TIAKI TĀNE
Tiaki Tāne is a kaupapa Māori–informed research programme, focused on understanding the causes of crime in the lives of rangatahi tāne Māori (young Māori men).
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Much of what we currently know about crime causation has been developed without an Indigenous lens, limiting its relevance and cultural legitimacy for Māori communities most affected by harm. Tiaki Tāne seeks to address this gap by working closely with rangatahi tāne Māori in Porirua who have been through a restorative justice process – Te Pae Oranga – in relation to low level offending, along with adults in their orbit.
Research approach
Using mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), frameworks (Te Whare Tapa Whā) and concepts (whakapapa; genealogy) as a means of eliciting, organising and making sense of data, we seek to take the moment of crime (a crime event) and work backwards in time to grasp the salient foreground and background influences on rangatahi that gave rise to it.
Tiaki Tāne centres Indigenous wellbeing and imbalance perspectives to strengthen kaitiakitanga (guardianship) for whānau Māori. Grounded in partnership and co-design with iwi, communities, practitioners, and policymakers, it generates robust, useful knowledge to support culturally grounded, ethical, and context-responsive approaches to crime prevention, community safety, and resilience.
Research team & funding
Funded by the Royal Society Te Apārangi, our research is Tiriti-led, with Dr Aikman as Tangata Whenua lead, and Dr Tompson as Tangata Tiriti alongside. We are also fortunate to have experts in Western crime-related decision-making, that include Professor Devon Polaschek and Dr Apriel Jolliffe Simpson (Ngāti TŪwharetoa). The research team includes research assistant and postgraduate positions to build a Māori student pipeline.
Project milestones
Our project started in 2025 and the whakawhanaungatanga phase culminated in a keynote at the Australian and New Zealand Society for Criminology (ANZSOC) discussing the principles that underpins work like ours. Our proudest moment of 2025 was the signing of a (a Memorandum of Understanding) with Ngāti Toa Rangatira, the Iwi we are privileged to be working alongside in Porirua. We believe this is the first Tākai here to be signed with a research team and cements the early whanaungatanga (connection building) phase of Tiaki Tāne. We are excited for 2026 when fieldwork will begin in earnest!
Contact me
Te Puna Haumaru Centre for Security and Crime Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
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