Justice-involved rangatahi: Their experiences with police and future orientation
The current qualitative research explored justice-involved rangatahi (youth) perceptions and experiences with police, and how this may influence their future orientation. Ten rangatahi were interviewed through Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children) and various youth justice community groups. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA; Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2020) to identify patterns of meaning across interviews. Six themes were developed in relation to rangatahi perceptions and experiences with police, as well as their perceptions of their future: 1) attitudes of resistance towards police, 2) policing practices need improvements, 3) whakawhanaungatanga, 4) influence over my future vs destiny, 5) antisocial peers influence reoffending and 6) internal and external resources are necessary for achieving goals. Despite rangatahi acknowledging the difficulties in policing, the findings highlighted the predominately negative perceptions and experiences rangatahi had with police. Regarding their future, rangatahi showed goals of stability and financial success, while also acknowledging the resources and barriers that may impact the achievement of their goals. The negative experiences of rangatahi with police motivated rangatahi to work towards a successful future to indicate police behaviour did not impact their life outcomes. The response to negative police interactions may have been influenced by where in the youth justice process rangatahi were (i.e., exposure to interventions), where they were on their desistance journey, and the nature of the support received from youth justice professionals. The current research contributes to limited research investigating the influence of police experiences on rangatahi. This research identified a need for further research on the relationship between the two groups, and practical implications for improvements in policing practices to improve approaches to supporting justice-involved rangatahi.
