V.

WHAT DO INCARCERATED YOUTH NEED?

Incarcerated youth share the same needs, ask the same questions, and face the same hurdles as all adolescents and young persons. However, the issues facing all young people are made more complex by incarceration. In addition, incarcerated youth have other unique needs as a result of their experience. To meet the demands warranted by their circumstances, incarcerated youth need to first understand themselves in terms of their own strengths, weaknesses, interests, and motivations. With this heightened awareness, they will more easily be able to acquire or hone academic, problem–solving, vocational, communication, social, life–management, and transition skills.

Self–Awareness

Getting to know oneself is difficult, even under the best of conditions or in the most supportive environment. Imagine, then, how challenging this process is for a young person in a controlled, and probably overcrowded, setting, isolated from any familiar support systems such as family (if such support systems even exist). Clearly, this is not an easy task. Despite its difficulty, this task is of utmost importance for learning, for successfully transitioning out of an incarcerated facility, and for staying out.

For all of us, self–awareness involves recognizing our skills, what we like to do, what we need to work on, and why we do the things we do. To know these things is empowering because it allows us to modify or change aspects of our behavior or personality that interfere with not only our own personal goals, but also with society’s expectations. The importance of empowerment for change as a goal for incarcerated youth is readily apparent.

One of the first steps an educator facilitating empowerment should take is to help students identify their strengths. While there are some preference and self–inventory tests readily available, a more personal approach may be to directly ask students what they do well. This may be tricky if one of the consequences of their incarceration is that they feel they can’t do anything right or well. In this case, the educator could proceed with another line of questions, such as “What do you like to do?” or ask students to describe happy or proud moments in their life. From this information, the educator can help students recognize specific strengths.

Students should be encouraged to broaden their perception of their own abilities so that they are not selling themselves short. By redefining and experiencing success, students will realize that they do do things right and well. Recognizing natural abilities and skills not only improves students’ self–esteem, but also provides a base upon which to build goals and aspirations.