IT'S AN old-fashioned way of doing things, holding up people from the past as heroes for the young to admire.

Nowadays, it would be sporting heroes or "celebrities". But this was nearly 60 years ago, so as children we read stories of people who'd changed the world for the better.

Wilberforce was there with his fight against slavery, Lord Shaftesbury with his agitation on behalf of child labourers, Dr Barnardo, who cared for street children. There were two women who featured prominently as well: Florence Nightingale, of course, and Elizabeth Fry.

How many people nowadays have even heard of Elizabeth Fry? This quiet Quaker lady went into the savage prisons of early 19th Century England and taught inmates to read and improve themselves. She transformed many of them from hardened criminals to useful members of society. Transfer her to the present day and she'd be dismissed as a foolish do-gooder, caring more for criminals than for the victims of crime.

No one - even the most do-gooding among us - wants to belittle the effect that crime has on its victims. We've all been touched by it ourselves or know someone who has. That those who commit crimes should be punished for what they do is only just.

But a recent report showed that seven out of ten young men aged 17 to 20 who commit crimes are back inside within two years of release. Prison has turned them into hardened criminals. Is that really what we want?

Wild behaviour by young men is nothing new. Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale (1611) has an old shepherd wishing there was no age between ten and 23 "for there is nothing in between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting..."

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

But then, as now, most young men eventually settled down and became useful members of society. Apart from those who end up in prison...

Nearly half of young men in prison are there because they've got hooked on drugs or alcohol. Many are illiterate, or have been brought up in so-called "care". They're the ones who under our present system have little chance of ever putting the past behind them and becoming good citizens. Some prisons are able to get their inmates off drugs - only for them to go back on when they leave, simply because there's no follow-up, nowhere for them to get help in staying clean. Then there's the question of employment. Illiterate young men have little hope of ever holding down a job. Teach them to read, to believe they can improve themselves, and it's another matter, as Deerbolt Young Offenders' institution in Barnard Castle is already demonstrating on a small scale.

Certainly, there are youngsters who are so locked into bad behaviour that nothing will turn them from a life of crime. But for the rest, a concentrated effort to help them get their lives back on track, both in prison and when they leave, would benefit us all. Surely we all want young offenders to become mature and balanced adults making a useful contribution to society, if it's humanly possible?

We need a bit more of that "tough on the causes of crime" policy we used to hear so much about. Or maybe we just need another Elizabeth Fry to show us what can be done to make our prisons constructive places - a return to those traditional values of trying to make things better, instead of simply shouting about how bad they are.

Published: 18/05/2006