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Key Findings and Implications for
Policy Makers
Young offenders have been described
as being disengaged with education
and learning. The secure custodial
setting presents an opportunity to re-
engage young offenders by
understanding the nature of their
disengagement. Key findings of this
PhD research are that:
• A focus on improving the educational
experiences of young offenders should
be a priority in secure custodial
settings.
Previous educational experiences of
young offenders are negative,
characterised by boredom,
disengagement and school dropout,
reflecting the findings of previous
research in this area.
• The nature of disengagement in young
offenders is distinct requiring
appropriate responses for successful
re-engagement.
Emotions and relationships particularly
characterised the nature of
disengagement in young offenders.
Understanding and responding to this
was an important aspect of
successfully re-engaging young
offenders with education and learning.
• Re-engaging young offenders in a
custodial setting with learning that was
authentic and relevant to them was
possible through a process of
authentic inquiry, providing certain
conditions are met. Authentic inquiry
is a process of inquiry, action and
knowledge generation to build
personally relevant knowledge useful
towards achieving a specific outcome.
The conditions which need to be met
include relevance of the task, a
supportive mentor and enabling
autonomy and agency in learning.
• The secure setting needs to take
measures which facilitate the
conditions for successful re-
engagement.
The structures of the secure
custodial setting can act as a
barrier to engagement with learning
in terms of managing emotions,
relationships with peers, teachers
and care staff. Flexibility in these
structures can result in
considerable gains for effective re-
engagement.
The Research
The number of young offenders aged
10-17 years with custodial sentences
since 2008/9 has dropped dramatically
from over 3,000 to just over 800 in
2016. This drop is welcomed,
however, it does mean that those in
custody represent some of the most
troubled young people in the UK.
Research has shown that the
educational experiences and
attainment of young offenders entering
Research Briefing No. 33
Engaging Young Offenders with Education in a Secure
Custodial Setting
bristol.ac.uk/education/research
the secure custodial setting are
negative and low attainment is the
norm. However, it has been shown in
the literature and this research that
young offenders valued education but
had struggled with school as an
institution. This resulted in them
becoming disengaged with education
and learning, presenting increased risk
of dropout and offending.
Interventions which seek to improve
specific skills, such as literacy or
numeracy, have had limited success,
therefore, this research presents an
alternative opportunity. This research
provides new evidence on
understanding disengagement in
young offenders and offers a way to
re-engage them with education and
learning during their time in custody.
Re-engaging young offenders with
education and learning can increase
the chances of continued engagement
when transitioning back into the
community.
Research Design
This research study used qualitative
methods to gain an in-depth
understanding of the nature of
dis/engagement in young offenders, an
ethnographic case study in one secure
children’s home was designed,
spanning 3 Phases:
• Phase I – consisted of semi-structured
interviews with 16 young offenders,
observations and field notes. The aim
was to explore their educational
experiences, their view of themselves as
learners and to understand facilitators and
barriers to their learning.
• Phase II – 5 participants were invited to
take part in in-depth case studies which
consisted of an authentic inquiry process,
designed to build personally relevant
knowledge which could also be useful to
them in the secure setting. Data on the
process was collected from interviews with
the participant, their authentic inquiry
mentor and 3 teachers, totalling 25
interviews plus observations and field
notes. The aim was to explore how and to
what extent young offenders could be re-
engaged with education and learning.
• Phase III – this consisted of data from
the mentors, teachers and the Head
Teacher totalling 7 interviews. The aim
was to understand the barriers and how
the secure unit could facilitate re-
engagement with learning.
Further Information
There are implications for policy as the
secure context presents particular
challenges for young offenders and
their engagement with learning.
Conversely, the secure context can
also facilitate re-engagement with
learning if the conditions described can
be met. These conditions can be
nurtured within the existing structures
of the secure context by:
• Ensuring that education within the
secure setting is responsive to the
nature of disengagement in young
offenders through improved training
and professional development of
teachers and care staff
• Using authentic inquiry as a cultural
approach to re-engaging and re-
connecting young offenders to the
curriculum
• Providing autonomy for Head
Teachers, as senior managers, to be
innovative in their attempt to re-
engage young offenders as a priority
aim across the custodial setting
Further Details:
Contact: Adeela ahmed Shafi
Email: Adeela.Shafi@bristol.ac.uk
Phone: 01242 715218
bristol.ac.uk/education/research