While governments and judges may shy away from longer sentences for juvenile offenders, one prison educator believes it may be a teenage criminal’s best chance to turn their life around.

Corrections educator and author of THE CRIMINAL CLASS: Memoir of a Prison Teacher, Paul A. MacNamara said he sees evidence that children receive a better education on the inside, and almost always regress when back in the community.

Australian juvenile inmates are compelled to attend class. They are assessed by educators when they arrive and again before they leave detention.

Paul MacNamara said, “When a teen offender returns to custody having reoffended, their entry test results are typically poorer after they’ve spent time back in the community.”

One of the biggest challenges Paul faces is not getting enough time with young offenders.

“I’m not suggesting teens should receive harsher sentences just so that they can get a proper education. But it does highlight that ongoing education is key to rehabilitation. They’re not getting that continuity back in the community.”

“Most go back to dysfunctional homes or group houses. Sure enough, they’re back inside within a matter of months and the last classroom they set foot in was mine.”

Paul says another major hurdle in educating offenders is the high number of detainees battling neurodevelopment impairments such as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

It’s estimated approximately two percent of the Australian population has Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, which can affect behaviour, attention-span, speech and memory.

However, a 2018 West Australian study on the prevalence of FASD among youth detainees at Banksia Hill Detention Centre found that 36% of detainees had the disorder, and 89%had a severe neuro-disability.

Banksia Hill was the scene of a riot last week, where detainees set fire to buildings, scaled the roof and threw projectiles at authorities.

Paul said his own teaching experiences in NSW suggest FASD is a major impediment inmost detention centre classrooms.

“These students are often referred to by prison teachers as ‘The Alphabet Kids’ because a list of disorder acronyms follow their name… FASD, ADHD, ODD… and some of them can’t even recognise those letters after their name,” he said.

Paul spent six years as an education officer in some of Australia’s toughest adult prisons, before shifting to juvenile detention centres. His debut novel THE CRIMINAL CLASS: Memoir of a Prison Teacher is a best-seller. He is currently writing his second novel, this time set in juvenile detention.