Research report
In 2020, in Europe there were more than 4000 young people under the age of 18 housed in facilities away from home as a result of a juvenile or criminal offense (Aebi & Tiago, 2021). Recent research has highlighted the importance of personal agency and identity change as motors for desistance from crime (Johnston et al., 2019).
This document is a primary and secondary research document on the social, emotional and personal skills of young people in conflict with the law based on data collected in 4 countries: UK, Italy, Greece and France. It provides a thorough needs analysis of the educational needs of the target groups and the knowledge and skills required for their preparedness to integrate once their term ends. It forms the theoretical basis for the Skills4Life Curriculum, designed and piloted in custodial settings in Europe.
It is composed of two parts: (1) literature review and (2) needs analysis. The aim of the literature review is to provide a thorough bibliographical research on the state-of-the-art of the existing personal development programmes. The Needs Analysis consisted of primary research with young people in conflict with the law. The purpose of this was to explore from the perspective of young people themselves what they felt would be helpful for them to learn and know about as they prepared for life back in their community.
