‘E ĀGATONU Ā MANU’A ‘O FESILI: Investigating the Attitudes of an Auckland Samoan Population toward the New Zealand Criminal Justice System Laumuaotūmua Fata Tunufa’i A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN SOCIOLOGY AT THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 2013 Attestation of Authorship “I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), no material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning.” ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to a number of very close and important people. First, to my dear wife Judy, my beloved children Ali’iovavega, Fitiuta, Salutioata, Justin and Kinerita, I sincerely hope that this work will do justice, and be talafeagai in terms of reciprocating the love, patience and prayers that you all have shared with me during my constant absence from your lives, especially during those crucial formative years of your developments my dear children. I cannot thank you enough, and this thesis is yours! I also dedicate this work to my sisters and brothers and their families, nieces and grandnieces, nephews and grandnephews with the hope that it will spark a passion in your hearts to be successful in whatever you do in life. Thank you sincerely for your prayers, thoughts and support. Fa’afetai tapua’i. The TAUALUGA of this dedication is a tribute to my dear parents; Monika Fa’aopega Pualau (nee La’amalefolasa Maua), and my late father Leu1 Fata Tunufa’i Pualau, upon whose resilience and vision I always find safety, direction, identity and destiny. Fa’amālō fa’afetai mo le tapua’iga! This thesis is my personal pledge, that I will continually honour the legacy of my progenitors, guard and defend the knowledge of my family and people, and share this knowledge only in a manner that will bring benefits to the wider community and honour to my God. 1 Leu from the village of Safotu (Savai’i Island) rather than from Afega village iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The expression that ‘no man is an island’ sums up the long and arduous journey that culminated in this thesis. Many well-meaning people contributed in their own unique way to different aspects of the project. In terms of the ‘shared knowledge’ which formed the foundation of the analysis in this thesis, I convey a big and most sincere fa’afetai to the 53 Samoan individuals who signed up to participate and who subsequently shared their knowledge for this study. To the ten Samoan matai (both in New Zealand and in Samoa) who willingly shared their knowledge which is reflected in Chapters Five and Seven, fa’afetai, fa’afetai, fa’afetai tele lava! I am also indebted to the technical support and timely encouragement of friends and colleaques like John Patolo, I’uogafa Tuagalu, Antonina Savelio, Kato’ietalapongipongi Vaivaifolau Kailahi, Benitta Kumar-Simati, Juan Tauri, Dr. Camille Nakhid, Dr. Antje Deckert, Dr. Evan Poata-Smith, Dr. Jane Verbitzky, Dr. David Parker, Tagaloatele Professor Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop, Professor Tania Ka’ai, Professor Marylin Warring, Kay Switzer, and others who have provided me valuable help and motivation throughout this journey. Furthermore, I humbly acknowledge the tapua’iga and prayers of my church family – Remuera Samoan, Pastors and their dear Wives, and especially my youth and children’s group. In a very special way, I also heartfully acknowledge the professionalism and patience of my supervisors Dr. Robert Webb and Professor Charles Crothers. Finally, to taualuga the thankfulness, rejoicing and supplication of my heart, I hereby give special acknowledgement to my creator and sustainer God; the Author and Finisher of this faiva! Fa’afetai, fa’afetai, fa’afetai tele lava! iv ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Samoans to the New Zealand criminal justice system. This also involved exploring Samoan people’s process of knowledge production and how this shapes their reactions to crime. The researcher’s interest in this topic emanated from working as an interpreter in the New Zealand criminal courts and the recognition that Pacific peoples, of whom Samoan people comprise 49.3% (131,103), are over-represented in violent crime rather than total crime (Families Commission, 2009, pp. 16-17). While the 53 participants for this study from throughout the Auckland region are not representative, especially in terms of randomness, of the total New Zealand Samoan population, they do reflect certain important elements of the Samoan population in Auckland like geographic concentration, employment status, gender, age group and country of birth. The study employed a mixed method approach where a short survey was filled in individually by each participant before personal in-depth individual interviews began. In addition, two focus groups (Appendix B) were organised; one for the older youth group (18 to 25 years of age) and one for the adults group (aged over 25 years). A combination of Pacific and migrant-specific approaches like Fonofale, Talanoa, Fa’afaletui and Kakala, and mainstream methodologies like Grounded Theory and Thematic Analysis, informed the collection and analysis of participants’ ‘shared knowledge’. Theoretically, ideas from cultural criminology, labelling approaches, and general strain theory underpinned this investigation. Results of the pre-interview survey show very high support for judges, lawyers and police with judges receiving the highest support at 92% which underlines the (somewhat paradoxical) high level of respect Samoans have in relation to the criminal justice system. The thesis presents six key findings that provide deeper understandings of various aspects of Samoan attitudes to crime; 1) prisons are counter-productive to rehabilitation, 2) access to information and knowledge about the criminal justice system is of prime importance, 3) crime is permanent, 4) the notion of family is central, 5) sentencing is too light for rape and murder, and 6) the process of knowledge production for Samoan people is important. Theme number six presents the main argument that the involvement of Samoan people in criminal activities follows the same process of Samoan knowledge production that one takes in order to learn, practise and acquire a faiva – vocation. Albeit negative as it sounds, crime commission is undeniably a faiva. This finding is important in terms of v understanding why Samoan people over-represent in violent crime, as well as in terms of the development of any subsequent policies and programmes that are partly informed and underpinned by cultural notions. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Attestation of Authorship ........................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... - 1 - 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ - 1 - 1.2 Explanation of the Title of the Thesis .................................................................... - 3 - 1.3 Positioning the ‘I’ within the Thesis ...................................................................... - 5 - 1.4 Demographic Profile of Samoan people in Auckland ............................................ - 7 - 1.5 Chapters Overview ................................................................................................. - 8 - CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... - 11 - 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... - 11 - 2.2 Importance of Attitude Studies in general and in relation crime ......................... - 11 - 2.3 Attitudes toward the criminal justice system ....................................................... - 12 - 2. 3.1 Attitudes toward the Police and policing ...................................................... - 19 - 2.3.2 Attitudes toward the Judges and Lawyers .................................................... - 22 - 2.4 Attitudes toward domestic violence ..................................................................... - 22 - 2.5 Attitudes toward sentencing and punishment....................................................... - 26 - vii 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ - 29 - CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS ............................................. - 32 - 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... - 32 - 3.2 Cultural Criminology ..........................................................................................