By Tess Bartlett - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

· Measures to reduce the underlying causes of crime in thelonger term, including effective early interventions for at­riskchildren and their families/whānau;· Measures to reduce opportunities for offending, re­offendingand to enhance victims' satisfaction in the criminal justicesystem in the medium term;· Measures to alleviate immediate pressures on prison capacityin the short term.(Burton, 2006c: Section 1)In order to achieve its desired outcome the government adopted ‘a cross­sectoral andstrategic approach to reducing crime, reoffending and imprisonment’ (Burton,2006c: Section 2, emphasis added). It was anticipated that without the interventionsthere would be a shortfall of 908 prison beds by 2011 (as the demand for beds wouldincrease by 1,200); with the interventions, this was reduced to 426 beds (as notedpreviously, the Ministry’s tendency to underestimate forecasts meant these figureswhere highly optimistic) (Burton, 2006c). The ten proposals outlined in the EffectiveInterventions package dealt with the following issues: crime prevention, the additionof 1,000 police, remand sentences, restorative justice, non­custodial sentences, homedetention, sentencing guidelines and parole eligibility, the prevention of reoffending,corrections capacity, and Māori and Pacific peoples (Burton, 2006c). Theseproposals incorporated policy attributes more suited to policy during the post­warpenal­welfare era, where high rates of imprisonment were regarded as unacceptableand there was a commitment to the rehabilitation and reformation of the prisoner.RehabilitationThe government emphasised the attributes of the interventions that addressed whatcould be done for offenders, instead of focusing on the incapacitation of offenders. Itintended to improve the rehabilitation of prisoners through a number of proposals.These included the addition of two drug and alcohol treatment units, two specialtreatment units for violent and sexual offenders, the expansion of employment andtraining in prison, and an increase in motivational programmes (O'Conner, 2006).These were considered critical and effective in reducing reoffending. They were alsocostly, with the special treatment units, and drug and alcohol units estimated to cost84