May 11, 2015
Phones in cells positive for rehab
Prison reformer Kim Workman says allowing phones and computers in cells is a step towards lowering reoffending rates.
The new privately-run prison at Wiri will allow inmates to use the phones to call pre-arranged numbers, and they can also use computers for education.
Mr Workman says one reason rehabilitation schemes fail is that inmates lose real contact with family.
He says it’s a really good idea.
"When they get that positive support from the outside and they are legitimised, they are going to apply themselves to making progress in rehab and so on so the more contact prisoners have with their whanau and with people from outside the prison the happier the place will be and the better results we will get," Mr Workman says.
He says existing arrangements encourage conflict, with fights over whose turn it is to use the one phone in a unit, or prisoners locked down at the times when their family may be available to take a call.
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