Being Young Inside: young adult transitions across the long-term prison sentence

By Karen Graham and Claudia Vince

Being Young Inside explores what it means to receive and serve a long prison sentence at the point of transition into adulthood. Drawing on in-person consultations with 41 young men serving sentences of 10 years or more across four prisons in England and Wales, alongside written contributions and existing evidence, this report examines how young adults experience the shock of sentencing, adapt to life in custody and attempt to build a future while growing up behind bars.

London: Prison Reform Trust, 2026. 32p