Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

Reintegration Unit – currently available at Rimutaka (60 beds). This
Unit can accommodate those in the last twelve months of their
sentence. Prisoners are able to access Release to Work and
vocational training, and they are helped in accommodation,
employment and debt-management matters. A second reintegration
unit at Mount Eden was demolished as part of the redevelopment of the
site.
Parenting Skills courses – to improve parenting practices among
prisoners.
PARS – who provide reintegrative services (such as information,
advice and practical assistance, emotional support, development of self
management skills).
Supported Accommodation Services – to assist released prisoners in
Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Hawkes Bay.
Supported Acommodation Beds – there are currently 54 beds for
prisoners leaving prison. These are available for three months on
release, before prisoners find their own accommodation.
Regional Reintegration Teams – Work and Income NZ staff work
alongside Corrections staff on these teams, which include
caseworkers, social workers and whānau liaison workers.
In May 2009, the Department of Corrections (2009g) undertook a cost
effectiveness review. This indicated that current sentence management
practices, undertaken by Corrections officers, was not functioning
comprehensively. In response, the Department recommended the removal of
Corrections officers from this work, which will instead be undertaken by
specialist staff. The review recommends that a new model, to indicate which
offenders should benefit from specialised services, should also be developed.
Commentators, such as Kim Workman (2009), from Rethinking Crime and
Punishment, have critiqued this review stating that:
The review was undertaken without consultation and does not
adequately provide for community engagement or utilise to full effect
the experience and expertise of community agencies;
The proposal will deskill/deprofessionalise corrections officers, by
removing them from rehabilitation and reintegration processes;
Rehabilitation services are overly focused on the management of
prisoner risks rather than providing supports to those in need or
focusing on prisoner strengths, desires and resources;
The management of offenders is characterised by technical issues,
rather than building effective and pro-social relationships.
For Workman (2009), the review emphasised a managerialist agenda (as
detailed previously) that would undermine rights standards in rehabilitation
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