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1949 NEW ZEALAND

PRISONS (REPORT ON) FOR THE YEAR 1948-49

Presented to Both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency

The Hon. the Minister oe Justice to His Excellency the Governor-General Wellington, 4th August, 1949. I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Controller-General on the prisons and Borstal institutions of the Dominion for the year 1948-49. I have, &c., H. G. R. Mason, Minister of Justice.

The Controller-General or Prisons to the Hon. the Minister of Justice. I have the honour to present the annual report for the Prisons Department for the financial year ended 31st March, 1949, and incorporating the criminal statistics for the year ended 31st December, 1948. INTRODUCTORY Appended to this statement are the reports of the controlling officers of the various prisons, reformatories, prison camps, and Borstal institutions. These reports outline in more detail the work being carried out in an endeavour to provide training and useful occupation for all persons placed in the Department's care. The primary aim of the Department is the ultimate satisfactory rehabilitation of every prisoner. The results achieved are, of course, contingent upon the character and disposition of the offenders dealt with. Those who have become habituated in crime, either by reason of their deliberately making it a profession or because of a psychopathic personality, offer little hope of reformation, and for the protection of society custody is the only practical course, but for young offenders, and accidental offenders in respect of whom special circumstances have led to sporadic acts of aberrational conduct, there is a more hopeful prospect from a reformative point of view. It will be noted from a perusal of the Borstal reports referred to above, that the policy of the Department is to place the greatest emphasis on the provision of reclamative influences and training facilities for young offenders.