Unresolved grief in young offenders in prison.

Abstract

The study aimed to pilot a grief awareness programme as a health promotion project for young offenders with complicated grief. Seventeen young offenders in custody at HM Prison, Cardiff were opportunistically recruited, interviewed about their bereavement, and offered entry to the programme. Young offenders who reported coping poorly with bereavement were more likely to have used drugs to cope with their emotions, to have had suicidal thoughts, and reported more depression and anxiety. They were also more likely to have been bereaved in late adolescence and to have lost a first degree relative, with death being sudden, violent or by suicide.