LEAP! SeCollege : a research proposal for the requirement-establishment of a secure college in the Maltese Islands, ESF 3.234 - LEAP! Project building the future together : promoting social mobility

Abstract

Criminal career research shows that the early age of onset of offending is that of between 8 and 14 years old, whilst offending prevalence peaks between 15 and 19 years. On the other hand, adolescents desist at the age of 20 to the age of 29 thus many children manifesting antisocial tendencies enter adulthood in a conformist way. Desistence has been attribution to marriage, job satisfaction, and internal migration to better neighborhoods or even joining the military. If a child “steps off on the wrong foot” and remains on this unconventional path, the consequences may be perpetuated by persistent offending. In such a situation, it is difficult to make up for lost opportunities in acquiring conventional skills such as academic skills. All children deserve access to a good education that will enable them to find work and develop their potential. Unfortunately, often prisons do not have as their primary focus education but rather focus on security, community safety and incapacitation of offenders. However, if society expects these youths to be able to secure employment, they must leave the custodial centres with some form of qualifications and discipline that enables them to find, secure and maintain a job.