Today I visited Pare, which is short for
Paremoremo, which is the original name for this prison as it is the area it is
in. It is now called Auckland Prison, and it has maximum and medium secure
halls. There is also a hall that houses prisoners with additional support
needs, and those who are mentally ill and have committed a crime. There is a centre to rehabilitate sex
offenders too. This prison was built in
the 1960’s and looks more like a Scottish prison than Spring Hill, although the
maximum-security hall is based on Alcatraz.
There are roughly 650 prisoners here.
One thing that did strike me was the lack of windows. There are windows
that look into the yard, but none elsewhere.
Again like Spring Hill, participation in
work or education is not compulsory. This then means that a lot of the windows
that are used for programmes or education are painted over as if prisoners are
not at work or education, then they can hang out in the yard, and that used to
cause a distraction.
I was able to observe an art class and talk
to the art teacher Ellie. She told me
about the incredible work that they do. Every year for the past three years
there is an exhibition of prisoners’ art in the Maori Art Centre on the
outside, she used to run the organisation, as well as being an artist
herself. These exhibitions are a
celebration of community, not just prisoners. The nearby secondary school has a
catering unit, so the school provides food, and working on this gives the
pupils credits towards qualifications. On the day of the exhibitions the pupils
will act as waiters and waitresses. Last year the Prime Minister attended as
well as many heavy weights in the arts and political scene, and it is
documented and received well by the media.
The paintings are sold, sometimes for up to $2000 as there are a couple
of really gifted artists in the prison, and the proceeds are then donated to
Victim Support.
There are also exhibitions on the inside,
as well as paintings and sculpture being displayed there is poetry, music and
Kapa Haka groups perform. Kapa Haka was described to me as Maori Performing
Arts, but you do not have to be a Maori to join one of these groups in Pare,
something that is encouraged.
Apparently in the past there were several
Kapa Haka groups in different wings in the prison and there would be
competitions between them.
Pare is very proud of its carving group,
where a handful of men will make beautiful wood carvings. The piece that they
are currently working on is a commission from Auckland Council; they are making
wooden benches to go along a waterfront. The one that they are currently
working on is in the memory of a five-year-old girl who died of cancer. She loved the story of Cinderella, so the
back of the bench is carved like a pumpkin and the legs are like horses. I was able to see drawings of what they plan
to make, and it looks amazing. They have special timber imported in from Tonga
to make this, and while working on this women are not allowed in the room. It
must be covered at all times when it is not being worked on. When they received
the wood they had to say a special blessing and the men are not allowed to
swear over the wood either. This is not
normal practice for the carving group; it is the first time that they have used
wood that demands such rituals.
This is all done by men who are in medium
secure halls. Those who are in maximum security have two hours where they are
unlocked, some who are very high risk are only allowed out for one hour. Some in maximum security are allowed access
to foundation skills, i.e. literacy and numeracy, and some can apply to do
distance learning, but that is it. One of the tutors said that she wouldn’t be
keen to work in the maximum-security unit as she felt it was no place for a
woman.
I found this to be strange; as the attitude
that I had picked up from Spring Hill (although I must stress that Spring Hill
does not have a maximum security unit) was that it is better for everyone if a
prisoner is active and engaged. Some one else commented that you want to tire
prisoners out. The education options for
the medium secure prisoners are fantastic, they can work towards credits that
get banked and go towards getting qualifications, which are the same ones that
young people in New Zealand work towards at school. However the maximum-security prisoners don’t
get the same access to this. The New
Zealand government are giving a lot of money towards generating arts activities
in prison, this has been really pushed over the past three years, as they
believe in the good that it can do, and believe that it can aid
rehabilitation. Surely those who are in
a maximum-security unit would benefit the most from rehabilitative projects? Especially if the alternative is sitting in
a cell for 22 hours a day. This is one
of the biggest differences between New Zealand and Scotland for me so far.
Gang culture is a bigger problem here, than
at home too. On the signs outside the prison that lists banned things for
visitors to bring in such as drugs, alcohol, mobile phones, you also cannot
bring in anything associated with gangs.
The gangs here are unlike the ones in Scotland and seem to be more like
American ones; there are New Zealand versions of the Bloods and the Crips.
There are several others and many of the prisoners have gang tattoos, on their
faces. I met a man who had a bulldog face on both cheeks and both his
hands. In Scotland you might want to
keep it quiet to others that you are in a gang, otherwise you attract police attention;
here people literally have it tattooed on their foreheads.
The prisoner that I was talking says that
he has now left the gang and is hopeful that the prison will arrange for him to
get his tattoos lasered off. This is something that they have started to
do. As I mentioned yesterday, in some
cultures children are uprooted quite a lot and go and live with various
different family members. When I worked
with gang members in London, many said that being part of a gang was like being
in a family, the older boys looked after the younger ones, some even went to their
schools if needed pretending to be their Dads.
Perhaps, this is a reason why gang culture is so prevalent here, as
people may feel that they don’t have a stable family life, but they have
support in their gang, and that is why they are so loyal to them.
My next visit is to Arts Access is
Wellington, who are an arts organisation who have lead several projects in the
prisons around the country…
