Chrissy's story
"The way they advertise it is ‘come and make a difference, come and be a Corrections Officer’. It’s crap. You can’t." I wanted a...
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humans of our prisons
Humans of our Prisons is a project designed to share stories from people connected to New Zealand's justice system. Based on the bestselling ‘Humans of New York’ book and viral social media platform, it’s about giving you a glimpse into people's lives, so you can see the stories behind the statistics.
- Apr 29, 2022
- 7 min
Henare's story
"People look at courtrooms with all the brown faces and think it's just the norm for them but the reality is for many it never is and it...
32
- Apr 29, 2022
- 2 min
Richard's story
"I’ve served my time, why should I be still paying 38 years later?" I enjoyed school, but I wanted to get out and work. That was at the...
24
- Apr 29, 2022
- 5 min
David & Lorraine - mentors
"They're not animals. There are some people who act like animals, because they’ve been treated like animals." Lorraine: We’ve been going...
11
- Apr 29, 2022
- 5 min
Dr Paul Wood's story
"I was the first person in NZ to finish a Masters degree inside, and I finished up my PhD on release." I grew up getting some pretty...
36
- Apr 29, 2022
- 4 min
Gary's story
"If you really knew me, would you even look at me?" My daughter wasn’t even born at the time I was arrested and my son was very young. He...
9
- Apr 29, 2022
- 4 min
Irene's story
"I have over 100 criminal convictions, and I have a Level 7 degree. So you choose how you want to judge me." Prison for me was like a...
13
- Apr 29, 2022
- 9 min
John's Story
"Your senses are working way overtime when you come out, you feel just about bullet proof. Feeling that sharp, you can easily go wrong."...
15
- Apr 29, 2022
- 3 min
Kate's Story
"If not for him, there’s a very real chance I could have been in prison as opposed to helping prisoners." My husband and I are completely...
6
- Apr 29, 2022
- 5 min
Nigel's Story
"My family were pretty shocked, especially my daughter, she was planning to be a copper." I had moved to Australia to work as a fly-in...
5
- Apr 29, 2022
- 5 min
Norm's Story
"I was labelled the Godfather of Youth Crime by the age of 16." My parents are both from Samoa. They migrated here in the ‘60s and...
13
- Apr 29, 2022
- 3 min
Renee's Story
"A lot of people expect that as a young woman going into a maximum-security men’s prison, you’re going to have a really hard time, but...
23
- Apr 29, 2022
- 7 min
Robbie's story
"There are some people out here that if they were taken and put into jail, it just might save their lives." I’m Robbie. My mother is Ngāi...
3
- Apr 29, 2022
- 19 min
Sarah's story
"It might be one thing to do drugs, or to murder someone, but to have a sex offender as a son is the pits. As a mother, I wonder - how...
8
- Apr 29, 2022
- 4 min
Simon's story
"I was away on a work trip one weekend and started gambling on pokie machines - within a week I was addicted to them." I was a normal...
4
- Apr 29, 2022
- 4 min
Toni's story
"I found myself standing in the district court, with no recollection of the night before. I was wearing a hospital gown and I stunk of...
7
- Apr 29, 2022
- 10 min
Warren's story
"If it wasn’t but for the grace of God, I'd be on the other side myself. So I think in a way, I'm trying to help others to see that there...
3
- Apr 29, 2022
- 6 min
Jarrod's story
"You don't see gangs forming in suburbs like the boring, middle class suburb I grew up in. They form in areas where social and economic...
6
- Apr 29, 2022
- 16 min
Mark's story
“I stopped drug-dealing. I stopped drug-dealing for one reason and one reason only. I wanted *tap tap tap to mean that somebody was at my...
8
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