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Welcome to the EuroPris Knowledge Management System. The table below shows questions and responses from European National Agencies. Select a question for more information or use the filters on the left to narrow down questions based on Agency or Category.
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Introduction: The Finnish Criminal Sanctions Agency is planning to arrange training to their staff in autumn about the best practices and interventions with juveniles and minors in prisons and community services. If you have special programs or good practices for juvenile offenders (including minors) in use in your country, please answer the following questions.
The Belgium Prison Service has no juvenile offenders. (including minors) The Government makes it a community matter (Flemish-, French- and German speaking) Communities will decide by themselves about the nature of the measures which can be taken regarding minors who have committed an fact qualified as an offence.
Are the programs or practices age specific or are they crime or problem specific (violence, substance abuse). Please describe their content? Are your programs intended to be used in prison or probation setting, or both? Is the program or practice originally developed by yourself or by some other agency/country? If it is not developed by yourself, please provide further details. On which theory and methods is the practice or program based on (cognitive-behavioral, strength-based like Good Lives Model, Desistance etc.) and is it individual or group program or both? How long and intensive is the program (weeks, months, sessions / week)? Has any research or evaluation been done on the effectiveness of the program? If yes, what was the result? Describe any other policies or practices that you use and have found to be useful with these clients (special juvenile wards, educational or vocational practices etc.)?“Minor” is up to 13 years of age, “juvenile” – 14-18 years of age. Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania sets forth: Article 13. Age at which a Person Becomes Liable under the Criminal Law 1. A person who, prior to the time of commission of a crime or misdemeanour, had attained the age of sixteen years or, in the cases provided for in paragraph 2 of this Law, fourteen years shall be considered liable under this Code. 2. A person who, prior to the time of commission of a crime or misdemeanour, had attained the age of fourteen shall be held liable for murder (Article 129), serious impairment to health (Article 135), rape (Article 149), sexual harassment (Article 150), theft (Article 178), robbery (Article 180), extortion of property (Article 181), destruction of or damage to property (paragraph 2 of Article 187), seizure of a firearm, ammunition, explosives or explosive materials (Article 254), theft, racketeering or other illicit seizure of narcotic or psychotropic substances (Article 263), damage to vehicles or roads and facilities thereof (Article 280). 3. A person who, prior to the time of commission of the dangerous act provided for by this Code, had not attained the age of fourteen years may be subject to reformative sanctions or other measures in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
Are the programs or practices age specific or are they crime or problem specific (violence, substance abuse). Please describe their content?Behavior correctional program EQUIP – group work for juveniles with behavior problems. The program is based on the mutual assistance method, when juveniles become motivated and ready to assist each other. EQUIP is recommended for juveniles and youths up to 24 years of age. Preventive program Youth and Psychoactive Substances – educational program for individual work with juveniles under probation supervision. Aim – prevention of harmful addictions. Intervention program Early Intervention – group work for sentenced persons 14-21 years of age with experience in substance abuse (experimental/ irregular). Program Behavior-Interview-Change is focused on a juvenile's criminogenic needs and recommended at the initial stage of work with a juvenile promoting and enhancing a person’s motivation to positive changes.
Are your programs intended to be used in prison or probation setting, or both?Both
Is the program or practice originally developed by yourself or by some other agency/country? If it is not developed by yourself, please provide further details.Programs are developed by other agency/country: EQUIP – originally comes from the Netherlands and was adapted for use in Lithuania; Youth and Psychoactive Substances – developed in Lithuania in compliance with the global social and emotional learning program LIONS QUEST; Early Intervention – developed by the Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department (Republic of Lithuania) which organized related trainings and supervisions; Behavior-Interview-Change – originally comes from Sweden and was adapted for use in Lithuania.
On which theory and methods is the practice or program based on (cognitive-behavioral, strength-based like Good Lives Model, Desistance etc.) and is it individual or group program or both?EQUIP – group work based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT); Youth and Psychoactive Substances – individual, based on behavior changing (Prochaska & DiClemente) model; Early Intervention - group work based on behavior changing (Prochaska & DiClemente) model and techniques of a motivational interview (MI); Behavior-Interview-Change – individual, based on behavior changing (Prochaska & DiClemente) model and techniques of a motivational interview (MI).
How long and intensive is the program (weeks, months, sessions / week)?EQUIP – 55 sessions, recommended 3 times a week for the groups of 5 – 9 juveniles.; Youth and Psychoactive Substances – 15 sessions, recommended once per 1 to 2 weeks; Early Intervention – recommended for the groups of 6-12 persons; duration: 10 hours: 1 hour for introductory interview, 8 hours for sessions, 1 hours for closing interview; Behavior-Interview-Change – 1 introductory interview, 5 motivational interviews; duration of an interview – 45-60 mins.; recommended once per week.
Has any research or evaluation been done on the effectiveness of the program? If yes, what was the result?Evaluation on the effectiveness of 3 programs (EQUIP, Early Intervention, Behavior-Interview-Change) was carried out. The results revealed that the programs are efficient for target groups and may have positive influence on the participants’ behavior.
Describe any other policies or practices that you use and have found to be useful with these clients (special juvenile wards, educational or vocational practices etc.)?Useful practices implemented in Juvenile Correction House: dynamic security, occupation, positive staff-juveniles relationship, differentiation based on criminogenic needs. Probation is focused on rehabilitation of juvenile offenders by organizing educational, social skills development, psychological, therapeutic, occupation promoting and sports activities.
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16 to 21
Are the programs or practices age specific or are they crime or problem specific (violence, substance abuse). Please describe their content?The YOBP addresses offending behaviour through a modular approach: • Offending Behaviour: Explores the causes and consequences of offending behaviour. Aims to support individuals to identify and challenge patterns of thinking that lead to offending behaviour, enabling them to live within the rules and have a more positive relationship with authority. • Female Offending: Explores the causes of and patterns within female’s offending. Aims to support females to identify and challenge patterns of thinking by exploring the impact of their offending on themselves and others, and identifying adaptive coping strategies. • Car Crime: Examines patterns of thinking leading to car related offending. Aims to support individuals to challenge these patterns by exploring the impact of offending on the young person and others, enabling them to desist from car crime in the future. • Fire Setting: Supports young people to explore the function fire setting serves for them. Aims to provide individuals with alternative strategies to minimise the risk of displaying this behaviour in the future. • Substance-related Offending: Explores the effects of substances and supports young people to identify patterns of thinking leading to substance related offending. Aims to challenge these patterns by exploring the impact of offending on the young person and others, and supporting them to identify alternative coping strategies. • Anger Management: Examines the concept of anger and explores its development and maintenance. Aims to help young people develop an awareness of the impact of loss of anger control and to understand and manage feelings of anger and aggression through developing skills of self-control and strategies for coping. • Peer Pressure: Explores the concept of peer pressure and its impact on individual’s offending and anti-social behaviour. Aims to support young people to develop assertive communication skills in order to resist peer pressure. • Developing Positive Relationships: Explores the young person’s current relationships and support networks. Aims to support individuals to develop pro-social relationships and support systems, and enables them to develop positive interpersonal skills. • Emotional Management: Supports young people to recognise and develop their understanding of their own and other’s emotions, and explores how their thought process can impact on emotions. Aims to enable individuals to develop skills in order to effectively manage emotions in the future. • Problem Solving: Supports the young person to examine their current abilities in problem recognition, consequential thinking and decision making. Aims to help young offenders develop effective problem solving skills and consider the consequences of their actions. • Future Choices: Explores the concept of pro-social goals, the importance of realistic pro-social goals, the difference between avoidance and approach focused goals, how to set goals and how to break these down into small manageable steps. Aims to provide a foundation for positive goals and promote the skills needed in order to maintain an offence free lifestyle. • Maintaining Change: Supports young people to explore high risk situations for their offending behaviour. Aims to help group members identify their sources of support, obstacles to change, personal warning signs and develop skills to overcome these.
Are your programs intended to be used in prison or probation setting, or both?Prison
Is the program or practice originally developed by yourself or by some other agency/country? If it is not developed by yourself, please provide further details.Developed by SPS.
On which theory and methods is the practice or program based on (cognitive-behavioral, strength-based like Good Lives Model, Desistance etc.) and is it individual or group program or both?The Good Lives Model (GLM) which underpins the Youth Offending Behaviour Programme (YOBP) offers an alternative rehabilitation framework to the Relapse Prevention/Risk Needs Model (RP/RNM) approach, preserving its strengths and avoiding its weaknesses by promoting positive goals for the future whilst managing risk. The GLM addresses issues relating to the motivation, aetiology, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders and identifies the internal and external conditions necessary for achieving human goods. It is argued that the primary focus of treatment should be the modification of dispositional factors (e.g. thoughts, feelings and behavioural responses) underlying an individual’s criminal behaviour.
How long and intensive is the program (weeks, months, sessions / week)?20 weeks
Has any research or evaluation been done on the effectiveness of the program? If yes, what was the result?Yes. Most programme participants and facilitators felt that the programme is working well, targeting the appropriate young people and is contributing to their ability to become offence-free on release from prison. Generally, programme participants and staff felt that participants understood why they were selected for the programme and that it identified and targeted the most appropriate young people to participate. The source of group participants’ motivation was either cited as being extrinsic, and related to satisfying conditions for progression, or intrinsic, and driven by a desire for self-change and realisation of individual potential and desistance. It was widely reported that the group setting encouraged deep reflection and collaborative learning although the rolling format was considered to have both positives and negatives. Although programme participants were initially reluctant to speak in front of a group, this soon passed and participants began to trust other group members, stating that this enhanced trust led to high levels of disclosure of information. In terms of gaps identified in the programme by participants and staff, the following points were raised: a top up module towards the end of a sentence so that the young people would have the skills they have learnt ‘fresh’ in their mind; greater buy-in from hall staff would assist in encouraging and supporting participants to a greater extent; peer mentoring could be formally developed as a potential way of assisting current participants through the programme. All participants were unanimous in their agreement that the programme had helped both themselves and others. Programme participants felt that the programme had helped them to understand their own attitudes and how these had driven their past behaviours. It was felt that by understanding these past behaviours and motivations of offending, that the young people would be less likely to offend on release. The programme also allowed participants to gain insight into the impact of their offending upon others which made them more determined to change. Additionally, the relaxed and informal approach taken by the facilitators seemed to boost participants’ confidence and built upon their strengths when in the group. The responsive and flexible nature of the programme allowed the young people to identify their own strengths and provided them with additional skills. This said, some negatives of the programme were reported, including the level of paperwork required to be completed. It was also said that the length of programme which could be more concise (dependent on the rolling format). The lack of any ‘self-care’ guidance having been built in to programme manuals for staff to utilise if needed, was also said to be potentially problematic. Although some participants felt confident in their ability to remain offence free upon release, some did express concerns that the prison environment was artificial preparation and that it was far more difficult to resist the impulse to commit crime in the community. Facilitators generally agreed that the programme would help the young people to stop offending, although it was conceded that success was also dependent upon the participants’ motivation for participation in the programme. It was felt that those who were motivated by an intrinsic desire to change as a person were better prepared than those whose main motivation appeared to be satisfying external criteria in order to qualify for progression or early release. Overall, participants were confident that the YJP had taught them new skills and provided them with motivations which would prevent them from committing crime in future. This insight was central to acquisition of the ability to exercise self-control and avoid situations which may lead to offending or in exercising self-control so as not to react to situations which would, in the past, have led to offending.
Describe any other policies or practices that you use and have found to be useful with these clients (special juvenile wards, educational or vocational practices etc.)?SPS has developed its own Young People Strategy with the aim of creating the: Confident individual; Responsible citizen; Successful learner; Effective contributor.
A person who is taken into a correction facility (remand prison or prison) or is listed within the probation service before the day he or she turns 21 years old is considered as a juvenile during the execution of that sentence, but no longer than the day that he or she turns 24 years old.
Are the programs or practices age specific or are they crime or problem specific (violence, substance abuse). Please describe their content?The programs used in Sweden are not age specific. SPPS offers programs that address violence including violence in near relations, substance abuse, sexual offenders, treatment program for violent and gang-affiliated adult offenders and treatment program for clients who are involved in violent extremism
Are your programs intended to be used in prison or probation setting, or both?The programs offered are used both in prison and in probation setting with one exception, the program for violent and gang-affiliated. This program is only offered in probation setting, due to the fact that the program is aiming towards change of environment, living area and sometimes also change of name and papers. However, there is a possibility to start the program in prison with a few sessions before continuing during probation.
Is the program or practice originally developed by yourself or by some other agency/country? If it is not developed by yourself, please provide further details.The programs provided in SPPS are both developed by the SPPS, but some of the ones used are imported from Great Britain; Prism – treating substance misuse and OTO, a one-to-one-program treating general criminality and Canada; RnR2ADHD that is designed to help clients with ADHD to cope and to handle life in a more organized way.
On which theory and methods is the practice or program based on (cognitive-behavioral, strength-based like Good Lives Model, Desistance etc.) and is it individual or group program or both?The SPPS provide both group- and individual programs. They are all more or less based on CBT. MI is also broadly used.
How long and intensive is the program (weeks, months, sessions / week)?Most programs have 20 or more sessions, some as many as approximately 40. However there are also booster-programs and motivational increasing programs that contain sex to eight sessions. Most programs is given two to three times a week in prison and one to two times a week in probation.
Has any research or evaluation been done on the effectiveness of the program? If yes, what was the result?Most of the programs have been evaluated and they all show positive results, some more than others. A few years back the SPPS stopped using a program that did not show positive results.
Describe any other policies or practices that you use and have found to be useful with these clients (special juvenile wards, educational or vocational practices etc.)?There are eleven special young adults/juveniles sections in different prisons. These sections can not exceed ten inmates each in security level two and six in security level one. Beyond these eleven sections, there are no special housings for young adults/juveniles. There is however special treatment facilities and housing for conditionally released young adults/juveniles that have been procured by Swedish Prison and Probation Services (SPPS) across the country. There are three special young adults/juveniles sections in remand prisons, Sollentuna (Stockholm) Malmö and Gothenburg. All these sections have in common that extra funding have been allocated to them for enabling a higher staff/prisoner ratio. Every section has received funds to allocate staff members with special responsibilities for the young adults/juveniles. All this has been proved useful.
In accordance with the Criminal Code, the juvenile is a person who at the time of committing the crime has not reached the age of 14 year and is not older than 18 years old.
Are the programs or practices age specific or are they crime or problem specific (violence, substance abuse). Please describe their content?On the basis of the psychodiagnostic examination on admission, pedagogical and social diagnostic, a differentiation group is defined to the juvenile by the prison governor that takes into account the mental level, personality characteristics, pedagogical-educational, re-educational and resocialisation needs of the convicted juvenile. After inclusion of the juvenile into the differentiation group, the professional prison staff determine to juvenile the standard re-educational treatment program, intensive re-educational treatment program or special pedagogical-educational program designed according to the educational, re-educational and resocialisation needs of the juvenile. The treatment program includes a part related to education, free time activities, relationships with an external environment and necessary therapeutic activities. Treatment program is the program of activities carried out with the convicted that is prepared on the basis of the individual needs of convicted and the possibilities of the prison for juveniles. It follows from this that it is not a standardized program with the same content that is applied to all convicted juveniles.
Are your programs intended to be used in prison or probation setting, or both?Treatment program for juvenile is only applied during the execution of the prison sentence.
Is the program or practice originally developed by yourself or by some other agency/country? If it is not developed by yourself, please provide further details. On which theory and methods is the practice or program based on (cognitive-behavioral, strength-based like Good Lives Model, Desistance etc.) and is it individual or group program or both?Treatment program reflects the individual needs and particularities of the juvenile serving the prison sentence. Treatment program activities are carried out individually or in groups
How long and intensive is the program (weeks, months, sessions / week)?Treatment program is carried out with the juvenile during entire serving the prison sentence.
Has any research or evaluation been done on the effectiveness of the program? If yes, what was the result?No.
Describe any other policies or practices that you use and have found to be useful with these clients (special juvenile wards, educational or vocational practices etc.)?In practice, the individual approach of the professional prison staff which reflects the needs of juveniles was particularly successful.
A natural person who, on the day of the commission of a criminal offence, has attained fourteen years of age may be held criminally liable. (The Criminal Law, Section 11.) Minor – a person who has not attained 18 years of age (Law on the Protection of the Children's Rights, Section 3. Part 1). Youth – persons from 13 to 25 years of age (Youth Law, Section1). Within the practice of the Latvian prison administration as minors are considered persons 14-17 years of age, but as youths – 18-25 years of age. In separate cases, as youths can be considered also persons up to 29 years of age (including). For the most part these definitions are used when defining the target audience of ESF projects.
Are the programs or practices age specific or are they crime or problem specific (violence, substance abuse). Please describe their content?For the respective age group – youths, including minors – the programme "EQUIP" is applied.
Are your programs intended to be used in prison or probation setting, or both?In imprisonment places the programme "EQUIP" is implemented by the prison staff and the personnel of the State Probation Service.
Is the program or practice originally developed by yourself or by some other agency/country? If it is not developed by yourself, please provide further details.Programme "EQUIP" has been adapted from Netherlands, but was developed in the USA. The goal of the programme: to teach the young people how to think and act responsibly so that they would not commit criminal acts. EQUIP is a method that is used to provide antisocial and criminally tended youths with social skills and to fix the mistakes in their thought-process. The youths are trained to attain these skills, to prevent the possibility of again committing a crime after being released from prison: to prevent recidivism.
On which theory and methods is the practice or program based on (cognitive-behavioral, strength-based like Good Lives Model, Desistance etc.) and is it individual or group program or both?It is a group programme. Number of group members – from 6 to 12 persons.
How long and intensive is the program (weeks, months, sessions / week)?Programme "EQUIP": duration – 9 months, intensity – 1-2 sessions/week, duration of one session - 2 hours.
Has any research or evaluation been done on the effectiveness of the program? If yes, what was the result?In Latvia no research about the effectivity of the programme "EQUIP" has been carried out yet.
Describe any other policies or practices that you use and have found to be useful with these clients (special juvenile wards, educational or vocational practices etc.)?Minors are placed in the Cesu Correctional institution for Juveniles where they may stay until they reach 25 years. Underage girls – in women prison – Correctional Institution for Juveniles department in Ilguciema prison. Minors (and youths who have been placed in the Correctional institution for Juveniles or its department) are provided with (and it is considered important) the possibility to attain general primary education and secondary education (including, special educational programmes for persons with learning disabilities, mental health problems), professional development educational programmes (from 160 hours up to 640 hours), inmate's social problem solving, psychological care, spiritual care, free time activities, seminars about addiction and sexually transmitted disease prevention, social rehabilitation programmes. Youths who are not placed in Correctional Institution for juveniles, are placed in all imprisonment places together with the adult prisoners. To youths just the same as to adults are available general and professional education, employment (inmates can work in prison economic crew, they can work as an employees of a company in or outside the prison depending on the prison regime set for the inmate, according with the law the employment is without pay) inmate's social problem solving, psychological care, spiritual care, free time activities, social rehabilitation and social behaviour correction programmes.
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In the Italian system, children who are under the age of 18 are minors. From the criminal point of view, for children under the age of 14 there is a presumption of incapacity, therefore those children cannot be charged nor punished, except for the possibility to undergo security measures, if they are considered as dangerous. The subjects between the age of 14 and 18 can be charged and punished, if a judicial authority ascertains their capacity upon the perpetration of a crime. The offenders under the age of 18 fall within the competence of the Department of Juvenile and Community Justice. The persons between the age of 18 and 25 are considered as “young adults”. In general, they are considered in need of special care and precautions, in the penitentiary context, due to their possible vulnerability to the bad influence of older adult inmates and to their education needs linked to their incomplete psychic development. The prisoners over the age of 18 fall under the competence of the Department of Penitentiary Administration (Prison Service).
Are the programs or practices age specific or are they crime or problem specific (violence, substance abuse). Please describe their content?The rehabilitation treatment programs, both for adults and for young adults, are based upon the principle of tailored treatment; therefore, said programs can be different as for the age of the beneficiaries as well as for the types of crime, where the characteristics of the offence demand specific actions. Article 14, paragraph 3, of the Italian Penitentiary Act provides for the separation, within the prisons wings, of young adults from adults. A circular letter of the Prison Service of 2006 encourages the Department of Penitentiary Administration and the Department of Juvenile and Community Justice to undersign agreements, in order to ensure the continuity of rehabilitation when the offender reaches his/her majority and is still imprisoned.
Are your programs intended to be used in prison or probation setting, or both?In order to support young adults in their own processes of awareness raising and of taking responsibility upon themselves, they are oriented towards programs of education and vocational training, which have been developed under the boost of an Agreement of 2016 between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice. Young adults can attend education courses until the completion of university studies, can attend modular and flexible courses, can follow training and education activities addressed to students, thanks to agreements of cooperation between schools and prisons at local level. Sport and motor activities for young adults are particularly encouraged, too. Activities of job orienting and of support to job placement are carried out for young adults both in prison and in probation. The staff of local probation offices follow said offenders undergoing community sanctions and measures.
Is the program or practice originally developed by yourself or by some other agency/country? If it is not developed by yourself, please provide further details. On which theory and methods is the practice or program based on (cognitive-behavioral, strength-based like Good Lives Model, Desistance etc.) and is it individual or group program or both? How long and intensive is the program (weeks, months, sessions / week)? Has any research or evaluation been done on the effectiveness of the program? If yes, what was the result? Describe any other policies or practices that you use and have found to be useful with these clients (special juvenile wards, educational or vocational practices etc.)?