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OUTSIDE CHANCE – OUR BACKGROUND - 1 • FORMED IN 1998 BY THE LATE MARTYN POPE AND IAN ROSS TO ADDRESS YOUTH CRIME THROUGH BEHAVIOUR CHALLENGING WORKSHOPS – ‘A CAREER IN CRIME?’ - INITIALLY IN HM YOI FELTHAM, EUROPE’S SECOND LARGEST YOUNG OFFENDER INSTITUTION AND ENGLAND’S MOST VIOLENT PRISON WITH AN AVERAGE OF 600 INMATE ON INMATE AND INMATE ON STAFF ATTACKS EACH YEAR • EXPANDED BETWEEN 1998 AND 2003 INTO 7 YOUNG OFFENDER UNITS • WE ONLY WORK WITH MALE JUVENILE OFFENDERS – 15-18 YEAR OLDS – ON FELTHAM’S BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT UNIT WITH THE PRISON’S MOST DISRUPTIVE AND VIOLENT YOUNG MEN • BETWEEN 1 IN 4/5 OF BOYS WHO ARE INDUCTED INTO HM YOI FELTHAM ARE FOUND TO HAVE ONE OR MORE STIS, USUALLY CHLAMYDIA, CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY GENITAL WARTS – CAUSES …………… • WE DO NOT WORK WITH FEMALE OFFENDERS AS THEY REQUIRE MUCH MORE PRE- AND POST-RELEASE SUPPORT THAN WE COULD OFFER • FEMALES REPRESENT 1 IN 19 OF THE UK PRISON POPULATION – 4,500+ FEMALES COMPARED TO 81,500+ MALES • TO DATE, 9,000+ INMATES HAVE ATTENDED OUR WORKSHOPS
OUTSIDE CHANCE – OUR BACKGROUND - 2 • AT FELTHAM’S REQUEST, IN 2002, WE DEVELOPED AN STI AWARENESS MODULE – ‘THAT’LL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME!’ – TO ENCOURAGE INMATES TO LOOK AT THEIR POST RELEASE SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARDS, AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH, GIRLS • IN 2003, IN RESPONSE TO FEEDBACK FROM AN ATTENDEE IN HM YOI AYLESBURY, THEN ENGLAND’S HIGH SECURITY FACILITY FOR 18-21 YEAR OLD MALES, WITH INMATES OFTEN STARTING OUT ON 20-, 25- AND 30-YEAR MINIMUM SENTENCES, WHO WROTE – ‘IF I’D HAD SOMETHING LIKE THIS WORKSHOP AT SCHOOL, I DON’T THINK I’D BE IN PRISON TODAY’ – WE DEVELOPED OUR COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES – ‘IT’S YOUR CHOICE!’, AN EARLY INTERVENTION, CRIME-RELATED WORKSHOP AND ‘THAT’LL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME!’, AN STI AND RELATIONSHIPS AWARENESS MODULE • WE RENAMED ‘THAT’LL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME!’ TO ‘WARTS AND ALL!’ TO BETTER REFLECT THE RELATIVELY OPTIONAL GRAPHIC CONTENT SHOWN AT THE CLOSE OF THE POWERPOINT SLIDES • TO DATE, 128,000+ YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE ATTENDED THESE WORKSHOPS IN SCHOOLS, YOUTH GROUPS AND COMMUNITY VENUES
OUTSIDE CHANCE – OUR APPROACH • OUR GENDER-SPECIFIC STI AND RELATIONSHIPS WORKSHOPS ARE SHOWN IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS ACROSS LONDON. THEY WILL NOT BE DEVELOPED INTO PRIMARY SCHOOLS • WE FIND THAT OUR WORKSHOPS ARE BEST DELIVERED TO GENDER-SPECIFIC AUDIENCES SINCE WE CAN ADDRESS MALE AND FEMALE ISSUES WITHOUT EITHER GENDERS FEELING UNCOMFORTABLE, REPRESSED OR INHIBITED IN ANY WAY • WE TACKLE ISSUES SUCH AS ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE, WHICH CAN BE CAUSAL FACTORS IN RECKLESS SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR, IN OUR ANTI CRIME MODULE, OFTEN TO MIXED GENDER AUDIENCES • WE ENCOURAGE SOME BOYS TO RETHINK THEIR OFTEN NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS GIRLS, GIRLS WHO, ONE DAY, WILL PRODUCE THEIR CHILDREN. ALSO HOW SOME GIRLS VIEW THEM IN GENERAL • WE ENCOURAGE SOME GIRLS TO LOOK AT ISSUES AROUND SELF ESTEEM, SELF WORTH, PEER PRESSURE AND SELF IMAGE. SIMILARLY, HOW BOYS VIEW SOME GIRLS IN GENERAL • IN MIXED GENDER AUDIENCES, WE USE A NUMBER OF INTERACTIVE SCENARIOS TO DRIVE HOME OUR MESSAGES IN A COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT – ‘THE MORNING AFTER ……..’
OUTSIDE CHANCE – THE CHALLENGES - BOYS • WE FIND THAT IT IS MUCH EASIER AS WELL AS MORE EFFECTIVE TO WORK WITH GENDER-SPECIFIC GROUPS, PARTICULARLY WITH SOME BOYS WHERE THEY WILL OFTEN ACT UP IN MIXED GENDER SETTINGS • IDENTIFYING, AT THE OUTSET, TWO OR THREE OF THE MORE VOCIFEROUS BOYS IN A GROUP FOR OUR INTERACTIVE SCENARIOS CAN BE VERY EFFECTIVE IN REINFORCING OUR MESSAGES SINCE, IN MANY CASES, THE REST OF THE GROUP WILL ‘FOLLOW’ THEIR EXAMPLES • IN MANY CASES, THIS WILL LEAD TO GROUPS OF BOYS COMING FORWARD AT THE CLOSE OF SCHOOL OR THE LUNCH BREAK TO DISCUSS 1-2-1 ISSUES WHICH THEY WOULD NOT REVEAL IN A GROUP SETTING • WITH INMATES, MANY OF THEM ARE IN RELATIONSHIPS AND/OR HAVE A CHILD ON THE WAY. A FEW IN EACH GROUP ARE ALREADY DADS. WE FOCUS ON HOW THEY MIGHT NOT HAVE MADE THE ‘BEST’ CRIMINAL IN THE WORLD BUT THEY MIGHT WELL BE THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD, A TITLE THEY ONLY HAVE TO ‘WIN’ FROM THEIR OWN SON OR DAUGHTER SINCE THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS • SOME BOYS WILL END A RELATIONSHIP AS SOON AS THEY REACH PRISON. THEY FEEL THAT THEY CANNOT DEAL WITH THE FEELINGS OF MISTRUST THEY HAVE TOWARDS THEIR PARTNERS WHILS IN DETENTION
OUTSIDE CHANCE – THE CHALLENGES – GIRLS 1 • WE ENCOUNTER A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF GIRLS WHO MISTAKENLY BELIEVE THAT DISPLAYING SOMEWHAT LOW BEHAVIOUR THROUGH ALCOHOL ABUSE, BASE SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AND AGGRESSION WILL MAKE THEM BOTH ACCEPTED BY THEIR GIRL PEER GROUP AND ATTRACTIVE TO BOYS • SOME GIRLS CONFIRM THAT THEY DO GET DRUNKER – OR APPEAR TO GET DRUNKER – THAN BOYS TO ‘GAIN CONFIDENCE’ • WHEN WE ASK BOYS IF THEY EVER SEE THEMSELVES SETTLING DOWN WITH THE GIRLS THEY HANG WITH NOW, CONSISTENTLY, THEY WILL SAY ‘NO, I WANT SOMEONE DECENT BRINGING UP MY KIDS’ • SOME GIRLS TELL US THAT THEY DON’T SEE BEING FORCED TO HAVE SEX AS ABUSE IN ANY WAY – SIMPLY WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THEM IF THEY HANG WITH GANGS OR GROUPS OF BOYS • THIS IS NOT HELPED BY BOYS FINDING SOME GIRLS EASY TO COERCE INTO SEXUAL ACTIVITY, EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR, IN MOST CASES, IN GANG SITUATIONS
OUTSIDE CHANCE – THE CHALLENGES – GIRLS 2 • WE ALSO ENCOUNTER AN ALARMING NUMBER OF GIRLS WHO HAVE VERY LIMITED KNOWLEDGE AROUND CONTRACEPTION ISSUES – THE ‘WITHDRAWAL METHOD’, THE COIL, THE PILL, THE ‘MORNING AFTER’ PILL, USE OF CONDOMS, ETC • SIMILARLY, SOME GIRLS HAVE A BELIEF THAT CONDOMS WILL PREVENT ALL STIS AS WELL AS PREGNANCIES • WHAT CAN WE DO AS PROFESSIONALS WHEN WE SEE GIRLS WHO ARE ‘AT RISK’? PAINT A VERY STARK PICTURE, BASED ON OUR COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCES, AROUND GIRLS WHO HAVE FOLLOWED SIMILAR PATHS AND NOW WISH THEY COULD UNDO THEIR LIVES AND START AGAIN • SOME GIRLS TELL US THAT THEY WANT TO HAVE BABY FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS : TO LOVE SOMETHING THAT WILL LOVE ME BACK, TO KEEP A BOY, TO GET A FLAT, TO GET MONEY – WE NEED TO USE OUR EXPERIENCES TO ADVISE SUCH GIRLS OF THE FUTILITY OF ALL OF THESE REASONS AND TO ENCOURAGE THEM, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, TO MAKE BETTER CHOICES OF PARTNERS, NOT ONLY FOR THEMSELVES BUT ALSO FOR THEIR CHILDREN IN THE FUTURE
OUTSIDE CHANCE – GANGS AND EXPLOITATION - 1 • INITIALLY, YOUNG PEOPLE OFTEN JOIN GROUPS AS A WAY OF JUST HANGING TOGETHER. THEY DON’T SEE THEMSELVES AS A ‘GANG’ AS SUCH. HOWEVER, IN THE GANGS WITH WHOM WE WORK, INVARIABLY, IMAGE AMONGST MALES COMES TO THE FORE AND A PECKING ORDER IS ESTABLISHED – VERY NOTICEABLE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS – SO THE GROUP BECOMES A ‘GANG’, ALBEIT UNINTENTIONALLY • THEY COME TO THE ATTENTION OF THE POLICE, THE COURTS AND THEN INTO HM YOI FELTHAM, OFTEN IN ‘JOINT ENTERPRISE’ SITUATIONS • GIRLS JOIN GANGS FOR PEER ACCEPTANCE, THROUGH BOREDOM, FOR EXCITEMENT, THE ‘GOOD GIRLS LOVE BAD BOYS’ SYNDROME – WE OFTEN MEET GIRLS AT HM YOI FELTHAM WHO HAVE HAD A SUCCESSION OF BOYFRIENDS IN JAIL • SOME GIRLS WILL TELL US THAT THEY DON’T SEE THEMSELVES BEING ‘FORCED INTO SEX’, COERCED OR BEING GROOMED IN ANY WAY – THAT VIEW COMES FROM ADULTS ALTHOUGH WHEN WE ASK HOW THEY WOULD VIEW A SIMILAR SITUATION WITH OLDER MEN, THEY SEE THAT AS ‘GROSS’
OUTSIDE CHANCE – GANGS AND EXPLOITATION • WE ARE OFTEN ASKED BY GIRLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS ABOUT THE STI RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ORAL SEX WHICH WOULD LEAD US TO BELIEVE THAT THIS MIGHT BE A COMMON ACTIVITY FOR GIRLS WHO JOIN GANGS • WE GET BLANK LOOKS WHEN WE MENTION DENTAL DAMS OR A BOY WEARING A CONDOM DURING THIS OR ANY OTHER SEXUAL ACTIVITY • GIRLS ALSO TELL US THAT THEY THINK IT ‘CHEAPENS’ THEM IF THEY CARRY CONDOMS, EVEN WHEN WE TELL THEM THAT WE KNOW OF BOYS WHO WILL ‘DOCTOR’ CONDOMS BY PIERCING THEM, ASSUMING THAT THEY HAVE EVEN AGREED TO WEAR THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE • WE ALSO ENCOUNTER A GROWING NUMBER OF GIRLS WHO DISLIKE THEIR PARTNERS WEARING CONDOMS, BELIEVING THAT THE PILL IS ALL THE PROTECTION THAT THEY NEED AGAINST BOTH PREGNANCIES AND STIS • IN SOME CASES, A GIRL WILL INTENTIONALLY TRY TO GET PREGNANT SO NOT USING A CONDOM IS THEIR FIRST CHOICE RATHER THAN AN OPTION
OUTSIDE CHANCE – OUTCOMES IN OUR WORKSHOPS IN HM YOI FELTHAM, WE PROVIDE THE INMATES WITH A POST-WORKSHOP ‘CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT’ FOR THEIR ATTENDANCE AND A PREPAID ENVELOPE BY WHICH THEY CAN MAKE CONTACT WITH US AFTER THE WORKSHOP. THIS IS THE EDITED FIRST PAGE OF A 4-PAGE LETTER RECEIVED BY US IN THE LAST MONTH OR SO FROM A 16-YEAR OLD INMATE, NOW RELEASED AND BACK AT HOME WITH HIS FAMILY AND HIS GIRLFRIEND
