Maori leaders say families must nip criminal behaviour in bud

Jails act as little more than training schools for criminals and it is time to get off the prison-building merry-go-round, says the Maori Party.

Maori account for about half of the prison population - "an unfortunate reality shared by many other first nations of the world," says party co-leader Pita Sharples.

"Maori families must get involved in preventing the onset of criminal activities within their families. We do not believe our people are inherently criminal," he says.

Developing long-term community-based solutions was just as important as addressing the issue of prison over-crowding.

"We must get off this merry-go-round of more inmates, more prisons; more inmates, more prisons. It is a gross misconception that prisons play any meaningful role in combating crime. They merely serve to incarcerate law-breakers in cell block wings - rather like schools for criminal training."

He says it cost nearly $80,000 a year to house an inmate - and would be cheaper to book into a hotel with meals included for that sort of money. Furthermore, high rates of reoffending showed prisons did not rehabilitate.

He said many inmates were not a danger to society and a number of institutions could be converted to play a training and rehabilitation role.

Co-leader Tariana Turia believes the assessment tools and approaches taken by prison psychologists are inappropriate for Maori inmates.

New Zealand First MP Ron Mark is concerned about the high rate of Maori in prison. Asked why the numbers are so high, he says: "It's simple. Too many Maoris break the law. Why they do that is another question. The high rates of failure at school is a huge factor."

Just as Dr Sharples wants to work with other political parties, Mr Mark will join a working party he says Corrections Minister Mr O'Connor is setting up.

But on a cross-party accord, Mr Mark says "I don't think it is possible ... because the two big parties both have philosophical views that run counter to each other. If it exists, it exists in the ability of the alternate political parties to think more broadly and to not place no-go areas in policy."

While he supports the need to examine why the jail population has grown so quickly, he doesn't believe it is right to start from the premise that inmate numbers should be reduced - instead the focus should be on why they are there.

He says better youth offender management and rehabilitation programmes are the answer.