Abstract
Globally, family violence (FV) and suicidality are critical issues. International rates of FV and suicidality are mirrored in Aotearoa, with a disproportionate burden borne by Māori. Conventionally, FV and suicidality have been subsumed within a biomedical discourse that has been criticised for the pathologisation and criminalisation of Māori. This study aimed to counter pathologising discourses by understanding the lived experiences of Indigenous men who have used FV and experienced suicidality. Embedded within a Kaupapa Māori research methodology, interviews were conducted with 11 Indigenous men. A primary discourse of colonial Indigenous masculinity was identified, which referenced three colonial tenets: the colonial State’s invention of Māori masculinities, the Janus-faced Indigenous heterosexual patriarch, and discursive imprisonment. Participant narratives of masculinity, suicidality, and FV were woven throughout these tenets, highlighting the normalisation of violence and suicidality and their connection with the imposition of a colonial masculinity. Specifically, threats to family cohesiveness triggered a profound collapse of this fragile identity, manifesting in distinct trajectories of suicidality: immediate suicide attempts, murder-suicide ideation, and a gradual erosion of the self. This study’s findings support Brendan Hokowhitu’s assertion that the inherent fluidity of Māori masculinities can be reclaimed through a process of deconstruction. Impactful initiatives emphasised peer support, communication, and the continual broadening of one’s masculine identity beyond the narrow confines of colonial Indigenous masculinity. There is a need for further research to a) identify existing deconstruction processes, and b) explore the breadth of deconstruction possibilities and the multiplicity of ways in which authentic voices can be reclaimed.