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Racial discrimination and disparity in the united states justice system
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The number of aboriginal women in Canadian prisons is on the rise. “Women of Aboriginal descent now make up more than 35 percent of the female prison population”, and Aboriginal women represent about four percent of the general population” (CBC News 2015). The overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system has long captured attention in Canada. Many factors such as financial instability, unstable housing, households with only mothers with children, low education and disordered social network systems are associated with the commission of a crime in neighbourhoods. This paper will argue that the over-representation of Aboriginal women can be explained by their underprivileged position in both socioeconomic terms and by …show more content…
“Bill C-41 has provided adequate legal text to inspire legal activism that allows for systemic factors such as gendered conditions of endangerment, to be presented by defense lawyers in the conduct of a case before a sentencing judge and to argue against the imprisonment of Aboriginal women” (Balfour, 2012). Not only crimes committed by Aboriginal women are ending up as indeterminate sentences, but also punishment is given inside the prisons through other inmates and prison guards. “Aboriginal communities already struggling with social problems of poverty, violence, and housing shortages cannot take on the burden of programming and supervision required for conditional sentences” (Anderson, 1999). Racism and discrimination against Aboriginal people have been pervasive in Canadian history. They have been used and mistreated over and over and due to that kind of ill treatment to their ancestors, the effects can still be seen on their future generations. To have sentencing law reforms is insufficient strategies to address the incarceration spiral of Aboriginal women when the conditions of their lives are contoured by legacies of trauma and …show more content…
It shows effects of social and economic forces that influence relatively vulnerable people. This is seen more commonly among Aboriginal women than other communities. Since there is not much education, support and opportunities among aboriginal women, they tend to resort to illegitimate means to survive, such as getting involved in illegal sexual activities. This behaviour leads them towards criminal justice system. Once, they step into the criminal justice system it just becomes a loophole and become harder for them to get out of it. Secondly, social learning theory suggests that individuals learn antisocial behaviours in families, peers, communities, and schools. Those on the bottom of the social ladder are disproportionately vulnerable to the adoption of anti-social attitudes and behaviours because of wide-ranging limitations in their lives, alienation from mainstream and community resources, and the lack of individual, family structures to promote pro-social attitudes. In such conditions where a person does not have a support system, most often leads them towards the wrong
Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall. The Justice System and Aboriginal People: Child Welfare. n.d. - n.d. - n.d. The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter14.html.
LaPrairie, C. (1998). The new justice: Some implications for aboriginal communities. Canadian Journal of Criminology. 40 (1), 61-79.
‘’ Abolition of systemic discrimination in the CJS may leave behind ‘structural racism’: the discriminatory impact of laws, policies and practices rather than individual racist attitudes’’ (Blagg et al 2005: 12). The white susceptibilities are offended when Aboriginal people’s occurrence induces loathing and fear: their social custom, and their differences (sitting in parks, moving around as a group). In public places it is approved or considered as ‘okay’ to discriminate against Aboriginal people, for instances; Aboriginal children was rejected from shopping malls for ruptures of dress codes while young non-aboriginal youths are not, Aboriginal background adults are denied service in pubs is all regarded as being ‘okay’. Aboriginal people’s cultural values and beliefs are ignored as the Criminal justice system (CJS) enforces non-Aboriginal principles upon them. As a result, such behaviour is considered as institutionalised norms, practices and standards but not reflected as deliberate
the Canadian justice system(Brizinski,1993,395) it has over and over again been stated that the present justice system has and is failing Aboriginal people. It is not suited for their cultural needs and does nothing to rehabilitate offenders but rather does the offender more harm then good. It does not address the underlying conditions causing criminal behavior or in assessing what specific needs must be addressed to rehabilitate.
Despite the decreasing inequalities between men and women in both private and public spheres, aboriginal women continue to be oppressed and discriminated against in both. Aboriginal people in Canada are the indigenous group of people that were residing in Canada prior to the European colonization. The term First Nations, Indian and indigenous are used interchangeably when referring to aboriginal people. Prior to the colonization, aboriginal communities used to be matrilineal and the power between men and women were equally balanced. When the European came in contact with the aboriginal, there came a shift in gender role and power control leading towards discrimination against the women. As a consequence of the colonization, the aboriginal women are a dominant group that are constantly subordinated and ignored by the government system of Canada. Thus today, aboriginal women experiences double jeopardy as they belong to more than one disadvantaged group i.e. being women and belonging to aboriginal group. In contemporary world, there are not much of a difference between Aboriginal people and the other minority groups as they face the similar challenges such as gender discrimination, victimization, and experiences injustice towards them. Although aboriginal people are not considered as visible minorities, this population continues to struggle for their existence like any other visible minorities group. Although both aboriginal men and women are being discriminated in our society, the women tends to experience more discrimination in public and private sphere and are constantly the targeted for violence, abuse and are victimized. In addition, many of the problems and violence faced by aborigin...
trial of two men for the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne in The Pas Manitoba.
Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
Fleras, Augie. “Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Repairing the Relationship.” Chapter 7 of Unequal Relations: An Introduction to Race, Ethnic and Aboriginal Dynamics in Canada. 6th ed. Toronto: Pearson, 2010. 162-210. Print.
The system in place is completely unsuitable and unhelpful for Native people and it shows just how indifferent Canada is to First Nations peoples’ well-being. Zimmerman explains in his article “Outcomes” that it is a well-known fact that Aboriginal people are overrepresented in the prison system (1992). There are so many reasons why this is so, and the majority of those reasons are because of the terrible way that Canada has interacted with them. They are isolated in their reserves, they are haunted by their residential school experiences, leading to alcoholism, domestic violence and neglect, and they face discrimination and a lack of social support from the government. Once an Aboriginal person finds themselves in the clutches of the prison system, the indifference begins. Canada’s criminal justice system is indifferent to an Aboriginal person’s cultural, spiritual, and individual needs that separate them from the average convicted person (Zimmerman, 1992). The criminal justice system ignores the unique idea of justice and restoration that First Nations peoples have, making it extremely irrelevant and unhelpful for them. First Nations peoples have linguistic and cultural barriers and a lack of counsel and understanding of the criminal processes and, therefore, have misguided rulings and inaccurate proceedings. Canada has not provided the cultural training and
African-Americans are the predominant race in prisons in the United States of America (Rushton). Aboriginals are the predominant race in prisons in Canada (Wortley). The majority of both of these nations are whites. Does this show that minorities commit criminal offences more than the majority population? There have been different theories t...
Canada is viewed as being a very safe and stable place to live because people are lucky enough to have healthcare, benefits for unemployment and family needs, as well as maternity leave. Crime is something that Canadians don’t often think about because people feel as though they are out of harm's way. As Canadians, we’ve watched the world experience different threats and crime, and we’ve seen the world fight back. For example, our neighbors in North America, the United States, have gone through terrorist attacks and issues with guns and violence. Just because we are witnessing these things in other places doesn’t mean that we aren’t at risk as well, and Canada does have certain approaches and regards in place if we are ever in danger. What I wish to address in this paper is how Canada is set up for reacting to crime and jeopardy, as well as an example of where we went wrong in our past. Methods in response to crime, Canada’s legal regime and the issue of Residential schooling for Aboriginals a hundred years ago will be presented.
Her book focuses on the myriads of issues and struggles that Indigenous men and women have faced and will continue to face because of colonialism. During her speech, Palmater addressed the grave effects of the cultural assimilation that permeated in Indigenous communities, particularly the Indian Residential School System and the Indian Act, which has been extensively discussed in both lectures and readings. Such policies were created by European settlers to institutionalize colonialism and maintain the social and cultural hierarchy that established Aboriginals as the inferior group. Palmater also discussed that according to news reports, an Aboriginal baby from Manitoba is taken away every single day by the government and is put in social care (CTVNews.ca Staff, 2015). This echoes Andrea Smith’s argument in “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing” that colonialism continues to affect Aboriginals through genocide (2006, p. 68). Although such actions by the government are not physical acts of genocide, where 90% of Aboriginal population was annihilated, it is this modern day cultural assimilation that succeeded the Indigenous Residential School System and the Indian Act embodies colonialism and genocide (Larkin, November 4,
Mauer, Marc. "The Race to Incarcerate." The Case For Penal Abolition. Ed. W. Gordon West and Ruth Morris. Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars? Press, 2000. 89-99.
The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission. (1999). The Justice System and Aboriginal People. Winnipeg: Manitoba Government.
et. Al. (2006). pp. 527). Individuals engage in crime and deviant activities due to feelings of deprivation in relation to those more affluent than themselves. If individuals “[are] lacking the opportunities to increase their affluence… through paid employment and access to illegitimate opportunities” they partake in criminal activities to reduce this deprivation (Brown, F. H. (2014). pp. 1). According to Skinner (2011), some theorists argue that relative deprivation within racial or ethnic groups will increase crime whereas comparatively, others assert that inequality between these groups will increase crime. The theory of relative deprivation is effective when used to understand the overrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system. “Street crime, including burglary, shoplifting and street robbery are those which come most readily to mind when considering relative deprivation” (Brown, F. (2014). pp. 27). Relative deprivation is caused when Indigenous citizens are “socialised according to the culture of mainstream society, but are simultaneously denied to opportunities to obtain social equality” (Skinner, V. (2011). pp. 84) such as employment for instance. In 2010, the overall Indigenous unemployment rate was 18%, 3 times the non-Indigenous rate (Creative Spirits. (2015). pp. 1). Moreover, in 2011, the percentage of Indigenous related offenses involving theft comprised 81% of the total offenses (Australian Government. (2012). pp.139). As a result, these significantly high statistics provide insight into the clear correlation between the crimes associated with relative deprivation and the overrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice