ABSTRACT
The findings presented in the previous chapters show that opportunities for youths to be given institutional leave or to be moved to more open units play a significant role in everyday life at youth custody institutions. In addition, both staff and the youths themselves described these factors as playing a significant role for the chances of things going well for the youths following the conclusion of their sentences. This does not in itself mean that custodial openness is in fact related to the youths’ subsequent re-offending, however. This chapter focuses on this question by examining the youths’ registered recidivism following their release from youth custody. The presentation begins, however, by providing a more general description of the young people sentenced to youth custody and their levels of problems in different areas.
