Young offenders rewarded with sweets

BRITAIN’S most notorious young offenders’ institute has seen assaults drop by 80 per cent after rewarding inmates with sweets.

Inspectors found an 80 per cent reduction in assaults on staff at HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Feltham from a previous visit early last year. At the time of that inspection, violence was found to be a serious problem and the unit in west London was judged to be unsafe.

By the time inspectors visited again in January this year, safety had improved “dramatically”.

According to a report by Peter Clarke, HM chief inspector of prisons, the progress was in part due to a “new behaviour management philosophy”.

He wrote: “Last year we reported how the focus had been on sanctions and regime restrictions; there was a cycle of violence and punitive responses, with no obvious strategy in place to break it. This had changed, and on this occasion we found a focus on rewards and incentives for good behaviour.”

The young people at the prison took part in a merit scheme, the report said, where points for good behaviour could be exchanged for confectionery.

Inspectors described the scheme as “motivational”, and said the inmates had spoken of it positively.