NCJ Number
101338
Date Published
1985
Length
220 pages
Annotation
A critical assessment is provided of available Canadian research (generally 1972-1983) describing the impact of the criminal justice system upon Canada's indigenous people, with a focus on their overinvolvement at key junctures in the criminal process.
Abstract
Contrary to assumptions explicit in much of the literature, it is assumed that the overrepresentation of Native Americans is the inevitable consequence of colonization and underdevelopment. From this perspective, the problems of law enforcement and discriminatory policing are evaluated in terms of several common solutions: cross-cultural education of police, legal education of indigenous people, and indigenization of rural policing. Factors often offered to explain indigenous overinvolvement in the criminal court process also are critically reviewed including the inadequacy of legal representation, the mystification of court process and its language, and judicial discretion. Also examined are legal services, the indigenization of legal training and adjudication, and the development of tribal courts and court-worker services. Explanations for the overrepresentation of indigenous populations in prisons also are considered, including judicial bias in sentencing, fine defaulting, and attempts to indigenize correctional programs. Gaps in research are identified, and it is suggested that Canadian policy must review its socioeconomic planning rather than attempt to reduce indigenous overinvolvement at the microlevel of service delivery systems and programs, recommendations focus on discriminatory laws, police discretion, and correctional disposition decisionmaking. Chapter notes and 123 references. (Author abstract modified)