All news is good news, the saying goes. If that’s true, then we at Corrections can consider ourselves pretty lucky. The truth, of course, is that the publicity we’ve been getting lately has been challenging, and many of us rightly feel that at times it could have been better informed.
In this regard, I can tell you that we have been working hard to tell the public about the good things that we do and that there is more to Corrections than managing prisoners. Numerous television and print journalists have visited our facilities this year and they have had a good chance to see that we do a lot more than just lock offenders up and that we have a range of rehabilitation and reintegration initiatives that provide real benefits to a significant proportion of our offender population.
In fact, one journalist, who had been among the more sceptical, conceded that our operations seemed rather good and that he must have just been shown the “nice bits”.
Actually, what he saw was reasonably typical of what we do in our community probation and prison facilities around the country.
While some recent reporting has been unduly negative, I am pleased that there have been reporters who have taken the trouble to produce more balanced accounts of issues that in reality say more about New Zealand as a society rather than about the way we at Corrections go about our jobs.
I share your frustrations that our story isn’t always told as fairly as it might be, but, in the end, we have no control over the media.
On a more positive note, we are also about to launch our new Maori name - Ara Poutama Aotearoa - which will be appearing in Corrections branding in coming months.
The name literally means Positive Pathways New Zealand, although our preferred translation is Towards Wellness and Wellbeing.
Rather than opting for a direct translation of Department of Corrections, we chose this name because it highlights the rehabilitation and reintegrative aspects of our work. (You can read more about this on "Corrections - Ara Poutama Aotearoa" page)
When all is said and done, furthering these goals is what makes our job worthwhile.
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ISSN 1178-8453