Blueprint transferability of police best practice in iwi family conferencing
Author: Tom Brooks
Blueprint Transferability of Police Best Practice in Iwi Family Conferencing
Tom Brooks
21 April 2017
Executive Summary
This is an insight into current and future practice by both Police and Iwi social services, who when forming relationships of trust and confidence can make an inroad into the over-representation of Māori Youth in the Youth Justice statistics. It cuts out the formal intervention process of Oranga Tamariki and Courts by empowering Whanau, hapü and iwi to undertake interventions prior to and sometimes within the formal Youth Justice system.
Building on a current Iwi initiatives Oho Ake and Hui-a-Whanau and form part of a model that will show a process with which Police and other government agencies can follow to use a collaborative approach to undertaking effective interventions not only for Children and Young People but also their whanau.
It enables Iwi to coordinate, run and record outcomes of a Hui which would normally be in the formal family group conference space run by Child Youth and Family. It still includes the views of victims in this process and as a high percentage of victims are in fact Māori, it shows a more appropriate response to restorative outcomes by using their resources and contracts under a Whanau Ora[1] type situation to directly address underlying causes of the offending.
Changing perceptions by Police at all levels to influence practice within Police that is different from engaging with Māori under direction, to one of embracing change, using community and organisational resources to approach these matters with a different mindset. Realising that Police or other organisations do not have the answers when dealing with Māori or other ethnic groups, and by using strengths and Tikanga which whänau understand means better outcomes will be achieved for both Māori and Police and therefore the community as a whole.
Keywords: iwi family group conferencing, youth justice, Oho Ake, Hui-a-Whanau, Police Youth Aid, alternative resolutions
[1] Taskforce on Whänau-Centred Initiatives. (2010). Whänau Ora: Report of the Taskforce on Whänau-Centred Initiatives, to Hon. Tariana Turia, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector. Taskforce on Whänau-Centred Initiatives, Wellington.
This research was supervised by James Harrison and Glenys Ker.
Licence
This thesis is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International.
