Whanganui gangs moral panic being repeated with emergency housing, says PhD graduate
Dr Haakman, who also holds qualifications in tertiary teaching, business studies, sports management, and law, graduated with her seventh qualification yesterday.
Her PhD research found that from 2004-2013 moral panic led to the vilification of gangs in Whanganui and she says the same type of panic can be seen now in how emergency housing is being reported.
“The media reports are profiling people in this type of housing as being a threat to the community, with the devil being those who cannot afford housing.”
Dr Haakman says moral panic occurs when there are tensions in a community, combined with a strong elite interest and elevated media attention. This happened in Whanganui during a period when there had been several high-profile gang incidents, the debate over whether Whanganui should rightly have a ‘h’ in it, and other Māori activism. Then-mayor Michael Laws took an anti-gang stance that Dr Haakman says in some ways discredited Māori due to his association of them with gangs.
Currently, media are focusing on emergency housing, but in a way that discredits those who need the housing, says Dr Haakman, signalling another panic may be coming.
“I first became interested in this topic as a legal academic. I knew the Gang Insignia Act 2009 allowed a bylaw to be created by Whanganui District Council that prohibited the display of gang insignia within specified areas of the district. This was against the rule of law, as it maintained that harm was inflicted due to group identity rather than specific conduct,” she says.
On investigating why this was deemed necessary, Dr Haakman discovered that not only was the Act leading to endangerment of free speech—something that saw the bylaw withdrawn soon after—but it was not based on the reality of crime statistics. Gang activity had not increased at this time and compared with overall offending was minor.
“As I worked out my thesis question, I realised I wanted to investigate this from a criminological point of view, to work out why the law existed, and how it happened. When I first approached my supervisors Dr Russil Durrant and Dr Michael Roguski and explained my intent, they directed me towards the moral panic theory. The more I researched, the more the events in Whanganui appeared to be a classic episode of moral panic.”
Dr Haakman’s research involved analysing 10 years of print and online written media, including letters to the editor and public comments, to take into account public opinion. “I was trying to understand how the media could get away with perpetuating this moral panic and why the public was getting on board with it.
“This moral concept of ‘a threat to the New Zealand way of life’ is coming through in some of the reports on Māori self-governance as well as emergency housing—just wait for the elevated dialogue about gangs or similar groups.”
As well as welcoming becoming a Doctor of Philosophy in Criminology, Dr Haakman is delighted to have the certificate that goes with it: “I’m now one step closer to being able to have a dinner placement setting for eight, once I laminate all my qualifications.”