
The Problem of Prisons
Greg Newbold(Author)
Dunmore Publishing Limited
1st Edition
Published on 1. September 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
330 pages
978-1-877399-21-3 (ISBN)
Description
For more than 160 years New Zealand has struggled to find a formula for dealing with criminals in a humane, workable and effective way. Arthur Hume, the first Inspector of Prisons, presided over a regime of hard physical labour and severe discipline under austere conditions. Changing philosophies over the decades meant policies of flogging and punishment diets gave way to homely touches such as budgies, potplants and radios in prisoners cells. Hardening public attitudes to increasingly violent crime in recent years have brought tougher controls on parole, and, recently, the longest non-parole sentence ever handed down. But, under all regimes, reoffending rates have remained disappointingly high. Newbold provides a comprehensive history of the legislative and administrative changes in corrections and interweaves descriptions of the day-to-day realities of prison life as well as more occasional dramas such as the notorious prison escapes by Maori Mac, George Wilder and John Gillies, and the 1965 inmate riot that left Mt Eden almost uninhabitable for days. The Problem of Prisons is the first analysis of the history of the corrections system in New Zealand. It weighs the complex factors that have driven New Zealand's correctional philosophy and practice since 1840.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Palmerston North
New Zealand
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Weight
744 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-877399-21-3 (9781877399213)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
Contents Part I: The Historical Development of Corrections in new Zealand 1 Birth of the prison 2 The development of Correctional Policy in NZ: 1814-1949 3 Two decades of reform: 1949-1970 4 Modernising the system: 1970-1985 5 Later developments: 1985-1995 6 Contemporary corrections: 1995-2006 Part II: Aspects of New Zealand Corrections 7 The New Zealand prison system today 8 The maximum security prisons 9 Women in prisons 10 The privatisation of corrections 11 Capital punishment 12 Corrections in the community 13 Specialised custodial sentences 14 The problem of reforming criminals Appendices Chronology of sentencing variations Chronology of women in corrections Key dates of New Zealand's major prisons New Zealand prison homicides Index