CHAPTER 5 VIEWS AND PERSPECTIVES OF CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY c. Rehabilitation Differences in institutional experiences were country specific and mostly due to an institutional focus on rehabilitation as opposed to a focus on punishment. Rehabilitation was founded on providing educational and life skills training and respectful care, which tended to prompt self-reflection and a desire among children to make more of their lives. ‘Being in prison does not help to change a person, but if receive good advice from those who have experience may help to make the person change’. (M/10-18/1:APG) ‘It is useful since it trains us to be responsible, train our behaviour, and change ourselves’. (M/10-18 /1:APG) Girls with experience of detention for national security reasons said that when relations between each other and the staff are good, they feel like they are in a house not a child centre. In general, girls were more likely to say that staff cared for them and are concerned for their welfare. ‘XXX who manages the orphanage was easy to talk to, she is a humble person and always asks us if we are ok’. (F/18/3:AFG) 3.4 Contact with Family Children had very mixed experiences of contact with families. Some benefitted from regular contact and were supported by staff who recognised its importance for the children’s wellbeing and future re-integration: ‘Yes, the social workers from X are trying a lot. They meet our parents and families to ensure that we go back safely to our families and join our parents without any problem in the future after we finish our sentence here’. (M/15-17/1:APG) Many institutions also arranged for children to have home visits. For instance, in some cases when a child had completed half of their sentence, they were allowed to go on home visits. Children especially appreciated it when institutions were flexible about visiting times so that they could maintain contact: ‘When your family member comes from a far area, they allow him/her to visit you out of visiting day’. (M/14-18/1:WEOG) 98