Before you put Humpty back up, Check the Wall

A systems review of Corrections and the Justice system doesn't go far enough. That is the view of Kim Workman, Project Leader, Rethinking Crime and Punishment Project.
He was commenting on the governments announcement that the existing split between the Justice Ministry and Corrections Department will be examined in a Cabinet-ordered review of the shape of the justice and penal systems. Miss Clark claimed her government had spent a lot of time putting Humpty back together in other areas.

Miss Clark's experience at putting Humpties together again is not in dispute. But the reason Humpty fell off, was because the wall was shaky. The Children and Young Persons Service was one of those Humpties patched up and placed under the parental control of the Ministry of Social Development, but as recent events attest, it hasnt altered grass roots performance at all.

Present day occupation with systems and processes review, miss the point. The issues surrounding our justice system in general and prisons in particular, are complex. The business of Corrections is inter-linked with other external issues; crime prevention, family and community functioning, community values and beliefs. Structure and organisation are part of that, but dont exist in isolation.

When prisons were part of the Department of Justice, its operational policy capacity was wanting. Over the last decade, Corrections administration has concentrated on systems and operational policy development, including such initiatives as the integrated offender management system. This focus has left the organisation ideologically bereft, and without a cohesive and sustainable vision. That may be why successive governments have relied on Letters to the Editor for direction on penal policy.

An essential part of that process should be wide community consultation, such as that undertaken in the recent review of the Police Act. The Commissioner of Police consulted the community widely in his review, and engaged the public in a discussion about the broad principles, character and values of the Police service. That is the sort of exercise that needs to happen with Corrections.

it is time to engage the wider public in an informed debate on the purpose of prisons and imprisonment, its underlying values and principles, and in particular, the community's role in regard to crime victims and criminal offenders. Once we have that right, the systems and structures will fall into place. Without that discussion, Humpty will sit on a wall with a very shaky foundation.

Ends

© Scoop Media