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Aboriginal People Case Study

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young Aboriginal boy was arrested for attempting to steal a two dollar ice cream from his local supermarket. Although it was uneaten or undamaged, police spent $10,000 escorting the boy from his community to Perth, where the boy was sentenced to 12 months detention. This incident is only one of many profoundly horrific ways in which the Australian legal system and the police force handle our First Peoples. The emerging surge in imprisonment rates of Indigenous Australians exemplifies nothing short of social policy disaster.
This incident reflects the fate of many young indigenous people who are imprisoned for a minor offence rather than being offered much needed rehabilitation services, which has …show more content…
Which according to ANTaR Organisation displayed a male from our police forces responding with excessive physical force towards an Aboriginal woman; furthermore he was found to have repeatedly shoved her as she attempted to get closer to her teenage son. It is reasons such as these that Indigenous communities have very low confidence or trust in the police. This is due to the ignominious police behaviour and attitudes received by indigenous populations. This negative relationship hinders the ability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders groups and the police to trust each other. Moreover, it obstructs the capacity of indigenous people to exercise their rights under the law. These barbaric practices of racism must be stopped as it barricades our chances of rehabilitating as a …show more content…
It is also through the harsh and discriminatory legislation that governs indigenous offenders. This is evident with the debacle of the mandatory sentencing legislation. In one case an Aboriginal boy was charged with criminal offence for stealing a chocolate and received six months detention. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2013, indigenous prisoners made up 86% of one of the Australian states’ prison population. Northern Territory solely as a state comes third in world rankings after America and Canada for indigenous imprisonment. In addition Dr Brian Steel, Justice Specialist stated “in all my years of research in criminal justice, I can tell you it would be very difficult to find a white person charged with shouting or swearing like in the mandatory sentencing laws of Aboriginal people”, this illustrates the callous attitudes of legislative bodies. Our governments attempt to censor this issue by stating that they do not have the funds to initiate rehabilitation services. However Law Council Australia findings show that imprisoning an offender costs more money than setting up rehabilitation services. This application of repulsive and prejudiced affairs must

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