Practice: the New Zealand Corrections Journal, 2018, 6(2). Open access

The Kimihia Violence Prevention Programme (Kimihia) is a rehabilitation programme aimed at assisting women with high and complex needs to address their offending behaviour. It was developed in response to the increased numbers of women being convicted of serious offending and given custodial sentences. The programme has a violence prevention focus and is suitable for those women whose risk, complex personality features and behaviours would prevent them from attending other established women’s programmes such as Kowhiritanga. The programme is facilitated by two psychologists.

Kimihia was developed as an extension to existing departmental programmes and based on research about what works with women with high and complex needs. The programme was piloted at Auckland Regional Women’s Correctional Facility (ARWCF) from 6 March to 28 June 2018. The implementation of the pilot programme was a dynamic process with a focus on responsivity within the theoretical framework. In practice this meant that the content was modified to best meet the needs of the women as the pilot progressed.

The development of the programme was a consultative process and involved input from a number of stakeholders, perhaps most importantly, incarcerated women who had completed a women’s programme. During this consultation process the name Kimihia was gifted to the project. (Introduction). A number of articles in issue focus on the needs of female offenders. Record #6112