Addressing vulnerability amongst imprisoned juvenile offenders: An evaluation of the Access course

A number of initiatives within Her Majesty’s Prison Service have explored how best to support the needs of vulnerable young people. One such is the Access programme, which employs a combination of simple cognitive‐behavioural techniques and physical activity to build confidence and increase levels of coping. Results from the evaluation of three Access courses facilitated at Her Majesty’s Young Offender Institute Warren Hill, a UK institution for juvenile offenders, indicate a significant reduction in reports of bullying and fear of bullying, and significantly reduced levels of self‐injury and the desire to self‐injure. Psychometric measures of hopelessness, self‐esteem, locus of control and assertiveness were administered before, immediately after and six weeks after the course. Measures of hopelessness were reduced after the course, and reduced levels were maintained six weeks post‐intervention. Locus of control and self‐esteem scores rose by the end of the course and were maintained or increased six weeks later. In general, findings were encouraging, given the level of need in this vulnerable group of young people. It is suggested that programmes such as this may provide a promising addition to strategies for dealing with problems of bullying and self‐injury in juvenile prisoners.