KEY POINTS:
More than 40 per cent of people believe alcohol and drugs are the main reason for the rate of Maori child abuse being twice the national average.
The latest Herald-DigiPoll found that 43.4 per cent of people blame alcohol and drugs for the high rate, but less than 20 per cent view unemployment and poverty as the main reason.
Children's advocates agree with the findings, saying alcohol and drugs are a primary ingredient in the "toxic cocktail" that has produced the poor rates of child abuse among Maori.
But Maori leaders and social workers say the problem is complex, and a loss of family, land and tribal connections play a bigger role than perceived by the poll respondents.
Christine Rankin, chief executive of For the Sake of Our Children Trust, agreed alcohol and drugs were the main reason for Maori child abuse, saying OECD and Child, Youth and Family reports had reached the same conclusion.
She said the key to improving the situation was better services for alcohol and drug users which focused on stopping addiction rather than moderating their intake.
She did not accept poverty as a reason for Maori child abuse, saying, "There are many poverty stricken countries, with terrible poverty, that do not treat their children the way we do ours."
Nor was unemployment a valid reason because there were shortages of workers across all sectors.
"The only excuse to be unemployed at the moment is if you are into drugs and alcohol," Ms Rankin said.
She acknowledged loss of family and tribal connections as possible reasons for Maori child abuse but said, "Whatever the reasons that they're doing it, it's at epidemic proportions.
"They might be reasons but they can't be excuses for what is happening out there to our babies every single day."
Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said the poll had correctly identified alcohol and drugs as a major factor in child abuse. "It's not an excuse for why people behave that way, but it increases the risk that they will respond in unreasonable ways."
She said alcohol and drugs, coupled with undiagnosed or untreated mental illness, and stress brought on by unemployment or poverty created "the toxic cocktail that actually contributes to child abuse".
Neglect was another determining factor, while research revealed better outcomes for children in families with a strong sense of connectedness and identity.
Maori Party leader Pita Sharples said the reasons for child abuse applied to Maori and Pakeha. "We think it is very positive that people are looking at the complexity of the issues associated with these tragic rates."
He said his party had consistently focused on the need to talk about the wider issues involved in Maori child abuse, namely the impact of land alienation, social injustice, and its relationship to stress and dysfunction in families.
Grace Dorset, manager of a welfare agency in Rotorua, did not agree that drugs and alcohol were the main reason for Maori child abuse.
Instead, after 20 years specialising in the area, she said it was the breakdown of traditional society and the loss of tribal support for Maori parents in nuclear families.
She said traditionally parenting was the responsibility of the extended family.
"The parenting was not done by the parents. The parenting was done by the grandparents, the aunties and the uncles."
Alcohol, drugs and unemployment had began to play a role in the statistics only in recent times.
