The challenges and needs of people serving long life sentences from a young age.

In recent decades, a clear legislative trend has emerged towards increasingly long minimum tariffs for people serving life imprisonment in England and Wales. However, little is known about the short- and long-term effects of long periods of confinement in prison.

This evidence review provides an in-depth look at the specific challenges and needs of the significant number of people already serving long life sentences from a young age in England and Wales. The authors of this report are the joint architects of a major research study into the experiences of people serving these sentences in England and Wales, a study described by one reviewer as “the
deepest empirical look at adaptation and survival in long-term imprisonment for over forty years.”