Jan 18, 2021 | Politics & Society
The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges in prisons and for prisoner rights all over the world. Prison crowding and sub-standard living conditions have created ideal breeding grounds for the virus. How has the pandemic threatened the human rights of the...
Nov 5, 2020 | Politics & Society
We all know the harm that gangs can do but can they ever be good for society? And what constitutes a gang anyway? Three experts from the University discuss the issues in 350 words each. Social inequality is the real crime By definition, gangs are entities that engage...
Nov 6, 2019 | Politics & Society
New Zealand National Party leader Simon Bridges wants to stop gang members from gaining access to welfare if they cannot prove their income is from legitimate sources. This comes at a time when some gangs are wanting changes in their community. However, sociologist...
Jun 17, 2019 | Politics & Society
Last week, an independent report revealed massive failings throughout New Zealand’s criminal justice system. The interim report from the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group (Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora) – called The Vessel of Tears (He Waka Roimata) –...
Jun 14, 2019 | Arts & Culture, Politics & Society
Long before three African American women registered the twitter handle, #BlackLivesMatter, and started sending out tweets that helped to mobilize the spontaneous outrage against the impunity that followed the killings of unarmed black people by police officers and by...
May 1, 2019 | Politics & Society
A recent report investigating the state of three New Zealand prisons found that low staffing numbers were straining conditions. The Corrections Office of the Inspectorate report into the Rimutaka, Otago, and Auckland South prisons also highlighted overcrowding,...
Jun 26, 2018 | Politics & Society
By James Oleson Criminologist James Oleson looks into the controversial three strikes law in New Zealand and whether it works as a policy in keeping communities safe. After announcing in 2017 that New Zealand’s controversial three-strikes law would be repealed,[1]...