Academic Insights: a scoping review on sport, physical activity and incarcerated young people

(Mark Norman, Jesse Sonoda, and Rosemary Ricciardelli)

In this guest piece Dr Haydn Morgan, University of Bath, reviews a recent paper published in the journal Youth Justice.

Paper overview

While much of the academic focus of research in the ‘sport and prison’ space is directed towards the adult estate, the use of sport and physical activity with incarcerated young people has a long history, but one that hasn’t always received detailed academic examination. A recent paper published in the journal Youth Justice, led by Canadian academic Mark Norman, presented a scoping review of academic papers published this century which had a focus on sport and physical activity among young people in secure custody settings.

The research reviewed 23 qualitative papers taken from academic journals and book chapters, with the majority of studies (74%) conducted in either England and Wales or the United States.  Three main themes were identified by the review: i) how sport can help young people cope with their incarceration; ii) if and how sport might contribute to young people’s rehabilitation or desistance from crime; and iii) the structure of sport programmes that may facilitate positive experiences for young people.

Sport and physical activity as a coping mechanism

Several studies noted how participation in sport helped young people to occupying their time within the secure custody setting or acted as a distraction from the typical daily challenges of life when incarcerated. However, there was also significant evidence to indicate that sport, when compared to other activities, enabled young people to build positive relationships with not only their peers, but also with staff in the secure setting. This was particularly the case when staff were active participants in the sport activities rather than merely facilitators of them. A wealth of research (in both custodial and community settings) has noted the importance of positive interpersonal relationships between staff and young people as a critical factor within impactful programmes, a feature that is reinforced by this review.

Contribution of sport to young people’s rehabilitation and desistance

Nearly all the papers in the study reported on the potential for sport to contribute to broader criminal justice outcomes such as rehabilitation and desistance. The main factor noted within the review was the potential of sport to support young people with social and/or behavioural change, mainly through increasing self-esteem, developing physical competencies, and providing a sense of autonomy. There was also evidence to suggest that sport can help young people create a new identity or engage them in training or courses that lead to qualifications, which in turn, may connect them with broader rehabilitation and resettlement programmes or increased access to employment upon release.

Structure of sport programmes

The final theme examined the conditions of sport programmes that are more likely to lead to positive experiences for young people. As a basis, the review indicates that programmes which provide young people with ownership or agency over their participation are more impactful, as are those which provide a diversity of activities to choose from and have active involvement from staff. Competition, or the ‘threat of losing’, was noted as a factor within more negative experiences, either by ‘turning off’ potential participants or increasing the risk of frustration and negative emotional responses to defeat. The review also considers the evidence surrounding the benefits of involving community-based organisations within programmes delivered in secure settings. While it appears that such programmes can be effective, much depends on the possibilities for young people to (re-)continue their participation with that organisation upon release.  There is also support for providing opportunities to engage in ‘off-site’ activities. While these opportunities undoubtedly require careful management, the few studies that have examined ‘off-site’ provision report positive impacts for participants.

Future considerations

The paper concludes by offering some thoughts on future directions to build the evidence-base on the use of sport and physical activity with incarcerated young people. First, more research is required to examine the role of sport as a rehabilitation or resettlement tool, in particular the merits of using community-based organisations to support ‘through the gate’ provision. Second, and relatedly, future research should explore the wider benefits of sport and physical activity beyond being a blunt management tool to act as a distraction to custody, an occupier of time, or a reward for good behaviour. Importantly, the review appeals for research conducted with more diverse populations, given that there is a tendency for research on young people is custody to treat them as a homogenous group. More diversity of perspectives, to examine how sport and physical activity ‘works’ for different populations and intersects with diverse forms of social identity (e.g. gender, ethnicity, social class, sexuality) will provide more nuanced insights on this important topic.

Call to Action

The review provides some useful foundations for further research and practical intervention. For researchers, there is clearly a need to examine in more detail how sport-based activities which focus on preparation for ‘through the gate’ provision might enable positive transitions for young people back into community settings. For practitioners, there is a need to consider providing sports activities that have potential to be continued in the community and enable staff in secure settings to build effective bridges with community providers to ensure positive transition between custody and community.

To read the review in full please visit: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14732254231220594.