Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Boot camps not effective - Maori Party

Updated at 9:50 am on 27 July 2011

The Maori Party says boot camps may help prevent young people from reoffending in other countries but are not effective in New Zealand.

Two trial boot camps have been run since July last year, with 17 volunteers. Eleven of the volunteers who took part are Maori.

A progress report on the boot camp trials found four volunteers went on to prison and 10 reoffended.

But in a statement, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said it was too early to report meaningfully on the results of the camps.

She said the Government is determined to keep trying to break entrenched offending.

Maori Party justice spokesperson Rahui Katene says the camps are only part of the solution.

She says rehabilitation is the answer rather than short sharp shocks, and it is important to work with the young people, their families and communities..

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