Offenders and Prisoner 2

Upside Down Inside Out
Making sense of Vietnamese prisoner issues
February 2006
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C 2006 Caboolture Shire Council & Caboolture and Redcliffe Multicultural (CARM) Forum
Upside Down Inside Out: Making sense of Vietnamese prisoner issues ISBN This report is copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without permission of Caboolture Shire Council or Caboolture and Redcliffe Multicultural (CARM) Forum. Enquiries should be directed to: The Multicultural Planner Caboolture Shire Council PO Box 159 CABOOLTURE QLD 4510 Tel: 07 5420 0111 The President Multicultural Association of Caboolture Shire 22 Edward Street CABOOLTURE QLD 4510 Tel: 07 5495 3818
Disclaimer Any representation, statement, opinion or advice, expressed or implied in this publication is made in good faith but on the basis that neither Caboolture Shire Council nor the Caboolture and Redcliffe Multicultural (CARM) Forum their agents or employees are liable (whether by reason of negligence, lack of care or otherwise) to any person for any damage or loss whatsoever which has occurred or may occur in relation to that person taking or not taking (as the case may be) action in respect of any representations, statement or advice referred to in this report.
Upside Down Inside Out:

Making sense of Vietnamese prisoner issues
FOREWORD The township of Woodford in Caboolture Shire is renowned for two major institutions the Woodford Folk Festival and the Woodford Correctional Centre. One symbolises family fun, freedom and cultural expression, the other, separation, regimentation and confinement. How does the psyche of a town deal with such extremes of legitimate human endeavour? Just as we bring great energy to our participation in the Woodford Folk Festival so too must we actively work to ensure the present and future wellbeing of our Woodford prisoners - our new long-term residents. Woodford Correctional Centre management informed Council that the number of Asian prisoners, particularly those from a Vietnamese background, was increasing within the facility and that these prisoners were failing to respond to the Centres rehabilitation programs. Issues of language, culture and access to appropriate legal services appeared to be at the heart of the problem. This was the impetus for a suite of initiatives to address the barriers of language, culture and access faced by prisoners from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Council is proud to have played an active role in this process. The result has been a valuable eighteen month partnership meeting monthly with Vietnamese prisoners, undertaking research, negotiating cultural privileges with management, conducting cross cultural training for Centre staff and providing input into the development of the Department of Corrective Services Multicultural Action Plan for Queensland. I commend to you this report, Upside Down Inside Out: Making sense of Vietnamese prisoner issues. It represents a successful example of local and state governments working together to improve the lives of a group of Queenslanders often out of sight and out of mind. It is my hope that the issues raised through this report through the voices of Vietnamese prisoners will be the catalyst for improving our awareness, processes and systems to take into consideration the very real barriers faced by all prisoners from different cultural and linguistic traditions.
Joy Leishman Mayor
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research project, Upside Down Inside Out: Making sense of Vietnamese prisoner issues, is a joint initiative of the Caboolture Shire Council, Woodford Correctional Centre and the Caboolture and Redcliffe Multicultural (CARM) Forums Refugee Action Group. As Coordinator of the Research Project, I would like to acknowledge a number of people for their assistance in this project: Peter Camden, former General Manager, Woodford Correctional Centre, for his foresight and vision genuine concern and commitment to make things happen Des Voss, Manager, Residential, for his cooperation and dedication to operational changes Anne Winterflood, Education Officer, for her advice arising from her vast knowledge and insights into Vietnamese people and her personal commitment to their wellbeing Centre staff who participated in meetings to develop the content of the cross cultural training modules Margaret Bornhorf, Senior Trainer, Multicultural Affairs Queensland, for facilitating the cross cultural training sessions from research to presentation of training workshop Caboolture Shire Council - the Mayor, Joy Leishman, Cr Greg Chippendale and staff for their commitment to leadership in ensuring access and equity for multicultural people Members of the Refugee Action Group who provided support and advice at important junctures during the project. Special thanks are extended to: Dr Julie McCredden, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, for her analysis, interpretation and write up of the data Jeremy Liyanage, former Multicultural Planner, Caboolture Shire Council, for project managing this initiative and assisting in the writing of this report Anne Winterflood, for her contribution of the background information on Vietnamese people Jane Teague for the recording of the focus group proceedings Significant thanks are reserved for the group of Vietnamese prisoners who demonstrated a courageous commitment to being involved in what others from the Vietnamese community may have deemed an intrusion into their private lives. In being honest and open in their communication, they clearly were taking a risk in trusting relative strangers with issues close to their hearts. Tears and laughter, feelings of dejection and also of hope, moments of disappointment and the delight of making gains and most of all the prisoners unflagging patience, characterised our many focus group sessions. This research could not have been possible without their valued contribution. Cesidio Conte President, Multicultural Association of Caboolture Shire
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
2. Background Preamble Initial Inquiry with Prisoners Action Plan
3. Methodology Action Research Approach Factors Influencing Project Outcomes Methods of Analysis
4. Results 4.1 Overall Results 4.2 Survey Results with Quotes from Focus Groups 4.3 Demographics 4.4 Language Issues 4.4.1 Understanding of Jail Information 4.4.2 Understanding of Legal Situation 4.4.3 Interpreter Help 4.4.4 Legal Aid 4.4.5 Crimes, Sentences and Appraisal 4.4.6 Time Served and Understanding 4.4.7 The Review Process 4.4.8 Link between English Ability, Education, and Jail Term 4.5 Education 4.6 Daily Life in Jail 4.6.1 Cultural Issues 4.6.2 Health Issues 4.6.3 Treatment by Others 4.6.4 Other Issues In Prison
4.7 Family Visits 4.8.1 Frequency of Visits 4.8.2 Transport Issues 4.8 The Future 4.9.1 Release from WCC 4.9.2 Family Situation and Perspective on Future 4.9.3 Support Needed 4.9.4 Drug Related Futures (if support not given) 4.9.5 Deportation 4.9.6 Prevention
1. Appendix a. Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Project aim This report was commissioned by the Woodford Correctional Centre (WCC) and Caboolture Shires External Multicultural Taskforce to identify the issues and experiences of Vietnamese prisoners. The aim was that Correctional Facility staff at Woodford would become aware of how the prison system impacted on Vietnamese prisoners and that the insights gained would guide the facility in effective program development and prisoner rehabilitation for a newly recognised clientele - prisoners from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Initial negotiations with Woodford Correctional Centre led to a series of initiatives to be piloted with the largest of the cultural groups, the Vietnamese. It was anticipated that through their implementation, the centre would better understand its Vietnamese prisoners, would be more able to address the cultural and language bIocks that prevent these prisoners from being successfully rehabilitated and ensure that cultural and linguistic considerations are incorporated into program design and development. The initiatives trialled at the Woodford Correctional Centre helped to shape the statewide Multicultural Action Plan for Queensland Corrective Services. The initiatives, listed below, spanned a period from August 2003 to May 2005: Focus groups with Vietnamese prisoners A focus group with centre staff Regular negotiation sessions with management to progress prisoner issues A survey of 22 Vietnamese prisoners An outside researcher was contracted in May 2005 to analyse the survey and focus group data and to produce the majority of this report. Factors underlying the increase of Asian prisoners From the literature there appear to be common factors underlying the increase in numbers of prisoners from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, in particular, prisoners of Asian ethnicity, within correctional centres throughout Australia. Some of these factors include: Low levels of education Resident of socio-economic disadvantaged areas High unemployment rates Poor English language skills and/or literacy skills A younger age structure (evidence of past immigration patterns and family size differences) Feeling of dispossession Lack of family support and the feeling of isolation Conflict over being caught between the two cultures of their parents and their peers Lack of ability to seek community support Witnesses of the terror of war and associated atrocities, including suffering from severe deprivation
The Woodford experience Discussions with staff and prisoners led to a greater clarification of the problems that both staff and Vietnamese prisoners encounter, and to identification of the causes of these problems and an exploration of suitable solutions. Management articulated a number of problems: Asian prisoners were not responding to the centres generic programs, and management was at a loss regarding how to address the everyday issues of these prisoners and how to develop responsive systems, procedures and programs. Prisoners spoke of their problems: the hardship caused by being deprived of cultural aspects of everyday life, facing language barriers, struggling with the lack of appropriate legal assistance and having limited access to educational and rehabilitation programs. The causes of these problems, put simply, were lack of information regarding this prisoner demographic, lack of effective communication between staff and prisoners and lack of consideration of cultural issues in programs and processes. Solutions to these problems would include the development of flexible and responsive systems and processes, culturally competent staff, and advocacy support to address the barriers or blocks to access. The outcomes of these changes would be effective program planning (prisoner support, education and language, employment preparation), effective planning of future directions and effective monitoring of prisoner reviews, parole requirements and multicultural action plan accountability to the Premier & Cabinet.
Problems, Causes, Solutions and Outcomes
Problems for Management o Inability to respond effectively to everyday issues Inability to design effective programs Prisoners unresponsive to generic programs Causes Lack of information Cultural issues not considered in programs and processes Poor communication o o Problems for Vietnamese Prisoners Everyday cultural and language deficiencies Ineffective education and rehabilitation Ineffective legal assistance
o o o
Solutions A flexible and responsive system Culturally competent staff Advocacy (multicultural task force etc. to address cultural and language blocks found in system)
Outcomes 1. Effective Planning for o Prisoner support Programs o Employment Programs o Education and Rehabilitation Programs 2. Effective Future Directions 3. Effective Monitoring of o Reviews o Parole o Accountability to MAQ/Premier
Methodology The project used focus groups and surveys to come to an understanding of who makes up the Vietnamese population at Woodford, how they came to be there, what their life in jail was like, issues with which they required help and the best ways to provide that assistance. Survey data was used to find answers to the questions of who, what, and how, mostly resulting in frequency data summarised in the report below using tables and charts. The question of why was understood through discussions resulting from the focus groups. The aim was to search for pivotal events and contexts that framed the main issues for the Vietnamese at Woodford. It brought inmates and administration together to try to problem solve around these issues. Quotes, stories and summaries of events from the focus groups are given in the report below, either as stand-alone findings or alongside the relevant tables from the survey. Results The answers to survey questions and the stories and quotes that were given during the course of the focus groups highlighted three different levels of issues for Vietnamese prisoners requiring different types of responses from management, ie everyday issues, significant issues and high priority issues. These different levels are described below. Everyday Issues - The Vietnamese prisoners gave some clear indications of what sort of issues they face on an everyday basis. Positive responses to these issues would involve pragmatic, easy to enact adjustments to policies. Changes at this level would have beneficial effects on the day to-day relationships between prisoners and staff, improving trust and inclusiveness. The everyday issues are: That everyday cultural items including Asian food items, books/magazines, CDs, videos and access to religious books, classes of study and Buddhist monks be made available as part of their day to day life in prison That the celebration of cultural events including The (Vietnamese/Chinese New Year), Moon Festival and dance and drumming classes associated with these celebrations be allowed on an annual basis
Significant issues - The information given also describes and explores more significant and pervasive issues faced by Vietnamese prisoners. Positive responses to these issues would involve thoughtful, systemic adjustments to procedures and policies, so as to give Vietnamese prisoners equal access to legal assistance and to prison programs and courses. Changes made at this level would likely have long reaching effects on the levels of successful rehabilitation and levels of health of Vietnamese prisoners. The significant and pervasive issues are: Language That interpreter help needs to be given for understanding in prison, in court, and in police interviews That prison information including orientation to prison life be translated into the Vietnamese language That when interpreters are used they need to be unbiased and impartial That assistance in understanding and responding to the legal system and its requirements as well as its jargon be provided through interpreter services
That the need for prisoners to speak their own language, both to one other and over the phone is understood and allowed.
Education and Courses That most of the Vietnamese prisoners need more education to bring them to senior level. Tuition in English, Maths, and Computers need to be made available with language assistance. That courses especially those deemed mandatory for parole be made more readily available to all prisoners throughout their terms and not just prior to their parole That special consideration be given to those prisoners with language barriers who require more time and effort to gain mastery of course subject matter Cross Cultural training for staff That staff be provided with opportunities for cross cultural training, awareness of the cultural, social and language issues faced by Vietnamese prisoners and proactive strategies and measures to reduce incidents of misunderstandings and conflicts Treatment by prison staff and other prisoners has a bearing on the health of prisoners (the relationship between being treated differently by staff and headaches is statistically significant.) Family Visits Help with transport needs to be given so that families may visit (the amount of visitation by families with transport issues is much lower than other families).
High priority issues - During the focus group meetings, some issues of high importance requiring immediate action came to light, as follows: Deportation of some prisoners That formal procedures be developed to respond to Department of Immigration a procedure be developed to advocacy support be provided Notification is not understood, and deportation may be the result of non-reply. Prisoners need help with the right-of-reply process, which may prevent deportation. Positive outcomes Over the course of the research, the different issues (above) were raised and promises were made that they would be looked into or dealt with. By the last meeting however, it seemed that only a few of the issues had been dealt with to some sort of resolution. They were: 1. Cultural awareness was increased via a question-answer session between prisoners and guards. 2. A drum was made available for Chinese New Year, which was financed personally by a council worker. 3. A cross cultural awareness training day was attended by16 WCC staff on 30 March 05. The feedback from staff was very positive
Limited Results All of the other issues raised during the focus groups have been unable to be addressed. This was not due to not knowing or caring, but seemingly because of the current prison protocols and procedures at Woodford. Further insights in to these reasons and the issues listed above are given in the Focus group quotes and summaries accompanying the figures and tables in the results section of this report.
Key recommendations The research has shown how procedural blocks to everyday needs impedes the attainment of higher goals common to prisoners, staff and administration, that of effective education and rehabilitation of prisoners and of encouraging more positive outlooks and relationships with staff on a day to day basis. In order to attain these goal, we recommend that the current system expand to acquire some flexibility within its procedures and processes to allow the following to occur: That assistance with English language and comprehension is assured so that the accused comprehends in full what is transpiring at all stages of the correctional process, from arrest, meetings with solicitors, court appearance, sentencing, remand, induction, development of sentence plans, review meetings and parole to preparations for transition and release. It is also recommended that mandatory procedures be established involving the use of professional interpreters to ensure that prisoners clearly understand all legal documents and are assisted to formulate an effective and accurate reply when required That a wide range of rehabilitation and vocational courses be made available throughout a prisoners term of incarceration, with tuition assistance when required That transport issues for family members who wish to visit be addressed That cross cultural training for staff be provided on an ongoing basis That Vietnamese food items be incorporated into their regular prison diet That cultural artefacts including in-language books, videos, magazines and CDs be made available through the library system That cultural celebrations like Tet or Vietnamese New Year including food, music, drumming and dance become part of the regular annual calendar of events at the prison
Challenges for Qld Corrective Services The Queensland Corrective Services Strategic Plan 2003-2007 has identified criminogenic needs of offenders which correlate closely with the findings of this report. These issues pose a number of key challenges for the Department: Strategic environment Issues identified in the Crime Prevention Strategy link illicit drug use to education and socio-economic disadvantage. In relation to these issues research shows that: about half of the male offender population has reported that illicit drug use is a major factor in their offending offenders suffer from educational disadvantage
educational disadvantage can be expected to limit employment opportunities for offenders on return to the community other social and economic factors such as poverty, family breakdown and minimal participation in community life can impact on individuals coming into corrections.
Operational factors Research indicates that the Department must consider the following factors: an increasing prisoner population over the long-term a more diverse offender population with specific needs Business positioning The challenge for any prison system is how to prevent further crime through the successful rehabilitation of prisoners to meet the expectations of government and community. This is addressed in the Departments Strategic Plan 2003-2007 through two primary strategies: develop and deliver a range of interventions appropriate to the assessed risks and needs of offenders, including targeted interventions to meet cultural, gender and disability needs Provide opportunities for offenders to successfully reintegrate into the community. These challenges outlined above provided the backdrop for the work undertaken by Caboolture Shire Council in partnership with Woodford Correctional Centre to address the issues of one of the Centres multicultural groups of prisoners. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX - LINK Further meetings with Woodford Correctional Centre Two further meetings were held with WCC management, with the second being attended by the General Manager, 2 Assistant GMs, Manager of Residential, Manager Business Services, Staff Development Officer and Prisoner Education Officer. The meetings have helped to identify possible WCC-Council initiatives: Transition Program - participate with other key agencies in the Transition Program to assist prisoners (including those from multicultural backgrounds) to re-integrate into the community. The program has core and elective sessions and is accessed in the last six months before a prisoners release. It covers job search, looking after self, housing and living with others Research - conduct research into the needs and issues of Vietnamese prisoners (include questions which identify - issues within prison, new modules for Transition Program, reason for non-family visits, culturally specific intervention program, education needs, reasons for criminal activity to develop prevention strategies, level of pre-trial legal assistance, etc) Translating Information - assist in translating the Centre Induction Booklet and the Residential Induction Booklet into Vietnamese
Library resources discuss with Caboolture Library Services what library resources in different languages can be obtained Family Connection assist to make contact between Vietnamese prisoners and family as currently there is little contact with family members or their culture Vietnamese Intervention Program assist to develop new intervention program as the current one is not effective with Vietnamese prisoners as it does not take into consideration their culture, needs, religious beliefs, etc) Local Committee - place these issues on the agenda of the Woodford Community Local Committee to keep local people informed of what goes on at the WCC. Also, identify groups within the community who will provide long-term commitment for prisoners before and after release Cross Cultural Training - assist WCC to develop a cross cultural training package for custodial staff as well as both mainstream and multicultural prisoners (with a pilot aimed at Vietnamese prisoners as currently the only cross cultural training is ATSI specific) Accurate Data update multicultural prisoner data at WCC when prisoners undergo their six-monthly Sentence Management Review Process, as data relating particularly to cultural background is highly inaccurate.
1.
INTRODUCTION
This research report, Upside Down Inside Out: Making sense of Vietnamese prisoner issues, was commissioned by the Woodford Correctional Centre (WCC) and Caboolture Shire Councils External Multicultural Taskforce. The purpose of the study was to understand the issues experienced by Vietnamese prisoners as an initial step toward informing the Centres quest to make its systems and programs more responsive to those prisoners from multicultural backgrounds. Improving access to information, services and support for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds is the raison detre of Councils External Multicultural Taskforce. It works in partnership with senior management of lead agencies in the Shire including state and federal government, business and media stakeholders. Councils role, through the Multicultural Planner, is to support these agencies to undertake a multicultural audit of their organisations and assist them in developing appropriate initiatives to address the barriers faced by multicultural people in accessing their services. The Woodford Correctional Centre, Caboolture Police and Legal Aid Caboolture were some of the agencies that indicated an interest in partnering Council in developing such initiatives. As a significant initial response, the Woodford Correctional Centre embarked upon this Vietnamese prisoner research project. This is a seminal undertaking which is hoped will inform and influence how the Department of Corrective Services will ensure the successful rehabilitation of prisoners from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The partnership between Woodford Correctional Centre and Caboolture Shire Council is a demonstration of Councils Multicultural Policy in practice.
2.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
2.1 Preamble In June 2003, Caboolture Shire Councillor, Cr Greg Chippendale, requested that Councils Multicultural Planner attend a one day community consultation meeting with Woodford Correctional Centre (WCC) at the request of Peter Camden, General Manager. As part of the outcomes of this meeting, the Multicultural Planner met with Peter Camden on 18 August 2003 and was briefed by him about the growing Asian population within the facility who were not responding to the generic programs of the Centre. A request was made to Caboolture Shire Council to assist WCC to determine long-term program and project responses. Present at the initial community consultation meeting was Peter Camden (General Manager), Frances McDonald (Manager, Business Services), Nigel McReaddie (Assistant General Manager), Michelle Paynter (Assistant Manager) and Des Voss (Manager, Residential).
During the initial meeting, staff at the Centre voiced concerns about various issues faced by prisoners from diverse cultures particularly those from Vietnam who were facing substantial sentences of between ten to fifteen years. It was identified that prisoners from diverse cultural backgrounds lacked a basic knowledge of Australian laws in the first instance, complicated by the fact that certain actions or behaviours classified as criminal under Australian legislation are not deemed so in their country of origin. These ranged from drug related incidents to social coupling, for example, a legitimate marriage to a child-bride in one country would be regarded as underage sexual relations and hence considered criminal behaviour in another. The issues raised were centred primarily on the inability of the current system, which in the main is designed to cater for English speaking Anglo-Australian prisoners, to respond to the cultural, social and rehabilitation issues of prisoners from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. There was also tacit awareness and acknowledgement of a range of other multicultural prisoner issues. Issues identified by prison management fell into five major categories: (i) Lack of accurate data of the cultural and linguistic make up of the prison population Inadequate attention to communicating essential information in different languages at all stages of the correctional process from remand (Arthur Gorrie Centre) to induction, development of sentence plans, to the six monthly sentence management review meetings o A majority of Vietnamese prisoners are unable to speak functional English so are at a disadvantage in being familiar with the expectations of the prison system o Vietnamese prisoners are recruited to act as translators for fellow prisoners which lead to the creation of power dynamics within their ranks Lack of cross cultural understanding amongst staff o Negative comments are recorded by staff in sentence management review meetings due to a misinterpretation of Vietnamese prisoner behaviour Need for future direction and planning to adequately meet the needs of WCCs changing population 1. Lack of understanding in how to address cultural issues in the design of core programs within WCC, for example, anger management and substance abuse management initiatives 2. Lack of information regarding the skills sets required by employers to ensure multicultural prisoners receive training and employment relevant to current and future employment markets Ill-equipped to address the issues of a different client group o Lack of research in Queensland regarding responses to the issues of prisoners from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds o Confusion as to where tolerance begins and ends in terms of prisoner ignorance of Australian law o Dilemma of balancing security concerns and compliance with antidiscrimination legislation, for example, what response to a Sikh wearing a turban which could be concealing contraband o Difficulty in developing trust and confidence with multicultural prisoners
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
Difficulties with communicating with Vietnamese prisoners especially regarding mental health issues and their unwillingness to access counsellors
2.2 Factors underlying the increase of Asians in prison The impetus for the undertaking of this research project was the growing Asian population within the Woodford Correctional Centre. A decision to focus the research on Vietnamese prisoners was based on the fact that this was the largest single ethnic group at the centre. A majority of the Vietnamese prisoners were on drug related charges. Possible factors that contribute toward increasing rates of incarceration particularly among Indo-Chinese people are many and varied. Historically many migrants and refugees from South East Asia have experienced numerous traumatic events such as wars and associated atrocities and subsequent forced evacuation from their homes and their homeland. In addition, the Asian population within Australia has traditionally had employment in the manufacturing sector. However, work in this area has tapered considerably over the past decade and this, combined with a lack of qualifications overall among the Indo-Chinese community, helps to explain their high unemployment rates. Literature from the Victorian Health Department suggests that stressors caused by the migration experience, as well as the loss of family, possessions and status, together with illiteracy, the lack of English proficiency, increasing poverty and the high unemployment rate make such people vulnerable to seeking relief through the use of illicit drugs. DAvanzo (1997) and Mudalay (1997) (cited in the Victorian Government Health Information) reported that the use of hard drugs in order to alleviate psychological distress was common among the Asian community. The dynamics of illicit drug use within the Asian community is complex. The culture usually does not allow for the expression of emotion, hence there is reluctance to openly acknowledge personal problems and drug use is therefore met with strong denial so as not to bring shame and stigma to the family. As well as bringing shame to the family, seeking outside help can result in other dilemmas for the family, such as implication of admission of failure of the family structure to both the community and others. The research set about to complement existing research which documented the possible causes of incarceration among Indo-Chinese groups. This inquiry would focus on who were the prisoners, what issues they faced as a result of their cultural and linguistic background, why the system concluded that it was not successfully rehabilitating this group and how it could more appropriately respond to there prisoners issues as well as to the barriers inherent in the current system. A number of possible project proposals were discussed with Woodford Correctional Centre in response to their concerns. Permission was granted by the management team to form a focus group of Vietnamese prisoners who would provide cultural information and advice. Caboolture Shire Council staff would meet on a monthly basis with prisoners to identify access and equity issues, experiences and responses. 2.3 Initial inquiry with prisoners A prisoner focus group comprising eleven prisoners, the Multicultural Planner (as moderator) and the Assistant planner (as note-taker) met for an initial meeting in August
2004 to identify areas of concern and to design a survey for collecting anonymous, general data from across the spectrum of the Vietnamese prisoner population. During the initial meeting, prisoner issues that were raised included not receiving regular visits from family and friends, having little contact with their culture (religion, food, music, videos and celebrations) for substantial periods of time and a lack of support mechanisms to assist multicultural prisoners to re-integrate into the community upon release. The major focus of the discussion centred upon a recognition that the correctional system would need to change if it hoped to offer successful rehabilitation programs to prisoners other than those from white, Anglo, English-speaking backgrounds.
2.4 Vietnamese prisoners in context In order to respond appropriately to the issues faced by a growing member of Vietnamese prisoners in Queensland and Australian jails, a greater comprehension of the contexts of their lives is imperative. This section provides background information pertains to the prison context with comparisons between the Australian prison population and those of Vietnamese background, data on offences, the historical context - of invasion, colonisation and communist reforms which reduced many to the status of refugee, the cultural context which draws sharp distinctions between Anglo-Australian and Vietnamese perspectives on family structure, roles, behaviours and priorities and finally the linguistic context in which lack of proficiency in English often creates insurmountable barriers to rehabilitation. Prison population Prison statistics for June 2004 show that nationally the Australian prison population has increased by 43 percent since 1994 (Australian Bureau of Statistics: 2003). 75 percent of Australias prison population is categorised as being Australian born, whilst the remaining 25 percent are recorded under 27 different nationalities, one other and one unknown. Figures from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC: 1999), reveal that prisoners born in Vietnam showed the largest percentage increase in number, increasing from 18 in 1983 to 457 in 1997. However, ethnicity data is problematic in that ethnicity is usually categorised in statistics under country of birth. As Beyer (2003) points out, children of established migrant groups may still identify with their cultural group but are included into the Australian born category. Consequently ethnicity data becomes inaccurate and distorted by identifying only more recent migrant groups in Australia. Also contributing to the problem is that the different States use independent methods of recording their prison data and in some instances a prisoners ethnicity is recorded according to the perceptions of the recording officer (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2000). Thus published prison statistics may imply a reality that may be different to what would be revealed if a national system for recording a prisoners self reported ethnic identity were to be adopted (Beyer, 2003). Crime statistics for drug offences from the ABS 2003 show that 10 percent of prisoners sentenced had a most serious offence of dealing or trafficking in illicit drugs and other related illicit drug offences. Figures from the AIC (1999) reveal that persons born in
Vietnam who were processed for drug offences increased from 10 percent in 1993-1994 to 33 percent in 1996-1997. During 1997 almost half of those prisoners born in Vietnam (222 out of 457) were incarcerated for drug offences. Also of interest is that the median age for Australias prison population is approximately 32 years of age, while the average age for Vietnamese Prisoners is estimated to be approximately 26 years (ABS 2003) .
Understanding historical factors Over the last two decades, there has been an increase in migrants from Asia, peaking in 1991-1992 to 51 percent of all arrivals (ABS: 2003). Research indicates that resettlement difficulties unique to Vietnamese stem from their history and culture (Burley, 1990; Signy {cited in Sydney Morning Herald} 1997). Vietnam has experienced a long history of attempted colonization and resistance. Attempts to colonize this country were made by the Chinese, French, Japanese and American governments. After the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1975, the Vietnamese government seized control of all business interests, land and buildings (including homes) belonging to citizens from South Vietnam. In fact if has only been in the last three to four years that the Vietnamese government has allowed its citizens to purchase dwellings in which to live. However the government still owns the land. Those Vietnamese who were identified as having business interests or having worked for the American government were forced to attend re-education camps designed to promote communist sentimentalities and nationalist ideologies (Poh-Ling, 1997 and personal interview, 1998). The new reforms introduced by the communist government created economic, social and religious hardship for many Vietnamese people who experienced a major loss in their living standard, food scarcity and severe restrictions imposed on their civil liberties, often living in fear of their safety and the safety of their relatives (Traan, 2004 and personal interview 1998). Not surprising, the government reforms led to a mass exodus of more than one million people seeking international refuge from overseas nations (Poh-Ling, 1997; Cuthbertson, 1999). In 1975 Australia granted refugee status to 140,000 refugees, including many children. Some of these refugees entered legally into the country, however a large number came illegally, raising public suspicion and outrage. Cultural factors One of the most important values of Vietnamese culture is the family and it is important for those from a Western culture to understand that a Vietnamese family includes not only living members but also the spirits of ancestors. Even in todays society, many Vietnamese families pay homage to the ancestral spirits by laying items of food and other offerings at the ancestral altar which is located in their homes or businesses. Australians rely on external services to meet their needs including health care services, unemployment benefits, religious services and nursing homes for the elderly. Vietnamese however rely on the family unit on such occasions (Hassen, Healy, McKenna & Hearst, 1991). The concept of health benefits and welfare is foreign to the majority of Vietnamese families. Although it is considered an economic strain, many families still send money back to Vietnam to support family members residing there (Hassen et. al 1991).
However, the traditional Vietnamese family unit is breaking down with many Vietnamese now forming western style nuclear family units as opposed to the traditional extended family. This, however, does not mean a breakdown of traditional values, in which: o o o o o Individual interest is subordinate to the welfare of the kin group Confrontation is subordinate to harmony Future orientation is subordinate to past orientation Competition is subordinate to co-operation Showing anger is considered impolite
(Managing Differences, 1998) A Vietnamese woman was studying toward a Masters degree at the University of Queensland. One of her assignments was to interview other Vietnamese students regarding their integration into university. The following is an extract from her assignment and from a personal communiqu which highlights the linguistic and cultural difficulties and differences experienced by well educated Vietnamese (as opposed to many prisoners) who are considered proficient in English as a second language: Actually there are many ways in which Eastern traditions and social, behavioral and professional practices differ from the West. Behavior which is acceptable even admired in Australian society might be considered insulting to the Vietnamese. For instance Australians tend to be outspoken, individualistic-qualities which are quite opposite of what is valued in most Asian cultures. Self-restraint and internal discipline are stressed in traditionally cultural education in Vietnam. Because of such discipline, Vietnamese people compared to Australian peers are shy and passive. They feel reluctant to raise questions or queries even whey they need help. Using English in communication is one of the most problematic constraints that every student with non-English background have to confront. Because of a lack of proficiency in commanding this common yet difficult language, Saving face is extremely important to the Vietnamese. This characteristic can surface in any interaction between two or more persons and should be understood if one is to be effective communication. Public criticism or display of anger is considered severe and taken very seriously in Vietnam. (Nguyen 2002) In Vietnam, people don't usually practice to say "sorry" after doing a wrong thing, in my opinion, mostly due to "face saving" tradition. Also with receiving a favour from other people, Vietnamese do not always say "thank you", again due to "face saving" tradition. (personal communiqu, 2004) There is a misconception held by many Australians that the Vietnamese population is a homogeneous community. However within the Vietnamese population there exists strict social divisions which stem from ethnicity, religion and class. One thing this population does have in common is that due to their harsh past, the only law that they have known
and understood is the law of survival and that included reliance on the black market and bribery for survival, deceit and subterfuge to escape death. (Burley 1990). Thus the Vietnamese, when confronted by a breach of Australian law, appear to have a lot of baggage to process given their past violent history and their cultural conflicts, including their fear and mistrust of police. As Burley (1990) reports: Their customary behaviour dictates submission to authority, absolute politeness, a patient willingness to please and withdrawal from confrontation, their interaction with authorities easily leads to misunderstandings on both side. Offences Beyer (2003) found that in Victoria, the most common offence for which Vietnameseborn Australians are arrested is heroin related offences. In fact Beyer established that they are 40 times more likely to be arrested for drug trafficking than Australian-born youth. Beyer also reported that 74 percent of the Vietnamese population in Victoria is aged in the peak drug offending age group of 15-44 years, compared to approximately 46 percent of the Australian population in this age group.
Table 1: Number & rate per 100,000 population of Australian & Vietnamese born alleged heroin traffic offenders aged 15-44years, Victoria 1997-98 (from Lorraine Beyers paper presented at the Evaluation in Crime and Justice: Trends and Methods Conference March 2003.
15-24 years old Country of Birth: Australia Vietnam Total Victorian population 15-24 yrs 518 643 12 183 No of heroin traffic offenders 15-24 yrs 429 524 Rate per 100 000 aged 15-24 yrs 83 4 301
25-44 years old Total Victorian population 25-44 yrs 970 311 28 775 No of heroin traffic offenders 25-44 yrs 248 153 Rate per 100 000 aged 2544yrs 26 531
The actual involvement in illicit drug use by the Vietnamese may be higher than the statistics show, as these figures only include those prisoners born overseas and thus represented in the ethnicity data. They do not include Australian born Vietnamese prisoners. Another possible reason for the underestimation of the problem may include the following: In many Asian communities it has been found that the subject of illicit drugs is taboo and therefore drug use is often met with strong denial, particularly by the older generation. Illicit drug use commonly results in loss of face within the community. It is perhaps no surprise that the level of illicit drug use exacted from surveys is low or that there is a paucity of knowledge about illicit drug use in Asian communities. (Ja & Aoki, 1995 cited in Victorian Government Health Information)
Current programs and language demands Prisoners are recommended to participate in a range of intervention programs in order to address their offending behaviour. The premise of these intervention programs based on cognitive behaviour therapy, is to change prisoners thinking and belief systems in order to bring about enduring emotional and behavioural change: Cognitive therapy hypothesises that peoples emotions and behaviours are influenced by their perception of events. It is not the situation in and of itself that determines what people feel, but rather the way in which they construe a situation. (Beck, 1995) These programs are designed theoretically to teach prisoners how to identify, evaluate and modify thoughts in order to avoid dysfunctional behaviour that led them to offend. However, as Davies, Lewis, Byatt, Purvis and Cole (cited in Home Office Findings 233) point out, these programs are: Typically delivered in classroom type settings and require offenders for example, to listen to tutors, read hand-outs, participate in group discussions and complete written exercises. Not surprisingly, the authors found a marked discrepancy between the literacy demands of intervention programs and the literacy levels of the prisoners. They also found that there was a particularly significant mismatch in prisoners speaking and listening skills. These findings pertained to the general population of prisoners and not just the nonEnglish speaking background prisoner population. The following illustrates some of the language difficulties encountered by persons from non-English speaking backgrounds: Jargon. We all become complacent with the use of jargon within our own field of expertise. For the non-English speaking background prisoner, already trying to cope with an alien environment (prison) and trying to cope with the demands of learning the English language, jargon can be the last straw! The insurance and legal industries have for some years now introduced plain English into their policies and documents. The acceptance by the general public was immediate and welcomed. Thus the use of simple language should not be overlooked when it comes to developing and delivering intervention programs and words such as mollification and super optimism currently included in programs should become redundant and replaced. Apart from these linguistic difficulties with the English language, the Vietnamese language is very different from English in that all Vietnamese words are monosyllable and the language is tonal ie the meaning of a word changes according to the tone that is placed on it. The Vietnamese alphabet is composed of 12 vowels and 17 consonants. Unlike the English alphabet, the Vietnamese alphabet has no f, j, w or z, and Vietnamese has no consonant clusters; English has many. There are no suffixes, no plural suffix, no articles (a/an) and no possessives in Vietnamese. Also there is no grammatical feature in Vietnamese which corresponds directly to tense.
The sentence structure in Vietnamese is different especially in sentences asking English yes-no questions and information questions. For example:English What is your name? Vietnamese Co ten la gi? (Co = addressing a young lady: ten=name: la=is: gi=what)
The above highlights just some of the difficulties that Vietnamese and English as Second Language (ESL) learners have with the English language. Imagine the difficulties prisoners lacking English language proficiency experience when attending intervention programs conducted in English and with very strong Western cultural values and beliefs. Little wonder that many of their exit reports from these programs present them in a less than favourable manner and often suggest that they are less empathetic than prisoners whose first language is English.
3.
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Action research approach The research was framed within an action research approach which adopted both quantitative and qualitative measures of data collection. Action research was chosen for the method because it encourages people affected by the research, in this instance, Vietnamese prisoners, to participate in all phases of the process. This approach is particularly effective when working with people who are disenfranchised by dominant systems: The worker and agency cannot present their own program but must search for it dialogically with the people they seek to empower. Critical to this is the participation of those who are disadvantaged. There needs to be a movement away from the expert to a community of inquirers (Friere, 1970:118). The quest of action research is to link analysis with action and theory with practice which promotes engagement rather than detachment. The process of doing the research encourages collaboration and a commitment to make things happen. The outcome of the action research project is therefore seen as effective change within a system or the beginnings of a change process, rather than a mere description of the way things are. Based on principles of action research, a questionnaire was designed by a focus group of prisoners which was used as the quantitative technique to provide a broad angle scan of the circumstances, issues and responses of the Vietnamese prison population at Woodford Correctional Centre. A focus group technique was employed as the qualitative measure to flesh out the stories and real life circumstances behind the numbers and percentages - a narrow angle view. These two types of enquiry were then embedded within an action research cycle of (i) inquiry with prisoners, (ii) feedback to staff and administration, and (iii) subsequent action (changes in policy or procedure). It was anticipated that repeated cycles through steps (i) to (iii) would result in informed and beneficial changes in policy and procedures within Woodford Correctional Centre that might help to achieve the aims of the project as envisioned by Woodford management and Caboolture Shires External Multicultural Taskforce. Although policy and decision makers tend to favour quantitative information because they are accustomed to basing funding decisions on numbers and statistical indicators, the richer data obtained through the qualitative research was likely to be more trustworthy and more informative in the planning and implementing of program responses signalled by the prisoners themselves. Owing to the small sample size, it was hoped that the validity of results would be strengthened by using more than one method to study the same issues (ie, method of triangulation). Combining two methods was useful in validating and enriching the meaningfulness of the reported findings. The two methods were combined by beginning the study with a qualitative segment: first an initial meeting with prisoners that helped frame the overall enquiry and then series of focus group discussions that suggested the issues that should be explored in a subsequent survey of program participants. The next stage combined both quantitative
and qualitative methods, by designing and administering a survey to all Vietnamese prisoners, and then following up the survey findings by using in-depth discussions within further focus groups. The quantitative data was collected via a survey comprising 48 questions asking about personal characteristics (age, gender, etc), background and reasons for entering prison, language and understanding in court and in prison, health issues, staff and prisoner relationships, family visitations and cultural issues. The survey was given to twenty-two Vietnamese prisoners. The survey included five open-ended questions, providing some expansion on some of the issues covered in the survey. Most of the qualitative data was gathered using a focus group technique. The focus group comprised twelve prisoners, the Multicultural Planner (as moderator) and the Assistant Planner (as note-taker). The group members met together for seven focus group sessions spaced over a twelve month period. Discussions were led by the moderator. After each meeting the moderator then met with prison staff and management to discuss the issues raised, asking for action or permission or enquiring after possibilities. The results of these meetings were then used as the basis for discussions in the next focus group meeting. It was anticipated that the focus group discussions would produce more in-depth insights and understanding into the reasons for prisoners poor response to the generic services and programs of the Centre and of the barriers they faced due to cultural and linguistic factors. It was also hoped that the feedback from these discussions to management would effect some changes that would result in a dynamic change-and-reflect cycle occurring during the course of the study. In the main, each focus group session lasted between 1 to 2 hours. On occasions when very specific information was required, the sessions tended to be shorter. The objective was to get high quality data in a social context where people felt comfortable to consider their own views in the context of the views of others, and where new ideas and perspectives could be introduced. After the focus groups had been completed, the Multicultural Planner met with the prison administration in June 2005, to present a summary of the issues that had been raised during the focus group meetings and to discuss the progress on each. The issues discussed in this meeting and in the initial community consultation meeting were included with the focus group meetings for the qualitative analysis. This gave a picture of how initial insights and goals were developed throughout the focus groups and how well any of them had been addressed by the end of the focus group stage of the study.
3.2 Methods of analysis Focus group meeting analysis The procedure for analysing the focus group and meeting data was as follows: 1. Data sorting was conducted on all meeting documents so as to identify the main conceptual groupings of the items addressed within meetings. 2. All items from all meetings were then clustered into those conceptual groups which were given appropriate labels 3. Using the main concepts as objects within a model, the analyst created a concept map depicting how the various main concepts related to one another 4. The main concepts within the overall model were used to create the executive summary and also distributed throughout the report so as to sit with the tables
and charts to provide greater insights. In addition, some quotes are presented as stand alone issues within the main report as they cover topics not raised by the survey. Survey data analysis The survey data was collated using Microsoft Excel, then transported to SPSS. This statistical package was used to create summary tables, charts, pivot tables, and crosstabulations so as to create helpful descriptions of the data. Some analysis was performed on a couple of the cross-tabulations (chi-squared tests) where the samples were large enough to allow such analysis. The tables and charts and presented with descriptions of each sitting together with relevant quotes from the focus groups that help explain the experiences behind the data in each case.
3.3 Factors influencing project outcomes Changing of the guard During the course of the research, the Woodford Centre faced significant changes. There were many staff changes and movements, the Centre was being transitioned into an exclusively long term prisoner facility. the transfer of a significant number of prisoners to Woodford, as a result, and the ensuing processing requirements and also the introduction of a new system Prisoner Management System (PMS). The General Manager who had been instrumental in the Centre embracing this selfreflective exercise, was seconded elsewhere. The Acting General Manager was focused on the transitioning of the Centre into the states long-term facility and preparing for a substantial increase in the prisoner population. Quantitative analysis: small data size While there were estimated to be over forty Vietnamese prisoners at the facility, only 22 prisoners participated in the survey. Due to the small sample size, it was not possible to perform effective statistical tests. Relationships were not significant which may have otherwise been significant had the sample size been at least double the size obtained. One of the focus groups described mistrust among the prisoners as one of the main reasons for non completion of form: (Meeting 4 March 2005) Rollout of Vietnamese prisoner surveys Secure 2 - done first. Most prisoners were very suspicious of WCC guards handing out surveys and were extremely reluctant to complete all questions honestly as concerned that guards would read them and there would be negative repercussions against prisoners Surveys have not been completed by the following numbers of prisoners: 3 in Secure 1, and 10-12 in Residential Vietnamese prisoner focus group members said they would assist in promoting the completion of these surveys the remaining Vietnamese prisoners if okay with WCC. They would explain that no WCC staff would be reading these, only the two Caboolture Shire Council staff involved.
While there are some limitations due to only approximately 50 percent of the prisoners filling out the surveys, if the 22 who responded to the survey can be said to be representative of the whole Vietnamese population in WCC, then the issues arising from the survey can be said to be of relevance to the entire group and worth taking into consideration in future directions for Woodford Correctional Centre.
4.
RESULTS
The results given below contain many different tables and charts describing different aspects of the Vietnamese prisoners backgrounds, daily life in prison and many different issues that they face. The overall themes that emerged are described in Figure 1 below, which illustrates how the problems that were raised in the focus groups and survey responses were also explored in terms of their potential solutions. The main problem areas that emerged are everyday cultural and language deficiencies, ineffective education and rehabilitation, and ineffective legal assistance. The main systemic solutions that emerged are the need for a flexible and responsive system, culturally competent staff and for advocacy to address cultural and language blocks found in the system.
Figure 1: Identified problems & solutions
Problems of Vietnamese prisoners o Everyday cultural and language deficiencies Ineffective education and rehabilitation Ineffective legal assistance o Systemic solutions A flexible and responsive system Culturally competent staff Advocacy to address cultural and language blocks found in system
o o
The frequency data summarised in the sections below, using tables and charts and the quotes and stories uncovered during discussions, helps to fill in the detailed information that illustrates the who, what, how and why of these problems and their potential solutions. Survey results The results in the following sections (4.3 to 4.8) contain a combination of the results from the prisoner surveys and focus groups, summarised and grouped according to the main areas of Language, Life in Jail, Family Issues and The Future . Quotes from focus groups are given where helpful to elucidate the experiences and stories to give the figures and the tables more meaning and to provide a richer context for understanding. Demographics Country of origin Most of the Vietnamese prisoners surveyed were born in Vietnam. Of those born in Vietnam, there are two main groups. Five people have lived in Australia for 8-16 yrs, and seven people have been here for 19-25 years. The entire population comprises post boat people, having all come to Australia from 1979 onwards.
Table 2: Country of birth
Country of birth Australia China Hong Kong Malaysia Vietnam Total
Count 2 2 2 1 15 22
% 9% 9% 9% 5% 68% 100%
Table 3: Length of stay according to country of origin

Years lived in Australia * Country born in Crosstabulation Count Vietnam 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 12 China 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Country born in Hong Kong Australia 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 Malaysia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Total 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 18
Years lived in Australia
2 3 8 10 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26
Total
(Focus group questions and answers 15 Oct 2004) 1. What do you think of your culture? Yeah okay Fine More Vietnamese than Aussie 2. How does the Vietnamese approach to life differ from the Aussie way? Very family orientated, family values very important
A lot of respect for elders 3. Is it important to eat together? Not as much as everyone busy Things have changed, people are too busy 4. What about religion? Budhism and Catholic primarily Attended Catholic church No point Budhist believer but rarely attend temple only for special occasions Is there a tradition to live in the temple and spend time learning there? No not in Vietnam 5. How big is the problem of gambling in the Vietnamese community? In Sydney it is big My family has increasing gambling problems my aunty is in her mid 40s and is bored so gambles a lot Gambling is in the Vietnamese blood Citizenship Three quarters of the entire sample (16/21) have taken out Australian citizenship. Ten percent (2/20) are permanent residents. Ten percent (2/20) indicated that they are on a temporary visa. Place of residence prior to prison A group of nine prisoners come from Brisbanes south-western suburbs including Inala, Darra, Browns Plains, Oxley and Bellbird Park. Three come from New South Wales and Victoria. Age Most of those surveyed (14/19) are between 20 and 30 years of age with only five prisoners above 30 years.
Figure 2: Age breakdown

Age breakdown
Over 30: 26%
Below 30: 74%
Relationships and children Most of the group indicated that they are not in a relationship. About one quarter (5/21) are married or de-facto. Of the eight from the survey who have children, most have more than one child so that the group surveyed has 16 children between them.
Table 4: Family Situation
Those not single, and have children Marital No Average no of status children De-facto 2 2.5 Divorced 1 3 Married 3 1.6 Separated 2 1.5 Total 8 8.6
The families of prisoners
(Focus group questions and answers 1 April 2005) 1. What does your family think about you being in jail? Dont talk about prison with other relatives due to a sense of shame Are very supportive and have regular visits if geographically possible (some prisoners families live interstate) 2. What constitutes a Vietnamese family? The extended family - grandparents, uncles, aunties, mother, father, siblings, cousins, and the rest. All members are well connected with their family group 3. How many children in Vietnamese families? Traditionally Vietnamese families had 10 to 11 children
Contemporary Vietnamese families have an average of 4 to 5 children 4. Who has power in the family? The father has the power and has the last say on everything Grandparents also have significant authority and power within the family 5. Who has power in the community? In Australia Community leaders with academic qualifications receive high status in the community Community leaders who are wealthy also receive high status Professionals who provide the community with free programs such as ESL, mathematics, martial arts, etc are also highly respected by the community In Vietnam Ho Chi Min gave land and work to his people considered a great leader Predominantly academics and wealthy members in the community 6. How important is your opinion in the family? Different in each family Parents / grandparents make all decisions The younger sibling(s) must be obedient to discipline by the older siblings. If a younger sibling is naughty, the older sibling gets into trouble because they have failed their responsibility to discipline properly Discipline is more strict than within the Australian culture like kneeling in corner for hours can be given as a punishment for not obeying Not allowed to talk when eating but more the case in Vietnam than in Australia Language issues Vietnamese Most of the prisoners surveyed (17/22) speak Vietnamese as their first language. Half speak only Vietnamese at home. Just under a quarter (5/22) speak both Vietnamese and English at home. Most of those surveyed (17/22) speak Vietnamese very well or average. Three speak it poorly, and one not at all.
Figure 3: Languages spoken at home
Languages spoken at home
Cantonese 14% English 5%
Vietnamese 81%
English Just under one fifth (4/21) report that they speak English well. The remainder say that they speak average or poor English. Over three quarters of the group (17/21) asked for assistance in learning English.
Figure 4: How well English is spoken
How well English is spoken
Very w ell 19% Average 38%
Not very w ell 43%
English as a second language Of those whose first language is Vietnamese and who were not born in Australia (15 people), only three reported that they speak English well, the rest stated that their English was either average or poor. However, there is a general pattern in the data that shows that the longer that people have been in Australia above 14 years, the better their English.
Table 5: English ability of those not born in Australia
Valid
very well average not very well Total
Frequency Percent 3 18.8 7 43.8 5 15 31.3 93.8
Valid Cumulative Percent Percent 20.0 20.0 46.7 66.7 33.3 100.0 100.0
Missin g Total
missing
1 16
6.3 100.0
Understanding of information in jail Only some understanding Approximately 80 percent of the prisoners (17/21) say that they only understand some or not much of the information in jail. The prison mostly communicates with the group through other prisoners (65%) or through an interpreter (23%). Two people say they are not communicated with at all.
Figure 5: Understanding information in jail
Information understanding in jail
14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 All Not much Some
Figure 6: How prisoners are communicated with in jail

How does the prison communicate with you?
Interpreter 24%
Other prisoners 64%
Not at all 12%
(Focus group questions and answers 12 Nov 2004) 1. Were your provided with translated information about jail eg the Entering Prison leaflet?
No prisoners from this group ever saw the Vietnamese translated Entering Prison leaflet 2. If you have a complaint and want to communicate that to Management, do you believe your can successfully do this? We dont have much faith that our complaints will be heard I sent a letter to the Director General and the Ombudsman but still havent got a response and nothing has been followed up about my unfair transfer to a different centre. What can I do? Understanding of legal situation
Lack of understanding When Vietnamese prisoners were convicted and sentenced, only one fifth of the group (4/19) say that they mostly understood their situation. The rest (80%) had only some understanding (12/19) or none (3/19), even though an interpreter was provided.
Figure 7: Understanding of own legal situation
How much did you understand?
Didn't know 16%
Some understanding 63%
Mostly understood 21%
Lack of understanding due to poor English Most of the respondents (15/19) have average or poor English. Table 5 shows that of these, 80% (12/15) had only some understanding or no understanding of their situation (even though an interpreter was provided). Tables 5 and 6 show how three people with poor English had some understanding (for two of them, an interpreter had been provided) and two who have poor English mostly understood their situation (an interpreter had been provided for these). There is one person with poor English who had only some understanding of their situation, but no interpreter was provided.
Table 6: Understanding of situation according to English proficiency
How well English ability * Understanding situation Crosstabulation Count Understanding situation some mostly understa understood nding didn't know 1 3 0 1 6 0 2 3 3 4 12 3
Total 4 7 8 19
How well English ability Total
very well average not very well
Interpreter help Lack of understanding due to other factors Table 6 shows that there were 5 people who even after having interpreter help only understood some or not much of their situation. It is possible that for these people, the legal system itself was hard to understand, not just the language (see extracts from focus group below) (Minutes 17 September 2004) 1. What other things made it hard for you to understand your situation? Some of us can read most of the words in legal letters but we dont understand what it means (issue of comprehension) I am really not sure of the right action to take so I dont know if legal representation is getting me anywhere I have hired a private solicitor because I am struggling to understand the meaning of legal letters and reports (psychological, appeal and assessment, parole, etc)
Table 7: Interpreter help given or not to prisoners with various levels of English proficiency and understanding of situation
How well English ability * Understanding situation * Interpreter provided Crosstabulation Count Understanding situation some mostly understa didn't know understood nding How well English ability Total How well English ability Total average not very well very well average not very well 0 2 2 1 1 0 2 2 2 4 3 2 1 6 0 3 3
Interpreter provided yes
Total 2 7 9 4 3 1 8
no
Unaware of interpreter availability
When receiving legal assistance, 40 percent of the group (9/22) did not know that they could request an interpreter. Of the 13 who knew that they could, 8 were provided with an interpreter while 3 were not.
Table 8: Did you know you could request an interpreter?
Valid
yes no Total
Frequency Percent 13 59.1 9 40.9 22 100.0
Valid Cumulative Percent Percent 59.1 59.1 40.9 100.0 100.0
Most interpreter help in court Interpreters have been more often used for court (8/10) than during police interviews (4/10) for both average and poor English speakers. Only one person with poor English had an interpreter during a police interview. The one person who speaks English very well requested interpreter help for both the police interviews and court but this help was not provided.
Table 9: English ability of prisoners in situations when interpreters used
How well English ability * Interpreter provided * Situation Crosstabulation Count Interpreter provided Interpreter helped when... Police interview yes How well English ability Total Court How well English ability Total Both How well English ability Total very well average not very well average not very well not very well 1 1 2 3 5 0 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 no Total 1 1 2 3 5 1 1 2 4
Legal assistance Most legal assistance (19/22) received has been through Legal Aid. One person has received no assistance whatsoever. Even when it is given, the process and understanding is not accessible to the Vietnamese prisoners (see comments from focus group below). (Prisoners comments 17 September 2004) Legal Aid makes deals with DPP (Department of Public Prosecutions) I am NOT consulted and I only get told of their decision after the DPP has decided
Legal Aid has made all sorts of deals in my case but I did not understand any of it. In the end the people that offended with me got off with lighter sentences and I got the most severe sentence Legal Aid phone service is no use to us. The times that we can use it are very limited because Legal Aid staff are not manning the phone. Many times it is not staffed at all so this service is unavailable to us (17 Sep 04 meeting) ????????? Prison and Legal Service is supposed to be for all inmates but they dont care for individual prisoners needs Very blunt and extremely brief communications. Always too busy and only give abrupt short answers. The Legal Service number is almost always engaged so pretty useless to us (Focus group meeting 6 May 2005) CSC to confirm whether Police use TIS or in-house interpreters when apprehending and charging alleged criminal offenders from non-English speaking backgrounds CSC to confirm whether Court uses TIS or whether DPP can come with their own inhouse interpreter 1. Who helps prisoners with legal problems? Prisoners can make an appointment to see a counsellor We dont use counsellors because they cant do anything to help us legally 2. What is the progress of prisoners transfer requests? Three years ago I asked for a transfer to NSW because my family live there but nothing has happened yet In 2003 I lodged my most recent request for a transfer to Victoria so that my wife and children could visit me more easily but I havent heard nothing back I asked for a transfer in 2003 but it was denied because the Immigration Department had still not made a decision about my visa
Crimes, sentencing and appraisal Crimes and sentences Of the 19 who revealed their offence in the survey, most of the crimes are drug related (9/19): (Possession 2, Supplier 1, Trafficking 4, Drugs 2). Drug related crimes are given terms of up to 14 years and drug possession sentences range from 2 1/2 yrs to 12 years. As a result of this finding, this issue was discussed further in the focus groups as shown below. Focus Group Discussions: Why drug trafficking?
(Minutes 17 September 2004) No employment skills, lack of experience, no opportunity to get ahead Although I had even completed full time studies, without experience there was no chance of getting a job Family problems were so bad that I had to leave home and live on the streets When I was 16 years old I had a drug habit to support. I started because of peer pressure and everyone saw it as trendy. Then I got addicted. (15 October 2004) There is a Christmas clean-up in Inala. Police go around and start clearing away drugs, dealers and users from the area. so more Vietnamese get arrested and end up in prison The next largest group of offences is stealing/fraud (6/19 - fraud or Imposition 2, stealing 1, ATM job 1, break and enter 1, armed robbery 1). The other three are attempted murder 2, and manslaughter 1.
Table 10: Sentence according to offence category

Jail Term Category * Offence Category Crosstabulation Count Offence Category Manslaught Robbery/ er/Attempt Theft/Fraud Murder 0 5 1 1 2 0 3 6
Jail Term Category Total
up to 6 yrs 8 to 14yrs over 15yrs
Drug Related 3 6 0 9
Total 8 8 2 18
Sentencing Most of the group (76 percent) were sentenced in the Supreme Court. Half (10/20) were offered a plea bargain.
Figure 9: Where sentencing occurred
Court sentences
Magistrate 14% District 10%
Supreme 76%
Sentencing appraisals Most of the group rated their sentence as unfair (16/19), though 6 of them knew that it was a criminal offence. Nine of the nineteen respondents did not think that their crime was a criminal offence. These nine are charged with imposition 1, robbery/stealing 3, drug-related crimes 3 and attempted murder/manslaughter 2. The issue of perceived unfairness was discussed in the focus groups, as follows: (Prisoner comments 17 September 2004) White Australians also charged for really similar crimes got much smaller sentences because of plea bargaining with the DPP (Prisoner comments 6 May 05) 1. In the survey, 16 percent answered that they thought their prison sentence was unfair. Why? Became my English was bad I couldnt communicate what had happened in the Police interview when I was being charged. Even though there was an interpreter there, he wouldnt accurately tell the police what I was actually saying. Most of the interpreters that they used were from the Police Department and they would decide what information got written down on my statement This same pool of interpreters is used during the trial in court. Often interpreters only say what theyve been told by the Police to say. I just gave up in the end. I was so angry became the interpreter would not say what I wanted him to tell the court. He kept on telling me it wasnt important. What could I do? (Even now the prisoner appears visibly shaken and angry) There is a whole group of us. Things got violent and this guy badly hurts another guy. The guy who actually did it got a really light sentence because his English was pretty good. I was only an onlooker but I got a serious sentence became I couldnt defend myself in English. I didnt do the crime but the golden rule is not to grass up another offender. You keep quiet out of fear that theyll find out and harm your family payback. Queensland has the harshest laws in Australia. If I was charged in another state like New South Wales or Victoria the sentence is almost halved.
Some offenders get better sentence offers by being able to access better legal advice through Legal Aid. 4.4.6 Time served and understanding Over half of the prisoners surveyed (12/19) are currently serving the first two years of their sentence. Nearly one third have served 3 to 6 years. One prisoner has served 12 out of 15 years of his sentence.
Table 11: Amount of time served for different lengths of sentence
Years Served * Jail Term Category Crosstabulation Count Jail Term Category Years Served Total up to 2 yrs 3 to 6 yrs 12 yrs up to 6 yrs 8 1 0 9 8 to 14yrs 4 4 0 8 over 15yrs 0 1 1 2 Total 12 6 1 19
Understanding of situation and length of sentence Of the eight people who were given the shortest sentences (up to 6 years), two didnt have any understanding of their situation and four had only some understanding. Of the eight medium term prisoners (8 to 14 years), one understood while seven had some understanding. The three prisoners who have the longest sentences (over 15 years) were spread evenly over understanding, some understanding, and not understanding their situation.
Table 12: Understanding of situation for various jail terms
Understanding situation mostly understood Jail Term Category up to 6 yrs 8 to 14yrs over 15yrs Total 2 1 1 4 some understanding 4 7 1 12 didn't know 2 0 1 3
Total
8 8 3 19
4.4.7
The review process
This process does not seem to be equally accessible by Vietnamese prisoners, due to language and comprehension difficulties, as discussed in the meeting below: (Minutes of feedback meeting with management 15 October 2004) 1. Vietnamese prisoners are concerned that they are not advised of the outcome of their sentence management review
Whatever was advised at the panel Interview, the findings are reported back to each prisoner. The problem is that most Vietnamese prisoners do not understand what the document means and really should be encouraged to talk it over with their case officer for a more detailed understanding. One prisoner expressed his exasperation at the review process. The ORNI process continually assesses him as a high risk to society based primarily on the fact that he was only achieved a Year 9 level of education and that he has not completed the pre-requisite courses for parole. This prisoner feels dumb-founded because centre management refuses him access to the recommended rehabilitation programs. However when his conditional release comes up for consideration, he considers the Centre fails him because they say that he is still a risk to the community because he hasnt Completed these programs. Other prisoners agreed that the recommended rehabilitation courses are rarely available because of the small number of facilitators able to conduct there programs. These prisoners had applied but were told that there is a long waiting list. So the long termers keep getting pushed down the list of eligibility and seen as a low priority. The long termers become the disadvantaged ones. With the Centres appeal and assessments process there is a seven day turnaround in decisions being made but Vietnamese prisoners do not get any feedback on how their applications went. 4.4.8 Link between English proficiency, education, and jail term
Inspection of the data suggests that there is a relationship between English ability (speaking and comprehension) and length of sentence. Although there is not enough data to test this relationship for statistical significance, the data shows that the prisoners with the longest sentences speak average or poor English, the medium term (8 to 14 years) prisoners speak average or poor English and the prisoners with shorter sentences mostly speak average English. Two speak it well and two speak it poorly. Furthermore, most prisoners have only studied to Year 10. Two medium term prisoners (8 to 14 years) have only finished primary school.
Table 13: English proficiency and jail term
How well English ability * Jail Term Category Crosstabulation Count Jail Term Category up to 6 yrs 8 to 14yrs over 15yrs 2 2 0 5 2 1 2 5 2 9 9 3 Total 4 8 9 21
4.5
Education
Out of 20 respondents, one prisoner has no education, two have primary school, three quarters have Year 10 and two have a high school certificate.
Table 14: Relationship between education level and jail term

Highest level of study * Jail Term Category Crosstabulation Count Jail Term Category up to 6 yrs 8 to 14yrs over 15yrs 0 2 0 8 5 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 8 8 4 Total 2 15 2 1 20
Highest level of study Total
primary school year 10 certificate none
Willingness to study in spite of poor English Twenty of the respondents are currently engaged in study in the following subjects English language, Vietnamese, mathematics, computers, business and Years 11 and 12. The two who are not studying have Year 10 education. One third of the people who are studying are from Vietnam and speak poor English. Another two are from China and one is from Hong Kong, all of whom are studying although they speak poor English.
Table 15: Courses studied
Course English Computers Mathematics Literacy (ESL) Tertiary Preparation Other courses of study or applying
Count 5 3 6 7 2 3
% 25 15 30 35 10 15
Table 16: English ability according to country of birth
Vietnam 2 4 6 12
Country born in Hong China Kong Australia Malaysia 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 0 1 0 1
Total 2 7 9 18
The important role of education The quotes in the section below show how lack of educational opportunities was a strong contributing factor for Vietnamese prisoners becoming drug traffickers. The prisoners own descriptions of their frustrations with participating in courses within Woodford can be seen below in Blocks to Educational Advancement and their fears for
the future if nothing changes can be seen in section 4.8.4 under The Future: Drug related futures - if nothing changes. Educational history (Focus Group 1 April 2005) Prisoner 1 During Year 9 I realised that I was struggling with my schoolwork. I left school and started working in a bakery and a butchers shop. I am currently doing a preparation courses for entry to tertiary education When I was in Year 9 I was excluded from school. I wasnt doing well anyway so I began working in a factory and a restaurant Between Years 5 to 9 I didnt receive any special education support for my ADHD condition so by Year 9 I left school and started working at the Brisbane Sheridan Hotel for two years I studied to the equivalent of Year 11 in Vietnam and did very well. I got to Australia and was put into year 10. But because I had difficulties with English I struggled. My maths marks were really high though. Eventually I dropped out of school without completing Year 10 I struggled at school mainly because my English was not good and the schooling didnt give me ESL support. I finished Year 10 and got a welding apprenticeship After Year 10 I started but didnt complete a diploma in Hotel Management I managed to get to Year 11 mainly because my family really wanted their son to complete senior studies. But because of my difficulties with English, I gave up and worked in a restaurant I completed Year 12 and did very well. I was accepted into university for a drafting degree but deferred to help support my family
Prisoner 2 Prisoner 3
Prisoner 4
Prisoner 5
Prisoner 6 Prisoner 7
Prisoner 8
Blocks to Educational Advancement (Prisoners comments 15 October 2004 re: rehabilitation courses) Prisoners with conditional release sentences dont get on the program They tell you that if youre close to your parole date well put you on the list for rehab programs Not enough teachers as it is so not enough staff to run more courses (Meeting with management 15 October 2004) When the issue of rehabilitation courses not being made available to prisoners, staff concurred with this. The reason given for inadequate numbers of courses being conducted was that there just werent enough teachers for the number of prisoners needing to undertake these courses. Priority listing depends on full time release dates.
For example, 12 months prior to release or parole, then and only then do prisoners get onto the priority list. Therefore course inaccessibility is not due to discrimination based on age or culture but on date of prison release. (Focus group 4 March 2005) Prisoners discussed the centres core programs. The Violence Intervention Program (VIP), Cognitive Skills Program and the Relapse Prevention Programs all require a functional level of English. Completing these core programs was a prerequisite for parole. Approximately 10 to 15 Vietnamese prisoners need interpreting assistance to undertake and complete these courses. Vietnamese prisoners enrol in English as a Second Language programs in an attempt to improve their English skill to be able to undertake the centres core programs. However, it is not appreciated by management that learning a second language, especially one like English which bears no resemblance to Vietnamese, is very difficult. Few prisoners improve their English sufficient for them to undertake the programs with any level of confidence. One Vietnamese prisoner experiences very bad headaches from having to sit still for extended periods in ESL classes and often ends up in trouble with staff because he loses focus.
Education and rehabilitation: summary The well established relationship between levels of education and level of life success can be used to explain the history and current status of the Vietnamese prisoners at Woodford. That is, the prisoners in the focus group had either no ability or no chance to pursue a meaningful education prior to entering prison due to family pressures or language barriers. Within the prison there are still significant language barriers and lack of course and trainer availability. Moreover, poor education will continue to be an issue for these people after they leave prison if the system fails to find a way to give some sound education and training that will equip these men to find appropriate work when they leave. The quotes from a focus group discussion of prisoners aspirations shows that there is a will to develop skills for a future career. It is up to WCC to help the men to find a way. Aspirations of prisoners (Focus group meeting 1 April 2005) 1. How important is education in the Vietnamese culture? Education is seen as really important Vietnamese families have very high hopes of children succeeding academically and professionally 2. What job skills would you like to develop? Construction Industry (3 prisoners) Chef / hospitality (1 prisoner) Stick with existing trade in welding (1 prisoner)
Information Technology (2 prisoners) Garment manufacturing (1 prisoner) Salesman (1 prisoner) Three Vietnamese prisoners indicated that they already have introductory skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. 4.6 Daily Life in Jail
In jail, six of the group surveyed carry out cleaning, laundry or gardening tasks, five prisoners undertake education work or study, eight are involved in industrial work or in the woodwork facility and one works in textiles.
4.6.1
Cultural issues
Some of the main issues for the prisoners who participated in the survey and in the focus groups revolved around the needs of every day life. In particular was their desire that cultural food, media, and practises be included in everyday life. The main issues and suggestions for solutions are listed in Table17 below.
Table 17: Difficult issues and their solutions
Difficult issues My English is not good. No Chinese newspapers. Worried about mum. Food - more Asian food Cultural food entertainment
Suggested solutions Chinese newspaper. Chinese music. Chinese story book. Provide more food on buy-up list Provide food which we able to eat through the day No Chinese newspaper. English is not good. I need Chinese newspaper. Chinese Nobody talks to me in Chinese - i feel sad. music. Magazine. Story book. Food Asian food buy up for all the prisoner not only just the Asians so there is no issues. Food Provide more Asian foods for purchase on buy-up. No Asian meal Let us buy Asian food and provide our basic needs Asian diet, books and magazines, Asian N/A video (luxuries) Language. Food. Need some Chinese Language. Food. newspapers or music Asian diet or buy up book and newspaper - It would be helpful of the management to Asian video provide some of our needs Mainly meals, books and magazines, Asian Na video Food - need more food Provide more food to choose from Jobs, food, relatives, movies etc. So I'm lonely, confident in myself I solve problems myself It depends on the problem Food, as most Vietnamese prisoners are not More Asian food used to Australian food
Vietnamese culture practised in prison Mostly, it is the Chinese New Year that is observed at Woodford Correctional Centre by 90 percent of the respondents. Only 20 percent (4/21) practise food aspects of their culture and one third practise language aspects. These low rates are probably due to low availability, as shown by the requests in Table 17 above and Table 19 below.
Table 18: Numbers of respondents who practice aspects of their culture in prison
Aspect Practised Chinese new year Food Language
Count 19 4 7
% 90.5 19 33.3
Table 19: Aspects of culture that participants wish to practice
Other aspects desired to be practiced Cooking appliances to cook our own food English culture Family at Chinese new year, food Food, family for new years Moon festival Moon festival Need cooking appliances to cook more Newspapers, allow our family send Chinese books Provide certain type of food Vietnamese
Foremost among Vietnamese prisoners wish list of cultural aspects were Asian cooking items, Asian CDs, videos and DVDs, newspapers and magazines in Vietnamese and Chinese and to have members of their families join them in the celebration of the Chinese New Year and the Moon Festival. Time within the focus group meetings was allocated to develop democratically arrived at lists of food items to present to the By Up committee for their consideration and music CDs which would be soused from the music shop belonging to a prisoners aunt. (Prisoners comments 17 September 2004) We really want Centre Management to allow us to host Chinese New Year celebrations each year (close to the actual date) and to invite our family to celebrate with us just like the Aboriginal people can write their family for NAlDOC We want more Asian food on the buy up list instead of all the unhealthy chocolates and Sweets that are currently on the list. We want items like fish sauce, Oyster sauce (Maggi), MSG and soy sauce (Knorr or Maggi)
(Focus group 12 November 2004) List of preferred buy up items 1. Tom Yum noodles 2. Chinese sausage 3. Squid brand fish sauce 4. Yellow Crane brand vermicelli (rice sticks/noodles) 5. Panda brand oyster sauce 6. Migoreng brand noodles 7. Knorr brand soy sauce 8. MSG 454g packet 9. Rose brand rice paper 10. Lychee or rambutan or mixed logan fruit in plastic tubs List of preferred CD artists (several people were not sure of album titles) 1. V ti 2. Git nc mt cho i 3. Mt pht am m 4. Ngn nm vn i 5. Ngi tnh di gian 6. chiu 7. Ngy xa anh hi 8. V cui ng tnh 9. Lm sao anh bit 10. Tnh i c hay 11. T tm Progress on cultural issues raised by focus groups Some progress was made on a few of the cultural and everyday issues as a result of the feedback from the focus group to prison management, as follows: Books/magazines help with Vietnamese language learning (4 March 2005) Some younger Vietnamese prisoners advised that they are now learning to write their traditional Vietnamese language because of the access to Vietnamese newspapers available at the Centres library. Food interest by other prisoners (6 May 2005) White Anglo prisoners have asked one of the Vietnamese prisoners o teach Vietnamese cooking to them in the Residential section.
Purchase of dragon drums (6 May 2005) Two traditional double dragon drums and cymbals were delivered to the prison. All the prisoners greatly appreciated the generous effort of local businesses and people in their endeavours to raise funds for their musical instruments. Previously the prisoners had used upturned bins as drums in their New Year celebrations. The drums have become another one of the Vietnamese prisoners cultural resources used for celebration and educational purposes. Cross cultural training for WCC staff (1 April 2005) We completed the first round of cross cultural training for staff. Sixteen attended this all day workshop on 30 March All of the staff who attended thought the training was really good and helpful. It was eye opening to get behind their culture and understand things from the Vietnamese prisoners perspectives WCC will continue training arrangements for other staff and will endeavour to run sessions when specific cultural questions relating to Vietnamese prisoners are raised by staff Blocks to requests for cultural items Many of the everyday as well as cultural issues that were asked for in the survey and in the focus group meetings were not resolved due to prison procedures and processes. Following focus group meetings with prisoners, Council staff would raise arising issues with management. In response to these issues reassurances would be made to ensure that blocks would be addressed. Overall, there was no consistency in the response and what Council Stuff thought would get fixed would work once or twice and then break down. This occurred in the following examples: Blocks to personal Vietnamese phone calls (Meeting 4 March 2005) WCC staff insist that all telephone conversations are to be in the English language but to speak in English to other Vietnamese is considered an insult to Vietnamese customs. Vietnamese families are very strict about speaking Vietnamese to one another and are very particular about preserving their culture, language and traditions. Prisoners are also uncomfortable with this because many cannot communicate adequately in English. On occasions, WCC staff behave in what appears to be an obstructionist manner regarding the making of phone calls by Vietnamese prisoners. One such example is documented below: Cameo: a Vietnamese prisoner at WCC had a brother who was being deported from Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre to Vietnam. The prisoner sought permission from WCC counsellor to make an inter-prison phone call but was required to provide proof
of this relationship to do so. Because this was impossible to arrange on such short notice, the phone call was denied and the prisoner experienced symptoms of depression for an extended period because he couldnt speak with his brother before deportation. Procedural blocks to food (15 October 2004) Management expressed concerns over the difficulty in trying to source local suppliers of Asian food items, Council staff replied that they had found a reliable outlet in Morayfield which was willing to supply the prison with Asian food items from the list compiled by the Vietnamese prisoners. The staff member also stipulated that all ingredients must be packaged in plastic containers because of security requirements. He added that there was limited storage space and that it was not refrigerated. Procedural blocks to buy-ups One of the items most requested by prisoners was the availability of Asian food items. When prison management was approached about including Asian items on the prisons buy up list (items that the prisoners can purchase themselves), they informed Council staff of the procedure to influence the makeup of the list. This was then communicated to prisoners at the next focus group meeting. (Focus group meeting 1 April 2005) Council staff advised prisoners that because of lack of storage space at the prison, the buy-up list was limited to only 40 items. This list should be representative of the desires of all prisoners at WCC. But it was considered unlikely that Asian products would be considered a priority by prisoners if there was no representation by Vietnamese prisoners on the PAC Board. One prisoner asked whether Council staff could ask management if there were any multicultural prisoners on this Board and who was eligible to join. In a subsequent feedback session, management replied that currently there were no multicultural prisoners on the PAC Board, and that any prisoner could join the Board. (Focus group meeting 6 May 2005) At this meeting, Council staff recommended that some of the Vietnamese prisoners join the PAC Board as soon as possible to negotiate the introduction of Asian food items on the existing buy-up list. One prisoner who had previously been a member of the PACC Board expressed in a cynical tone, It is a waste of time being on the Board. We are in a minority so dont even get a look in. All the white prisoners are interested in is junk food. Theyve got to have their lollies! Most of the list is made up of junk food. Procedural blocks to receiving CDs (15 October 2004)
CDs are among the only items permitted to be sent from outside WCC to prisoners. A number of Vietnamese families have posted CDs to family members in jail only to have them withheld. At the 4 March 2005 meeting, management gave an explanation as to why these CDs were not being released to the prisoners. WCC considered these to be pirated copies and hence a breach of copyright legislation. Again at the 1 Apr 2005 meeting Council staff were asked to inform the prisoners to tell their families not to send any copied CDs because the Centre will only accept commercially produced ones. The prisoners informed Council staff that the copyright regimen in Vietnam differs to that in the West. A Vietnamese commercial operator usually pays copyright for 60 to 100 copies of a CD. Each operator is entitled to make the designated number of copies and to on sell these. This practice complies with Vietnamese legislation and is the only mechanism available to Vietnamese businesses in Australia to purchase and on sell CDs. As a result of this being communicated with management, some of the withheld CDs were released to prisoners. However because this decision has not been formally communicated to the appropriate staff, the results have been hit and miss, with many prisoners still not receiving CDs sent by their families. Procedural blocks to showing of videos After much negotiation with management, Council was permitted to negotiate with a Vietnamese video store in Inala to provide videos. A list of video preferences were prepared by the prisoners and delivered to the Violet Raindrops Video Store. Just before the first shipment, management informed Council staff that the Centres video players are being replaced by DVD machines. As a result there was considerable delay in being able to view their Asian movies. (1 April 2005) One movie was played on Sunday afternoon (English language) and another on Monday night (Chinese language) in the Residential and Secure 1 sections of the jail. Secure 2 prisoners did not see these movies. No other DVDs have been played since the viewing in the week following the last meeting. Subtitle programming problem: second movie was in Chinese language and no subtitles were programmed in when movie played on DVD unit. Prisoners could not understand the content as most do not speak the Chinese language. Requested Vietnamese sub-title as first preference then English as second preference Programming Problem: guards cannot program DVD with sub-titles as only trained to play DVDs, not program machine Procedural blocks to books and magazines (17 September 2004) Different access arrangements to library and other facilities for prisoners who reside in Residential, Secure 1 and Secure 2
(15 October 2004) Magazines and newspapers are not allowed to be sent to prisoners from family or friends Some procedural blocks to Buddhism classes (1 April 2005) Management cannot see any problem with non-Vietnamese prisoners attending the Buddhist philosophy classes but a formal program must be proposed and developed with WCC first Procedural blocks to Chinese New Year (4 May 2005) Department of Corrective Services assessment of traditional celebrations is presently underway and therefore WCC unable to confirm that prisoners families will attend the Vietnamese New Year celebration on an annual basis. Management team in head office must approve whether this will be an annually recurring event. Concerns were expressed that this precedent could mean that other cultural groups may also request their own day of celebration.
4.6.2
Health Issues
Half of the participants (11/22) rated their overall health as good or very good, while 36 percent (8/22) rated their overall health as fair or poor. Three said they didnt know. Of the 22 surveyed, 15 indicated at least one health problem. Most of these indicated problems with headaches (32%) or with sleep (27%).
Table 20: Self assessment of health levels
Health_analysis Dont_know Fair Good Poor Very_good Total
Count 3 7 7 1 4 22
% 14 32 32 5 18 100
Table 21: Health issues experienced
Health Issue Headaches Sleep difficulties Anxiety/Depression Anger Hygiene
Count 7 6 4 4 1
% 32 27 18 18 5
Other health conditions that were listed by the prisoners were back-pain, hay-fever, headache and back-pain, Hepatitis C and skin sensitivity. Two of the prisoners (with back-pain and hay-fever) need medical assistance in managing these conditions. Unclear relationship between heath Issues and self assessments Table 22 shows that health issues do not seem to effect Vietnamese prisoners perceptions of their own health. (The dont knows are included in the analysis below as while these answers have a multitude of meanings, they probably do not mean good). The main patterns in the table are: Of those who do get headaches, over half (4/7) rated their overall health as being good or very good, and just under half (3/7) rated their health as fair or poor. Of those who do have sleep issues, half (3/6) rated their overall health as being good or very good and half as fair Of those who do have anxiety issues, half (2/4) rated their overall health as being good or very good, and half did not know Of those who do have anger issues, half (2/4) rated their overall health as being good or very good and half as fair or did not know In summary, most of the health issues listed (sleep, anxiety, or anger) shows no pattern of affect on peoples stated levels of health, though headaches may have some effects. This result may be due to the health issues having no real impact on the half of the prisoners; or an unwillingness in half of the prisoners to admit to health issues. However data later shows that how prisoners are treated by others does have some effect on their stated levels of health.
Table 22: Relationship between Heath Issues and Self Assessments (Counts and Percents based on 15 respondents)
headache 2 very good 2 good 2 fair 1 poor 0 don't know Column Total 7 46.7 6 40.0 4 26.7 4 26.7 1 6.7 15 100.0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 sleep 1 anxiety 1 anger 1 hygiene 0 3 20.0 4 26.7 5 33.3 1 6.7 2 13.3
4.6.3
Treatment by others
Many respondents (43%) indicated that they are treated differently by other prisoners at least sometimes because of being Vietnamese. Of these respondents, most are medium term prisoners (8-14 years). Staff treat over half (11/21) of respondents differently. Of these, four are short term (up to 6 months) prisoners, five are medium term prisoners (814 years), and two are long term prisoners (over 15 years).
Table 23: Whether Vietnamese prisoners are treated differently by other prisoners according to length of sentence
Jail Term Category * Other prisoners treatment Crosstabulation Count Other prisoners treatment yes no sometimes 1 6 2 0 4 5 1 2 0 2 12 7 Total 9 9 3 21
Table 24: Whether Vietnamese prisoners are treated differently by staff according to length of sentence
Jail Term Category * Other staff treatment Crosstabulation Count Other staff treatment yes no sometimes 0 5 4 0 3 5 2 2 0 2 10 9 Total 9 8 4 21
Treatment and English ability Five people who do not speak English well report being treated differently by other prisoners, and four report different treatment by staff.
Table 25: Treatment and English ability
How well English ability * Other prisoners treatment Crosstabulation Count Other prisoners treatment yes no sometimes 0 3 1 0 5 3 2 3 3 2 11 7 Total 4 8 8 20
Language rejection (12 November 2004) Guards take offence when we speak in Vietnamese Treatment and health The data was investigated to test if there any relationship between health issues for prisoners, and whether they are treated differently because they are Vietnamese by other prisoners and staff. Overall, the results suggest that being treated differently by staff due to being Vietnamese does have some effect on some health issues, as follows.
Treatment and self assessment There are four people who are treated differently by other prisoners at least sometimes who rate their overall health as fair, and 1 who doesnt know. That is, 5/22 may be affected by different treatment by other prisoners. Similarly, there are four people who are treated differently by staff at least sometimes who rate their overall health as fair, and 2 who dont know. That is, 6/22 may be affected by different treatment by staff. Table 26: Different treatment and self assessment
Different Treatment Due Vietnamese yes no sometimes Health Tment by Others staff Others Staff Others Staff Others Staff Others Staff Column Total Column Total 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 9.5 2 9.5 12 57.1 10 47.6 3 2 3 4 3 3 1 0 2 1 7 33.3 9 42.9 0 1 3 3 3 4 0 0 1 1 4 4 6 7 7 7 1 0 3 3 21 100.0 21 100.0 19.0 19.0 28.6 33.3 33.3 33.3 4.8 0.0 14.3 14.3
very good
good
fair
poor
don't know Others Staff
Treatment by others and particular health issues Headaches and sleep difficulties seem to be reported more than other health issues by prisoners who are treated differently by other prisoners at least sometimes (53% of respondents), and by prisoners who are treated differently by staff at least sometimes (78% of respondents). Three people have anxiety issues.
Table 27: Different treatment and Health Issues
Different Treatment Due to being Vietnamese yes no sometimes N % 2 | 1 2 | 1 0 | 1 0 | 1 0 | 0 2 14.3 2 13.3 3 0 2 1 2 1 3 2 0 0 4 28.6 7 46.7 8 57.1 6 40.0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 7 46.7 6 42.9 40.0 6 42.9 26.7 4 28.6 26.7 4 28.6 6.7 1 7.1
HealthIssue Headache
TmentBy Others| Staff Others| Staff Others| Staff Others| Staff Others| Staff Column Total Column Total
Sleep
Anxiety
Anger
Hygiene
Others Staff
14 100.0 15 100.0
Overall, it seems that different treatment by staff has a greater bearing on health issues for Vietnamese prisoners than different treatment by other prisoners. However, both have some important relationships to be considered further. In particular, headaches as a health issue is significantly related to whether or not the Vietnamese prisoners are treated differently by staff (Chi-squared = 7.66, p=.02). That is, most of the people who report no different treatment by staff do not get headaches; however, just over half (6/11) of the people who report being treated differently by staff also report headaches. The pattern for sleep issues as related to different treatment by staff is similar to the pattern for headaches; however, it is not significant.
Table 28: Different treatment by staff and headaches
Crosstab Count yes Health issues - headaches Total yes no Other staff treatment no sometimes 1 0 5 1 10 4 2 10 9 Total 6 15 21
4.6.4
Other issues in prison
Complaints processes Of the fifteen prisoners who responded to the survey question regarding the official complaints processes, some (4) say that official processes are very effective, three quarters say they are sometimes effective, and one says they are not effective.
Table 29: Effectiveness of official complaints process
Effectiveness of official processes Process No Not_effective Sometimes Very_effective Total 1 (7%) 10 (67%) 4 (27%) 15 (100%)
Dealing with issues in prison Most prisoners responding to this question (11/17) say they deal with issues regarding conditions individually, while just over a third (6/17) said they do nothing.
4.7
Family visits
Family visits do not happen very often among this group of prisoners. The reasons are given below. 4.7.1 Frequency of visits
Most people are visited monthly (7/19), or very rarely (7/19). Two are visited fortnightly (one divorced one single) and one (married) is visited weekly. Most of those visited on a monthly basis are single people. Four of the seven who are visited rarely are married or de-facto. Three of these four prisoners with families living in southern states have asked them not to visit because of the travel and accommodation expenses involved.
Table 30: Family situation and visitation
Martial status * Family visits Crosstabulation Count weekly Martial status married defacto separated divorced single 1 0 0 0 0 1 fortnightly 0 0 0 1 1 2 Family visits monthly very rarely 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 6 2 7 7 never 0 0 0 0 2 2 Total 3 2 2 1 11 19
Total
4.7.2 Transport issues The pattern of visitation is significantly different for families with and without transport issues (Chi-squared = 10.4 p<.05). Prisoners who have transport issues are mostly visited very rarely, while those without transport issues are mostly visited monthly.
Table 31: Visits and transport issues
Family transport issues * Family visits Crosstabulation Count weekly Family transport issues Total yes no 1 0 1 fortnightly 0 1 1 Family visits monthly very rarely 2 7 5 0 7 7 never 1 2 3 Total 11 8 19
Comments given in the survey regarding the relationship between transport and family visits are as follows: I dont have family in Australia. I came here by myself for study Because my family lives far away Because my family lives far away and everybody is busy working Maybe a bus could come from the railway station to jail My family is living in Victoria, therefore they have difficulty visiting me although they really want to visit me more often, especially my two children and my wife My only desire is to have someone take my children to visit me (Meeting 6 May 2005) Q. Why the low frequency of visits?
Mainly because my family is interstate. I was charged in Queensland but family live in Victoria If they visit me every two to three months thats okay because its difficult for family to come all the time because of work and family pressures Q. What is the progress of prisoners transfer requests? Person 9: Person 2: Person 4: Three years ago I asked for a transfer to NSW but nothing has happened In 2003 I again lodged a request to be transferred to Victoria no answer! I asked for a transfer in 2003 but it was denied because DIMIA had still not made a decision about my visa
4.8 4.8.1
The future Release from WCC
The most difficult issues to be faced when released from jail are work (6), money (6), accommodation (4), community support (3), relationships (3). Equal amounts of prisoners (43%) hope to get support from family and from Centrelink when leaving jail. Four people do not know where they will go. (Meeting 4 March 2005) WCC Work Release Work release program is ineffective because it does not run for long enough to be of any real benefit to prisoners: The work skills we learn here are below the basic employment standards out there so theres not much hope of getting a job when we leave here Its impossible for me to save much from the wages they pay us in here so how can I survive out there? Woodford pays us $33 for 4 days work each week so its virtually impossible to save any of this money 4.8.2 Family situation and perspective on future
Of the five inmates that are married or de-facto and who responded regarding the future, 2 believe that their life outside of jail will be difficult, whereas 3 believe that they will have a positive outcome. Of the 12 inmates with children who responded regarding the future, half believe that life outside of prison will be difficult, and half are optimistic about their future. 4.8.3 Support needed
One focus group discussion revolved around what help would be required when leaving WCC. Prisoners asked for the following:
(Focus group meeting 12 November 2004) Centrelink money and help with finding a job Some type of counselling service in our own language Help in finding a place to live Help with my family and counselling for them and me before I get released 4.8.4 Drug related futures - if support not given
The prisoners in the focus group were very clear that if changes are not made to develop their skills, that they will probably return to crime when released. (Meeting 4 March 2005) Theres a really chance that well return to selling drugs if we cant get a job. Our families will be depending on us for money and because of our difficulties with language and also now that we have a criminal record, it will be pretty hard for us to survive! This is like handing us Vietnamese a drug licence to continue to deal drugs. We dont have job skills. The chances of getting work is really low.
4.8.5
Deportation
Future deportation is a real concern for several prisoners, and it is unclear how they can deal with it. (Focus group meeting 1 April 2005) o o Several Vietnamese prisoners confirmed that as permanent residents they were surprised to discover that they could be deported from Australia back to Vietnam Several spoke of recent correspondence received from Department of Immigration advising them that their possible deportation is currently under review A 20yr old Vietnamese prisoner confirmed that if he is deported back to Vietnam, he has no family or social support networks there, which is extremely disturbing for him. A final decision is still pending
(Focus Group Meeting 6 May 05) Deportation concerns for Person3 and Person4 If a non-citizen prisoner is sentenced for more than 12 months, DIMIA can choose to deport the offender. Such procedures and decisions are undertaken by the Character Section of DIMIA who send out a letter notifying a migrant of their need to consider DIMIAs right to review their case for possible deportation. The DIMIA term used in the letter is NOT deportation but removal. Any recipient of a DIMIA letter has 14 days to reply to the letter as to why they should not deport them. Sometimes their VISA is not cancelled but theyre given a warning
If there are dependent family members they are not deported - just the person receiving the letter. Family and siblings can choose to stay or go. Person3 and Person4 both did NOT receive letter from DIMIA. There is no copy on their prisoner file at WCC. Person3 and Person4 told by WCC that there visas were already cancelled but DIMIA havent made their final decision yet Fax from DIMIA to WCC in 2002 re. Person3 and Person4 was DIMIA requesting sentence details from WCC. Nothing further is on file. CSC to follow up progress of Person3 and Person4 cases with DIMIA urgently. Another Vietnamese prisoner received letter from DIMIA and replied within 14 days and was allowed to stay Approx. 4-6 other Vietnamese prisoners have received these letters from DIMIA They only found out about these letters at the WCC 6mthly prisoner review (6 May 05) o Staff 1 confirmed that the only DIMIA fax received was on 18/2/2002 requesting eligibility dates for prisoners release (Section 501 of Migration Act 1958) o CSC Pursuing immediate advocacy intervention on behalf of Person3 and Person4 on their request to resolve visa matters outstanding with DIMIA 4.8.6 Prevention
Suggestions for Prevention Of the 10 respondents who thought that some of the steps suggested in the survey would be helpful in preventing other Vietnamese from ending up in jail, 6 supported the school-to-work transition program and 7 supported the alternative learning program. Other suggestions given by the inmates to prevent Vietnamese from ending up in jail are listed below. Table 31: Suggestions for preventing other Vietnamese from offending Other ideas to prevent other Vietnamese Asian club, entertainment centre Educated life. E.g. jail drug<-----|------> not drugs, live happy. Good behaviour Having a job Police community youth club is helpful for the youths growing up Programs that encourage young people, jail is not a place to end-up, no future. Youth club for the youth to teach them to be aware of their actions (Focus Group Meeting 6 May 05) A longer business transition so that work release funds saved by WCC (on behalf of prisoners) and skills / experienced gained are all at a more optimum level that will be beneficial on release from prison Getting straight into employment is a significant deterrent from resuming any illegal business activities Having access to appropriate networks to study, establish own business or acquire gainful employment with existing skills
Conclusion Most of the questions and issues raised by Centre Management and Council in the initial meeting were addressed in the survey or during the focus group discussions. In this way, the project has achieved some of the original aims. However, while the prisoners have provided many of the required answers so far, it is in the process and the flow of action/inaction resulting from the feedback from the group discussions where we see a set of unanswered issues. The important issues that were dealt with in the survey and in the focus groups and the subsequent highlighting of procedural blocks to change are depicted in Figure 10 below.
Figure10: Relationships between overall issues raised showing procedural and language blocks to improving everyday quality of life and effective rehabilitation
Positive prospects for the future
Trust in prison processes
Positive daily outlook
Fair sentencing
Positive review & parole
Cultural additions to everyday life
Good health
Effective legal assistance
Effective education & rehab
Procedures/rules blocking these from occurring
Language and procedural blocks
Videos NewYear Food
Music
Books/Mags Visits
Culturally competent staff
Phone calls
Effective interpreter help
Timely & equal access to courses
The bottom line in the figure above shows the main issues that were raised by Vietnamese prisoners involved in the study. The discussions revealed how these everyday concerns are related prisoners higher goals, shown in the links to the higher nodes of Figure 10. These higher goals of effective education and rehabilitation, positive review and parole, helping to instil in prisoners a positive daily outlook on life and a trust of prison processes designed for rehabilitation, all resonate with the goals of the Woodford Correctional Centre administration as revealed in the initial consultation meetings. The upward links show how addressing the issues along the bottom line would be an effective strategy for attaining the higher goals of both the prisoners and the administration. However, it was revealed over the course of the study, that a solution to nearly each and every issue that was raised for action was blocked somewhere or came
to nothing due to prison rules and procedures or due to difficulties with language and understanding. The results suggest that the problems for attaining positive outcomes for all are not just problems of isolation or discrimination towards prisoners by any particular staff member but systemic problems that arise from applying the same set of rules and procedures to Vietnamese prisoners that are used to give other prisoners access to cultural pleasures, self development and legal rights. These same rules restrict the cultural pleasures, self development and legal rights of Vietnamese prisoners. To effectively help Vietnamese prisoners then, requires some flexibility within the system as it stands or a complementary set of rules and procedures for Vietnamese prisoners that sit side by side with those for other prisoners. Treatment programs need to be developed specifically for NESB Prisoners, if we are going to help to change and adapt those aspects of their values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that are not acceptable under Australian law. As statistics show, there has been an increase in NESB Prisoners incarcerated over the last decade and it is forecasted that this increase will continue. Prisoners are recommended to participate in a range of treatment programs to address their offending behaviour, thereby reducing the possibility of re-offending. Thus, as Hollin (1995) points out, it becomes imperative that these programs are developed and delivered in a manner that maximizes each participants understanding of the program concepts. Current treatment programs do not appear to be working for NESB Prisoners. The Cognitive Skills program (for example) requires Prisoners to demonstrate through written and oral communication, their ability to empathize with the victim of their crime. As previously noted in this proposal, the Vietnamese people do not say sorry as not only is it not in their vocabulary but it is very important part of their culture of saving face. Consequently, exit reports for Vietnamese Prisoners from this program, usually imply that they are less empathetic than mainstream Prisoners. A further example with program content is evidenced in the Anger Management program where Prisoners are required to identify their own psychological symptoms for anger and rate their responses according to their level of anger. Also as part of saving face, Vietnamese do not display anger in public. As noted throughout this proposal, the majority of Vietnamese Prisoners are incarcerated for trafficking drugs and drug use. The existing Drug and Alcohol treatment program does not address the issue of drug trafficking. Whilst acknowledging that the focus of this proposal has been on the Vietnamese Prisoners, as they represent one of the fastest growing Prisoner population groups, I am acutely aware that the Vietnamese Prisoners are not a homogenous group nor are all the NESB Prisoners. Therefore, treatment programs would have to be developed taking these factors into consideration. To reiterate, if intervention programs are to successfully address the criminogenic needs of NESB Prisoners, they need to reflect: Cultural, linguistic and religious/spiritual differences and difficulties. The concept of saving face. The dimension of collectivism vs individualism.
References Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2004). 4517.0 Prisoners in Australia. (On Line). www.abs.gov.au Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2003). 4517.0 Prisoners in Australia. (On Line) www.abs.gov.au Australian Institute of Criminology, (2000). 150. Australian Corrections: Main demographic characteristics of prison populations. (On Line.) www.aic.gov.au Australian Institute of Criminology, (1999). Ethnicity and crime. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice 117. (On Line) ww.aic.gov.au Beck, J. (1995). Cognitive behaviour therapy. New York:The Guilford Press Beyer, L. (2003). Inadequacies of published statistics: Policy and debate on heroin in the community. Paper presented at the Evaluation in Crime and Justice: Trends and Methods Conference. Criminology Department, University of Melbourne. Beyer, L. Reid, G. & Crofts, N. (2001), Ethnic based differences in drug offending. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology. Vol 34 No2 pp169181. Burley, J. (1990). The Vietnamese and the law. Legal Service Bulletin Vol 15, pp200-203 Cuthbertson, D. (1999). Prison services slammed. Brimbank Messenger, Tuesday 02 February, p3. Department of Corrective Services Strategic Plan 2003-2007. (2003). (On Line). www.dcs.qld.gov.au Fromkin, V., Blair, D., & Collins, P. (1999), An introduction to language. Sydney: Harcourt Hassen, R., Healy, J., McHenna, R., & Hearst, S. (1991). Ethnic family values in Australia. Institute of Family Studies. Sydney: Prentice Hall. Hollin, C. (1995). The meaning and implication of programme integrity. In J McGuire (Ed) ,What works: reducing re-offending; guidelines from research and practice. (pp195-208). Chichester: Wiley Home Office Findings 233. (2004). An evaluation of the literacy demands of general offending behavior programmes. (On Line). www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications. Managing Differences (1998). Cross-cultural briefing. Melbourne. Poh-Ling, T. (Ed) (1997). Asian legal systems law, society and pluralism in East Asia. Melbourne: Butterworths.
Traan, V., (2004). Vietnamese culture, compiled and translated: the Vietnamese family.(On line) www.vietcatholic.net/culture/family.htm Victorian Government Health Information (1997). Drugs in a multicultural community: An assessment of involvement. (On line) www.health.vic.gov.au/drugservices/pub/drugsmulti.htm

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Upside Down Inside Out

Making sense of Vietnamese prisoner issues

Upside Down Inside Out:

Joy Leishman Mayor

2. Background Preamble Initial Inquiry with Prisoners Action Plan

Table 2: Country of birth

Country of birth Australia China Hong Kong Malaysia Vietnam Total

Table 3: Length of stay according to country of origin

Years lived in Australia

Figure 2: Age breakdown

Over 30: 26%

Below 30: 74%

The families of prisoners

Languages spoken at home

Cantonese 14% English 5%

Very w ell 19% Average 38%

Not very w ell 43%

very well average not very well Total

Frequency Percent 3 18.8 7 43.8 5 15 31.3 93.8

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 All Not much Some

Figure 6: How prisoners are communicated with in jail

Other prisoners 64%

Not at all 12%

Didn't know 16%

Some understanding 63%

Mostly understood 21%

Table 6: Understanding of situation according to English proficiency

How well English ability Total

very well average not very well

Interpreter provided yes

Unaware of interpreter availability

Frequency Percent 13 59.1 9 40.9 22 100.0

Valid Cumulative Percent Percent 59.1 59.1 40.9 100.0 100.0

Table 10: Sentence according to offence category

Jail Term Category Total

up to 6 yrs 8 to 14yrs over 15yrs

Magistrate 14% District 10%

The review process

How well English ability Total

very well average not very well

Table 14: Relationship between education level and jail term

Highest level of study Total

primary school year 10 certificate none

Table 16: English ability according to country of birth

How well English ability Total

very well average not very well

Country born in Hong China Kong Australia Malaysia 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 0 1 0 1

Aspect Practised Chinese new year Food Language

Table 19: Aspects of culture that participants wish to practice

Health_analysis Dont_know Fair Good Poor Very_good Total

Table 21: Health issues experienced

Health Issue Headaches Sleep difficulties Anxiety/Depression Anger Hygiene

Jail Term Category Total

up to 6 yrs 8 to 14yrs over 15yrs

Jail Term Category Total

up to 6 yrs 8 to 14yrs over 15yrs

How well English ability Total

very well average not very well

don't know Others Staff

Other issues in prison

The future Release from WCC

Positive prospects for the future

Trust in prison processes