The Youth Guarantee Education Initiative and Its Impact on Criminality: Māori Youth Perceptions

Abstract

Māori youth are over-represented within the New Zealand criminal justice system. Māori youth comprise 60 per cent of the total youth apprehensions and represent only 20 per cent of New Zealand’s youth population. This qualitative study focuses on the narratives of six young Māori men and women about their criminal histories, and how their engagement in a re-education initiative – the Youth Guarantee policy – impacted upon their criminal activity. Although the study provided evidence that is congruent with assumptions about the education–crime relationship, the participants’ narratives implied that the impact the Youth Guarantee had on Māori youth offending could be attributed to a number of proxy impacts that they received as a result of their re-engagement in the open-door practices of one provider’s Youth Guarantee–funded programme.