Stakeholders' Perceptions of a Sport-Leadership Program for Incarcerated Youth

There is a growing global body of literature examining the experiences of adolescents in sport-based youth development programs. The advantages of such programming are often contingent on intention, design, population, and environment. One often-overlooked setting that serves a vital population benefiting from the integration of sport-based youth development programs are juvenile detention centers. Beyond the adolescents involved in these programs, the staff and administrators’ perspectives offer insights for study and analysis. The purpose of this paper is to understand the perceptions of prison administration and staff regarding a sport-leadership program for incarcerated youth. This paper is a qualitative inquiry exploring the perceptions of 10 juvenile justice administrators and staff who all had extensive experience with one sport-based prison program. Results included in the importance of high-quality instructors, relationships that form as a result of programming, the transfer of knowledge, youth cohesion, and, most importantly, the impact on overall facility climate. Findings share perspectives on how administrators in penal institutions interpret the benefits of sport-based leadership programs, thus how sport may be used as a tool for developing skills that aid in rehabilitation, while shifting the greater facility culture.