7 - Ethnicity and Interpersonal Violence in a New Zealand Birth Cohort

Summary

Historical Prologue

Present-day New Zealand society was formed as a result of an agreement (The Treaty of Waitangi) signed in 1840 between the British Crown and representatives of the indigenous Maori people. In essence with this agreement, Maori agreed to accept the sovereignty of the Crown in return for full rights of British citizenship, while the Crown undertook to preserve the traditional rights and ownership of the Maori people. Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the indigenous Maori people were exposed to a progressive process of colonization, which led to an increasing alienation of Maori from their traditional lands, waters, and resources, an increasing urbanization of Maori, and a general decline of Maori culture and language in New Zealand.

Introduction

It has been well documented that individuals of Maori descent and/or cultural identification are at higher risk of a range of disadvantageous outcomes including poorer educational achievement, higher rates of poverty and housing difficulties, higher risks of health problems, greater involvement in criminal offending, and higher rates of psychiatric disorder. These persistent and consistent linkages between ethnicity and individual or social well-being have led to a search for explanations of the origins of social disadvantage among Maori. One aspect of this concern has focused on the issue of interpersonal violence among Maori. These issues were highlighted both locally and internationally by the graphic scenes of family and interpersonal violence portrayed in the New Zealand film Once We Were Warriors, which portrayed the lifestyle of a contemporary dysfunctional Maori family.