Programmes for offenders

Research has shown that reoffending is not reduced simply by incarcerating offenders, or by increasing the harshness of their sentences. However, well-designed and delivered programmes can have a real effect on reoffending.

We are trying to break the cycle of reoffending by identifying and working with those who are most likely to reoffend. Our integrated approach to the assessment and management of offenders is compatible with international research and practice into "what works" with offenders.

Our approach is derived from both practical experience and the current psychological models of criminal behaviour that are most strongly supported by empirical research. We have used the key principles described in the Psychology of Criminal Conduct as the foundation of our offender management approaches.

These tell us that:

• Individuals are responsible for their own offending
   
• Behaviour can be changed
   
• Certain factors in an individual's experience are good indicators of the likelihood of their reoffending
   
• The greatest chance of success in changing behaviour is finding interventions and programmes that are targeted at particular individual needs.

We assess offenders and provide programmes according to the key principles of:

• Risk
• Need
• Responsivity.

The Risk Principle
Interventions are more likely to reduce reoffending rates when they are targeted at offenders who have a high risk of reoffending. Treating high risk offenders also makes the best use of scarce resources - there is little value in spending money on offenders who are unlikely to reoffend anyway.

The Need Principle
Each offender has a range of needs. However, psychological research has distinguished between needs that are directly related to offending, such as anti-social beliefs, and needs that are not directly relating to offending, such as depression. To have the greatest effect on reoffending, rehabilitation programmes should attempt to address needs that are directly related to offending. It may also be worthwhile addressing other needs through different means, but not in the expectation that this will reduce reoffending without addressing the crime-causing needs as well.

The Responsivity Principle
We use the term responsivity to refer to the offender's motivation and willingness to change. There is no point in putting offenders into rehabilitation programmes that they will not, or can not, benefit from because of lack of motivation or some other reason. Assessments are designed to evaluate an offender's motivation to make constructive changes in their lives. Responsivity also entails delivering programmes in a way which offenders will relate to and understand; hence the relevance of tikanga-based approaches and the literacy level of the offender.

An Integrated Approach to Offender Management
Our model of offender management is delivered by the Prison Service, Community Probation & Psychological Services, and Corrections Inmate Employment. Each has a different role to play, but form an integrated whole for the management of offenders.

Pre- and post-sentencing assessments form the foundation of the approach that the Community Probation & Psychological Services and the Prison Service take in managing an offender's sentence, whether sentenced to a community- or prison-based sentence. They also influence which programmes might be made available. Corrections Inmate Employment provides employment training, Release-to-Work and classroom-based educational opportunities to prisoners.

We specifically targets Maori offenders in order to address their high and disproportionate rates of offending. Youth are also targeted, because intervention early in a criminal career may prevent a lifetime of further offending.

Types of Programmes
There are four broad types of programmes: motivational programmes; rehabilitation programmes; education and employment programmes; and reintegration programmes.

Motivational Programmes
Many offenders do not believe they need to change their lives. They often blame anything or anyone other than themselves for their offending. Rehabilitation programmes are much less effective if applied to offenders who are not motivated to change. Motivational programmes are designed to get offenders to a point where they are willing to accept that they need to change.

Rehabilitation Programmes
Rehabilitation programmes are designed to address the factors underlying offending behaviour. Long, hard and intensive, these programmes require offenders to deal with the factors relating to their offending, such as substance abuse or beliefs about violence for example, to be able to identify, analyse and solve problems and make decisions. Offenders learn how to realistically appraise the consequences of their actions, and to gain control over their behaviour.

There is a range of rehabilitation programmes with a Maori focus, designed to help Maori offenders to address their offending within a culturally effective context. There are also five designated Maori Focus Units at prisons. The programmes, and work in the units, are a result of research and the consultation we has undertaken with Maori communities and groups. The programmes are delivered by Maori providers. Programme content ranges from cultural knowledge, practice and Maori language to content that parallels that in programmes for non-Maori.

Offenders on community-based sentences may also be referred to attend programmes that address specialist issues such as domestic violence.

Reintegration Programmes
Reintegration programmes are designed to help offenders and their families/whanau cope successfully when a person finishes their sentence and returns to making their own way in the community. Reintegration programmes focus on living skills such as healthcare, obtaining employment, budgeting, parenting and how to live responsibly and cooperatively in a household.

Employment and Education Programmes
The objective of providing prisoner employment and education is to assist prisoners to gain skills, work habits and qualifications that lead to sustainable employment after they are released from prison. This objective is described in further detail in the Prisoner Employment Strategy 2006-2009.

Most prisoners have limited work experience, poor skills and few qualifications. International evidence suggests there is a link between employment and lower rates of reoffending, and that stability and quality of employment, along with the level of satisfaction expressed towards it, are the parts of employment that are most closely linked with lower rates of reoffending. Improving employment skills and qualifications through work experience in prison increases a person's chances of finding legitimate employment after being released.

Programme Details
Our key programmes, and where they are offered, are listed in the following table:

Probation officers may also refer offenders to specialist programme providers in the community to maintain the changes they have made during their sentence. These programmes can address rehabilitation or reintegration needs.

Motivational Programmes

Tikanga Maori Programmes
Tikanga Maori programmes are designed to address offenders' motivation to address their offending behaviour, their willingness to change or their "responsivity." Tikanga Maori programmes use Maori philosophy, values, knowledge and practices to emphasise the relationship of the individual with their social and cultural environment. They also aim to foster the regeneration of Maori identity, self-esteem and values so they are motivated to address their offending needs. Examples include the following:

• Mau Raukau helps participants to develop an understanding of Maori values and spiritual concepts and a range of traditional skills and knowledge, including physical training, taiaha training, Marae protocol and Te Reo.
   
• Te Wairua O Nga Tangata Maori is a nationwide programme run by the Community Probation & Psychological Services. The programme uses pou taiaha, kapa haka, waiata, pakiwaitara and karakia to lay a foundation for discussing why the participants have offended and how they can learn new behaviours to stop them reoffending.
   
• New Life Akoranga (Learning for a New Life) is a specialist six-day Maori programme delivered in prison using traditional Maori methods. The programme aims to create a change in the offender's lifestyle in and after prison by discovering and recovering traditional Maori principles, values and disciplines. Evaluation shows that the programme creates a supportive environment for positive change including making prisoners easier to manage and more receptive to participating in other programmes to address their offending behaviour.

Short Motivational Programme
The Short Motivational Programme includes components to increase problem awareness and recognition, reduce ambivalence, address cognitive distortions, consider options, and formulate goals. The programme aims at increasing offenders' motivation to address factors related to offending. It prepares the prisoner for other possible programmes/supports in the community once they are released from prison.

The Short Motivational Programme is delivered by a single facilitator to individual male prisoners and is comprised of five structured sessions, based on the therapeutic techniques of motivational interviewing. Each session is approximately one hour.
More on the Short Motivational Programme

Rehabilitation Programmes

Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme
The Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme is a 134-hour programme for offenders with a medium risk of reoffending. The objective of this generic programme is to teach offenders how to alter the thoughts, attitudes and behaviours that led to their offending and assist them to develop strategies for maintaining any positive changes made.
More on the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme

Kowhiritanga (Making Choices)
Kowhiritanga is a programme that addresses the unique needs of female offenders, who have often suffered from abuse during childhood and in their current relationships. Most of the programme is based upon cognitive behavioural/relapse prevention principles alongside forms of Maori and bicultural therapy. A variant of cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, has also been incorporated into the programme, as have aspects of group psychotherapy, relational psychology and a narrative approach to therapy.
More on the Kowhiritanga programme

Short Rehabilitation Programme
The Short Rehabilitation Programmes for Men and Women are based on the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation and Kowhiritanga programmes, respectively. They are delivered more intensely over a shorter timeframe on a one-to-one basis or in groups of no more than 3 offenders. This programme allows offenders who have short sentences or who are in regions where longer programmes cannot be delivered the opportunity to participate in a rehabilitation programme.
More on the Short Rehabilitation Programme for men
More on the Short Rehabilitation Programme for women

Special Treatment Unit Rehabilitation Programme
The Special Treatment Unit Rehabilitation Programme is designed for serious offenders with a high risk of reoffending. It is designed for a range of offenders, although we expect many of the participants to be violent offenders. This general focus complements our other types of Special Treatment Units, which each target a specific type of offender: offenders who are dependent on alcohol or drugs; sex offenders against children; and violent offenders.

At 250 hours of group time, and with additional individual sessions, it is the longest of our general rehabilitation programmes. This allows enough time to focus more intensely on the issues that higher risk offenders are likely to bring to the programme. The programme is delivered in 100 sessions over eight modules. Each module covers the same material as the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme but more time is taken to explain concepts, allow group members to participate and practice new skills. It contains some additional material for use with violent offenders as these are expected to make up a majority of those attending. The programme is to be delivered in a specially designated Special Treatment Unit. This environment is thought to contribute to the success of other departmental programmes. The Karaka unit is at Waikeria Prison and Puna Tatari unit at Spring Hill Corrections Facility. Another unit is due to open at Christchurch Men's Prison in 2009.

Focus
Focus is a treatment programme provided in specialist Youth Units, for young men with anti-social behavioural problems. Focus is available to all males under 18 years of age and some 18 and 19 year olds. The programme aims to achieve positive life outcomes for anti-social youth sentenced to prison.
More on the Focus programme

Maori Programmes
The Bi-cultural Therapy Model allows Departmental psychologists to work in conjunction with Maori providers in a culturally appropriate way.

Maori Therapeutic Programmes have been developed as an alternative to the mainstream programmes and are aimed at addressing the needs that directly contribute to their offending, such as alcohol and substance abuse, or violence. These programmes are similar to other rehabilitation programmes, but include a specific Maori cultural perspective.

Maori Focus Units, which were developed to provide an environment and programmes that meet the specific cultural needs of Maori offenders, including preparation for their release. Maori Focus Units are constituted on tikanga Maori principles and operate within a tikanga Maori environment. Maori Focus Units are operating in five prisons, Hawkes Bay, Rimutaka, Waikeria, Wanganui and Tongariro/Rangipo.
More on Maori Focus Units.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse
There is a variety of interventions, programmes and special treatment units for drug, alcohol and substance abuse. Prisoners with severe substance abuse problems can be placed in a Drug Treatment Unit.

The Prison Service currently runs four Drug Treatment Units. The first was established at Arohata Women's Prison in Wellington, and additional units are now situated at Christchurch Prison, Waikeria Prison in the central North Island, and Hawke's Bay Prison. Two more units are scheduled to be opened by 1 July 2008, at Rimutaka Prison in Wellington and Spring Hill Corrections Facility in Waikato.

Evaluations have shown that our Drug Treatment Units are particularly effective at reducing reoffending.
More on Drug Treatment Units

Violence Prevention
There is also a variety of interventions, programmes and special treatment units to address violent attitudes and behaviour.

These programmes involve all participants actively learning the skills necessary to live without violence, including self-management and control of violent impulses, conflict resolution, time-outs and challenging violent thinking. Men also actively learn to change attitudes towards women and learn to control impulsive behaviours.

There is a specialist treatment unit for violent offenders at Rimutaka Prison. This unit is the first of its kind in the world. In order to be accepted onto the programme, prisoners must show a required level of motivation, and recognise that controlling the causes of their offending will reduce the likelihood of their reoffending in the future. Follow-up support on release into the community is an important aspect of the programme.

Montgomery House, one of several community residential centres the Community Probation & Psychological Services operates, runs a violence prevention programme that incorporates western psychological principles with tikanga Maori.

Both of these programmes have been evaluated and show some evidence that they reduce reoffending rates.

Sex Offender Treatment
Special Treatment Units at Rolleston Prison in Canterbury (Kia Marama) and Auckland Prison (Te Piriti) deliver group-based treatment within a therapeutic environment for prisoners with convictions for sexual offences against children. Te Piriti incorporates Maori cultural elements in its treatment approach. Evaluations have shown that these programmes are proving to be effective in reducing sexual reoffending.

Reintegration Programmes
These programmes aim to provide offenders with the skills, knowledge and confidence to live successfully in the community, especially following imprisonment, in order to reduce their chances of reoffending. If not addressed, reintegration needs may be a barrier to offenders maintaining an offence-free lifestyle.

Seven reintegration needs have been identified. These are: obtaining employment; finding somewhere suitable to live; managing money; managing relationships; developing positive community support; victim-related issues; and achieving and maintaining good health.

Like other aspects of sentence management, reintegration measures begin with assessment at the start of an offender's sentence. Offenders on a custodial sentence will also be assessed as part of the pre-release process.

In prison, there are three levels of assistance within the Reintegration Services Framework, with all offenders receiving "level one" self-help -written material giving contact details of services relating to reintegration, and support and advice from their case officer.

Offenders who need specialised assistance to meet their reintegration objectives are given "level two" support via referral to a social worker or PARS field worker.

"Level three" refers to a range of reintegration programmes:

• Living Skills - a broad-based programme to give offenders skills and knowledge on how to function effectively in society on their release
• Budgeting Skills - a group programme aimed at offenders with specific budgeting and financial needs
• Parenting Skills - a group programme designed to teach parenting and relationship skills.

Self-Care Units
Longer-serving prisoners may also be eligible to spend time in a Self-Care Unit as they near release. These residential-style units inside the prison let the prisoners get used to living in a house or flat environment and give them an opportunity to learn and practise the skills they will need to live independently after release. The Living Skills Programme is also delivered in the Self-Care Units. There are Self-Care Units at Christchurch, Hawkes Bay and Wanganui Men's Prisons, Arohata Women's Prison, and the Auckland Regional Women's Corrections Facility.
More on Self-Care Units

Community Residential Centres
A community residential centre is an approved centre that provides housing, support and programmes for offenders. They have a dual focus - addressing identified reintegration needs and teaching skills for independent living, and continuing the rehabilitation process by either supporting the work done during programmes in prison or by providing programmes for those who have yet to complete any.

Education and Employment Programmes

Education
There is a strong relationship between a lack of education and criminal behaviour. A lack of education is a significant risk factor in the development of criminality. Educational achievement and participation can equip prisoners for self-sufficiency and reduce the barriers to living an offence-free life.

Our primary focus for education is to offer prisoners opportunities that are likely to reduce barriers to rehabilitation and reintegration, and to make a positive contribution to reduce reoffending.

There are five main types of education offered to prisoners:

• Literacy and Numeracy (run in prison in conjunction with the Correspondence School and by contracted providers)
   
• National Certificate in Educational Achievement (run in prisons in conjunction with the Correspondence School)
   
• Trade and Technical National Certificates (offered by Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics and delivered in prisons)
   
• Industry Training (qualifications earned on-the-job with Corrections Inmate Employment)
   
• Self-Directed Tertiary Study (distance learning initiated by prisoners and supported by we)

Employment
Prisoners have the opportunity to participate in many different types of employment during their sentences and to study for associated qualifications. Most instructors in Corrections Inmate Employment are certified to assess prisoners for Unit Standards under the National Qualification Framework. The main types of prisoner employment are:

• internal self-sufficiency activities (such as food preparation and laundry)
   
• industries run by the Department (such as farms, joinery and engineering workshops, nurseries)
   
• commercial work parties (primarily in the forestry and horticulture sectors)
   
• release-to-work (for employers in the community).