Young offenders (Juvenile offenders.)

Young people are offenders under the age of 18, or in some cases aged 18 but remaining in the under 18 estate, and will be held in either a Secure Children’s Home (SCH), a Secure Training Centre (STC) or a Young Offender Institution (YOI). The Youth Justice Board is responsible for placing young people in custody and typically those aged under 15 will be held in an SCH and those over 15 will be held in either a YOI or STC. Only 17 year old female young people are normally placed in a YOI. - Taken from justice gov.co.uk https://www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/types-of-offender/juveniles.

After the age of 18 young people if arrested and charged would be put into main prison along with adult offenders. 

There is a phrase used for young offenders moving from YOI to main stream prison. 'Starred up.'  This film (trailer below) is named after the phrase , it is about a 19 year old adult who has made the change from YOI to main stream prison. It is a really intense film and dose demonstrate some very extreme circumstances and issues for example knife crime, physical violence, police brutality and mental health ,  that have been covered by media and news but the film was based on first hand account as the writer who features in the film as a therapist / teacher. There main aim through the film was not to glamourise it , explore authenticity and shooting the film with the right intentions. Filmed within an actual prison and you follow the character Eric Love (19yrs old) though his beginning of his time in prison and being reunited back into the intense relationship with his dad being in the same prison. It did raise a difficult question in my head , I feel like being within an adult prison at that age is still too young, I think at that age there is still a vulrablility and influences from social and environment can have strong effect. However they have committed an offence and therefore by law have to serve a sentence. Also by law the offender is an adult and so it makes sense for them to be placed in main stream adult prison , but this still dose not address the issue how venerable they feel and the extremes that they go to in order to survive, because at 19 you are the youngest individual in that prison. I might reach more just to get a clear idea of how young adults are treated in prison and weather there are segregation system in place within the prisons?