Maori womens perceptions of gambling: A beginning

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Maori womens perceptions of gambling A
beginning!

• Laurie Morrison (Te Arawa)
• University of Waikato
• 13 -14 May 2004

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Introduction

• Gambling - emerging health problem for Maori
  women in Aotearoa-New Zealand
• Following the introduction of new forms of
  gambling
• Limited studies done on Maori women
• Need to understand why Maori women get involved
  to the degree that it becomes problematic

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Why is it important?
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Maori women research studies -surveys

• 1999 - Maori women and gambling The Good and
  the Bad Times (Unpublished Masters thesis,
  L.Morrison)
• 2004 Maori and Gambling (Unpublished Doctoral
  Thesis - including Maori women and gambling
  (L.Dyall)
• 2004 Wahine Tupono (in progress) D. Richards
  and R. Herd

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Aims of the Study

• Discover Maori womens perceptions of gambling on
  the pokie machines, casino and internet.
• Explore health implications for self, whanau and
  communities
• Discover how they coped with the implications
• Find out what advice they would share with other
  Maori women gamblers

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Methodological Approach

• Consultation with Womens Health League
• Set up Maori Advisory Group
• Te Arawa kaumatua in Rotorua and Ngati Whatua
• Interview Schedule
• Semi structured interviews with Maori women
  gamblers
• Qualitative Study
• Kaupapa Maori Research Design
• A Pathway to Kaupapa Maori Research

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Procedure

• How I went about finding the women
• Personal Networks
• Professional Networks
• Whanau Networks

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Study Design

• Interviews To Date
• 20 Maori women who identify they have or have had
  a problem with gambling on pokie machines
• Auckland and Rotorua regions
• Includes kuia kaumatua, solo-mothers, community
  health workers, professionals, and tertiary
  students

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Findings

• Recreation
• Socialising
• Other Activities
• Venue
• Finding another identity
• Maori womens space

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Appealing Aspects

• Visual Aspect
• there is something about the pokie machines.
  Sometimes I draw them in my spare time. That is
  what I miss the most - the visual part of the
  machines.
• Financial Aspect
• They just look like they are going to give you
  some money.
• Attraction
• I think that I will buy a pokie! There is just
  something about them I just think they are
  beautiful.

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Creating another identity

• Actress
• I can be whoever I want to be my favourite
  are the multi star pokie machines, now that is
  where I get to be the best actress of all.

• Movie Star
• Income
• High SES
• Social Status
• Positive Social Companionship
• Glamour
• Stress Management

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Creating another identity

• Being someone else
• so to walk in there you can zone out, bit
  like when you are wasted. Your in another world.
• They tamarikiwill never find you in the
  casino or pokie venue. Mums and kuikui do not go
  to the Casino - Mum and kuikui go to the local,
  that sort of thing. You cant be found.

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Maori womens space

• Safety
• Ethnic other Maori patrons
• Gender other Maori women
• Status treated the same as everyone else
• Respect from other patrons and Maori
  proprietors
• Playful/humorous
• Commonality we laugh about the same things
• Sharing - we share the Maori sense of
  humour

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Maori womens space cont.

• Cultural
• Maori women it has become their marae. The
  casino is the place to celebrate. It brings
  people together, like the marae. Housie halls
  brought us all together before the casinos and
  the pokie bars.
• it is just another place for us all to be
  together.
• Food sharing
• Maori icons
• I can sit at a machine and see those Maori tohus
  (symbols) and feel right at home.
• Tikitiki, he is my favorite machineI can feel
  that he gets pissed off when I go past him....

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Other Activities

• Entertainment
• at the casino it is not only about gambling
  there is dancing and a restaurant. There is so
  much going on, lots of activity. It is about the
  entertainment aspect and that causes one big buzz
  for me.
• Enjoyment and fun
• I just love watching all the different things
  that come up on the pokie machines. I enjoy it.
  They are fun to play .

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Other Activities cont.

• Escape
• time out, a time for me to relax and have a
  tutu on the machines.
• I could switch off and not have to worry about
  anything.
• Hobby
• I want to do it because that is my hobby
• I dont have a hobby or anything too busyand I
  like to fill it with playing on the pokies.

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Recreation

• Play For some of the women gambling was all
  about play.
• It was instant play
• playful and a means of making money

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Socialising

• Kaumatua kuia responses
• I dont class it as gambling because at the
  casino and pokies you meet people when you live
  on your own day in day out you would like to meet
  people.
• I was drawn to the pokies because for me it was
  about meeting a need. Yes, it really was
  companionship. I could spend time doing something
  that I enjoyed and with other friends.

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Venue

• Glamour
• the casino it was oh yes this is the best
  place to be. It was so positive. The way the
  workers walk around dressed nicely, it is flash
  as well .
• Calming environments
• as soon as you hit Sky City or walk into the
  gambling floors it is just so calmyou dont hear
  the cars outside or the television or radios
  inside.
• Personal and friendly
• the atmosphere is friendlier in the pokies.
  You can talk more intimately with the women who
  are there.

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Conclusion

• Gambling is an emerging health issue for Maori
  women
• More research is needed to help understand the
  complexities of gambling for the women
• Maori womens stories need to be seen in their
  own context and not merged with Maori men or
  Pacific Peoples findings
• Only then can the seriousness of gambling be
  addressed for wahine Maori katoa

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Contact Details

• Laurie Morrison
• Psychology Department
• University of Waikato
• Private Bag 3105
• Hamiltons
• lauriem_at_waikato.ac.nz
• Supervisors Dr Mike Hills, Dr Heather Hamerton
  and Dr Aroha Yates/Smith University of Waikato
• This project is being funded by an
• HRC Post-Graduate Maori Health Scholarship.