Prisons and Corrections

Description

Since the penitentiary became a mainstream correctional device two centuries ago, there has been a continuous search for something that ‘works’ in terms of reforming criminal offenders. The penitentiary system born in the United States in the early 19th century was soon copied by England and other European countries, and it was this system that New Zealand inherited when it became a Crown Colony in 1840.

In its correctional evolution, New Zealand has been primarily influenced by developments in England and the United States. In addition, it has been creative in finding directions of its own. This has resulted in many policy variations, each directed toward the objective of reducing crime.  

This course weighs the complex factors that have driven New Zealand’s correctional philosophy and practice since 1840. The numerous experiments are evaluated and the difficulties they have encountered are explained. For more than 160 years New Zealand has struggled, as other countries have, to find a formula for dealing with criminals in a humane, workable and effective way. For the most part, the quest has failed. Deterrent, retributive, reformative, custodial, and community programs have all had their day and not one, so far, has proven significantly better than any other in the general treatment of criminality. Irrespective of correctional policies and the great energy that has frequently gone into them, reoffending rates remain quite uniform. Prisons and Corrections examines this international problem and suggests why the reformation of criminals is so difficult.