Garth McVicar: Family breakdown is behind our high prison numbers

Stuff nz co 24 July 2018
Family First Comments: Well said, Garth…
“How did one of the safest countries in the Western world end up spiralling to a totally unacceptable level of crime. Why is it that even locking people up doesn’t stop new criminals emerging? What is different about our country now that is creating this new breed of criminals? The one common denominator – that Mr Little and his colleagues won’t dare talk about – is the traditional family. I’m talking about a stable family unit; two parents and the children they bring into a loving cherished relationship – where the child grows up being taught right from wrong – and to become a law-abiding contributing citizen. The figures on the demise of the traditional family speak for themselves.”
Read our report on this issue https://www.familyfirst.org.nz/2018/06/prison-rates-reflect-weakening-of-family-structure-report/

OPINION: “We reap what we sow” originated from farming to highlight the experience that, if you don’t work in partnership with nature, you get a dud crop.

This phrase comes to mind when I think about the latest twist in the crime and punishment debate: the numbers of people in prisons.

The focus on the product of crime – prisoners and victims – gives little attention to the root causes of the problem. That is to say, we are worried by what we’re reaping and not enough by what we’re sowing.

Justice Minister Andrew Little wants to find ways to reduce the prison population. Essentially, this will be achieved by softening bail legislation and making parole easier to get.

The result will be more offenders on the streets. The streets will become more dangerous and public safety will suffer as a consequence.

The inconvenient truth about high prison rates is that crime has fallen. New Zealand’s homicides peaked at 176 a year, but have now declined to about 80, and the rate is still falling.

As New Zealand locked up its criminals for longer, the terrible crimes that resulted in the formation of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, such as the murders of Teresa Cormack, Kylie Smith, and Karla Cardno have declined.

But locking people up is a response to criminals, not the complete answer to preventing the creation of criminals.

I was born in 1951, at a time when New Zealand’s crime and prison numbers were incredibly low, averaging one or two homicides a year until the early 1960s.

So what went wrong? How did one of the safest countries in the Western world end up spiralling to a totally unacceptable level of crime. Why is it that even locking people up doesn’t stop new criminals emerging? What is different about our country now that is creating this new breed of criminals?

The one common denominator – that Mr Little and his colleagues won’t dare talk about – is the traditional family.I’m talking about a stable family unit; two parents and the children they bring into a loving cherished relationship – where the child grows up being taught right from wrong – and to become a law-abiding contributing citizen.

The figures on the demise of the traditional family speak for themselves:

* In 1961, 95 per cent children were born into a traditional family with married parents.

* By 2015, only 53 per cent were brought into the world by parents who were married.

* A child who grows up without a father is five times more likely to commit crime.

* Evidence shows more children are abused in de-facto-type households, and a child that has been abused is 20 times more likely to end up in prison.

For Māori the figures are worse:

* In 1968, 72 per cent of Māori children were born to married parents.

* By 2015, only 21 per cent were born into a traditional family, of mother and father married to each other.

The stark fact is that the mantra “all forms of family/whānau are equal” is clearly absolute nonsense, and the statistics prove that to be so.

The evidence is clear that a child needs a father who wants and loves them. This is the best way to raise a child to become a law-abiding contributing member of society.

Mr Little’s justice summit won’t dare say anything like that.

They fear they might offend the Left-wing liberals who have been at the forefront of breaking down the family unit. These liberals would rather focus on the problem of prison numbers than face the reality of what their social ideology has created.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/105682015/garth-mcvicar-family-breakdown-is-behind-our-high-prison-numbers
http://nzh.tw/12110093

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