Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: The Very Worst, in reply to 81stcolumn,
I have watched a colleague spend weeks revising a research report because it wasn’t what the minister would want to see. I am increasingly worried about this, as in my sphere of operations we haven’t seen anything like this before.
Ugh. That is worrying.
Not least because ignoring evidence leads to billion-dollar boondoggles like the government's road-building programme.
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From a reader who doesn't wish to be identified:
I used to work at Corrections and I was in frequent communication with Mr Brooking.
Mr Brooking is spot on with his comments re short-term offenders, though in Judith Collins' defence, she did make some moves to combat this - and new CEO Ray Smith made all the right noises about rehabilitation rather than retribution being the name of the game.
The policy setters at Corrections are some of the most liberal, left-wing people you could find and off-record they would all tell you that all the research shows that these tougher sentences don't work, however they were told/forced to find research to back the Minister's perspective that criminals must be taught a lengthy, sharp lesson.
I've also had word that originally, John Banks was going to be Minister of Corrections but the powers-that-be at ACT baulked (I'm hesitant to use the plural there for "powers"). Banks had wanted the portfolio as he has an interest in the prison system (his father spent a long time in prison) and he viewed it as an opportunity to show people he wasn't just a crazy right-wing nut-job.
Kim Workman is an interesting guy and an embarrassment to the Government. He works for the Howard League (I think he's winding down now) but he was also a senior bigwig at the Dept of Corrections (head of Prison Services if memory serves me right). He and Bevan Hanlon were the thorns in Ms Collins' side while I was there.
Parts of the above are pretty damning, if not exactly out of kilter with the present government's style.
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Hard News: The Very Worst, in reply to whataboutandrew,
Where does one find this “long paper trail”? I’m not too sure I’ve seen it despite reading the court judgments and decisions from the Parole Board.
There are reports referred to as far back as 2007 in the April 2011 Parole Board decision:
Ms (withheld)’s report says that during her interview with Mr Wilson, he was evasive, argumentative, litigious, solicitous, ingratiating, threatening and intimidating. In addition, he is said to have told Ms (withheld) that he had agreed to meet her to demonstrate his co-operation to the Parole Board. In Ms (withheld)’s view however, Mr Wilson presented himself to her as unwilling to discuss a safety plan directly, despite having requested the opportunity to do so.
We are further advised by Ms (withheld) that Mr Wilson declined to sign a consent form for treatment and was thus precluded from treatment. She said that if he were to consent he would be seen as a treatment priority by the Psychological Service.
Ms (withheld)’s report goes on to say that Mr Wilson was uncooperative in regard to his release plans and, given the dearth of information he was prepared to provide, she did not consider the plans for the management of risk either by the Department of Corrections or by Mr Wilson himself.
On the issue of the potential to reoffend, Ms (withheld)’s report said that there had been no evidence of overall change in scores or risk-ratings. She said her purported risk assessments were current, reliable and valid. Overall, her current assessment was consistent with previous reports which indicated that Mr Wilson remains at high risk of committing further sexual offences.
In her report and on her further evidence given to us today, Ms (withheld) noted that the ACUTE 2007 Risk Assessment Test could not be formally administered due to Mr Wilson’s incarceration but she did note that even in the stable and structured prison environment Mr Wilson demonstrated a number of factors which indicated the presence of acute risk should he be released. Specifically she said that within the last six months, Mr Wilson has made threats during the interview with her, demonstrated defiance towards those who offered him reintegration assistance as well as the demonstrated evidence of sexual behaviour which is, in Ms (withheld)’s view, inappropriate and possibly intentionally abusive.
I’m presuming these would be available, at least to a legal representative. Am I wrong?
At any rate, my point was that Peter Williams' belief that he would somehow fare better than professional psychologists seems misguided.
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Hard News: The Very Worst, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Haven’t there been studies showing that the probability of being caught is a much stronger preventative measure than the severity of the punishment.
Most of the literature says that certainty of of punishment is a considerably stronger deterrent than severity of punishment. Example:
While the criminal justice system as a whole provides some deterrent effect, a key question for policy development regards whether enhanced sanctions or an enhanced possibility of being apprehended provide any additional deterrent benefits. Research to date generally indicates that increases in the certainty of punishment, as opposed to the severity of punishment, are more likely to produce deterrent benefits. This briefing paper provides an overview of criminological research on these relative impacts as a guide to inform future policy consideration.
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Hard News: The Very Worst, in reply to Stephen Judd,
Unless there is someone at the Howard League who is as available and as adept at framing things in an emotionally appealing way, his side is always going to dominate irrespective of the merits of their argument.
And even then, it'll be much harder. But I am annoyed by Peter Williams' approach to the Wilson case. He doesn't seem to know much about it and his laying-on-of-hands offer isn't really helpful in any sense.
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In today's Dom Post, Richard Long declares that he has a " soft spot for" Judith Collins....
As Corrections Minister she dispensed tough love by authorising shared prison cells and brought in converted cargo containers as accomodation to solve the burgeoning prison numbers. She even earned approval for this in trendy, lefty suburban Nagio, where the daily homily on the cafe blackboard asked: "Why not two to a cell?"
Wonderful. So Treasury is screaming that this doesn't work and we can't afford to keep doing it -- and for Richard it's all about his "soft spot". In the top of his head, presumably. Would an attempt at seriousness be possible at some point?
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Hard News: The Very Worst, in reply to Phil Lyth,
ESOs do come with quite strong judicial safeguards – which may or may not be included with anything Collins pushes through under urgency..
One could be forgiven for thinking she's inclined to ignore an ESO as an option, so she can be seen to save the day with a new law.
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Hard News: Belief Media, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
The problem with religious instruction/observance in many schools in New Zealand is that if you don’t want your child to take part, you have to notify the school with an ‘opt out’ instruction. I don’t think this is the right approach, for it should be an ‘opt in’ choice.
I completely agree. I'm somewhat shocked by how often that is not the case.
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Hard News: Belief Media, in reply to Ross Mason,
As far as the opportunity for them to pray at school. I do find this uncomfortable and feel it is a step away from a fully secular education. I cannot help thinking it is a step that will be a precedent for any or all other religions into schools. There have always been concerns about even allowing religious studies in schools over the yeras and the state has been meticulous in how it is allowed.
Yet this is nothing like the kind of Christian evangelising that has been allowed in schools for ever. No one is evangelising here. It’s a brief, private observance and to a greater or lesser extent it will be done anyway. You’re just giving these kids a safe place to do it. If it means they and their families are more comfortable in secular schools, then that’s all the result you need.
Taking a hard line on individual prayer would simply send some of these kids to religious schools, which will be a big part of the picture under National’s Charter Schools policy. Dawkins fronts a great documentary on this phenomenon in the UK – ‘Faith School Menace’.
And also, you’re still telling people what thoughts they’re allowed to hold in their heads.
Culture is quickly and quietly becoming an abused word. It keeps cropping up these days in business or corporate culture, team culture, school culture, franchise culture. The deeper one looks into the use of its meaning it seems quite easy to dump any activity into “a culture”.
Thus my query about how religion becomes part of culture. No one has commented really, other than a quick dig at me and Andin.
Religion and culture have been entwined throughout human history. Works of art created in the name of God continue to delight us. I have no problem enjoying Easter and Christmas (which we celebrate in a mixture of Christian and pagan traditions) for the cultural aspects of each. Religious beliefs shape cultural approaches to death – they’re the main reason we don’t bulldoze dead people into landfill.
In the case of Islam, society is built around its precepts: non-usurious banks, rules about food and so on. (On the other hand, much of what is taken for religious practice in Islam is really the cultural practice of non-enlightened communities in North Asia. A Bosnian can be no less a Muslim than a rural Pakistani, but behaves very differently.)
Basically, a connection between culture and religious belief is completely the opposite of the new-fangled ideas about culture you cite above. And the kind of neat-and-tidy dividing line you’re after doesn’t exist.
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Hard News: Belief Media, in reply to Ross Mason,
I am having difficulty in figuring out why there should be an acceptance of religion “because it is part of ‘their’ culture”. It arose in a conversation last night as I was talking to a primary principal. She mentioned that the JWs insist their children do not partake in the daily karakiha.
I guess they'd be uncomfortable with their children reciting the prayers of another faith. I'm uncomfortable with a daily school prayer of any stripe, personally,
We moved onto how the school deals with the increasing religions of refugees and immigrants. Does the school provide a prayer room? ” No, but we would find room?. Why? “Because it is part of their culture”. After a bit of toing and froing it was difficult to figure out why religion “should” be concidered part of culture.
Of course, I then reached into Wiki to find out what ‘culture’ was/is. Apparently it seems to have changed its meaning over the last 150 years. Now it is more attached to anthropological issues, and thus, to ‘culture’.
You looked up Wikipedia to find what out what culture is? Awesome.
In the case of children whose families have come from Islamic cultures, I think the greater good is clearly served by having those kids at school, and making them feel comfortable about learning there. You don't change the curriculum for them, but you do make it possible for them to pray, as the belief with which they have been raised requires.
I believe this approach is more likely to be productive than, say, sending you around to berate them about what their culture means.