Penal Populism in New Zealand
J. Pratt and M. Clarke (2005)
This article examines the growth, influence and limits of penal populism in New Zealand. It argues that in this country, there were four crucial factors associated with this: disenchantment with the existing democratic process; the dynamics of crime and insecurity in a period of considerable social change; the growth and influence of ‘victimization groups’; and the emergence of a new kind of penal expertise.
Link to the Article
When Penal Populism Stops: Legitimacy, Scandal and the Power to Punish in NZ
J. Pratt (2008)
This article examines the relationship between the concept of legitimacy and the power to punish in modern society. It argues that the rise of penal populism is related to the way in which criminal justice elites steadily lost legitimacy in the post – 1970’s period. Using New Zealand as an illustration, it goes on to argue that there are limits to the power of penal populism. It too can lose its legitimacy when it breaches the boundaries of morally justifiable punishment levels or when it loses consent for what it promises to do.
Link to the Article
The Dark Side of Paradise
J. Pratt (2006)
This paper addresses the issue of why New Zealand has had an historically high rate of imprisonment. This is certainly the case when compared to the two jurisdictions it has most in common with - Australia and England and Wales - and by extension, most other Western democratic societies. It argues that this has been the result of cultural factors specific to New Zealand rather than its crime rate.
Link to the Article
Politics and Punitiveness – Overcoming the Criminal Justice Dilemma
K. Workman (2008)
In this paper, Workman follows through with Pratt’s analysis, in considering the place of punitiveness in New Zealand culture.
Download the Paper
Crime, Christians and the Spirit of Punishment
K. Workman (2008)
This paper was written for a Christian audience. Workman discusses the attitude of New Zealand Christians to issues of prisons and punishment, and the role of the State in shaping public opinion. He also speculates on why Christians lack a clearly enunciated Christian worldview on punishment and justice, based on biblical principles. Workman proposes that:
-
The punitive attitudes of New Zealanders (including Christians) toward crime and punishment, are primarily shaped through prevailing cultural values
-
The punishment of criminal offenders is a deeply emotive issue - our primary response to punishment relies more on our ‘gut reaction’ and what ‘feels right’ rather than what is logically correct, empirically proven, or theologically robust
-
There is a connection between the punitive ethos in society, and Christian theology as it is popularly understood. Our Christian heritage gives rise to and provides support for a spirit of punishment. The prevailing understanding of grace feeds into a punitive culture that builds upon and is reinforced by it.
Download the Paper
Punishment, Politics and Public Opinion: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Revisited
J. Pratt (2006)
Professor Pratt points out that the New Zealand rate of imprisonment has become a matter of national concern, requiring action from all of us to reduce it. He argues that it should no longer be a matter of political controversy about which party is promising to lock up even more and is prepared to waste even more money on building more prisons to accommodate them. If the debate can be restructured around ways of trying to reduce the prison population, levels of trust in politicians will start to improve.
Download the Paper