Newsletter 104, July 2012
In this Issue:

The Government’s Reducing Crime and Reoffending Action Plan
The Government’s Reducing Crime and Reoffending Action Plan While some of the goals may best be described as ‘aspirational’, it is difficult to argue against the direction and intent. It effectively takes the crime and justice debate to another level. The dialogue will shift over the next two years from “what should we do?” to “how should we do it?”

The Formation of the Justice Coalition
Eight months ago, Rethinking started a conversation with a group of Justice NGO’s, about the need for a more collaborative. This week, we announce the formation of the Justice Coalition, which includes Victim Support, Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Trust, Salvation Army, Restorative Justice Aotearoa, Community Law Centres of Aotearoa, New Zealand Howard League for Penal Reform Inc, Henwood Trust, National Coalition of Howard Leagues, Robson Hanan Trust (Rethinking Crime and Punishment) The National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges, and Prison Fellowship.

Resisting the ‘Deficit’ Model - A Strengths Based Approach to Prisoner Reintegration
In the fifth article of the series on the Prime Ministers Goals for Crime Reduction, we consider an area in which policy is still in its formative stage – prisoner reintegration.
The government’s recently announced Reducing Crime and Reoffending Action Plan, potentially shifts the emphasis back toward partnering with community agencies in the provision of prisoner reintegration and offender rehabilitation.

In this article ‘How should we Reintegrate Prisoners?” we discuss the recent history of prisoner reintegration policy in New Zealand, and consider what the essential ingredients of an effective community based prisoner reintegration model might look like.

Measuring the Loss of Māori Potential in the Criminal Justice Sector
TPK recently commissioned BERL (Business and Economic Research Ltd) to develop a macro-modelling tool that assists Te Puni Kōkiri in determining the loss in Māori potential due to their involvement in the criminal justice system. It is envisioned to shift mind-sets from a “deficit outlook” to “potential opportunities” outlook that examines the rate of Māori offending from the perspective of lost opportunities.