Ethnic Racism And Colonialism Are The Leading Cause Behind Mental Health

Provision [SCRGSP], 2005; Jeffries and Bond, 2012). It is also widely discussed that there is an overrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system itself (Jeffries and Bond, 2009), representing up to one quarter of prisoners in Australia (Makkai and Payne, 2003; Payne, 2005). This essay will address the current issues that Indigenous Australians face within the criminal justice system, particularly, with courts. The aim of this essay besides addressing these issues will also be to provide suggestions or alternatives that may help resolve the presented issues and improve the experience for Indigenous Australians in court.

A wide-ranging number of concerns were raised relating to the way the justice system deals with violence against Aboriginal women and girls. This included concerns with the police system, the judicial system, and the correctional system.

Correctional Services Canada prepared a publication stating “poverty, inadequate educational opportunities, unemployment, poor living conditions, alcohol abuse and domestic violence all contribute to Aboriginals coming into conflict with the law” (August, 2013). If I should reflect on the First Nations Reserve I currently work; according to a report by Statistics Canada; 2006 Aboriginal Population Profile there was a total of “1,245 Aboriginals 15 years and over with a 32.1 unemployment rate, while there was a 20.8 unemployment rate in the province of New Brunswick” (Statistic Canada,

Minister if you will turn your attention to the following chart, which shows a comparison of imprisonment rates between different countries. It is thoroughly disappointing to see that the Aboriginal’s represent Australia with such substantial numbers. Minister there are alarming numbers the gravity of this situation transfers to other areas. Furthermore Western Australia the Aboriginal imprisonment rates are at an astounding 3,741, in comparison to the Aboriginal people the rest of Australia at

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) in 1991 provided documentation on the death of indigenous Australians in prison or police custody. In doing so the report highlighted the substantial over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Criminal Justice system and provided detailed analysis of underlying factors. The reports findings were believed to be the foundation of change. However, regardless of a range of policy changes and crime prevention programs in repose to the report, over representation in the criminal justice system remains. The issue is one of the most significant social justice and public policy issue in the contemporary Australian criminal justice system. The RCIADIC made 339 recommendations, most of which have been implemented into the criminal justice system over the past two decades. Never the less the systematic over representation remains prevalent. The purpose of this essay is to understand over representation as it exists in the contemporary criminal justice system. Particular emphasise will be placed on the levels of women and youths in the criminal justice system, their contact with the system and empirically based risk factors pertaining to over representation. An evaluation of alternative programs in the pre and post sentencing stage and the impact such programs would have on the over representation will be conducted.

Over the past few years there has been an increase of Aboriginal juveniles in the justice system. The current law in Australia does not adequately protect these Aboriginal children who are caught in the system and must immediately be reformed. The issues with the current law is that it does not conform with the United Nation’s Convention’s on the Rights of the Child and the courts and police officers are not arresting or sentencing Aboriginal juveniles in conjunction with the current law. In order to address the over-representation of Aboriginal juveniles in the criminal justice system, current state and territory legislation that do not conform to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 37 and 40, needs to be amended. Furthermore,

When reading the book Indians Wear Red (2013) you gain an insight on the after-effects of colonization had on the everyday lives of the aboriginal community.The book talks about how the environment they had settled on became an area for dams, which eventually made people leave their settlement due to flooding. These series of actions lead to financial problems, job losses and lack of education, and soon people started to turning criminal activities like gangs.The book also demonstrates to us how the aboriginal community decided to marginalize themselves from the rest of society, to help maintain their culture.In the book, we get to read and develop an understanding of what gang members and Aboriginal people went through and how historical events

Through the implementation of critical race theory to the over representation of Aboriginals in the Canadian criminal justice system, we will be able to understand how this disadvantage cam about and methods to remedy it. Contextual Background of the Disadvantages of Aboriginal People In order to better understand who Aboriginal people are, there is a need for a definition. For the purpose of this text the term Aboriginal will refer to all First Nations, Metis and Inuit. It is important to include that it includes all status and non-status Aboriginals.

There is also an important recognition to be made between living conditions of those 26.6% of Aboriginal People’s living on reserves, and those 73.4% that are living off reserves (SOHC 34). The appalling inadequacies of the already limited on-reserve housing, such as lack of electricity, clean water, sanitation, safety, and extreme overcrowding force many to seek better lives in urban areas. Many, upon arrival, then have to face extreme discrimination via cultural oppression stemming from historical processes, economic causes and political neglect (Patrick 19). Through this naturalized racism stemming way into the colonial era, Aboriginal Peoples in these urban areas face obscene housing and economic discrimination (Patrick 22). This all results in Aboriginal Peoples in urban centers being 8 times more likely to experience homelessness than non-Aboriginals.

Using an Indigenous epistemology and a qualitative approach, the author studied what she termed the act of legitimized racism. She analyzed its influence and, through interviews, collected narratives of those who had confronted legitimized racism. These interviews were with forty-five Indigenous people over the age of eighteen from twenty-nine distinct tribes between June 2009 and May 2013. As the participants needed to identify ethnically as

If racism to the Canadian Indigenous is over, how is it that 50.7% of Indigenous peoples have reported moderate, or high levels of psychological stress, while sadly, 22% commit suicide. As we very much know, racism is a big problem in our world today. It may sometimes be confused that one can only be racist to another with a different skin colour. Not only can racial ideas be affected or shaped through skin colour, but also religion and culture alike. That is why it is commonly misconceived, that there was no wrongdoing or discrimination towards the Indigenous peoples back when the Europeans first arrived. I believe that the Canadian government is not doing nearly enough to provide our natives with proper the sympathy they’re entitled to, causing them to fall ever deeper into the hole of racism and misunderstanding. Using our history, I will explain what happened to the Indigenous peoples of Canada and why they should be given more of a chance in their lives to command authority and leadership, concluding with how we can help.

However, in Australia, the Indigenous population is disproportionately represented in imprisonment, as Aboriginals only make up three percent of Australia, but thirty percent of the incarcerated population (Korff, J 2014). This is also evident in the number of juveniles currently imprisoned of Indigenous descent, at forty-eight percent of the incarcerated population (Korff, J 2014). Australian Jurisdictions currently do not strike the right balance between imprisonment and community corrections in regards to the Indigenous population. There is an imbalance in sentencing, with imprisonment having little effect on preventing re-offending in Aboriginals. Within two years of release, the re-conviction rate for Indigenous people was at eighty-six percent (Korff, J 2014). In addition, ‘research indicates that time in a juvenile justice centre is the most significant factor in increasing the odds of recidivism (Korff, J 2014).’ It can be seen that many Indigenous people in prison are there because of insufficient community services such as education and health care, but in sentencing, individuality needs to be accounted for, and alternatives to imprisonment provided (Korff, J 2014). Imprisonment should only be used as a last resort, but in the case of the Indigenous population, it seems to be

Australia is known as a first class country, which ranking the 10th in the World Happiness Report in 2015 (Wright, G 2016). Despite such statistics, increasing crime rate, especially Indigenous offending rate, is an ongoing problem for the whole of Australian agencies. From 1998 to 2007, the increasing rate of non-Indigenous prisoner was 94 percent, while there was an astonishing 266 percent rising in Indigenous prisoner numbers (ABS 2007b, cited in Skinner, 2011). It is stated by SCATSIA (2011, cited in

As society changes, moving forwards and backwards, one thing remains a constant, vast inequalities surrounding Indigenous communities. These inequalities have lingered, growing substantially over the course of history, affecting all members of this culture. The colonization uprooted the structures, views, and values of Indigenous people in an attempt to abolish the First Nations culture and identity. Although these radicalized approaches are seemingly in the past, the affects are still immensely present and negatively impact Indigenous people today. Monchalin (2016) identifies the numerous psycho social factors, such as poverty, addictions, low education, and more, which are existing amongst Indigenous people. These have led to the vast overrepresentations in prison, disconnected families, higher dropout rates, and increased susceptibility to criminal behavior. Programs have been developed in response to these issues, to rehabilitate, and reintegrate Indigenous people using traditional First Nations methods. However, these programs are typically reactive, providing little aid in preventing.

Currently, the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people of Canada are not treated as well as they were told they would be. This is evident in the fact that they are constantly segregated and the subject of many cruel and racist stereotypes over the years (such as being drunks, drug-addicts, etc.). Moreover, their quality of life is not very appreciable, as the quality of the land that they live on is not considerable, the quality of education is not up to par, and their homes are in disrepair. Furthermore, they do not have many rights, and these Aboriginals can receive a post-secondary education if they give away their "status" as a registered Aboriginal. These points further reinforce the fact that the Métis, Inuit, and First Nations people of Canada are