For immediate release
5 March 2009

First graduation for high risk offender treatment unit

Seven prisoners graduated today from the Puna Tatari Special Treatment Unit Programme at Spring Hill Corrections Facility.

The Special Treatment Unit Rehabilitation Programme (STURP) provides treatment to serious violent offenders with a high risk of re-offending. Puna Tatari is the second unit in New Zealand to offer the programme, and a further unit is due to open at Christchurch Men’s Prison later this year. All prisoners participating in the programme have been convicted of at least one violent offence.

The Unit was officially opened at Spring Hill Corrections Facility in August 2008 and houses the Special Treatment unit and a separate Drug Treatment programme to address the drug and alcohol addictions of prisoners.

“The change that we have noticed in these men over the last ten months is testament to how hard they have worked to learn to manage their behaviour in high risk situations,” says Programme Facilitator Christina Jones.

“Some of the younger guys had no confidence. They had a false sense of bravado and didn’t believe they were worth anything. Some of the older prisoners, who have lived in the volatile environment of a prison for quite some time were antisocial, untrusting and had huge chips on their shoulders at the beginning of the programme.”

“By no means are the men all perfect angels now, but they have made significant changes. They are happier, more positive about their worth and motivated to engage in further rehabilitation programmes to help continue their journey to a more pro-social and crime free lifestyle. They have undergone a shift in their attitude allowing them to be confident about the rest of their lives, and that they need not be controlled by their old patterns.”

International and New Zealand research has shown that cognitive-behavioural rehabilitation programmes that focus on relapse prevention, can produce significant reductions in the rate of reoffending for prisoners.

The seven prisoners that completed the programme were from a group of ten that began in June 2008. The prisoners have to adhere to the Unit kaupapa of ‘no violence, no intimidation, no victims’ among other unit and programme rules.

“It is natural to have some prisoners not graduate with their group. This can happen for a number of reasons – prisoners may find it difficult to adopt to the structure of the programme, or may have changes in their family circumstances which means they need to move to a prison closer to home,” says Christina.

The STURP programme is run in its own unit to encourage a ‘community of change’ environment 24 hours a day. This approach reinforces the goals and values promoted in the programme.

Before entering the unit prisoners engage in an intensive assessment to identify their individual risk areas. They are then moved to the treatment phase of the programme – group based cognitive behavioural therapy, before engaging in post treatment assessment to establish the effect of the treatment on their individual risk areas.

Some of the prisoners are very close to being released back into the community, and although the treatment provides no guarantee they’ll stay on the straight and narrow, they have learnt how to manage their behaviour in high risk situations and take appropriate steps to help ensure that their actions do not land them back in prison.

Today’s graduation was marked by programme staff, custodial staff, prison management and prisoners and their families.

ENDS

Note to journalists: Please see the Departments factsheet on the Special Treatment Unit Rehabilitation Programme here: http://corrections.govt.nz/about-us/fact-sheets/managing-offenders/puna-tatari-special-treatment-unit.html

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