Thursday, October 08, 2009

Cultural disconnection blamed for violence

Maori Party co-leader, Tariana Turia, is commenting about a hikoi against violence, especially violence toward childen, that is taking place in Murupara today;

“I support Ngati Manawa’s call for help to address the cultural dislocation and disconnection that leads people to commit acts of violence, and as a minister I will do my very best to help them."

There are varying reasons why people commit acts of violence. Cultural dislocation and disconnection may be one - indirectly.

Tariana's view is formally described here;

A third framework, focusing on the role of cultural identity has, over the preceding two decades, been the dominant explanation employed to account for the ethnic asymmetry in child maltreatment rates in New Zealand. This view proposes that it is the degree of association that Māori families have with Māori kin groupings and the level of commitment they show to traditional customary practices that will influence the likelihood of Māori children experiencing maltreatment. From this perspective, strength of Māori identity in families is a protective factor for child abuse, and a lesser identification with Māori cultural domains may increase the risk of children being exposed to maltreatment. Intervention guidelines for child abuse have therefore been specifically developed for Māori, by Māori. These focus on determining the levels of affiliation Māori families have to cultural domains and the strength of cultural identity of individuals who reside in the family. Reattachment of Māori families to cultural domains and customs has therefore become a key feature of current child abuse intervention efforts.


This has recently been tested however.

Researchers dividied 1,011 21 year-olds into non-Maori, sole Maori and Maori/other group according to self-identification.

Comparisons of the sole Māori and Māori/other group showed consistent differences between the groups in terms of several aspects of Māori culture, including:

* frequency of marae visits (p < .001)
* being a member of a Māori group, organisation or sports team (p < .05)
* being a member of a kapa haka (cultural performance) group (p < .001)
* attending a tangi (funeral) or unveiling (p < .001)
* listening to Māori-language radio programmes and watching Māori-language television programmes (p < .001)
* listening and watching programmes in the English language about Māori (p < .001).


(Provision was made for maternal self identification and changing self-identification over time during the classification process.)

And what did the research show?

It was concluded that Maori, and in particular those of sole Maori cultural identity, were at higher risk of exposure to physical punishment and inter-parental violence, and that the associations could not be fully explained by either socio-economic deprivation or exposure to family dysfunction in childhood.


Which throws a very large spanner in the works for Tariana Turia's assumption about cultural "dislocation and disconnection".

7 comments:

Berry said...

That's a bit of research that won't be quoted too heavy in the TPK.

Anonymous said...

I have stated before, alcohol,drugs. and violence have become part of maori culture.

You cant have one without the other.

cannibis is seen as a valid rite of passage for young maori (and Others) as they embrace their culture.

At a recent Tangi the Marae reeked of weed and no one batted and eye.

Speaking of eyes, the black ones were worn with pride as a symbol of ownership by the wahines who like to push the boundaries.

Dirk

Manolo said...

Cultural dislocation? What a pathetic excuse!

I couldn't have come from a more different society, but have never shown the slightest inclination to bash and murder my fellow New Zealanders.

The Maori Party (and other gravy train recipients) will continue making excuses for these people, but the problem can be solved over time with one word: education

Lucy said...

Any excuse will do. Cant put the responsibility where it belongs with those that perpertrate the violence can we?

That would be RACIST!

Anonymous said...

I always wanted to give some people the biff, but after a couple of stiff gins I usually fall asleep.

Dirk

Anonymous said...

Simply outstanding work Lindsay, why the hell our gutless MSM avoid this story is beyond me.

Keep up the great work.

Seamonkey Madness said...

Hmmmm, makes you wonder what all those Maori (or those who identify themselves as Maori) who do their big OE get up to?

I tell you what, if any one of them ended up serving time at Her Majesty's pleasure, we'd be hearing about it. And have we? No - because either (a) no Maori have been arrested over there (about as likely as any other NZer) or (b) they've got arrested but instead of blaming "the white man", they're mature enough to admit that their predicament is no-one's fault but their own.