The Kowhiritanga women’s programme will help you look at why you offend, and how you can develop skills to stop you offending in the future.
As part of a group, you’ll meet regularly with a Corrections programme facilitator who is trained to help people create a crime-free future for themselves.
The programme is aimed at female offenders in prisons and in the community who are at risk of re-offending or have a specific sentence or order.
Your probation officer or sentence planner will tell you if you are suitable for Kowhiritanga, and they will check to see that you are motivated enough to work through the programme and ready to challenge how you think and behave.
Your probation officer or sentence planner will also tell you if another programme may be more suitable.
The programme is 40 sessions long, normally 10 weeks. Each session usually runs for 2.5 hours per day four days per week.
You will meet with the programme facilitator in a group of up to 10 participants. Over the 40 sessions you will be asked to talk about your offending – about what happens, what you are getting out of it, and what it is costing you and your family.
The programme will help you learn to cope in difficult situations, how to solve problems and resolve conflict in positive ways, including relationship skills. It will also help you learn how to manage your feelings and behaviour so you don’t offend again. The programme facilitator will work with you to set goals for making positive changes in the way that you think and behave. You’ll also learn how you can stay crime free.
You may wish to tell people who are important to you – your family, friends or the people you work for and with – that you are doing this programme. They may be able to support you in creating a positive crime-free future.
Talk to your probation officer or sentence planner for more information.