Children Behind Bars

Every day children exiled to prison are exposed to abusive and neglectful treatment, yet their plight is hidden. Legal proceedings and inquests following the deaths in custody of teenagers Gareth Myatt and Adam Rickwood in 2004 revealed the multinationals in charge of the secure training centres where they were held had been running unlawful restraint regimes and many children's lives were endangered. Based on a wide range of research and first-person interviews, this engaging and passionately-argued book, by an author with extensive professional experience, presents the shocking truth about the lives and deaths of children in custody. Drawing on human rights legislation and progress in the care and treatment of vulnerable children elsewhere, it outlines the harsh realities of penal child custody including hunger; denial of fresh air; cramped and dirty cells; strip-searching; segregation; the authorised infliction of severe pain; uncivilised conditions for suicidal children and bullying and intimidation. The issues are explored through the lens of protection, not punishment, and the author finds there can be only one conclusion: child prisons must close. Providing a compelling manifesto for urgent and radical change, this book should be read by everyone who cares about child protection and human rights.