Locked in - Locked Out

Britain locks up more young people than any country in Europe, but do we know what happens when they are put into custody? What is the impact on them of a prison regime? Can it be a constructive, rehabilitative experience or does the culture of prison make this impossible? Is being removed from home and community inevitably destructive or can it give some youngsters a chance to sort out chaotic lives? Can prison be the place to address the severe problems of physical and sexual abuse, violence, disadvantage, failure, and self-loathing that so many who end up inside suffer? Or is locking them up the ultimate failure of a society that cannot find a better way to deal with its problem young?