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News :: Law & Justice |
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More jails will create more crime says expert |
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by MAGGIE TAIT
Email: gkable (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified!) |
02 Dec 2004
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"I think New Zealand is taking a step backwards, actually. If what you are doing is building more prisons that actually is the most guaranteed way to increase the rate of crime," Sir Charles, who is in Wellington, said yesterday. |
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NZ: Once a world leader in restorative justice, New Zealand is regressing by locking more people up for longer, visiting expert Sir Charles Pollard says.
The former chief constable of Thames Valley Police in England, who will speak at a restorative justice conference starting in Auckland today, said it was concerning that four new prisons were being built and others extended to cope with longer terms under the Sentencing Act 2002 and more arrests.
"I think New Zealand is taking a step backwards, actually. If what you are doing is building more prisons that actually is the most guaranteed way to increase the rate of crime," Sir Charles, who is in Wellington, said yesterday.
Prisons were crime colleges for people who would eventually be released.
"What you've got coming out are people who now - if they were damaged before - are seriously damaged now."
It was understandable the Government had toughened sentencing laws because of public anger over crime but Sir Charles said restorative justice - where the victim, offender and government agencies together decided a punishment and rehabilitation plan - was effective and not a soft option.
In Essex, in England, only 7 per cent of young offenders passing through a restorative family group programme had reoffended within two years, compared with 69 per cent in a control group.
Going through the court process meant an offender let his lawyer take charge and did not need to face up to the offence.
"To actually face the person you've harmed, the person you committed the crime against, is far tougher."
Sir Charles, who is a Youth Justice Board member in Britain, said restorative justice was satisfying for victims.
"They are quite frightened after a crime. They have this idea of a great big person, someone who looks violent, staring eyes, then they see this scruffy little kid, age 12, pathetic, had no chance in life."
Restorative justice for youths looked at underlying factors, such as inconsistent discipline, lack of boundaries, poor performance at school and peer pressure.
Sir Charles believes restorative justice is also effective for adult offenders and serious offences. In these cases it would complement, rather than replace, prison sentences. "The more serious the crime the better it works."
In other developments:
Crisis Brewing in State Jails
Questions must be raised about the ability of the government to manage the imprisonment rate as well as the adequacy of the justice department to cope with overcrowded prisons.
More: http://perth.indymedia.org//?action=newswire&parentview=7282 |
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