to the day room where she will be instructed to get on her knees facing inwards to the room for the handcuffs to be removed. She will then be able to use the prison payphone.” (Notes from a Management Plan) These blanket arrangements seemed excessive and unnecessary, as one woman said ‘I don’t understand why I am treated like that. It’s not as if I killed anyone’. “Even men aren’t locked up in the same way that we are… the use of force here is f*****. It’s just not right.” This statement rings true when comparing practices at ARWCF to those I have observed in men’s prisons. Moreover, women were punished for behaviours that would not even be commented on in men’s prisons. The atmosphere at ARWCF, as the Department of Corrections Chief Inspector observed, was punitive.39 I also found it confrontational and lacking in compassion. “The atmosphere at ARWCF ... was punitive. I also found it confrontational and lacking in compassion.” A detailed analysis of data and case notes spanning a period of 12 months revealed occasions where rather than defusing difficult situations, staff sometimes appeared to escalate them, readily resorting to force in reaction to the smallest of incidents. Indeed, some incidents appeared to be spurred on by local policies and practices at the unit which were rigidly applied by staff, regardless of the circumstances of the specific situation or their necessity. The key aim of the unit appeared to be achieving ‘compliance’ from the women. I believe that staff inexperience and lack of training were, in part, responsible for their punitive and rigid attitudes. I was told that there was a high degree of turnover of staff in segregated areas, and that they had mixed levels of experience, including some who were new to the prison world. They did not receive any specialist training and were, in my opinion, therefore likely to be ill-equipped to deal with challenging situations and women with complex needs. This may explain, in part, some staff responses to perceived disobedience. Women’s management plans were very much focused on compliance and detailed sets of punitive responses to any deviation from the prescribed 39 34 Report of an Announced Visit to Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility by the Office of the Inspectorate, June 2020. Released under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Online: https://inspectorate. corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/42538/ARWCF_inspection_report_FINAL.pdf