NCJ Number
222568
Journal
Criminal Justice Studies: A Critical Journal of Crime, Law and Society Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: March 208 Pages: 49-60
Date Published
March 2008
Length
12 pages
Annotation
To provide a reconsideration of a cultural explanation of Alaska Native overrepresentation, this study examined the validity of the argument that Alaska Natives processed by the criminal justice system are more likely to receive imprisonment because their cultural ethic of always telling the truth makes them more likely to provide incriminating evidence when interrogated and to offer guilty pleas when arraigned.
Abstract
The analyses showed virtually no differences in the honesty of the two groups. It appears that non-Natives are just as likely as Alaska Natives to tell the truth. As such, at least one aspect of the cultural conflict explanation of the disproportional rate of Alaska Native imprisonment is called into question. It is suggested that the consequences of the concentrated disadvantage that is characteristic of the village and urban environments where most Alaska Natives reside be considered when examining why Alaska Natives are so much more likely to become enmeshed in the criminal justice system. Alaska Natives’ culturally based propensity toward truth-telling is said to result in overrepresentation in prison due to it being thought that Alaska Natives are more likely to confess when interrogated. Using data obtained for the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, this study considered the assertion that Alaska Natives are more truthful than non-Natives. Tables, references