Over the last decade, five new prisons have been built in New Zealand as a result of overcrowding (Davison, 2016). These institutions built are equivalent to building a small town. Despite the prison expansion, New Zealand still face the issues associated with severe overcrowding (Davison, 2016). Empirical evidence has shown that expanding prisons do not deter crime nor are prisons beneficial for rehabilitation (Newbold, 2007). To respond to chronic overcrowding by building larger prisons, further perpetuates the current existing problem. The media reports on this issue lack potential ways of responding to the record highs in the prison population and chronic overcrowding. In particular, short term solutions like double-bunking, feeds into
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This sparked different reactions and responses to the issue of incarceration and the criminal justice system. One example was the emergence of Roper’s (1989) the Prison Review: Te Ara Hou: The New Way. This report emerged from a commission of inquiry into the prison system by the government (Newbold, 2007). A committee was set up for an investigation into the issue of overcrowding. The inquiry collected an extensive range of submissions from the New Zealand public, questioning for alternatives to this issue (Newbold, 2007). The aim was to synthesise all the immense data and to translate that into some set of recommendations and proposals (Newbold, 2007). The report proposed the alternative of replacing the prison system with a network of small local prisons and habilitation centres (Roper, 1989). The core argument advanced by the committee is that; prisons are a failure (Roper, …show more content…
The habilitation institutions are small community centres that cater to various needs of offenders entering the system, for instance, dealing with violence or employment training (Roper, 1989). The report provided an example of the Salisbury Street Foundation, which acts as a model for better programs and alternatives to prison (Roper, 1989). It is a small halfway house that accommodates up to 11 people, embedded into the residential neighbourhood, has a non-authoritarian atmosphere, and a therapeutic element with an emphasis on learning basic life skills (Roper, 1989). The Salisbury Street Foundation operates on one of the proposal’s main principles of the social-learning model. This principle encourages the development of new skills, language and behaviour made fit for life (Roper, 1989). The committee also stressed on the idea of creating a new system that, unlike prisons, does not separate people from their organic support networks and is embedded within the community (Roper, 1989). Moreover, these small community centres are more likely to be successful in changing behaviour than prisons, due to their non-authoritarian atmosphere and opportunities to make changes in their own lives (Roper, 1989). For instance, prisoners have the opportunity to be involved in
This sparked different reactions and responses to the issue of incarceration and the criminal justice system. One example was the emergence of Roper’s (1989) the Prison Review: Te Ara Hou: The New Way. This report emerged from a commission of inquiry into the prison system by the government (Newbold, 2007). A committee was set up for an investigation into the issue of overcrowding. The inquiry collected an extensive range of submissions from the New Zealand public, questioning for alternatives to this issue (Newbold, 2007). The aim was to synthesise all the immense data and to translate that into some set of recommendations and proposals (Newbold, 2007). The report proposed the alternative of replacing the prison system with a network of small local prisons and habilitation centres (Roper, 1989). The core argument advanced by the committee is that; prisons are a failure (Roper, …show more content…
The habilitation institutions are small community centres that cater to various needs of offenders entering the system, for instance, dealing with violence or employment training (Roper, 1989). The report provided an example of the Salisbury Street Foundation, which acts as a model for better programs and alternatives to prison (Roper, 1989). It is a small halfway house that accommodates up to 11 people, embedded into the residential neighbourhood, has a non-authoritarian atmosphere, and a therapeutic element with an emphasis on learning basic life skills (Roper, 1989). The Salisbury Street Foundation operates on one of the proposal’s main principles of the social-learning model. This principle encourages the development of new skills, language and behaviour made fit for life (Roper, 1989). The committee also stressed on the idea of creating a new system that, unlike prisons, does not separate people from their organic support networks and is embedded within the community (Roper, 1989). Moreover, these small community centres are more likely to be successful in changing behaviour than prisons, due to their non-authoritarian atmosphere and opportunities to make changes in their own lives (Roper, 1989). For instance, prisoners have the opportunity to be involved in