Using Cultural Agencies for Community Work

Introduction

This topic covers information about the role of cultural agencies for CW placements.

Values differ between cultures. A close match between the values of the offender’s culture and those of the agency may enhance the effectiveness of CW. Therefore, a variety of cultures should be represented among the agencies available for placements.

Culturally flexible sentence

The legislation governing CW, though conceived from a European perspective, is flexible enough to deal with offenders and with agency groups in ways consistent with other cultures also.

Fitting into organisations

The following table shows the required attributes of each party for the agreement to succeed.

Agency information

The probation officer, or community work supervisor, should know:

• what the agency does
• the type of service performed
• the requirements of manaaki (care-giving) if this is required by the agency, and
• required protocols.

Communication with agencies

Ensure that cultural agencies understand and respect:

• the sentence of CW, and
• the importance of the integrity of the sentence.

Although written material is valuable for this, Māori and other Pacific cultures also place much importance on face-to-face meetings and will perceive the placement and agreement meetings as the time to set most expectations and responsibilities.

Note: Cultural agencies may have a higher expectation than other agencies regarding the level of involvement the offender has with the group.

Confidentiality

The value of confidentiality generally required in a placement may contrast with the values of whanaunatanga or aigatanga, which see the problems of one person as the business of the whole community and place emphasis on the community as primary rather than the individual.

The probation officer or community work supervisor should resolve this with the agency at the beginning of the sentence.