Ua Motu le Palefuiono (‘The Crown Has Broken’): The Samoan Aiga and Cultural Responsiveness in Youth Justice in Aotearoa New Zealand

When the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 (previously named the Children, Young Persons and their Families Act) was introduced into parliament in Aotearoa New Zealand, almost three decades ago, it recognised the role of the extended family unit. This reflected growing recognition in law and policy of Indigenous Māori notions of extended family (whānau, hapū, iwi) and collective responsibility. This, by extension, created the conditions within youth justice for recognition of other extended family models, especially those within the Pasifika whanaunga (or family), such as the Samoan aiga. On close inspection, however, this thesis finds that the ‘aiga’ (by Samoan young offenders, their family members, Samoan community elders and leaders, and youth justice practitioners) as a viable cultural support system for Samoan youth offenders in Aotearoa New Zealand is not well understood and thus under-recognised. While Oranga Tamariki (OT) openly seeks to be culturally responsive to aiga as a cultural support system, without deeper attention to how it operates (or not) and its systemic challenges, it is destined to be tokenistic at best or an intended failure at worse. The study aimed to explore how various Samoan youth justice actors, from former system-engaged youth, to youth justice practitioners, and community leaders, experienced or perceived the place of the aiga within the youth justice system of Aotearoa New Zealand. The study conducted qualitative talanoa sessions with 46 different individual participants. These were either involved in an ‘individual’ talanoa session or in a small group talanoa session, or in a large community fono talanoa setting. Participants of the study were drawn from those residing or working within the South and West Auckland areas. The findings revealed that the Samoan aiga remains a central and active institution in the lives of Samoan youth and peoples within the Auckland region. While this is acknowledged in principle by the youth justice system, there is a persistent systemic resistance to aiga values being taken seriously. Not only because of the time and resource implications of following through with such an adoption, but also because of the ideological and political challenges faced by the aiga as a minority model. The fate of the aiga, while similar to that of whānau pre-1990s (before the thriving Māori economy), lies in its perceived lack of clarity and relevance, and its political status as belonging to a non-Indigenous minority. The suggestion raised is that the most state recognition the aiga can receive will be at the fragmented, small community based, family specific and/or particularised local level. Beyond that any real recognition will be thwarted and tokenistic. Echoing earlier studies, the participants of this study repeatedly described themselves and their aiga as marginalised and treated as ‘worthless’ by the dominant, still monocultural, and largely Eurocentric system. The findings also revealed that there is continued, and overwhelming shame and stigma felt by youth, aiga members and community alike when discussing youth offending – even when the offending was many years old. Whilst the Talanoa method and Tofā Sa’ili methodology employed went some way towards addressing cultural sensitivities, the pain and need for healing ran deep and required an extra level of commitment to nurturing community and interpersonal trust. Overall, the thesis argues for the need to create more space for deeper engagement with Samoan ways of knowing and doing aiga in youth justice spaces, in places like Aotearoa. The thesis contributes to the further development of this space a vā oriented space, where Samoan communities can talanoa and dialogue without fear of shame in and outside of themselves. The thesis concludes with reflections on the relevance of its findings to current policy and practice in both government and community youth justice related work.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Criminology

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Fuamatu, Naomi Victoria

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Suaalii-Sauni, Tamasailau
• Webb, Robert

• Samoan Aiga
• Youth Justice
• Indigenous Criminology
• Pacific

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/74684

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/74684