WAIKERIA Prison residential manager Jason Roe says Corrections has turned to a tikanga-based system, where respect is the basis for any hope of rehabilitation.
RESPECT – the cornerstone of the journey to self-healing. And it doesn’t matter whether it ranges from learning self-worth and self-discipline, to respect for others, it is the basis for the programmes the Department of Corrections uses in working with the men and women who pass through their doors. In looking back across the past 11 years of his career in Corrections, residential manager at Waikeria Prison Jason Roe says it’s changed from the “lock, unlock” somewhat punitive framework with an often revolving door policy for inmates. “We have two different areas. The first is remand, those who are accused, have yet to appear before the Crown,” he says. “There are men who come in here on a wide variety of offences, including family violence. “They are unsure what is happening with the courts, with their whanau, so for us, it’s trying to maintain a sense of calm, a safe, secure environment where they can concentrate with their lawyers, deal with the court systems, and get or keep them in contact with their whanau.” However, from the moment these men enter their system Jason says, it is a values-led one. “It’s a pro-social model, manaaki (respect), kaitiaki (guardianship) rangatira and wairua. So it’s all about looking after them and creating that safe space. “We talk about sowing the seed, as it’s often through engagement with them we can show them we are not there just to punish them, we are not there to do anything other than make sure they are safely looked after, while trying to establish and maintain those whanau connections.” There is a need he says, to show empathy for what the men are going through if Corrections is to be of long term-success in rehabilitation. “For many [who later go on to be sentenced], that beginning period can mean a state of denial, ‘the lawyer says I should get off’, or ‘it’s all bullshit, everything’s made up, she said this or did that’, so all we can do is support them through that, try to keep them calm,” he says. “So once they are sentenced, they are assigned to a case manager and from there, go onto an offender plan which may highlight areas or programmes that are relative to their type of offending.” Some may need to be completed during the period of the sentence as imposed by a court, others may be optional.
START WITH THE BASICS The big part is to start with basics such as numeracy and literacy assessment. “It’s been identified … everything relates to violence, [so our programmes reflect that].” It doesn’t matter what form it takes, whether it is family-orientated such as wife or children, or harming others one way or another. “They are all relative to morals. “I’ve heard stories from [fathers] who say: ‘I can’t read or write and I can’t even help with their homework’,” he says. “So we start by trying to work out where they are at. It’s very difficult to start any rehabilitation programme if you can’t read or write.” Programmes are often kept short, designed to work with prison time frames and/or attention spans, help to recognise triggers and set up plans for preventative action. Some branch off into different areas. “No one model tries to fit all – that’s not possible. “We identify what individuals need are, with case managers having five or six men on the floor who help build the picture of what’s happening at any given time to an individual, such as, is someone in his whanau sick, or he’s arguing on the phone with his wife, meaning we can go much further than we used to. “We use a tikanga-based programme,” Jason says. “First time I did a simple karakia … I got a lot of feedback from that and in particular, about kaupapa. “It showed me how strong the disconnection was, how much of a need there is to re-establish it – and how important it is we focus on helping to facilitate that.” He, like Matt Brown, says that most of us could never imagine the horror of the lives some of these men lived through as children and young adults.
AN HORRIFIC WAY OF LIFE “What’s horrific about it, is that it wasn’t horrific to them. It was, is, a way of life,” Jason says. Yet there are a number he sees now who are getting to their 30s and who decide they don’t want to be like their fathers, grandfathers, brothers and uncles – that they want better for their own tamariki. “It’s pretty empowering to hear those stories,” he says. “Because for them as much as us, you don’t know what you don’t know.” And all it takes, he says, is someone who believes in them. “Our mindset now is helping the men to be in a better place than what they were when they came in. We are still protecting the public – but we’d rather they didn’t come back and that means developing the tools, or introducing the people or programmes to facilitate that. “We are starting to bring our staff at recruitment level to have that mindset. “So the last five years have seen big changes in the way we do everything to get better outcomes.” One of the most successful programmes to come through in the past three years is Hokai Rangi. This focuses on six principles of change: humanising and healing, whanau, partnership and leadership, working with te ao Māori principles, whakapapa, and foundation for participation.
VESTED INTEREST “In this, we talk to local iwi, mana whenua, those with a vested local interest, we get them sitting at our table,” Jason says. “We are then making decisions with the best knowledge possible.” The programmes these days are much more based on the “why”. “Why is that man angry, or not engaging with us? What is happening in his life? We try and engage on every level and do so in a respectful way, as part of the mandate of humanising. “And we see this succeeding when we open the doors in the morning and see the engagement from the men, they talk with us, there is respect on both sides. “You treat them like men, you show empathy. It’s manaaki.” Engagement can mean anyone from a chaplain, a mentor to a kaumatua. “A lot of these men have been traumatised in one way or another. It is not our intention to further that,” Jason says. Men are encouraged to interact in group situations and it is an empowering thing, he says, to see men who finally feel safe enough to let their walls down and begin to feel. “Some, when they start, will still be in denial, still very entrenched in their own minds. An ‘I have to do this to get parole’ mindset. “Then see their journey progress, they begin to see us not just as blue uniforms, they learn to lower their walls, to allow themselves to be vulnerable, to begin the mahi to make change; these programmes help give them those life skills.” Indeed, the basis of many of the programmes form the building blocks for additional constructive long-term physical outcomes, from learning to read and write, to completing courses for employment, to begin to create a better life for themselves when they do leave. To do this there is farming, horticulture, construction training – even café and barista opportunities and many give NZQA credits.
FUNDAMENTAL SELF-WORTH The importance to help the men begin their journey, to learn, to change to give themselves and their whanau a better life, to reconnect, and most importantly, to gain the fundamental sense of self-worth is the philosophy Corrections is now firmly based upon. Are these programmes working? The quantification isn’t easy, but he believes so Jason, says. “It’s an ever-changing environment; with Covid, with a whole lot of other pressures going on in the country. Yet I am seeing improvement – I’m seeing some come back on an offence – but they are better equipped to deal with their families, and for quite a few now, they are getting tired of coming back. “They [might not be back this time for a family harm offence] might have got caught with a gun they shouldn’t have had for example, or some other thing that revokes their parole, but their dealings with people, with whanau is better. “So yes, I know the programmes are working. “Prison is a pause on life – but the best you can do is use the time to upskill while it is,” Jason says. “And they are.”
