Aborigines are particularly disadvantaged in our society. The problems and difficulties that they face when using the legal system are part of the reason for them being overrepresented in the criminal justice system. There are many issues which result in this participation; these include the presence of language barriers between an officer and an aboriginal suspect, cultural taboos aboriginal suspects suffer, their body language which tends to raise suspicion and their lack of understanding of the questioning procedure. These issues will be discussed to examine the topic at hand and suggested reforms will also be given to eliminate these complications to ensure that they receive a fair and unbiased hearing.
Language barriers are the most common …show more content…
These traditional laws and customs can contribute towards indigenous people not achieving a fair outcome. One of their customs is to not speak of certain things, such as the names of the dead, or someone the community holds in disgrace. This is because they believe that everyone has two spirits; a harmful one and a harmless one. By calling the forbidden name, they believe that the individual’s harmful spirit will haunt the living (Glowczewski, 2014, p.10). Therefore, during an interrogation, an aboriginal may experience difficulties if they don’t provide related information as it will seem that they are unwilling to cooperate, additionally making them seem like a possible suspect. Additionally, they experience severe difficulties when responding to direct questions. Traditionally, aboriginal people, specifically children, do not grow up in an environment where they are expected to answer when spoken to, and they feel ill at ease when questioned. This can therefore put aboriginal people at a disadvantage when being questioned by police officers. In both remote and urban areas, it is considered intrusive to ask personal questions and is often seen as discourteous (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p.28). Some aboriginal people at times will go at great lengths to avoid direct verbal confrontation, such as procrastinating or say what they believe the officers would want …show more content…
In June 2013, Aboriginal people represented 27 percent of the total prison population, despite comprising only around 3 percent of Australia’s population. Aboriginal prisoner numbers have been increasing, although at a reduced rate recently, with an increase of 10 percent between 2008 and 2009. Slowing to only 1 percent growth between 2010 and 2011, and rising to 5.6 percent growth between 2012 and 2013 (ABS, Prisoners in Australia, 2013). In order to avoid this overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system, alternative systems should be established, and help reduce recidivism rates. During questioning of an aboriginal suspect, an officer can be assisted by an aboriginal elder whose participation allows cultural issues to be taken into account in determining whether the suspect truly committed the offence and to advise the officers on appropriate cultural issues. This system is used in courts and has so far been successful in determining whether the accused is guilty. An evaluation report on the county koori court was released and the findings were that there were very low levels of recidivism, 14 out of 15 accused interviewed agreed that the process was more engaging and less intimidating than the mainstream court
Language barriers are the most common …show more content…
These traditional laws and customs can contribute towards indigenous people not achieving a fair outcome. One of their customs is to not speak of certain things, such as the names of the dead, or someone the community holds in disgrace. This is because they believe that everyone has two spirits; a harmful one and a harmless one. By calling the forbidden name, they believe that the individual’s harmful spirit will haunt the living (Glowczewski, 2014, p.10). Therefore, during an interrogation, an aboriginal may experience difficulties if they don’t provide related information as it will seem that they are unwilling to cooperate, additionally making them seem like a possible suspect. Additionally, they experience severe difficulties when responding to direct questions. Traditionally, aboriginal people, specifically children, do not grow up in an environment where they are expected to answer when spoken to, and they feel ill at ease when questioned. This can therefore put aboriginal people at a disadvantage when being questioned by police officers. In both remote and urban areas, it is considered intrusive to ask personal questions and is often seen as discourteous (Maybin and Mercer, 1996, p.28). Some aboriginal people at times will go at great lengths to avoid direct verbal confrontation, such as procrastinating or say what they believe the officers would want …show more content…
In June 2013, Aboriginal people represented 27 percent of the total prison population, despite comprising only around 3 percent of Australia’s population. Aboriginal prisoner numbers have been increasing, although at a reduced rate recently, with an increase of 10 percent between 2008 and 2009. Slowing to only 1 percent growth between 2010 and 2011, and rising to 5.6 percent growth between 2012 and 2013 (ABS, Prisoners in Australia, 2013). In order to avoid this overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system, alternative systems should be established, and help reduce recidivism rates. During questioning of an aboriginal suspect, an officer can be assisted by an aboriginal elder whose participation allows cultural issues to be taken into account in determining whether the suspect truly committed the offence and to advise the officers on appropriate cultural issues. This system is used in courts and has so far been successful in determining whether the accused is guilty. An evaluation report on the county koori court was released and the findings were that there were very low levels of recidivism, 14 out of 15 accused interviewed agreed that the process was more engaging and less intimidating than the mainstream court