Criminology Research Council grant ; (4/83)
This study investigated the effectiveness of school and work training programs in a youth training centre to assess their effectiveness in achieving the goal of community re-integration. Both the literature on the transition to the world of work and the previous research evidence on the impediments to low status young persons gaining high status credentials suggest that the educational activities at a youth training centre should be related to the social and economic realities if they are to be effective.
The evaluation of school and work training programs at the Malmsbury Youth Training Centre found no significant differences between young persons who had engaged in school and work programs on the basis of community re-education employment or recidivism six months after release. However, it was found that three different groups of young people could be identified on the basis of institutional history and previous schooling. These groups were: State wards, young offenders and adult offenders. State wards have the longest institution history and adult offenders have the shortest.
With regard to schooling, the 27 adult offenders all completed at least Year 9 whereas none of the 29 young offenders and only six of the 32 State wards stayed at school beyond Year 9. While State wards aspired to higher levels of schooling, their perceptions of their schooling were significantly more negative than was the case with the other two groups.
There was no significant difference between the groups in relation to employment status either before or after detention in the youth training centre. However, the three groups were significantly different in the number of weeks that they worked in the follow-up period after release, adult offenders working most and state wards least.
The study concluded by suggesting that general education theory may not be adequate to raise the expectations of these young persons and the study proposed that the curriculum in youth training centres should be based on multi-disciplinary sources. It is argued that the application of appropriate educational aims should assist youth training centre detainees to achieve higher status employment and a more satisfactory level of community re-integration.