Unfortunately I can’t take photos as it is
illegal to take photos of a prison site, but I have copied the internet address
of this prison at the bottom of this entry…
Today Olivia McCarthy who is the Volunteer
Coordinator for two of the prisons in the Northern region took me to Spring
Hill Corrections Facility. This prison was built six years ago, and was one of
four jails in the country that have built in a similar way. It is a big jail,
with 1100 beds; all the cells have bunks (apart from segregation I think....
And I use segregation in the Scottish sense of the word; in New Zealand it
would mean protection.)
There are quite a lot of differences
between Spring Hill and a Scottish prison, I was very fortunate to be shown
around the prison by an officer called Gerry who is a Scottish ex pat, who used
to work at Barlinnie. It was fantastic to hear his perspective on the
differences between Scotland and New Zealand.
My first observation was that the jail was
lovely. The buildings looked great, and it was clean. No graffiti. The staff do
keep on top of that and clean it off, but in Scottish prisons there are things
carved into tables etc., and this wasn’t the case here. Also, all New Zealand
prisons have this year become non-smoking prisons. Prisoners can’t buy tobacco
and nobody was smoking. This wasn’t a sudden change, there was about a year
lead up to it, and some of the guards decided to quit alongside the prisoners.
The prisoners are in pods; their cells open
into an open courtyard, where some were playing basketball when we came in.
There is an office for prison officers near the entrance to the pod, and there
is a TV room and dining room. The pod that we were in was a low security one,
so the prisoners were all unlocked and outside. Despite that it is winter in
New Zealand, it is still warm, so it is nice being outside. I was surprised to
see prisoners talking to the officers up at the windows of the office. There
were quite a few of them having a chat. Gerry pointed out that due to the way
this prison is built, the officers do have to interact with the prisoners more
than they do in Scotland, which he believes is a positive thing.
Spring Hill is the only prison in New Zealand
that has a special Pacific programme for Islanders, and there is a Fale in the
grounds of the jail. This is a meeting house that has been built in the
traditional style (apart from that it has walls as New Zealand is colder than
places like Tonga and Samoa) and they use this building for family integration
and cultural activities. Apparently there is always something happening in the
Fale every night. All the artwork in the pod and in the Fale is by the
prisoners. There were decoration leaves
that had been woven together out of a wicker-like material. This is a
traditional craft, but while the men do this, it is also an opportunity to come
together and talk. This is one of the ways that they use the arts to
rehabilitate. The arts are very popular,
especially those that are related to their culture, and there are many cultures
represented in New Zealand prisons, the main two would be Maori and Islander.
We saw a prisoner go to a parole hearing and he was wearing a lavalava which is
like a wrap. He was wearing a black one, which is formal. Within Spring Hill
prisoners have formed bands, usually embracing their heritage and playing songs
from their culture, as well as using the performing arts to celebrate holidays
and customs etc.
Unlike in Scotland a college doesn’t bid
for the contract to provide education, that would be done by Correctional
Facility staff, who are not prison officers, but who are employed by the
department. This is the largest government department in the country. Literacy
and Numeracy and basic IT are more compulsory, and would sit alongside
programmes such as Violence Prevention or the Sex Offender Training Programme.
Prisoners might need to achieve a certain level in literacy or numeracy to join
certain work parties.
The arts and physical training etc. are
called Constructive Activities they are not prescribed and are very popular.
Unlike in Scotland a prisoner does not have to either work or go to education,
however the staff feel that it is their responsibility to motivate the
prisoners to do something. To attend would work in their favour, as they would
be more likely to be granted parole if they were seen to be using their time
positively.
Currently Scotland and New Zealand’s
reoffending rate is roughly the same, however the aim is that in 3 years the
New Zealand rate will be reduced by at least 5% and it is hopeful that the work
that is done to help prisoners discover or re-associate with their cultures and
heritage will play a part in bringing this rate down.
Just outside the grounds there are flats
where prisoners near the end of their sentence live, four in a flat, it’s a bit
like our version of an Open Prison. They go into the Community to work, and are
paid a proper wage, which they cannot access until they are released. Therefore
some men are leaving jail with $20,000. This means that they have enough money
to get accommodation and support themselves. In New Zealand when a prisoner is
released they believe that the first 96 hours are vital, and if they are going
to reoffend they will do it in that period. In the past they would maybe start
preparing for release eight weeks prior to the liberation date, however now
they do it years in advance. In certain cultures, there is a bit of
displacement with children, they don’t always live with their parents, they are
sent to stay with an aunt, then a cousin etc. That is why they find working
with the families so important, so they can work on re-establishing bonds, and
so the prisoner isn’t going to be released back into the area where they were,
and in most cases, where they were part of a gang. They also feel that by
connecting with their heritage, they might take more pride in themselves and
what they represent.
There is a big difference with the way the
prisoners look. In Scotland many
prisoners are drug addicts and are either on drugs or are withdrawing, which affects
their physical appearance. In Spring Hill many of the prisoners are big and
fit. There is nowhere near the same drug problem. Although in both countries
most of the crimes are committed due to being drunk or on drugs, addiction
isn’t as a big problem. This could be why there are fewer riots in New Zealand.
It could also be that you wouldn’t want to pick a fight with a lot of the
prisoners in Spring Hill.
The attitude that the prisoners have to sex
offenders in very different, and to protection prisoners in general. In
Scotland if you are in protection, you are always in protection (there are a
few exceptions to this, when I worked in Shotts I knew of one prisoner who went
from protection to mainstream) however in Spring Hill, if you get a gambling
debt you might go into protection for a week, then come back into the
mainstream and that’s fine. If someone is charged with a sex offense they would
be a mainstream prisoner, and they would be fine, which I was very surprised to
hear. However, like in Scotland, generally the prisoners who have committed sex
offenses are the best behaved.
I asked Gerry what he thinks New Zealand
does better, and he felt that the prisoners are kept busier here. The focus on
the arts is important because it is therapeutic, it keeps the prisoners busy
and engaged, and a big difference seems to be that the New Zealand Government
are happy to spend the money to try things out. He said that in Scotland we
keep prisoners locked up too long in a day, which leaves them time to think and
scheme, where as here they have more to do. That there seems to be the attitude
that as long as they are locked up, then it’s fine. He spoke about when he
worked in Barlinnie and some prisoners who were high risk of harming themselves
got the opportunity to do circus skills. Lots of people questioned why they
were doing that, but during that period there was less self-harming happening.
However he does think that consistency is important as opposed to just having
projects parachute in for 6 weeks.
However, what we do better is that he feels
in Scotland the staff have more control in the prisons.
There does seem to be a good attitude over
here, that people are willing to try things out. When I heard about the smoking
ban, my first thought was there would be no way that would work in Scotland,
but that was a lot of people here’s reaction too. The week that it started
people were preparing for riots and lockdowns, and it hasn’t happened. It does
seem that there is a positive attitude when it comes to trying things out, and
ideas and projects are given space. I’m sure not everything does work, but it
is great to hear that people want to give it ago. Gerry mentioned to one of his colleagues
about the prison radio project that happens in HMP Greenock, and they are keen
to try it out in Spring Hill, so although I am over hear learning about what
they are doing, talking to a Scot who has also worked in prisons reminded him
about prison radio, so it would be great if my visit inspired a wee project in
a New Zealand jail too!
http://www.corrections.govt.nz/utility-navigation/find-a-facility-or-site/find_a_corrections_facility/spring-hill-corrections-facility-shcf.html
