Arohata Prison is one of New Zealand's three women's prisons and accommodates 154 prisoners with security classifications ranging from minimum to high-medium. The Prison also accommodates prisoners on remand.
The Prison was built in 1944 and was originally a women's borstal. It became a youth prison in 1981 and a women's prison in 1987. The name Arohata means "the bridge" in Maori and reflects the prison's wish to provide a bridge between past offending and a future in the community.
The prison is located in Wellington and employs 73 staff. It is part of Prison Services' Southern Region.
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Further information
Security
Reducing re-offending
Motivational programmes
Cognitive-behavioural programmes
Drug treatment unit
Prisoner employment
Education
Reintegration
Working with the community
Security
Protecting the public is the Department's highest priority and this is accomplished through the secure incarceration of prisoners.
The level of physical security at each prison varies and is dependant on the type of prisoner accommodated. Because Arohata is a medium security prison, the level of physical security at the Prison is high.
The prison is surrounded by a highly secure perimeter fence topped with razor wire and equipped with lighting and surveillance equipment.
Arohata has a single point of entry. Everyone entering the prison, including staff, pass through a metal detector and are liable to be searched at any time.
The prison has the services of a drug dog team available to search vehicles, cells and prison grounds. This helps to prevent contraband being smuggled into the prison.
Electronic security devices and cameras and closed circuit TV are also used at the Prison.
Reducing re-offending
Reducing re-offending is critical if the Department is to meet its overriding objective of improving public safety.
Reducing re-offending means fewer offenders commit crime after completing their sentence – resulting in fewer victims, a reduction in the cost of crime and safer communities.
Arohata Prison provides prisoners with a range of programmes and interventions that are designed to address the primary causes of their offending and prepare them for release.
The most intensive interventions are targeted at prisoners who are assessed as being a high-risk of re-offending, that have severe needs that caused their offending and are motivated to make positive changes in their lives.
Every prisoner entering Arohata Prison receives a sentence plan which they are expected to comply with. The focus of the sentence plan is on reducing re-offending on release and is developed following an assessment of a prisoner's risk, needs and motivation. This ensures they are placed on the most appropriate and timely programmes and interventions to address the underlying causes of their offending.
Rehabilitation programmes and interventions provided at Arohata Prison fall into four main categories: motivational, cognitive-behavioural, employment and education, and reintegrative.
Motivational programmes
Motivational programmes are designed to increase motivation and to encourage and prepare prisoners to confront the causes of their offending.
The Tikanga Maori Programme is provided at Arohata Prison. It uses Maori philosophy, values, knowledge and practice to help prisoners increase their understanding of their Maori identity and their values and improve their self-esteem so they become motivated to address the causes of their offending.
Cognitive-behavioural programmes
Cognitive-behavioural programmes reduce re-offending by helping prisoners address the causes of their offending and teach them to identify, analyse and solve problems and make decisions to better their lives. Prisoners also learn how to understand the consequences of their actions and gain control over their own behaviour.
Arohata Prison provides the Kowhiritanga Rehabilitation Programme to prisoners. Kowhiritanga (Making Choices) is specifically for female prisoners and addresses their unique needs – many female prisoners have suffered from abuse during childhood and in their current relationships. Most of the programme is based on cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, group psychotherapy, recreational psychology and a narrative approach to therapy.
Drug treatment unit
Arohata Prison's has one of New Zealand's five drug treatment units. The unit provides a specialist 24-week residential drug and alcohol programme.
The programme includes one-to-one and group cognitive-behavioural therapy, education on addiction and change, along with education about building new skills – especially social skills.
Prisoner employment
Prisoner employment, managed by Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE), plays an integral part in rehabilitation because it provides prisoners with essential work skills and habits.
The last prison census in 2003 found that over half of all prisoners were not in paid employment prior to sentencing.
Prisoner employment increases the chance a prisoner will find sustainable work on release and research shows this will result in a decrease in the number of prisoners being reconvicted.
Prisoners are able to earn credits under the National Qualification Framework, allowing them to work towards qualifications whilst they are engaged in employment and training.
Minimum security prisoners nearing release may also be eligible to participate in Release to Work. Release to Work is a form of temporary release that allows prisoners to be in paid work in the community during the day. It provides prisoners with a stable work record and the job is often carried on after a prisoner's release.
Education
There is a strong relationship between a lack of education and criminal behaviour. At the time of the last prison census in 2003, 51.7 per cent of all prisoners had no formal qualifications.
Educational achievement and participation can equip prisoners for self-sufficiency and reduce the barriers to living an offence-free life. A prisoner can enrol in any subject or education programme they consider themselves capable of achieving.
There are five main types of education offered to prisoners at Arohata Prison:
In addition, computer and hobby classes are also available.
Reintegration
Reintegration programmes aim to reduce re-offending by addressing problems likely to increase a prisoner's risk of re-offending on release.
Being imprisoned can have significant social consequences for a prisoner. They are likely to have lost their job and accommodation, they are unlikely to be able to support their families and their relationships can be adversely affected in other ways. Combined, this can lead offenders into a cycle of institutionalisation.
Reintegration case-workers also work with high-need prisoners at Arohata Prison to address their specific reintegrative needs and help them prepare for release in the community.
Arohata Prison also has self-care units where longer-serving prisoners may be eligible to spend time as they near release.
These are residential-style units inside the prison that let prisoners get used to living in a flatting type environment and give prisoners 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. Some prisoners with babies may be eligible to live in self care units.
The Ministry of Social Development have Work and Income work brokers and case managers permanently based at Arohata Prison to help prisoners nearing release to find suitable work before they are released. Prisoners who find sustainable employment on release are less likely to re-offend.
Working with the community
The community has an important role to play in the rehabilitation and transition of prisoners back into the community by supporting and encouraging prisoners to live an offence free life.
Many sectors of the community are involved in rehabilitating offenders and helping them move back into the community.
Arohata Prison works with a number of support agencies, including New Zealand Prisoner's Aid and Rehabilitation Society (NZPARS), Prison Fellowship and the Salvation Army to support the successful reintegration of prisoners back into the community.
A large number of people also regularly donate their time, energy and expertise as volunteers with Arohata Prison. Volunteers provide invaluable support for prisoners and their families and give prisoners the opportunity to spend their free time constructively through music, art and sport.