Ethnic identity and criminal offending in a New Zealand birth cohort

Abstract

There has been a great deal of debate and speculation regarding the high levels of involvement of M?ori New Zealanders in the criminal justice system. The present investigation examined the role of M?oricultural identity in predicting criminal offending in a New Zealand birth cohort studied from birth to the age of 21. There were statistically significant (p <.0001) bivariate associations between both sole M?ori identification and M?ori/other cultural identification, and both (a) official convictions for property/violent offending during ages 17-21 and (b) selfreported violent and property offending during ages 17-21. Control for a range of potentially confounding factors related to family socioeconomic status, family functioning and personal adjustment reduced the associations between sole M?ori identity and criminal offending to statistical nonsignificance (both p values >.40). However, the association between M?ori/other cultural identity and criminal offending remained statistically significant (both p values <.05) after control for confounding. The findings suggest that while sole M?ori cultural identification is not associated with increased rates of criminal offending, persons of M?ori/other cultural identification are at increased risk of violent and property offending.