The impact of a custodial sentence on the siblings of young offenders: matching service to needs

Abstract

Little policy or practice directly relates to the wellbeing of siblings of young offenders and only a scattering of services are in place which engage the siblings of young offenders by means of positive activities or constructive family support. A review of policies in England and Wales reveals that few services have been designed to address a young person’s needs arising directly from sibling imprisonment. It comes as little surprise that much of the relevant service provision targets siblings of offenders indirectly, or as one of a number of target groups, and evidence of policy that directly concerns the siblings of those -in the criminal justice system remains scant. Where services have been designed specifically for young people with a sibling in custody, they tend to relate to the young person’s own risk of offending rather than the effect on their welfare of their sibling being imprisoned. Although a growing body of research has acknowledged that the siblings of young people in custody do have specific and additional welfare needs in reality, few support mechanisms are implemented to address those needs.

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