Our Graduates

LAUMUA TUNUFA’I
Doctor of Philosophy student

AUT PhD student Laumua Tunufa’i decided to delve deeper into Samoan attitudes towards crime after working as a translator for Auckland courts and police.
Laumua has worked as a Samoan translator for 22 years and says after witnessing the misinterpretation of many of his clients of New Zealand law, he was motivated to find answers.

Studying through AUT’s School of Social Sciences, Laumua’s thesis focuses on the understandings and attitudes of old and young Samoans in Auckland towards criminal activities in New Zealand. He hopes his research will help to inform and educate policy makers in the future.

“A lot of people study the reasons why people commit crime,” he says. “I’m more interested in their attitudes and perceptions.”
Laumua chose AUT to complete his PhD because he says until now research about Samoan people has predominantly been produced out of only two universities.
“When you congregate with your friends, all the views tend to be the same and I didn’t want to fall into that trap,” he says. “I wanted to be independent and look at the issues from another perspective.”

The opportunity to become the first Samoan student to undertake a PhD in sociology at AUT appealed to Laumua and he began study towards his thesis in 2006.

Laumua is also a lecturer in the university’s School of Social Sciences.