The criminal justice system spends millions on institutions designed to protect the public from juvenile crime. They claim to either reform or prepare these young people for the outside world - one way or another.

Photographer Phil Dixon has spent many years working in a Young Person’s Secure Facility and his latest exhibition ‘Money Well Spent’ is his visual statement about the residents’ experiences. Phil’s work explores the impact of institutionalisation and its effects on young people’s lives. It addresses how both the vulnerable and perpetrators of anti-social and criminally orientated lifestyles co-exist.

The photographic collection which takes place at Darlington’s Decisive Moment Gallery, raises the debate ‘could the money be better invested in the communities that spawn these problems?’

The exhibition takes place at the gallery from 29th November to 24th January 2009. For further information on the Decisive Moment Gallery click here