O ISSP - Programa de Vigilância e Supervisão Intensiva visto de dentro: falha considerável para a justice juvenile?

In 2001, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) of England & Wales introduced the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP). It was quickly hailed as the most robust community based sanction available for the most serious and persistent young offenders. However, it has been dogged by high reconviction rates. This paper is based on a review of the international evidence-base for intensive supervision, and on fieldwork (participant observation, interviews, and questionnaires) carried out within two Youth Offending Teams. The conclusions show that ISSP is not founded on sound evidence, but is, rather, driven by political strategy focused on costs, lack of custodial space, and a 'tough on crime' rhetoric. It was that the Programme cannot provide the level of public protection envisaged with such a severe offending group, and therefore does not aid the realistic promotion of greater use of community sentences. The paper makes suggestions for an alternative approach to dealing with serious, and persistent offenders in the community, based on the perceptions of the young offenders subject to ISSP and the stqff the supervise them.