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  Barry I can't believe you have forgotten about Willie Whitelaw's 'short, sharp, shock' policy and Michael Howard's 'boot camps'. They were so successful they were quickly and quietly dropped. Army style discipline did not have the impact that was hoped in fact young offenders (YO) came out fitter and tougher and merrily went back to doing what they knew best. Only where efforts were made to find employment for young offenders before they left the institution and where they were supported into these did re-offending rates reduce.
  A Home Office review of the camps concluded:
  
  "What lessons can be drawn from this experiment? These regimes certainly did not deter offending by tough "boot camp" treatment. It is clear that many YOs liked being kept busy all day, liked an Army-style regime, liked sports and physical training, and became healthier, fitter and more self-confident. In Colchester, YOs liked being treated with respect and liked receiving paternalistic advice from masculine role models. However, none of these benefits of an intensive regime seemed to be followed by decreased reconviction rates. Purely from the viewpoint of reducing reoffending, cognitive-behavioural skills training programmes and assistance in the transition from the YOI to the community (especially in getting jobs) were probably more important. Hence, the main message that might be drawn
  from this evaluation is that more resources should be devoted to offending behaviour and after-care programmes for young offenders."

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