KI TE AROTU(1) TOWARD A NEW ASSESSMENT: THE IDENTIFICATION OF CULTURAL FACTORS WHICH MAY PRE-DISPOSE MAORI TO CRIME.

• Author: Maynard, Kristen

INTRODUCTION

Maori over-representation in the criminal justice system has been a concern to the Maori community and justice-sector government agencies for some time now. The nature and magnitude of this issue emphasises the need to put into place effective strategies and policies to address offending and re-offending by Maori. Integral to this is the accurate identification of risk factors that pre-dispose Maori to crime.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a current initiative by the Department of Corrections to develop a more effective means of identifying the rehabilitative needs of the New Zealand offender population -- the Criminogenic Needs Inventory (CNI). A substantial component of the CNI focuses on measuring a number of unique Maori culture-related needs (MaCRNs). This paper examines the utility of including distinct cultural factors within a generic needs assessment process and explores the potential implications that such an approach could have for the development of more effective policy to address offending by Maori.

Background

The main objective of the Department of Corrections is to contribute to safer communities by reducing re-offending. In addition, one of its key result areas is the "recognition of the particular needs of Maori in terms of reducing re-offending" (Department of Corrections 1997). In order to achieve this, the Department is in the process of developing systems and procedures, which are in accordance with empirically derived principles of "best practice". Best practice in this context refers to assessment based upon the current psychological models of criminal behaviour that are most strongly supported by empirical evidence. The Psychology of Criminal Conduct (Andrews and Bonta 1994) is the theoretical model which the Department of Corrections uses as the basis for guiding its best practice approach to assessment, and other areas of offender management. Consistent with this theory is the comprehensive assessment of offenders according to the three principles of risk, need and responsivity. The assessment, evaluates offenders' risk of further offending (risk principle), and assesses them with respect to (among other things) their need for intervention (need principle), and whether there are rehabilitative programmes that best suit the individual's particular learning style (responsivity principle).

The risk principle holds that intervention is most effective when it targets individuals who have the greatest risk of further criminal offending. The needs principle asserts that there are certain aspects of an individual's functioning -- such as substance abuse and criminal attitudes and associates -- which should be targeted by intervention in order to reduce subsequent offending. A key feature of these "needs" is that they are potentially changeable. The responsivity principle states that offenders will be most affected by interventions that are matched to their particular learning style (Andrews and Bonta 1994).

A systematic, objective and accurate assessment of the individual's offence-related functioning, termed "criminogenic needs", is seen as essential in order for the appropriate targeting of rehabilitative efforts (Andrews and Bonta 1994). Criminogenic needs are features of an offender's personality, lifestyle, and social circumstances, which have been linked to the risk of re-offending (ibid. 1994). Although the last decade has seen a proliferation of studies which attest to the accurate measurement of criminogenic needs as a means of assessing any given individual's potential to re-offend, there has been little information that is directly applicable to the New Zealand context. Moreover, while there is general consensus among North American researchers as to what constitutes criminogenic needs (Andrews and Bonta 1994, Motiuk 1997), there is less agreement as to how such areas within the individual should be assessed (Coebergh et al. 1999).

Limitations of previous tools (such as the failure to take into account cultural differences) were seen to potentially undermine the Department's ability to identify the most effective means for rehabilitating New Zealand offenders (Coebergh et al. 1999). As such, it was recommended that a New Zealand inventory be developed to identify criminogenic needs that were both relevant and applicable to a distinctly New Zealand offender population (McLean 1998).

The Criminogenic Needs Inventory (CNI)

The CNI is a needs assessment tool that the Department of Corrections is currently in the process of developing. The creation of such a tool was seen as necessary in order to address the limitations of using overseas risk assessment and needs assessment instruments, and also to take into account distinct societal differences and the cultural diversity amongst the New Zealand offender population. The CNI has advantages over previous assessment instruments in that it:

* focuses on detailed behavioural patterns (thoughts, feelings, actions, physiological reactions) and the contexts within which they occur closest in time to and during the commission of the offence;

* focuses on the broader habitual behavioural patterns during the six months leading up to the offence (for example alcohol and drug use);

* derives evidence for offender needs from these two periods of time;

* judges offender needs to be criminogenic only when evidence can be found that causally links them to the behaviour most directly associated with the offence (for example the thinking and associated feelings that supported the offence just prior to and during its commission);

* assesses the current level of severity(2) once a criminogenic need has been identified; and

* assesses severity against set criteria that relate to both responsivity barriers (such as motivation) and the offender's ability to self-manage a criminogenic need. (The latter draws upon broad relapse-prevention principles).

The criminogenic needs measured by the CNI reflect those commonly identified by psychological theory and research (Andrews and Bonta 1994), such as alcohol and drug abuse, criminal associates, and offence-related emotions and cognitions. The method of assessing these needs draws upon cognitive-behavioural theory and practice. A fundamental principle of this approach is that the explanation for problem behaviour requires a thorough assessment of what happened during the occurrence of that behaviour. As such, it assumes that an individual's thoughts, feelings, actions, and physical responses that occur closest in time to a problem behaviour will better explain it than those that occurred at a more distant point in time (Beck 1995).

Consistent with cognitive-behavioural theory, the CNI provides a structured assessment process that investigates two discrete periods of time in relation to the offending behaviour. The first is referred to as the offending period: it begins the day before the offence and finishes at the completion of the offence. The second is referred to as the predisposing period -- the six months preceding the offending period (Coebergh et al. 1999). It is assumed that any residual effects of early childhood experiences, if relevant, would still be affecting the functioning of the individual within the six-month period.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC CULTURAL NEEDS

Whilst Maori make up about 15% of the general population they constitute approximately half of the New Zealand offender population (Spier 1998, New Zealand Community Probation Service 1998a, 1998b). Recent statistics highlight that Maori account for an estimated 49% of male sentenced inmates as at 20 November 1997, 43.8% of whom identify as Maori only (Spier 1998). Of the female sentenced inmates, an estimated 55% are Maori, 42% of whom identify as Maori only (Ibid 1998).

In the Community Probation Service, Maori males account for an estimated 41% of the offender population as at 31 August 1998 (New Zealand Community Probation Service 1998a). Maori females represent an estimated 47% of...