People are leaving prison and continuing to commit crime in our communities. Instead of throwing more money at solutions that don't work, what if we had the courage to re-imagine something different?
We are coming to the time in our election cycle when local and national politicians, looking for future votes, start to stake out their positions on issues like crime.
We start to hear their views on ’cleaning up the streets’, cracking down on gang violence and gun crime; all things the public rightly cares about.
And this is also where stances starkly divide into ‘tough on crime’ and the so-called ‘soft on crime’, an unnecessary dichotomy at best.
As a practitioner within the Corrections sector, it is discouraging when people in positions of power revert to this outdated rhetoric. Modern imprisonment dates back to the 19th Century, a time when we thought the punishment of prison alone would deter people from committing further crime.
We have come a long way since then with the evolution of criminology, neuroscience and developmental psychology. We now have a much greater understanding of the factors that contribute to offending, and therefore, what is needed for effective rehabilitation and reintegration.
We have a way forward but one question remains - where is the will?
From the general public’s point of view, I understand the appeal of a solution that is simple and hard-hitting. But instead of using prison as a political football, why not collaborate to find new solutions that will achieve the common goal of keeping our communities safe?
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of incarceration, we only have to look at the rate of recidivism to see if it is achieving its purpose. In Aotearoa, two in every three prisoners are re-convicted within four years, and approximately 70 percent of prisoners under the age of 20 are re-imprisoned within four years of release (Ara Poutama).
These poor outcomes come at the cost of approximately $150,000 for every prisoner per year; that’s a total of $1.3 billion in annual expenditure on a system well overdue for a makeover.
With such a low return on investment, surely we can better spend the taxpayers’ valuable contributions on a system that produces better outcomes? Despite attempts from those with the loudest voices to derail such reform, I remain hopeful that evidence and logic will eventually prevail.
In the wake of a global pandemic that has forced us to reflect, and re-focus, it is time to re-imagine what an effective justice system could look like. To begin with, let’s be informed by science rather than dogma.
Psychologists have now determined that the frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and consequential thinking, is not fully developed until the age of 25. It is this area that requires effective engagement in rehabilitative programmes and interventions.
This research supports the previously mentioned statistics and highlights the importance of age-appropriate measures to deal with crime so that we can curb, rather than perpetuate it. Currently, we have young people aged 18 serving sentences in adult prisons. They are vulnerable to harm, entrenched anti-social attitudes and gang recruitment.
If the imprisonment of young people is not working, we should be looking at alternatives. One possible strategy is to extend our current youth justice model to young people who are 24 and under, focusing on their rehabilitation through intensive wrap-around support that includes their whānau.
We can re-direct resources into social workers and employment brokers as part of a long-term, holistic approach that sets these young people up for success. In turn, this will decrease the total amount of money spent and lost through crime.
When it comes to our approach to crime and justice in general, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel: International models of rehabilitation are already showing the effectiveness of humanising people and focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
We are also privileged to have access to indigenous models of restorative justice that inform a collaborative way of dealing with crime and harmful behaviours while caring for victims.
We must never underestimate the power of empathy to uncover what has led someone into crime. This process, alongside long-term support and interventions, can provide safety and transformation for families, victims, and society at large.
Some innovative and effective approaches are already in place, such as Te Pae Oranga, which helps to manage low-level offending in a holistic way, and the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Courts which address the factors behind harmful substance use and holistically engages offenders in an intensive community programme.
We have already taken some small steps towards transformation, and this is hopeful for a better future justice system.
Change won’t happen overnight, but we can start with dismantling the false notion that incarceration is the best solution to managing crime and risk. As Albert Einstein famously said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
We have always been told to believe that we can’t afford anything other than being tough on crime. What we now know is that tough penal policies and incarceration are costing this country a significant amount, with a low rate of return.
People are leaving prison and continuing to commit crime in our communities. Instead of throwing more money at a solution that doesn’t work, what if we had the courage to re-imagine something different? Perhaps only then will we see a different result.
