ABSTRACT
A critical issue relating to incarceration and prison spaces is the influence of culture. In Aotearoa, New Zealand, the most pressing issue facing correctional services is of the overrepresentation of Māori. Colonisation and settler colonialism have worked to strip away Māori lifeworlds, impacting their social, cultural, and economic capital, forcing a greater percentage to engage in illegal street economies to survive. Once engaged in these economies, violence is used to control the spaces, leading to street justice in order to protect oneself. At the same time that violence is used for protection and to uphold status, settler colonial logics of Māori as violent, deviant, or criminal are used to increase a hyper-surveillance of Māori communities and bodies, increasing potential negative contact with police and the justice system. The result is an overrepresentation of Māori peoples spending time within prison walls. This chapter examines Māori experiences within and across the justice system, specifically those experiences within prison spaces. Drawing on both global examples as well as New Zealand Māori experiences, this chapter highlights the impacts of historical and contemporary colonialism on the hyper-incarceration of Māori people and how carceral systems are looking to support or enhance Māori-specific programming within prison walls. The implications of this for those in other countries are considered.
