Social Work 2: Meso Level Analysis of Maori Community in New Zealand

This essay provides a detailed analysis of meso-level factors within the context of social work in New Zealand, with a specific focus on the Maori community. The paper explores the three levels of sociological analysis – micro, meso, and macro – highlighting the significance of the meso level. It examines the interactions between the Maori and Pakeha communities, discussing the challenges faced by the Maori population, including historical marginalization in education, health, and politics. The essay uses a case study of a young woman named Janet to illustrate the interplay between these sociological levels and the impact of social structures on individual experiences, such as the impact of her childhood abuse and criminal activities. The discussion includes the role of the Oranga Tamariki youth justice facility, the importance of education and cultural understanding, and the need for trust in governmental systems. The essay concludes by emphasizing the interconnectedness of the sociological levels and their relevance to understanding social issues and promoting effective social work practices.

Running Head: SOCIAL WORK
SOCIAL WORK
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

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Introduction
According to the study of sociology, the community is divided into three different
levels. The three different levels are – micro level, meso level and macro level. Considerably
the meso level comes between the two major level and that is the main point to be discussed
throughout the entire study. Holmes, Marra & Vine, (2019) mentioned that the meso-level
analysis refers to the detailed examination of a particular group, community, or institution of
certain part of the society. This study will highlight the meso level factors of New Zealand
and it will highlight the Maoris in special. Along with this, the study will discuss how the
meso level factors interacts with the micro and macro level of the community.
Discussion
The case study of Janet mentioned two particular groups of New Zealand. Janet was a
Pakeha and her husband was a Maori. Both are two distinct communities of New Zealand.
However, study mentioned that Pakeha is also Maori term used for the common people of
New Zealand or the descents of Europeans (Springwood, 2018). On the other hand, the
Maoris are the indigenous people of New Zealand. Their origin is the eastern settlers of
Polynesia arrived from different parts of the waka waves. The community of Maori exhibit a
unique taste for every aspect of life. Their stories and legends describe the creation of New
Zealand and the lifestyle of the indigenous people in New Zealand (Reid et al., 2016).
From the beginning of the creation, the indigenous community of New Zealand
victimized various situations regarding the culture and community. They are neglected from
the educational system, the health and the political aspects of living (Rangihau, 2017). Hence,
they are often observed with practicing different violent activities to fight for their rights and
spend a normal lifestyle without and sense of inequality. On the other hand, the Pakeha or the
European settlers of New Zealand were basically missionaries, adventurers, and traders. The

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community is often observed to fight for the identity. They feel proud for their foreign origin
and is considered as an amalgam of cultural performs, tensions, and others. However, the
character of Janet reflects an opposite trait of being a Pakeha (Scoppio, 2018). From the very
early age she was observed with involvement with various offensive practices including
stealing and trespassing. However, the reason of being involved within the criminal activities
is based on the disruptive childhood of Janet. Her confession to Tracey depicts that she was
sexually abused by the foster father (Houkamau, 2019). This activity are the driving forces of
her criminal deeds. At the very crucial age of adolescence the girl was victimized such brutal
activity of sexual abuse. She was suffering from identity crisis and also noticed to spend
remarkable amount of time in the streets.
It is worth to be mention here that, the oxford dictionary defines the crime as an
activity that create offence and is considered as punishable by the law (Kawharu, Tapsell &
Woods, 2017). Building the connection with the meso level with the micro level it will be
easy to understand the situation. Considering the micro level of society, the one to one
relation between Janet and her Foster father is disturbing in this case. The gap between the
micro and meso level of the society can be demonstrated by the Symbolic Interactionism
Theory of sociology. It is mainly applicable to the micro level of the society. The relation
between Janet and her foster father or the relation between Janet and her husband is not
pleasant and she did not want live with one of them. For her livelihood she was evoked to
perform such criminal activities to support her mentality and the basic needs for living.
From the Functionalistic perspective of sociology, the relation with the macro level
can be established with the support of the case study. The elements of macro level in this case
are – the Oranga Tamariki youth justice facility that is providing help to Janet to overcome
her situation (Maclaurin et al., 2019). The functionalist theory promotes the concept of
providing help to a specific community to maintain the communal stability. The Oranga

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Tamariki justice facility helps Janet to signify the reason behind the criminalistic attitude and
why she should avoid such things to become a responsible member of the community. The
justice facility is helping Janet with providence of the opportunity of basic and elementary
education (Wetherell, 2019). She is performing well in the school and involved for a youth
counselling and support project. After talking to the counsellor, she stated that she can trust
her and happy to have some one to talk with. Talking or communication is a process to
express the mind or eliminating the sense of fear from the heart. In this case, Janet stored in
her mind a lot of pressure, conflicts, and anger for her family and her husband (Hawley et al.,
2019). Here, she has only gained the knowledge of fulfilling the basic needs by any kind of
right or wrong activity. However, the counsellor and the justice facility helped her to
understand the difference between good or bad, right or wrong. She understood her
responsibility for herself, for the community and for the baby also (Hill, Kerr & Kobayashi,
2019). According to the monitors of the justice facility, Janet is now capable enough to take
care of the baby. She is now able to neglect her own family background and the bad habits of
drugs and alcohol.
Combining all the discussions about Janet’s life and the consequences she faced there
are certain aspects that worth to be mentioned in this same context. As per the study of
sociology the society is observed with three levels. The meso level of the society is important
here as it is related to the community and the background from the person belonging. Both
the culture mentioned in this study belongs to New Zealand. Maori is the aboriginal culture of
New Zealand and the word Pakeha is also a Maori term to indicate European settlers in New
Zealand (Langer & McGee, 2017). The last scene from the case study of Janet reflects the
importance of culture and education. According to the study, education and culture are
inextricably interwoven. As a Juvenile Janet was not subjected to any punishment or judicial
regulation. It is relating the meso level of the community with the macro level. The facility of

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the New Zealand judicial system recognizes the importance of measuring the background of
the child for committing criminal offences. On the other hand, the judiciary system also
provides importance to the next generation as the career of the culture or tradition. Hence, the
Oranga Tamariki justice facility providing education and counselling facility for youths.
Counselling is the procedure that helps an individual to bring back into normal life.
On the other hand, there are various basic problems attached with the Maori culture and the
European Settlers in New Zealand. Both the communities possess little or no faith on the
government administration. Hence, being abused by her foster father and her husband Janet
decided to commit crime rather seeking administrative health (Kenkel, 2017). Their mistrust
upon the administrative practices drove her to commit the crimes instead of seeking
assistance and provide justice. On the other hand, at the age of eleven or less, it is hardly
understood by a child the concept of abuse, the concept of justice, concept of crime, and the
consequences. She was not provided with the proper education about the government
facilities and the consequences of committing crime. Education of an individual is the process
of preserving the society from adverse situation. On the other hand, the entire community of
both Maoris and Pakeha lack proper education.
Both the communities are observed with practicing anger, humiliation and various
other activities of criminality. The foster father of Janet is also a practitioner of criminal
activities. Sexual abusive attitude for a daughter or any other women is an example of sick
mentality. It is also an act of brutality from any member of a community. These people are
merely unaware about the definition of culture and tradition, they are the persons to ruin the
image of a particular community in front of the rest. Researchers also mentioned about the
Maori adults and their natural instincts for committing crime. The studies have mentioned
that they are socially outdated community and hence, they are unaware about proper
etiquettes of living within a society or living for a society.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that, all the levels of sociology are interrelated with each
other. The three levels of sociology possess different connotations for different field of live. It
cannot be limited in the study of sociology only. The macro level is the container of all the
three levels of society. For example, in the case of Janet, the macro level is the Oranga
Tamariki Youth Justice Facility. The organisation is provided support to Janet by providing
her shelter and proper education. The case is subjected around Janet and her community.
Hence, the organization is the embodiment of macro level in this study. The meso level refers
to studying or discussing about a particular group or community. In this regard, the two
communities mentioned in this study are Pakeha and Maori. Pakeha is a Maori term that
refers to the white skinned European Settlers of New Zealand. They are mainly the
practitioners of Christianity and were professionals of trading. On the other hand, the Maoris
are the indigenous people of New Zealand. They are the original people of New Zealand. The
community victimized various negligence from every aspects of life. The third level of the
society is the micro level. Considering any diagram of the sociological level it will be clear to
understand that meso level is the micro level. Micro level refers to Janet in this particular
study. Hence, all the levels are interconnected with each other. In this regard, the study
mentioned all the levels of sociology and their relationship.

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