The use of sport as a developmental tool for youth has been widely studied. However, one important segment of the population that has been largely overlooked in this work, likely due to its restrictive and hard to access nature, is youth from juvenile detention centers. Incarcerated youth represent at least 1% of all children in the United States who are faced with a complex set of psychological, physical, and social needs. In recent years, the rehabilitative role of sport within prison has been explored; however, limited research in this area exists. One critical line of investigation is to explore programs leaders’ experiences leading sport-based programs in the prison setting in order to inform how to tailor instructor training programs and inevitability foster better program quality and youth outcomes. Therefore, this study examined four graduate students’ self-efficacy beliefs for leading a leadership and life skills sports program within a youth prison. Data included weekly voice reflections and periodic interviews across a two-year program span. Deductive analyses indicated participants’ beliefs were influenced by Bandura’s (1977) four sources of self-efficacy with corresponding subthemes describing their nerves, highs and lows, good days, growth overtime, shared identities, observations of prison staff, and support from others. The current study offers insight on how individuals perceive their competencies for leading a sport program within a highly volatile environment. Suggestions for enhancing self-efficacy beliefs in order to better foster positive developmental youth outcomes are discussed.

人们已经广泛研究了将体育运动用作青年的发展工具。但是，这一工作中被忽视的人口中很重要的一部分是少年拘留中心的年轻人，这可能是由于其限制性和难以接近的性质。在美国，被监禁的年轻人至少占所有面临着一系列复杂的心理，身体和社会需求的儿童的1％。近年来，人们探索了体育在监狱中的康复作用；但是，在这一领域的研究还很有限。调查的关键之一是探索项目负责人在监狱环境中领导基于体育的项目的经验，以告知如何量身定制教练培训计划，而必然性则可以提高项目质量和青年成果。所以，这项研究调查了四名研究生在青年监狱中领导领导能力和生活技能运动计划的自我效能感。数据包括为期两年的计划期间的每周声音反射和定期采访。演绎分析表明，参加者的信念受到班杜拉（Bandura）（1977）四个自我效能感源的影响，并带有相应的子主题，这些亚主题描述了他们的神经，高低处，好日子，超时成长，共同身份，对监狱工作人员的观察以及他人的支持。本研究提供了有关个人如何感知自己在高度动荡的环境中领导体育计划的能力的见解。讨论了增强自我效能感信念以更好地促进积极的青年发展成果的建议。