Violent Maori males 'worship Jake Heke'

By Keith Perry

The film Once Were Warriors has spawned a generation of violent Maori men who worship Jake the Muss, says a Department of Corrections psychologist.

Kim Bradley, aged 28, who interviewed 10 of the country's most violent psychopaths, said many Maori were winding up in jail for violent crime because they admired Jake's toughness and failed to realise he was evil.

Her claim flies in the face of the film-makers, who said the movie would show Maori men that violence was wrong.

At the time of its release in 1994, director Lee Tamahori said: "If you ... say that what Jake does is right then there is something fundamentally wrong with the moral makeup of your character."

Five years on, Kim Bradley said: "A lot of our young Maori now identify with Jake the Muss. They believe that to be Maori you have to be staunch and be a 'bro.'

"They see him as a role model in terms of developing their identity. They want to be tough guys ...

"The film was a horrifically realistic portrayal of domestic violence. But many young Maori hero-worship Jake Heke."

She said this could be linked to psychopathically violent behaviour in search of revenge, drugs or money.

As a masters student at the University of Auckland, she said, she was trying to understand how psychopathic behaviour was created.

While there had been lots of research on psychopathic violence, little had been done to identify the causes of instrumental violence, particularly in relation to Maori.

Instrumental violence is defined as premeditated, cold and calculated.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder. Characteristics include a lack of empathy or remorse, shallow emotions, impulsiveness, irresponsibility and persistent antisocial and criminal behaviour.

A defining characteristic is a tendency towards aggression.

"In the case of instrumental violence ranging from armed robbery to mass murder, the main motives that came out of my interviews with offenders were material reward such as money or drugs and revenge or retribution.

"They also felt violence enhanced their status and reputation. It also gave them a rush or was cathartic - they were feeling pent-up frustration and finding a target was a release for that."

Kim Bradley said Maori were six times more likely to be convicted of a violent offence and there was evidence that the causes of Maori offending were unique and distinct.

There was an urgent need to understand the causes of Maori offending within their social and cultural backgrounds.

"We need to look more broadly at social factors that precipitate Maori offending as opposed to Pakeha offending.

"Since Maori were first colonised they feel worse off and marginalised in all areas of our society - educationally, economically and socially. This puts Maori in a position of extreme disadvantage, where criminal offending is one of the few options available to them."