With an increase in ram raids – many committed by young people - and media focus on youth crime in general, Touchstone invited a frontline youth worker and a spokesperson from Family First to comment on the issue. The following articles come from two very different perspectives and understanding of family, community and faith.

It is not the intention of either the editor or the Methodist Publishing Board to promote either view but rather to provide a platform for different voices and approaches. The Methodist Church of Aotearoa is clear where it sits in terms of human value. The Methodist Church of New Zealand – Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa stands for: 

The sacredness of human personality and the equal value of all men and women in the sight of God.

(i) Standing firm for human rights, decrying the violation of human dignity based on race, class, age, sex, culture, faith, sexuality or other identities used for the purpose of creating division rather than affirming diversity.

(ii) Listening and responding to the needs of the most vulnerable, marginalised and disadvantaged people in our society and communities.

(iii) That as people of our many cultures and races we forge a multicultural society where these peoples may live in unity and diversity, maintaining different cultural traditions and languages, yet with a common destiny based on commitment to the ideals of equality, tolerance, justice and compassion.

Extract from MCNZ Lawbook, page 19 (E) 2) 

Youth Crime in New Zealand

Family First believes that strong families are the foundation for a strong nation. This article was written by Family First staff writers who advocate that a shift back to more traditional concepts of family and marriage, would help reduce youth offending.

Youth crime is intensifying, particularly in Auckland, with young offenders becoming increasingly brazen. Ram raids have increased by more than 500 per cent in just four years yet very few offenders are being prosecuted. A recent Police report reveals “almost two-thirds are escaping prosecution entirely”. Meanwhile, government data shows those aged 15-19 and 10-14 are being apprehended for burglary more than other age groups.

Politicians flip-flop between ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric and a softly-softly approach. We believe there are some key areas to focus on but first we must acknowledge the escalating youth crime problem. Until recently the Government seemed to downplay this problem, saying it was simply a short-term ‘spike’. Many Kiwi families, business owners and community leaders disagreed with the Government’s viewpoint.

Earlier this month the Government scrambled to launch their $53 million Better Pathways package which is designed to specifically tackle increased youth offending. The package mostly targets youth education and employment programmes to address ‘disengagement’. Sure, education and employment must be foundational pillars in any programme tackling youth crime. Unfortunately, the Government seems to ignore many other underlying causes - mainly the breakdown of family, fatherlessness and lack of positive role models.

There’s connectedness and interrelationships between these matters and there are undoubtedly other considerations but we believe these are four crucial cornerstones to any long-term strategy addressing youth crime:

• Parenting and Family

• Law and Order

• Education and Employment

• Poverty Reduction

The Role of Parenting and Family

We cannot overstate the importance of a properly functioning family, with loving parents. The family is the most significant institution in our society. Before any of us become self-sufficient members of society, employees or voting citizens we are first part of a family. Broken families often lead to brokenness in children, whereas strong families are the foundation for producing positive outcomes in life. The family is foundational and so is marriage. Marriage between a man and a woman assures the child that ‘mum and dad are there to love and care for you’. Evidence shows that children do best when raised by their biological mother and father. Both are vital to the development of children, from infants through to adulthood.

Marriage brings a stability which is not so easily replicated in other partnership arrangements. While some may view this as an outdated traditional model, we believe it to be the best. As our societies, cultures and lifestyles continue to transform rapidly, marriage and the traditional family unit becomes even more essential, not less so. The traditional family unit has proven to be the best foundation for raising healthy children that are able to mature into fully functioning adults, coping with real-world challenges and making positive contributions to society. Brokenness within the family can short-circuit the healthy development of any child, often leading to the increasing youth crime that we are now witnessing.

Research has shown that family factors and family structure have greater impact on future risk of criminal offending than socio-economic factors, albeit the two are closely intertwined. Children from broken families have a much greater than average risk of negative outcomes in life, including greater risk of poverty and increased likelihood of being imprisoned. It’s worth noting that a sharp increase in unmarried births during the 1960s correlates markedly with a later rise in the imprisonment rate.

New Zealand now has one of the highest rates of sole parenthood among developed countries. More than 25 percent of families with dependent children are headed by a sole parent in this country. That’s a similar rate to America, but more than double the EU average.

In 2021, 101,026 males paid child support. Of these, 89% percent had 0% care of their child(ren). More than 85% of single-parent families in New Zealand are fatherless families.

We believe ‘fatherlessness’ (or absent fathers) is one of the main determinants of intensifying youth crime in New Zealand. An abundance of research into the effects of fatherlessness reveals some deeply troubling consequences. For children, father absence is associated with poverty, material hardship, abuse and neglect, lower cognitive capacity, substance use, poorer physical and mental health, and criminal offending.

We believe much of the youth crime problem can be linked back to broken families, fatherlessness and poor role models. It’s almost certain that the majority of youth offenders in New Zealand will come from fatherless homes, or from families in which the father is not a positive role model. We acknowledge there are exceptions; not all marriages are healthy and not all fathers being present in the home result in the best outcomes but these exceptions actually prove the norm.

How can we strengthen families?

We should be wary of too much government intervention into family life. Governments cannot oversee or regulate parenting. So in part we should not expect a centralised governmental solution to solving family breakdown and fatherlessness, which in turn would help reduce youth offending. Ultimately we must all take on greater responsibility for strengthening our own families and our wider relationships within society.

Faith also plays a vital role in the betterment of society. New Zealand has mostly lurched away from its Christian foundations and we’re now seeing the fruits of this shift into secularism. If you remove God from society, government and family, then expect the unfavourable consequences we are now witnessing.

However, here are some suggestions for our Government:

Direct government policies and resources into programmes that protect the traditional family rather than undermine it.

Undertake greater research into the effects of fatherlessness in New Zealand, particularly for Maori.

Target programmes at youth, in conjunction with programmes aimed at strengthening families. The Government’s Better Pathways package should have also included mentoring and support initiatives for sustaining the family unit.

Promote traditional family and marriage (between a man and women) as being the best model for building a strong nation. Too often it’s the ‘woke’ alternatives that are heavily promoted in the media and by government agencies.