Corrections' statistics a distortion of reality:

Corrections Minister Judith Collins has just issued a press release claiming: “In the last financial year, 711 National Certificates were awarded to prisoners… The number of prisoners gaining NZQA qualifications has increased 159% over the past three years.”

Educational achievement claims
Sounds impressive doesn’t it. But these statistics provide a distorted picture of reality. What these figures mean is that three years ago only about 300 prisoners a year were gaining work related qualifications in prison. Considering that altogether 20,000 people spend time in prison each year, that’s just a drop in the bucket - only 1.5% of the total. Even if 711 prisoners achieve a qualification, that’s still only 3.5%. Sure it’s an improvement, but not quite as impressive as the 159% increase claimed by Judith Collins.

Employment claims
The Minister also claims that over 70% of those in prison are engaged in some form of prison employment or job training. That sounds even more impressive. What she fails to mention is that in 2010, over a third of those were involved in menial tasks such as cleaning, gardening or working in the prison laundry; that 75% of those studying for work related qualifications failed to achieve any; and that only 117 prisoners were employed in the community on release-to-work programmes in a real job – which is less that 1% of the 20,000 people in prison.

Substance abuse treatment claims
The Minister makes equally grandiose claims that the National Government has doubled the availability of drug treatment in prison. By the end of 2011, the number of prisoners able to attend treatment will be doubled from 500 to 1,000 a year. The problem is 90% of those in prison commit their offending under the influence of alcohol or drugs – so the increase means only 5% of the 20,000 will be able to attend.

The Department’s Annual Reports indicate that of those who start a drug treatment programme, almost half fail to complete it. So the true figure is even less than 5%.

Conclusion
What all this means is that Judith Collins is a master of misinformation. She puts out statistics which look good at first glance but which don't stand up to scrutiny - and have little connection with the reality of prison life. Roger Brooking provides a more accurate analysis of what goes on in our prison system in Flying Blind – How the justice system perpetuates crime and the Corrections department fails to correct.