Rethinking Crime and Punishment
It’s a burgeoning problem that many may not even be aware of. The imprisonment rate in New Zealand has reached epidemic proportions—it is 164 per 100,000, double what it was in 1980 and now one of the highest in the world. The New Zealand Department of Corrections estimates that it costs $161.91 (NZD) per day for each prisoner, so the added prisoners result in an extra $141 million per year. And imprisonment does not seem to be changing the criminal behaviour of prisoners because 60 percent of all released prisoners re-offend within two years. As is the case in many countries, the issues surrounding crime and punishment are demanding new solutions.
Two influential organisations have joined forces to bring about positive change by taking these basic facts to the public and promoting debate and discussion about the nature of crime and punishment. Prison Fellowship New Zealand and The Salvation Army have formed a three-year partnership to create a new social justice project called “Rethinking Crime and Punishment.”
“One of our aims is to increase awareness of the alternatives to prison and examine the most effective use of prison,” explains PF New Zealand’s Executive Director Kim Workman, who is leading the project for PF. This joint project will include campaigns, conferences and seminars that introduce the public to innovative concepts such as restorative justice and community penalties which allow for non-prison options. The two ministries also plan to investigate and identify new practices and policies that will effectively reduce the prison population and the re-offending rate while also addressing the needs of victims.
Currently 30 percent of prisoners are serving sentences of six months or less and it is this population that the project will target for possible prison alternatives. “Prison is a very expensive and largely ineffective measure,” Kim observes. “Imprisonment can harm the chances people have to make amends and fulfil their potential as citizens.” A third of prisoners lose their homes as a result of being in prison and nearly 90 percent face unemployment upon release.
“The project will support approaches which actively involve members of the public in the criminal justice and penal system,” says Kim. It has already begun receiving support from business and community groups, including a public relations firm that has offered help with advertising and publicity throughout the three-year period. Exposure International, the marketing firm that produces PFI’s videos and DVDs, is supporting the project as well.
Prior to the partnership, Prison Fellowship and The Salvation Army each made significant headway in informing the public about the pressing need to make changes in criminal justice. In May of 2006, PF held a groundbreaking national conference entitled “Beyond Retribution—Advancing the Law and Order Debate.” More than 280 people participated, including criminal justice officials and politicians, and the conference generated significant media and political attention. PF later published and distributed a comprehensive conference report to parliamentarians, policy makers, stakeholders and the judiciary.
Meanwhile, The Salvation Army published “Beyond the Holding Tank,” a report that analyzed social policy issues and made initial recommendations. Both organisations came to many of the same conclusions as a result of these initiatives. Specifically, that the public must be made aware of the issues surrounding crime and punishment, and that new practices and alternatives to prison must be addressed.
“The project continues the significant work of The Salvation Army and Prison Fellowship towards building a more effective criminal justice and prison system,” noted Wellington’s Downtown Community Ministry Director Stephanie McIntyre.
Major Campbell Roberts, Director for the Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit of The Salvation Army, who co-leads this initiative with Kim, said he hopes the project will “lead to a safer New Zealand where people who offend face their crime and are then given the chance to rehabilitate and be restored as participating members of the wider New Zealand community.”
To learn more about Rethinking Crime and Punishment please visit the website www.rethinking.org.nz.
April 2007
This article first appeared in Prison Fellowship International's Global Link for April 2007.
