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Te Ao Hou, April 1955, Page 15

concern with the details of behaviour among children that is understandable but foreign to the majority stock, and that is reflected in some of the difficulties of Maori youth trying to function under British standards of conduct. The urbanization of several thousand Maoris has thrust especially difficult problems of adjustment upon a people accustomed to a rural communal life, and who find themselves in an environment that lacks many of the physical and social satisfactions of the Maori kainga. In the city, the sun and the sea and the smell of the earth are not so close to man. Work is intensive, regular, and frequently on an individual basis. The social life of the Maori community is lacking and so also is its guidance, its support, and its control of behaviour by the opinions of those whose approval or disapproval carries weight. Here in the city the Maori frequently finds himself in a society but not wholly of it; socially awkward, lonely, frustrated; a marginal person on the fringes of two cultures but without status or hope of position in either. In proportion as the urban Maori finds himself so affected, he may be exploited by the irresponsible sophisticates who offer him satisfaction at a price, or he may react aggressively upon the society that seems to make no approved provision for his legitimate needs. The diagnosis is sketchy rather than exhaustive. The remedy indicated will, hopefully, be suggestive. It can hardly be adequate. It is assumed that whatever is known about the biological-sociological-psychological sources of delinquency and crime and of their treatment will be adapted and applied to criminal and delinquent behaviour among Maoris. Beyond this certain suggestions may be made for dealing with the unique factors in Maori criminality. Probably whatever can be done to develop and encourage responsible Maori leadership, informed, progressive and adaptable enough to help guide the Maori people in their necessary adjustment to a rapidly changing world, will help to foster the basic social health of all Maoris. Pride in the past is wholesome and it builds a stabilizing sense of continuity, but neither Maori nor Pakeha can turn the clock back. Change is not new. It is characteristic of all living, healthy societies and the world of both the Maori and the Pakeha will change. This is normal and inevitable. It is a condition to be accepted and to some extent guided. In any case it is a process to which a workable adjustment must be made. Whether the leadership should be sought among the traditional chiefs or among a newer group will depend upon the adaptability and progressiveness of the hereditary aristocracy and the ability of a new leadership to command respect and emotional loyalty. Associated with this leadership would be the fostering of a feeling of community through tribal assemblies at the marae court, and with this a sense of community responsibility and purpose directed towards achieving the best possible Maori-Pakeha relationship through a series of specific, consciously planned projects directed towards limited reachable ends. For example, what about the encouragement and guidance of a series of projects by the Maori Women's Welfare League or the Welfare Officers of the Department of Maori Affairs? These might include: (a) The organization of summer community youth projects to which Maori and Pakeha young people would contribute labour for the clearing of land, the building of a farm dam, the erection of small community buildings, the painting of a school, the remodelling of a barn to serve as a youth canteen and recreation

centre, etc. This work would be the accompaniment of a normal camp experience in which young people of high school or university age would find recreation in sports, games, and songs as well as in association with one another and with the residents of a community through the work project. (b) The development of youth canteens or recreation centres through the planning and building and organizing efforts of young people. These would be equipped with a variety of games (many of which would utilize equipment made by the young people), with record players for listening and for dancing, and where possible with moving picture projectors. (c) The organization of conferences for the discussion, in small groups, of such social problems as are most pressing; and as a means of including, at least incidently, discussions of child welfare, delinquency, alcoholism, sex education, preparation for marriage, parent-child responsibility, and similar topics. (d) The further development of small local manufacturing establishments, which would broaden the economic base of the Maori community while still permitting Maories to work in small groups away from the larger cities and close to their own community life. No doubt the limitations of interest and of finance among those in need will make any such efforts difficult. Nevertheless a start, or many starts, must be made. Projects similar to these may already be in existence, but possibly techniques need to be improved. For example, visiting teachers may at times find that poorer Maoris do not welcome visits because they are ashamed of their homes. A somewhat similar situation was met at a school in Boston by inviting the children of Italian mothers to obtain their favourite receipes for use in the domestic science class. Then the mothers, themselves, were invited one at a time to come to the school and supervise the teacher and the pupils as the class prepared their dishes. The wholesome effects of such simple devices can be amazing. In other areas of Maori-Pakeha relationships, responsible Pakehas need to acquaint themselves as much as possible not merely with how Maoris behave but with the significance of the behavior to the Maoris. Perhaps a brief handbook, a sort of primer, might be compiled for use by judges, probation officers, prison officers, policemen, social workers, teachers, and any others who want to make use of it. Perhaps, also, greater access to the Maori point of view could be encouraged by the use of Maoris on boards of visitors to Borstals, on the Prison Board, on probation staffs, and on the staffs of Borstals and prisons. Maoris who through such service become acquainted with the problems of handling Maori delinquents might help to develop within the Maori community resources for the supervision and guidance of Maori youth which the courts and the probation service might use. The objectives here would be greater understanding of the significance of Maori delinquency and the invention of new facilities and devices for helping to control it, by and often within the Maori community. Within the Borstals and prisons conscious thought might be given to utilizing the Maori enjoyment of group work and group recreation to build a group loyalty towards their country and all its people, rather than their kin or their local village groups; a sort of intelligent nationalism and national pride, if you will, such as might be found in a team representing New Zealand in a football tour of England or such as might have been found in the Maori Battalion during the war. It will probably have to be realized that if the Maori who are in trouble are to be made once again into New Zealanders (new New Zealanders) it will be necessary for the Pakehas to accept Maoris psychologically as full members of the nation. To return once again to broader considerations: it may be hoped that there will continue to be full, frank and realistic discussion of the future possibilities in Maori-Pakeha relationships. Can the two groups agree upon those features of the cultures of both that are work able in the world of today and tomorrow? Can it be agreed that these are the elements in both cultures that all of us should try to develop and use for the common good? Can it be agreed that other features of the two cultures, however serviceable in the past, are no longer useful nor helpful, and must be discarded regardless of any emotional commitment we may have to them? No doubt unaminity cannot be hoped for, and it might not be desirable. A loyal opposition has its function too; but perhaps a clear-cut, long range policy with reference to the future of Maori-Pakeha relationships can be sufficiently agreed upon to serve as a guide both to action and to the training and selection of those who will play a greater or lesser part in guiding that action.