By Tess Bartlett - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

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elationship between offender and victim, the group use fear and vengeance to gainsupport from individuals who feel they are at risk from the ‘cruds’ (Pedler, 2006:Section 3) that are thought to be roaming the streets committing ‘hideous andrepugnant crimes’ (Sensible Sentencing Trust, 2008b: Section 1).The refusal by the Sensible Sentencing Trust to provide an objective argumentmeans issues are not critically addressed and the public are misinformed on issuesthat have become populist in nature. For instance, the Trust aims to ensure the safetyof the community through public education on criminal justice issues; whereeducation is considered ‘a key factor in achieving [the groups] ultimate goal ofreducing crime’ (Sensible Sentencing Trust, 2008b: Section 2). However, the‘education’ the organisation encourages involves informing ‘respective communitiesas to the horrific consequences and ongoing effects of crime, for those directlyinvolved and the wider community’ (Sensible Sentencing Trust, 2008b: Section 2).The framework of knowledge that has been provided for the Trust, as a result of thechanges to the New Zealand media, allows it to make these representations that failto address the complicated processes by which the events have developed ‘out of theoftenmundane situations that produce them’ (Lee, 2007: 188). Furthermore, thevictim accounts portrayed by victims and supporters of the Sensible SentencingTrust are not representative of crime victims in general, and draw once again on thesymbolic victim, suggesting that we are all potential victims of crime when in realitythis is not the case:Of particular importance is the fact that a small number of victimsexperience the majority of victimizations. This is now one of thebestknown lessons from victim surveys, all of them testifying to it.The probability of repeat (or multiple) victimization is more unevenlyspread than the probability of being victimised at all.(Ministry of Justice, 2007b: 58)This uneven distribution of victimisation is overlooked by the Sensible SentencingTrust, and, so too are those who are least at risk of victimisation. Included in thisgroup in New Zealand are retired people and individuals over sixty (groups thatoften overlap), and those people living in rural areas in New Zealand (Ministry ofJustice, 2007b). Interestingly, both groups are representative of individuals whosupport the Sensible Sentencing Trust. Victimisation is thus decontextualised to60
illicit a response from the community due to the shocking nature of the events. Byoperating within a different framework than that which was available for, and helpedto construct, penal debate in the postwar years, the Sensible Sentencing Trust hassucceeded in shifting the debate towards a more populist form of penal policy.Consequently, ‘the public’ have gained a significant role in penal policy in NewZealand with politicians implementing harsh policies in an attempt to satisfy publicexpectations, as the next chapter illustrates.61
Page 3 and 4:
AcknowledgementsWriting this thesis
Page 5 and 6:
ContentsAbstract ..................
Page 7 and 8:
IntroductionIn September 2007, New
Page 9 and 10: Thereafter, the Labourled coaliti
Page 11 and 12: Postwar Security and Penalwelfa
Page 13 and 14: the exterior of electoral politics,
Page 15 and 16: social conditions, towards that whi
Page 17 and 18: penal policy development where they
Page 19 and 20: implementation of this legislation.
Page 21 and 22: increasingly aware of crime, gainin
Page 23 and 24: immigration was considered a threat
Page 25 and 26: in agricultural exports, particular
Page 27 and 28: The time would seem to be appropria
Page 29 and 30: In keeping crime out of the public
Page 31 and 32: The Labour Party’s response to th
Page 33 and 34: across a multitude of family househ
Page 35 and 36: Changes in New Zealand mediaThe dif
Page 37 and 38: dominant feature of New Zealand soc
Page 39 and 40: Despite its manifest contradictions
Page 41 and 42: Governments and their civil servant
Page 43 and 44: The Victims Task Force believed tha
Page 45 and 46: eferendum into legislation, motivat
Page 47 and 48: [New Zealand was] one of the safest
Page 49 and 50: governments in the hope that ‘suc
Page 51 and 52: McVicar paints of himself as the
Page 53 and 54: that New Zealanders have been expos
Page 55 and 56: This combination of circumstances c
Page 57 and 58: Sympathy, empathy, commiseration an
Page 59: [h]ad not risen from the ‘victims
Page 63 and 64: Reform Bill). The Trust made submis
Page 65 and 66: The willingness by Opposition MPs t
Page 67 and 68: I remind [the National Party] that
Page 69 and 70: However, the Labourled government
Page 71 and 72: 6). While these opposing parties po
Page 73 and 74: One development in particular incre
Page 75 and 76: policymaking 32 . From 2000 to 2006
Page 77 and 78: had removed suspended sentences as
Page 79 and 80: Chapter Four:Resistance to Penal Po
Page 81 and 82: 2004: 44). The situation worsened i
Page 83 and 84: were designed to address New Zealan
Page 85 and 86: $3.341 million annually from 2009/2
Page 87 and 88: organisation, was interested in bur
Page 89 and 90: Because of the capability of the me
Page 91 and 92: The case of Graeme BurtonThe second
Page 93 and 94: ‘parole should be a privilege, no
Page 95 and 96: given the difficulties in measureme
Page 97 and 98: package to prioritise this issue. H
Page 99 and 100: emained insecure and overtly puniti
Page 101 and 102: the end of its tenure. As a result,
Page 103 and 104: The thesis has explained and analys
Page 105 and 106: main determinants are addressed. As
Page 107 and 108: Atkinson, J. (2002). Structures of
Page 109 and 110: Bureau of Justice Statistics (2008b
Page 111 and 112:
Cullen, P., & Lloyd, C. (1991). Lob
Page 113 and 114:
Department of Statistics (N.Z) (199
Page 115 and 116:
Hall, G., & O'Driscoll, S. (2002).
Page 117 and 118:
Johnson, R. J., & Ogloff, J. R. P.
Page 119 and 120:
Maguire, M. (2002). Crime data and
Page 121 and 122:
Ministry of Justice (2002a). Senten
Page 123 and 124:
New Zealand Parliament (1993a). Cri
Page 125 and 126:
asket.co.nz.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/searc
Page 127 and 128:
O'Conner, D. (2006). Effective Inte
Page 129 and 130:
Prisoners in line for waist restrai
Page 131 and 132:
Sentencing Amendment Act. (2007). R
Page 133 and 134:
http://www.stats.govt.nz/products
Page 135 and 136:
contours of New Zealand (pp. 1111
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By Tess Bartlett - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

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