The Development and Evaluation of a Life Skills Programme for Young Adult Offenders

Abstract

The purpose of this research project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a Life Skills programme for young adult male long-term offenders with the aim of improving their life skills that, in turn, could enable them to adjust more effectively in the correctional environment. Experimental research was used to investigate the effectiveness of the programme. In this study, 96 literate young adult male offenders between the ages of 21 and 25 years, with long sentences, were selected randomly. The participants were assigned randomly into an experimental and a control group. The Solomon four-group design was utilized to control for the effect of pretest sensitization. The measurements of the effectiveness of the programme were conducted before the programme commenced, directly (short term) after, 3 months (medium term) after, and 6 months (long term) after. The findings indicated that the programme had limited success in equipping the offenders with the necessary skills crucial to their survival in a correctional centre. The programme did, however, have significant effects, especially on problem solving and anger management in the short and medium term. These improvements were not long lived.

Predictors of Aggression Among Sample-Specific Young Adult Offenders: Continuation of Violent Behavior Within South African Correctional Centers

“…Another view includes young adult offenders who resort to violence to prove their toughness and gain a higher status within the correctional environment (Bishop & Frazier, 2000;Ricciardelli, 2014a;Valentine et al, 2015). However, young adult male incarcerated offenders with better basic coping skills (i.e., problem-solving, seeking social support) are less inclined to resort to aggression to deal with the challenges in the correctional environment (Bouffard, 2015;Jordaan, 2014).…”

The effect of a life skills education program on mental health and social competencies among young prisoners in Cambodia: an intervention study

“…However, our ndings partially contradict previous research in South African prisons and Cambodian schools. A study in 2018 from South Africa reported a signi cant effect on social support and buckpassing in the medium-term (three months after the intervention) that disappeared after six months (12). On the other hand, the school study from Cambodia reported a signi cant increase in human relationship skills only for school boys after three months of the intervention (20).…”

“…For instance, a lack of life skills has been noted as one of the main reasons for imprisonment; once inside, chances to develop these skills are limited, causing the individual to become even more vulnerable (12). Life skills refer to one's abilities to adapt emotionally and behaviourally to different life situations so that they are able to successfully cope with daily challenges (12,13). When young people lack life skills competencies, they are more likely to become involved in risk-taking behaviours and/or criminal activities such as sexual abuse (14), property damage, drug use, and gang activities (14-16); as a consequence, they become imprisoned.…”

“…), as well as risk-taking behaviours such as ghting and drug use (26). Appropriate training in life skills may also help young prisoners to enhance their ability to successfully deal with the challenges of being in prison (1,12).…”

“…Even though there has been some evidence of a positive effect of LSE programs on the mental health of young prisoners, a lack of impact has also been reported. For example, an intervention study with young offenders in South Africa revealed that LSE had a short-term effect on anger management, problem solving, and the ability to cope with emotions and decision making, and a long-term effect on emotional regulation (12). However, a study among US adolescent prisoners showed a non-signi cant positive impact on misconduct behaviour after the implementation of the LSE program (27).…”