Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment
Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment
Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
days become more difficult to organise because staff are too busy with<br />
other tasks; prisoners are transferred across regions for logistical<br />
reasons, causing massive disruption to their families trying to negotiate<br />
visits (as well as impacting on other important activities such as any<br />
sentence planning, or access to health care or programmes);<br />
<br />
The right to life <strong>and</strong> security of person can also be tested as<br />
overcrowding amplifies stress levels for prisoners <strong>and</strong> officers alike.<br />
Longer periods of lock down, together with increases in prisoner<br />
numbers, are related to higher incidences of prisoner depression <strong>and</strong><br />
anxiety, as well as increased disturbances <strong>and</strong> attacks – including fatal<br />
attacks – against prisoners <strong>and</strong> staff. Reflecting on the concerns posed<br />
by double-bunking to safety in prisons, the Law <strong>and</strong> Order Committee<br />
(2009) noted that „We were told that staff will receive an extra three<br />
days training on volatile situations <strong>and</strong> that pepper spray, spit-masks,<br />
<strong>and</strong> stab-proof vests will be available when necessary‟.<br />
Overcrowding impacts heavily, therefore, on the well-being of prisoners <strong>and</strong><br />
officers alike. As the Department of Corrections (2008) put it, between 2005-<br />
2007, the Department operated under high pressure, with a significant<br />
degradation of services. During this period, there were also times when the<br />
Department operated „at a high risk of failure, <strong>and</strong> a significant negative<br />
impact on staff‟ (ibid: 23).<br />
Staff have been placed under significant stress in recent years. In response<br />
to rising prisoner populations, the Department has undertaken a major<br />
recruitment initiative. In 2008, over 40% of frontline Corrections Officers had<br />
less than two years experience (Department of Corrections, 2008); in 2009,<br />
this had reduced to 29% of staff (Department of Corrections, 2009c). This<br />
new workforce has placed pressure on experienced staff who mentor <strong>and</strong><br />
train new officers.<br />
In summary, as Lord Chief Justice Woolf, the investigator of the Strangeways<br />
riot in Engl<strong>and</strong> stated, overcrowding „debilitates the whole system‟ (cited in<br />
Taylor, Anthony, 2008:69). Given such conditions, the UN Committee Against<br />
Torture (2009:9) has recently recommended that the NZ State „should<br />
undertake measures to reduce overcrowding, including consideration of<br />
noncustodial forms of detention in line with the United Nations St<strong>and</strong>ard<br />
Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules)‟.<br />
3.5 Securing <strong>Rights</strong> at the Operational Level<br />
Thus far, it is made apparent that cultures of penal populism, as well as<br />
burgeoning prisoner numbers, can lead to struggles to maintain positive<br />
rights-based practices for prisoners <strong>and</strong> prison staff. These issues are<br />
generally directed from outside the penal estate – as, for example, the prison<br />
service cannot control the number of people they receive. However, it is also<br />
clear that rights st<strong>and</strong>ards can be undermined within the prison environment.<br />
25