The Framework for the Reduction of Māori Offending (FReMO) enables any initiative that has implications for Māori to develop a rationale, methodology, implementation plan, and evaluation from a knowledge pool drawn from the Western or mainstream literature, from Māori perspectives, and from Tikanga Māori.
FReMO acknowledges Tikanga Māori as a prosocial belief system that is compatible with efforts at reducing Māori offending. Tikanga Māori provides excellent anchoring points for Māori around the construction of positive familial and interpersonal relationships, personal and group accountability and responsible behaviour. In consonance with this FReMO expects that any initiative intending to develop Māori should enhance rather than impede Māori access to Tikanga Māori.
Since many of today’s Māori are not experts in Māori lore, FReMO acknowledges that while there will be an overlap of Tikanga Māori with the ‘Māori perspective’, the latter will be more vulnerable to Western influences. Thereby FReMO seeks to access information from both Tikanga Māori and the Māori perspective, thus enriching the Māori knowledge base that informs the initiative.
FReMO also requires the accessing of mainstream literature and experience, but expects that this will be critically analysed for its application within a Māori context. Under FReMO mainstream knowledge is combined with Māori knowledge streams, thereby forming an enhanced resource from which to construct or review any project and policy that has implications for Māori.
As much of the material that is encountered within Tikanga Māori and Māori perspectives has not been formally documented within the literature, a foundation aspect of FReMO is the documenting of each stage of the FReMO procedure. Documentation is expected to closely describe Māori processes which are crucial to successful outcomes, and to include the success or not of any venture. Documentation enables initiatives to remain transparent and replicable, allowing successful projects or policy to be copied and unsuccessful works to be modified. Documentation also facilitates the expansion of the meagre literature base around this area.
This paper explains the Framework, the principles behind it, the major obstacles that need to be addressed, guidelines for its use and includes examples of how the Framework might be implemented.