"Trying to Stem their Downward Course": the Development of Penal Governance for Women in New Zealand, 1840 to 1974

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the factors that have been involved in the development of a system of penal governance for women in New Zealand. Social, economic and cultural forces have impacted on this development at various times throughout the history of imprisoning women in this country, and both the meaning and content of women's imprisonment and penal governance have been affected accordingly. The early changes in penal policy for women, those prior to 1925, largely coincided with an expansion of the state, and with the resulting anxiety about deviant and inappropriate behaviour within society, and its consequences. Following international developments in imprisoning women, particularly the growth of reformatory institutions in North America, New Zealand opened its first separate women's institution in 1913. This facility, however, bore little resemblance to other international institutions, and had not incorporated any of the more modern ideas of penal treatment. The establishment of other separate women's institutions in 1920, 1950 and 1974 also seems to have stood largely outside the modern trends. Unlike the earlier changes in penal policy, these later developments were more the result of overcrowding and pressure within the system rather than reflecting any definite decisions regarding the reform of penal governance and imprisonment for women and the direction it should take. Although the comparatively low proportion of women inmates in a system designed for men influenced the nature of penal governance and imprisonment for women, the evidence does not suggest that small numbers of inmates were a significant barrier to reform, as small numbers of male inmates were used for experimental penal strategies. The evidence, instead, suggests that differential treatment for women inmates was independent of their small numbers and related to other factors, especially economics, perceptions about their femininity and societal attitudes towards women.