Journal article

This study was a three-part exploration of what indicates and contributes to positive development for Māori youth (rangatahi). First, a literature review was undertaken to identify relevant themes. Second, we analysed data from the Māori participants (N = 2,059) of a nationally representative youth survey (Youth’07). Third, we conducted focus groups and interviews with rangatahi (N= 8) and people who worked with rangatahi (N = 6).

This article draws from research with Māori women who have experiences of incarceration and key informants who have worked with Māori in the criminal justice system and/or in communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Understanding was sought through an exploration of the intergenerational transfer of suffering and the associated normalisation of dysfunction and incarceration. Theories of historical trauma are utilised as a way to comprehend our history of incarceration; most invigorating about historical trauma theory is its ultimate aim of healing, however.

The disastrous earthquakes that struck Christchurch in 2010 and 2011 seriously impacted on the individual and collective lives of Māori residents. This paper continues earlier, predominantly qualitative research on the immediate effects on Māori by presenting an analysis of a survey carried out 18 months after the most destructive event, on 22 February 2011. Using a set-theoretic approach, pathways to Māori resilience are identified, emphasising the combination of whānau connectivity and high incomes in those who have maintained or increased their wellbeing postdisaster.

This article focuses on the cultural resources that made Māori carers resilient when providing care to an ill family member at the end of life. Caring often took place against a backdrop of poverty, personal factors, racism and a lack of health literacy affecting access to resources. The action values of aroha and manaakitanga, compassionate giving, caring, receiving and sharing established a resilient foundation upon which whānau engaged in the illness-to-death trajectory.