...Introduction: In Canada, for many years there has been growing concern and controversy about the over-representation of Aboriginals within the Criminal Justice System, a considerable problem that has been found to be more even extreme with Aboriginals female offenders. For Aboriginal women the rates of incarceration are particularly disturbing. Aboriginal women are over-represented in the federal prison system. They represent only 4% of the women in Canada yet account for 32% of the women in federal prisons. The number of Aboriginal women federally incarcerated has increased by 151% between 1997 and 2006 (Elizabeth Fry Society, 4). Aboriginal women are not only disproportionately over-represented but also the fastest growing population sentenced to federal prisons. The over-representation is even more pronounced in terms of Aboriginal women incarceration rates: As of April 2010, Aboriginal women accounted for 32.6% of the total female offender population (SOURCE 5). This means that one out of every three women federally incarcerated is of Aboriginal descent (Correctional Service Canada, 2009/2010, at 18). Furthermore they are over-represented in the maximum security prison population, making up 45% of the maximum security federally sentenced women, 44% of the medium security population and 18% of minimum security women in 2006 (Elizabeth Fry Society, 4). The justice system has played a major role in the creation of poor social conditions in Aboriginal communities today. It...
Words: 3165 - Pages: 13
...Introduction Aboriginal people have a long history of traditions, but many of these traditions were altered or even taken away from them. Aboriginal people are victimized and incarcerated at much higher rates than non-Aboriginal people; this overrepresentation of Aboriginal people continues to pose challenges to policies of justice system. Aboriginal people are more likely to be denied bail, they are more likely not to have legal representation in court proceedings, and Aboriginal offenders are more than twice as likely to be incarcerated than non-Aboriginal offenders. This research will focus on victimization rates for various incidents among Aboriginal women compare to non-Aboriginal women. This research will look into differentiating between...
Words: 1354 - Pages: 6
...throughout Canada and all have found that Aboriginal people are clearly over-represented in Canada’s criminal justice system. Each study has provided many reasons for the high incarceration rates. A justice system that is not responsive to the experiences and needs of Aboriginal people contributes to the high Aboriginal incarceration levels. Many Aboriginal people have other social factors that contribute to their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. “Aboriginal peoples experience disproportionately high rates of crime and victimization, are over-represented in the court and the correctional system, and further, feel a deep alienation from a justice system that is to them foreign and inaccessible, and reflects both overt and systemic racism.” (“Aboriginal People,” n.d) The overrepresentation of Aboriginals is a long-standing problem. Reports over the years have pointed to institutional bias within the criminal justice system as a cause for this problem. Courts were more inclined to deny bail and to impose more and longer prison sentences on Aboriginal people than on non-Aboriginals. (“Combating aboriginal”, 2012) Aboriginal accused are more likely to be denied bail and spend more time in pre-trial custody than non-Aboriginal people. One of the reasons for Aboriginal over-representation is related to interpretive problems. The Canadian Criminal Justice System is based on a system of offender punishment and deterrence. That is, Canada is attempting...
Words: 982 - Pages: 4
...argued to criminalize certain groups within society. Specifically, Aboriginal women as offenders in corrections have faced many difficulties. They often are sentenced younger, more often and for longer sentences than non-Aboriginal offenders. The over incarceration, over representation and criminalization of Aboriginal women within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is attributable to a legacy of colonialism and sexism which placed them at a vulnerable place within society. Canada’s public policy post WWII regarding, social welfare, education and the labour market, exhibit how colonialism and sexism have created unfavorable cultural and socio-economic conditions for Aboriginal women, which make them more susceptible to be victims/survivors of violence, poverty and behaviours or circumstances in conflict with the law. As a result of these conditions, Aboriginal women are more likely to meet deplorable conditions while in prison, and the laws do not seem to accommodate Aboriginal methods of rehabilitation, restitution and justice. In order to understand the plight of Aboriginal women within the CJS, the issue will be approached from a feminist perspective. Further, the evidence will be sourced from secondary sources, mainly text and government reports. First a landscape of Canada’s colonial past’s impact on Aboriginal women; starting post WWII will be advanced. This will demonstrate the links between Aboriginal women’s experience with poverty, violence in all forms, and the...
Words: 2860 - Pages: 12
...Misconception and Reality of Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Gloria Yu Misconception: The terms "Aboriginal" and "Native" are used to define one homogenous group of people in Canada. "Indigenous”, "Native", and "Aboriginal" are used as broad terms to collectively describe three different cultural groups known as "First Nations", the "Metis", and the "Inuit". These three groups all have their own unique culture, historical background, and political goals. The group known as “First Nations” has 633 bands, representing 52 cultural groups or nations and over 50 languages. Most individuals prefer to be called by the specific nation they belong in because each has its own traditional political structure, history, and spirituality. “Aboriginal” is a term used to describe individuals or...
Words: 928 - Pages: 4
...Changes in the Aboriginal Justice System through Colonialism Austin Jamieson 11153678 Native Studies 107 Ron Laliberte November 20, 2013 Aboriginal justice system has gone through many changes throughout history. This has mostly been because of Colonialism. Its presence is highly noticed in the formation of cultures and their ways, as well as in the elimination of others cultures and their ways. Colonialism has affected Aboriginal culture in several ways; however, a significant area that has been affected is the traditional Aboriginal justice system. Aboriginal communities had their own sense of justice and punishment prior to the arrival of the Europeans in Canada, Aboriginal communities lost their traditional means of sentences to the implementation of European corporal punishment. In the Western concept of justice, the system punishes the offender through a process of trying to make the offender conform, often locking them away to protect society from the dangers that offender brings to those around them. Aboriginal systems (which varying) try to focus on restoring the peace and harmony of the community. The concept is meant to use the justice system to bring equilibrium into the offender and community, as balance is necessary for kinship and relationships to flourish. Elders within Aboriginal communities began to bring many of these traditional correction techniques back into society to fix the growing numbers of criminal offenders throughout the country nearing...
Words: 2423 - Pages: 10
...Aboriginal Issues Essay As I read the articles about the aboriginal people what stood out to me and impressed me the most was the over representation of Aboriginal people in our Canadian prison system. A shocking statistic that I read was that 2.8% of the Canadian population is Aboriginal but they account for 18% of our federal prison inmates. Aboriginal people have been faced with so many historic inequities such as being forced to move to reserves with almost none of the basic infrastructures needed to run a functioning society. Having their children taken from their families and put in abusive residential schools, being forced to learn and live by a foreign culture and beliefs as well as being faced with racial discrimination and having their rights ignored. Due to the history of injustice and discrimination aboriginal people have experienced higher unemployment rates and lower incomes leading to lives of poverty, substance abuse, and family violence. I think that the residential schools play a big role in the problems some of the Aboriginal people faced because when they took young children who had learned only a small amount of their families cultures and tried to teach them western cultures and beliefs. As well some of the children were sexually traumatized and beaten, which likely caused a lot of confusion and difficulties growing up. In my opinion because of all the injustice in the past there is a huge lack of trust that the aboriginal people have with the Canadian...
Words: 503 - Pages: 3
...indigenous populations compared to non-indigenous populations. The author uses the 2009 General Social Survey of Canada to examine the influence of indigenous status and the corresponding confidence in the police. The author beings by addressing the importance in a democratic society to have confidence in the police as it links citizens to institutions which are designed to protect and serve them. People’s confidence in the police has been showed to increase willingness to report a crime, compliance with the law and to share information regarding criminal activity. Confidence in the police is defined in the study as multidimensional; it considers citizens confidence in the dependability, competency and respectfulness of the police. The results from the research indicated a statistically significant difference between aboriginal and non-aboriginal in the item “the police are doing a good job of treating people fairly” (512) The other significant differences between...
Words: 579 - Pages: 3
...Luca Santoro A00354983 Reflection #4 The Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Gladue, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 688, as well as, Section 718.2(e) of the Criminal code have stated that judges should account for these considerations when making sentencing decisions. This ruling asks judges to apply an analysis that recognizes the adverse background cultural impact factors that many Aboriginals face. Upon analyzing these factors, if present in their personal history, work to alleviate or reduce the culpability of offenders. Judges are then asked to consider all reasonable alternatives to jail in light of this. After such an analysis, it is more likely to lead to a restorative justice resolution, being used either in place of a jail sentence or combined with a reduced term. In applying principles of restorative justice to Aboriginal offenders, in the context of urban aboriginals discussed in the Gladue decision, it is necessary not only to focus on the individuals before the court, but as well to work with the First Nations communities, to restore their ability to deal with their members in a manner consistent with their traditions. While some critics suggest that decision in the Gladue case is “bad criminal justice policy”, I feel that comment speaks directly to aboriginal restorative justice, the tradition of restoring victim, offender and the community to a state of compatibility is a genuine and widely recognized one in Aboriginal communities around the world. The move to implement restorative...
Words: 570 - Pages: 3
...U.S. Criminal Justice System Compared To Canada U.S. Criminal Justice System Compared To Canada The United States Criminal Justice System is used by national and local governments to maintain social control and punish violators of the law with criminal penalties. The primary agents responsible for upholding the law under the United States criminal justice system are the courts, defense attorneys and prosecutors, law enforcement officers along with prisons and jails. In joint efforts these agents work together to arrest, charge, adjudicate and punish those individuals found guilty of a crime. They are also responsible for ensuring that the accused are given a fair trial and that their individual rights are protected throughout the process. By law, individuals tried through the United States criminal justice system remain innocent until proven guilty (Criminal Justice System , 2011). The carry of firearms for protection and other lawful purposes is legal in forty-nine states, either under license or as a matter of course. Washington, D.C., and the State of Illinois are the only regions that both prohibit carry by statute, and neither issue a license exempting one from the statute. Open carrying of firearms without any licensing requirement is legal in thirty-one states. There is no federal law generally prohibiting the carry of firearms by citizens for protection or other lawful purposes. Some states' statutes prohibit carry in vehicles without a license; concealment without...
Words: 1343 - Pages: 6
...Private security and public policing Karen Swol I n recent years, both the number of police officers in Canada and the crime rate have been declining. However, the rates for many workplace or white-collar crimes, such as computer crimes, employee theft, and fraud, are increasing. Public police do not always have the resources to handle these internal crimes. In some cases, for example, a fraud of at least $100,000 must be committed for public police to give it priority (Gerden, 1998). With cutbacks to police budgets occurring just as the publics demand for security seems to be growing, the use of private security has been increasing. Police officers differ considerably from private security personnel in the work they perform, the basic job requirements and training. Both police and private security play a role in society; however, the line between the two security professions is becoming less clearly defined. Police officers who walk the beat in front of commercial properties may now meet up with private security guards hired by shopkeepers to patrol their storefronts as a deterrent to theft and break and enters. In general, this type of private security does not require a police presence nor does there exist a potential for danger. Some police forces have formed partnerships with private security in areas such as secure storage of property and evidence, monitoring of alarm centres, guarding of prisoners while in lock-up or in transit, and video- and audiotaping of...
Words: 5214 - Pages: 21
...role, there is a sufficient amount of evidence that blacks and aboriginal people are over-represented in the criminal justice system. The logic behind this problem is that racial discrimination and profiling is present, or it is the result of the differential offending patterns of the minority. After researching, I believe that aboriginal and blacks are over-represented in the criminal justice system due to racial discrimination and profiling. My reasoning behind this is based on the collected data that supports the fact that racial discrimination and profiling is apparent in the criminal justice system. Racial discrimination and profiling is most associated with the police, and that is strictly because they are the first contact with the suspects, victims, citizens, and the offenders. I also believe that the causes of the problem and the potential solutions are the same for both aboriginal and black people. The only variable that might alter the causes of the problem, and the potential solutions is the location in which the aboriginal and blacks live in. This being said, racial discrimination and profiling are without doubt the primary attributes in the over-representation of aboriginals and blacks in the criminal justice system. Although I agree with the fact that certain minority youths contain a greater involvement in delinquent behaviour. This does not provide an adequate explanation on their over-representation in various forms of police contact. As Carrington and Fitzgerald...
Words: 1772 - Pages: 8
...immigration, and the penal system. This paper will compare two of numerous federal investigations that have taken place in Canada between the years 1868 and 2008: the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada (The Bird Commission) and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Both of these commissions tackle matters of early childhood education and care, education, the Indian Act, economic self-reliance, special treatment, the renewal of a relationship, the private sector, and the criminal code. After a more extensive comparison has been achieved between these two reports, I will decide which commission has had the largest impact on our Canadian constitution. Before forming a comparison, it is important that I explain briefly how each of these federal commissions came before us: Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson instituted the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada (RCSW) in February of 1967 (Royal Commission on the Status of Women, vii). It was launched as a direct response to a six-month campaign mounted by a coalition of thirty-two women's organizations and led by Ontario activist Laura Sabia, who, at the time, was president of the Canadian Federation of University Women (Encyclopædia Britannia). Sabia called a meeting of the coalition in Toronto in May of 1966 to discuss concerns surrounding the status of women in Canada. Because of the coalition’s lobbying efforts, mounting pressure in the media, and a threat from Sabia to lead a women’s march...
Words: 2594 - Pages: 11
...For instance, the indigenous population in Canada’s prisons system continues to grow and are overly represented in comparison to any other group. In the article written by Patenaude etc. (1992), they found that “Canada’s indigenous peoples are incarcerated in federal and provincial/territorial correctional facilities in number far in excess of their representation in the general population”. Which begs the question why are aboriginals represented at higher rates? I argue systematic biases as well as a punitive approach to crime furthers the issue of the over incarceration of aboriginal people in Canada. For instance, they found that crime rates were not allocated evenly as “it falls disproportionately on the poorer and more vulnerable sections of the population and serves to compound the growing economic and social inequalities which have risen dramatically...” Consequently, simply putting people in jail for certain crimes doesn’t deter crime but rather exacerbates it since it doesn’t account for other factors that affect...
Words: 946 - Pages: 4
...treatment rates will be discussed. The purpose is to stipulate evidence of declining crime rates, and alternative sanctions to the crime bill c-10. In addition, a consultation of rehabilitation methods and apprehension of why there is a disproportionality of Aboriginal people in the Criminal Justice System will be explored. The data discovered suggests that the legislation was enacted for political reasoning, without the consideration of underlying causes of criminal activity. Furthermore, rehabilitation treatments have shown to lower recidivism, and are used to stress the importance on investigating the root cause of criminal behaviour. Finally, the restorative justice model is adopted to promote the sense of moral wrong in the individual’s crime. A Retreat in the CJS 3 In recent years, the Canadian government has been working on implementing a stricter justice system. The omnibus crime bill C-10, was enacted in order to achieve this measure. The act consists of a concept in which includes harsher sentencing, mandatory minimums and a zero tolerance policy. This legislation attempts to put victims first, instead of defending the rights of offenders. What the government has failed to distinguish is that crime rates in Canada have been decreasing gradually over the past decade. In addition, the new legislation does not seem to address the rehabilitation and reintegration matters of offenders into society. In fact there is no evidence in which suggests that the bill was enacted according...
Words: 2549 - Pages: 11
