lives, and that their outcomes can be improved by helping women rebuild
and maintain relationships, or extricate themselves from violent or
dysfunctional relationships.”
The recognition by the Corrections of the particular needs and vulnerabilities
of the women in its care, and of the need to empower women through trauma
informed practices and a focus on relationships, is very positive. It is backed up
by the findings of a 2016 study commissioned by Corrections, which identified
five key ‘lessons’ for the management of women in prison:
• Women need a different approach to men which is relational, collaborative
and responsive to their unique needs, and which is also sensitive to the
diversity of their needs and characteristics;
• Women benefit from collaborative approaches to planning where staff have
sufficient contact time for trust and engagement to be built, and meaningful
input sought;
• In designing rehabilitation and reintegration pathways that work for women,
their lynch-pin need(s) and responsivity factors such as prior exposure to
trauma, need to be properly identified and targeted in the right order;
• Women’s management should be relational; having good relationships with
staff where women felt [sic] informed and valued, and able to address issues
with family/whänau helped build their engagement and put them in a better
place to address their offending needs;
• Staff need to be properly supported to work with women by receiving
specialised training on women’s unique risks, needs and responsivity factors,
and by having clear bounds around their roles.5
These important suggestions are supported by the literature and grounded in
professional experience. As these are uncontested, this report takes, as a given,
that the particular vulnerabilities and needs of women in prison are known to,
and accepted by, Corrections.
5
14
Beavan, Marianne. (2017) Collaborative, relational and responsive: Principles for the case management of
women in prison. Practice: The New Zealand Corrections Journal Volume 5 Issue 2, November 2017.