Disrupting pathological Indigenous crime narratives: Māori youth classified as serious offenders, cultural identity, and cultural connectedness

Abstract

Rangatahi Māori (Māori youth, Indigenous people of New Zealand) are grossly over-represented in youth court statistics compared to other ethnicities (63%). Despite these statistics, research into cultural identity is sparse. This article presents recent PhD findings with 10 rangatahi Māori sentenced for offending behaviours, appearing in a New Zealand Youth Court or Ngā Kōti Rangatahi (Māori cultural led Youth Court). Findings indicated that whakapapa (genealogical) connections, te reo Māori (the Māori language), and culture influence a positive cultural identity and cultural pride in rangatahi Māori. Whānau (family) relationships support the transmission of cultural knowledge and remain pivotal to feeling culturally connected. In this PhD study, cultural pride enabled the participants to navigate systemic bias, racial profiling, and negative societal attitudes. These findings quash the deficit cultural disconnection trope and disrupt pathological crime narratives that Māori youth who offend are disconnected, dislocated, and disassociated from their cultural identity as Māori.