the findings are applicable specifically for this age group. This paper focuses on the distinct characteristics of young adulthood and how the evidence we examined suggested that these traits seem to increase the vulnerability of this particular age group in custody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
