Stigmatization of individuals disadvantaged by a history of imprisonment often leads to profound social, economic and psychological consequences, creating barriers to finding accommodation, gaining employment and being accepted back into families and communities. Education has transformative potential to mitigate this pervasive stigma.
In 2022, Odyssey Auckland launched their Centre for Lived Experience Peer Support and Social Recovery, ‘Taupae Wheako’, to support the development of peer and lived experience roles and promote the use of recovery capital approaches. Taupae Wheako show people how they can use their lived experience as a qualification to build a fulfilling and rewarding career.
We provide a range of trainings including our highly acclaimed Peer Support 101 training, anti-stigma and discrimination trainings, and work with AUT university to co-deliver a lived experience Graduate Diploma pathway that leads to Postgraduate and Masters opportunities and opens careers in leadership, research, academia and other areas.
A key focus is on addressing stigma and discrimination by teaching people how to recognise and challenge anticipated and perceived stigma through positive affirmations and assertive language and understanding the multiple impacts of the intersectionality of mental health, addiction, trauma, and criminal justice involvement.
There is a compelling case for the pivotal role of education in dismantling the stigma of incarceration. People attending this presentation will learn that through education and support we can help people with complex disadvantaged backgrounds navigate the stigma and discrimination that has ‘othered’ them and find ways to reconnect to their communities.
Presenters
David Burnside
– Lived Experience Lead, Odyssey Auckland, New Zealand
Dave Burnside has a lived experience of mental health challenges, problematic substance use, homelessness and incarceration and has been in active recovery for 16 years. He has worked for Odyssey in Auckland for 11 years, mostly in peer and consumer roles and is now part of the Odyssey Executive Team as the Lived Experience Lead, overseeing the work of Odyssey’s Centre for Lived Experience Peer Support and Social Recovery, ‘Taupae Wheako’ His role is to support the development of the peer and lived experience workforce through advocacy, training delivery and social recovery model approaches.
After spending many years in prisons and engaging with mental health services, Dave now has a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Science, Mental Health and Addiction (PGDipHSc), a Master’s in Law (LLM, Hons), is involved in supporting Post Graduate programmes at AUT and Auckland University. He teaches in both health and law focusing mainly on recovery concepts/principles and social justice and is strongly connected to recovery initiatives internationally. He is active in supporting harm reduction, drug law reform, addressing the stigma and discrimination of marginalized people, and solution focused justice research.
