ABSTRACT
All the secure units that I visited around the country were different in size and appearance and initially seemed very formidable places with high fences, locked doors and stringent security checks on anyone entering through their portals, but I came to respect and admire much of the work that I observed.
Nearly all the young people that I have worked with who have been in a secure unit told me that they didn’t like losing their freedom but that for the first time in their lives they were able to feel safe – “it does what it says on the tin, it keeps you safe.” Some of those young people at difficult times in their lives even conspired to get themselves back to the safety of the secure unit. To illustrate the unique experience of working in this setting, in this chapter I examine the work that I undertook with Ava over a four-year period, covering three separate admissions to secure units and two different residential units during her creative journey.
