Christchurch Men's Prison, also known as Paparua, was built in 1925. It has grown to become one of New Zealand's largest prisons and accommodates up to 954 sentenced and remand prisoners.
Christchurch Men's employs approximately 420 staff and holds male prisoners with a security classification between minimum and high-medium. The prison includes the Paparua Remand Centre, which was built in 1999 to replace Addington Prison.
The Prison is located on the outskirts of Christchurch and is part of Prison Services' Southern Region.
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Further information
Security
Reducing re-offending
Motivational programmes
Rehabilitation programmes
Specialist units
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 Christchurch Men's Prison is a high security prison and accommodates prisoners assessed as a potential risk to the public, the level of physical security is higher than would be found at some other prisons.
The prison is surrounded by a highly secure perimeter fence which is topped with razor wire and electrified to prevent it being climbed.
The area immediately surrounding the fence is equipped with lighting, surveillance and detection equipment.
Christchurch Men's Prison has a single point of entry through a stand alone gatehouse. Everyone entering the prison, including staff, must pass through the gatehouse, where their belongings will be x-rayed and they will pass through a metal detector. This helps to prevent contraband being smuggled into the prison.
In addition, electronic security devices and cameras, closed circuit TV, video motion detectors and microwave sensors are used throughout 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.
Christchurch 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 constructive changes in their lives.
Every prisoner entering Christchurch Prison receives a sentence plan which they are required to comply with. The focus of the sentence plan is on reducing the risk of them re-offending on release and is developed following an assessment of a prisoner's risk, needs and motivation to ensure they are placed on the most appropriate and timely programmes and interventions to address the underlying causes of their offending.
Programmes and interventions provided at Christchurch Prison fall into four main categories: motivational, rehabilitative, employment and education, and reintegrative.
Motivational programmes
Motivational programmes are designed to increase motivation and encourage and prepare prisoners to confront the causes of their offending.
There are two primary motivational programmes used at Christchurch Men's Prison: the Tikanga Maori Programme and the Short Motivational Programme.
Tikanga Maori programmes use 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.
The Short Motivational Programme aims to increase motivation by increasing a prisoner's problem awareness and recognition, reduce ambivalence, address cognitive distortions, and help them consider options and formulate goals.
Rehabilitation programmes
Rehabilitation programmes aim to 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.
Christchurch Men's Prison provides three general rehabilitation programmes for prisoners: the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme, the Short Rehabilitation Programme and the Focus Programme.
The Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme is designed for prisoners in the middle risk range – that is those not high risk but still enough of a risk to warrant rehabilitation.
The programme increases problem awareness and recognition, reduces ambivalence, addresses cognitive distortions, and teaches prisoners to consider options and formulate goals.
The Short Rehabilitation Programme is a brief rehabilitation programme aimed at a smaller number of prisoners who require rehabilitation but do not have enough time in their sentence to complete a longer programme. The programme is similar to the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme, but is shorter and more intense.
Both the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme and Short Rehabilitation Programme target a range of prisoners and are designed to cover the common elements of all offending.
The Focus Programme is provided to young male prisoners at Christchurch Men's Prison's Youth Unit. Focus provides a foundation for behavioural change and many of the concepts taught relate to situations youth prisoners are required to deal with on a recurring basis as part of their daily life.
Ongoing participation in the programme encourages prisoners to apply these concepts outside the classroom, over an extended period of time, to the point where the new behaviours are adopted.
Specialist units
Christchurch Men's Prison also has a number of specialist units which provide long and intensive rehabilitation programmes aimed at specific causes of offending.
Christchurch Men's Prison's Drug Treatment 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.
Christchurch Men's Prison's Youth Unit accommodates prisoners under the age of 17 and prisoners aged between 17-19 who are deemed to be vulnerable in the mainstream prison environment.
Youth prisoners are offered a range of psychological, educational and vocational training in as normal environment as possible within a prison setting.
The Focus rehabilitation programme is also provided to prisoners in the Youth Unit.
Prisoner employment
Prisoner employment, managed by Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE), plays an integral part in the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners as 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 less prisoners being reconvicted.
Christchurch Men's Prison offers three main types of employment:
• internal self-sufficiency activities such as food preparation and laundry
• business-like industries including a piggery and sheep farm, an organic garden, timber processing and furniture assembly and a light engineering workshop
• commercial work parties.
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 from prison.
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 types of education offered to prisoners at Christchurch Men's Prison:
• Foundation Skills allows prisoners to develop their reading, writing, speaking, listening, critical thinking, numeracy and problem solving skills
• National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) run in conjunction with the Correspondence School
• Trade and Technical National Certificates offered by Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics
• Industry Training Qualifications earned on-the-job with Corrections Inmate Employment
• Self-Directed Tertiary Study, distance learning initiated by prisoners and supported by the Department.
In addition, computer and hobby classes are also available.
Reintegration
Reintegration programmes aim to reduce re-offending by addressing problems likely to increase a prisoners' 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.
Christchurch Men's Prison provides two reintegrative programmes:
• Living Skills which is a broad-based programme to give prisoners skills and knowledge on how to function effectively in society on their release
• Parenting Skills which is a group programme designed to teach parenting and relationship skills.
Reintegration case-workers also work with high-need prisoners at Christchurch Men's Prison to address their specific reintegrative needs and help them prepare for release in the community.
Christchurch Men's 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 and many prisoners participate on the Release to Work programme.
The Ministry of Social Development have Work and Income work brokers and case managers permanently based at Christchurch Men's Prison to help prisoners nearing release 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 reintegration 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 reintegrate back into the community.
Christchurch Men's Prison has a special relationship with the local Kaumatua who advise prison on a regular basis about cultural issues facing prisoners.
Christchurch Men's Prison also 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 Christchurch Men's 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.