Female prisoners to learn yoga, meditation, sewing and shopping in bid to stop them reoffending
FEMALE prison inmates will be treated with yoga, tai chi, meditation and other “mindfulness-based” exercises under a $330 million state government plan to stop them reoffending.
NSW
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THE state government will treat female prison inmates with yoga, tai chi, meditation and other “mindfulness-based” exercises under a $330 million plan to stop them reoffending.
The radical plan will be prioritised for the crims over more traditional programs such as prison employment.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained details of the government’s bid to stop reoffending, which also proposes giving women projects such as sewing, knitting, cleaning and opportunities to learn about nutrition and shopping.
Seizing on research that short-sentence inmates are more likely to reoffend, Corrective Services NSW is selecting 1200 offenders for special High Intensity Performance Units to help rehabilitation. Corrections Minister David Elliott, when he first announced the units last year, said they supported the government’s “commitment to reduce adult reoffending by 5 per cent”.
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The units will have a particular focus on women and Aboriginal people who are in jail for six months or less.
Inmates will take part in the program five days a week, usually for half days. “Participation … will be prioritised over competing factors such as prison employment,” the documents state.
The government will lean on non-government organisations to deliver activities focusing on health and social issues “including exercise and meditation, education and connection with community and culture”.
The documents say the department wants to engage NGOs to provide activities that give prisoners “rehearsal and practice opportunities”.
And they specifically suggest yoga, tai chi, meditation and other “mindfulness-based activities” for the female prisoners. “As an example, external providers could be used to teach yoga to (female) inmates,” the documents state.
A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said many of the women in the correctional system suffered “high rates of sexual and domestic violence”. “So programs are designed to address these specific needs and offer a real opportunity to break the cycle of reoffending,” she said.
The inmates are expected to take their new skills “back to their cell to be practised and reinforced at every opportunity, building new behaviours and changing existing habits”, the spokeswoman said. The trainers will also help inmates “coping with aggressive thoughts and feelings”. The number of women sentenced and remanded in NSW prisons has been steadily increasing, with more than 4000 remanded and sentenced last year alone.