Feral families, troubled families: The spectre of the underclass in New Zealand

This article reports on an investigation of media representations of 'feral families' and the 'underclass' over a period of intense welfare reform in New Zealand, which includes significant income maintenance reform and targeted interventions to reduce family violence. The use of emotionally charged and stigmatising language to characterise people and groups may be interpreted as media framing and reveals some elements of an enduring moral panic. While media stories engender a wide range of audience responses, analysis of the content of both news stories and commentary suggests some support for sanctions aimed at control of the poor. An unsympathetic focus on the struggles of poor parents and their children invokes stigma and fear of unruly populations. The portrayal of poor families, particularly Maori families, as a 'feral' underclass, is highly stigmatising and may reduce public empathy with advocacy about child welfare.