This new work is being critically acclaimed as an outstanding work of literary reportage. It’s been called an ‘immersive page-turner’; ‘nationally important’ and a ‘once-in-a-generation contribution to New Zealand writing about justice, class and wider society’.
Wellington lawyer and journalist Asher Emanual has written this non-fiction account of three men going through the NZ Criminal Justice System (CJS) in the Hutt Valley.
They are two unrelated offenders, one Māori and one Pākeha – Rikihana Wallace and Nathan Morley – and their over-stretched legal-aid lawyer Lewis Skerrett. Names are changed but all the dialogue and situations Emanuel collected and observed were painstakingly transcribed and double-checked.
It took Emanuel over two years of research and interviews to write. It also took unprecedented access and trust from his subjects as he shadowed them through the courts, prison, hospital, rehab, boarding houses and welfare offices. He carefully reviewed the whole book with Rikihana and Nathan before it went to print.
Asher Emanual knew about FASD before he began the book. His sources included the Paula Penfold documentary, Canadian research, the NZIER report and more. He knew some of the numbers (his research found that people with FASD make up around a quarter of those in jail in Aotearoa NZ but there are differing figures around the globe in comparative populations). Neither of Emanuel’s main protagonists have a diagnosis, but some of the justice sector workers are alive to the possibility, and FASD-informed readers are free to make their own assumptions.
Note: we are yet to get our hands on a copy of the book, but due its potential for drawing attention to FASD in the CJS, we wanted to find out sooner rather than later (both for our members and the media) whether FASD is a strong subject within it, so we got hold of the author for a quick chat.
“I had a sense that the reality of what goes on in the Criminal Justice System is very different to the picture most New Zealanders have; they are reliant on the news media for their understanding, and most of that doesn’t represent reality. I hope The Valley will show them the bigger picture – that day-to-day life in the Criminal Justice System in NZ is not just about goodies and baddies, mean cops and heroic defence lawyers and all those tropes.”
Does he really think it’s cheaper to put someone in jail than get them the support they need?
He’s convinced it is. “Prison is expensive, but so too are the kind of support and services that people facing compounding difficulties – like many in the prison population – need to overcome the challenges they face. Decades of austerity, privatisation and under-investment in the social services that could give better outcomes – health, mental health, housing – has taken a huge toll.
“Most of these organisations have less funding and the staff involved are under huge pressure. Most of them care about the people they support so they just keep going, papering over the cracks and working longer hours.”
He says statistics suggest that of the 11K people currently making up the numbers in NZ prisons, the vast majority are there because of social crisis of some kind, whether undiagnosed FASD, brain injury, trauma, substance abuse, or mental health issues. Many of our members whose adult children are in prison would confirm that in many cases, it can be all of the above.
These underlying issues mostly ensure that those who leave prison find it extremely hard to effectively utilise the services that are available due to those same issues – memory, impulsivity, executive and adaptive functioning challenges and more.
We discuss Dr Valerie McGinn’s pilot programme which launched last year and aims to pair released offenders with a community liaison who works closely with them to help them avoid re-entering the CJS by ensuring they meet bail conditions for example, and attend meetings on time. Emanuel agrees that unless they have this kind of close support (and most don’t) the chances are low that re-offending will be avoided.
“Well, I hope it will help people see the bigger picture – that this is a political problem requiring a political solution.”
FASD-CAN believes if that political solution were to mandate early assessment of at-risk tamariki (preferably in primary or early in secondary school when brain differences start to become apparent) and interventions put in place where necessary, adverse outcomes would diminish substantially.
Students with undiagnosed FASD can be traumatised for years by their behavioural symptoms being misunderstood both at school and at home. There is disengagement, followed by possible school breakdown – and from there things can go downhill rapidly.
They can’t get a job, fall out with their families, fall in with the wrong crowd, self-medicate, require funds – and entering the CJS becomes much more of a probability. This scenario can be nipped in the bud by early assessment and intervention.
“For the forseeable future I’ll be trying to ensure that The Valley gets as wide a reach as possible,” he says.
The good news is that the time of writing, The Valley’s first print run of 3,000 is close to selling out after just a few weeks, and a second print run has been ordered. It also has long waitlists in libraries across the country, (around 300 in Auckland).
We hope the media and politicians take notice. An election is coming, and if you’d like to email your local MP about our broken justice system, or about mandating early assessment, a template and instructions are available on our website here.
• If you’re a parent, caregiver or whānau of someone with FASD (or possible FASD) wanting to know more about FASD and justice, click here to learn more.
• If you’re a front-facing professional in the justice system in NZ, click here to find out more about FASD.
• To join our specific private Facebook support group for parents and caregivers of people with FASD in the justice system in Aotearoa NZ, click here to join us.
• If your loved one with FASD is in trouble and you need one-to-one support, get in touch with one of our Kaiwhakatere / Navigators in your region – click here to find out more.
Buy The Valley
• From the publisher, Bridget Williams Books.
• From your local independent bookseller via BookHub here.
• From any other bookseller (e.g. Whitcoulls) around Aotearoa.
• Read / listen to the RNZ interview recording with Asher Emanuel here.
