Neil And Carmichael: A Brief Summary

Roland Neil and Jason T. Carmichael analyze the use of incarceration in Canada, providing research concerning the political and social threat explanations, specifically from the years 2001 to 2010. It is clear that there is an overrepresentation of racial minorities within the prison system, and the authors further analyze the likelihood that one will be more punished if they are a visible minority. There is a comparison shown with the United States alongside Canada, and the authors also provide a comparison from province to province. There is an emphasis on disproportionate representation of Aboriginals within the Canadian justice system. Neil and Carmichael also bring attention to political ideologies and political leaders, particularly …show more content…
Corrado, Sarah Kuehn, and Irina Margaritescu provide a close study on policy issues regarding the overrepresentation of incarcerated Aboriginal young offenders, focussing on Canada in particular, and whether the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) has reduced this overrepresentation or if they are still at higher risk than Caucasian youth. There is also some comparison done with Australia, the United States, and New Zealand. Aboriginal offenders of various ages are evidently over-represented in all stages in the criminal justice system in Canada. In fact, young Aboriginal individuals are eight times more likely to be sentenced to prison than those who are Caucasian, and their sentences are longer as well. Among Canadian researchers, there is a consensus that the historical overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth in prisons has not changed despite the YCJA’s attempt on giving alternative and culturally specific sentences for young …show more content…
Corrado, Kuehn, and Margatiescu mention that in Canada, Aboriginal young people make up only six per cent of the youth population, yet they reflect approximately one quarter, or 24 per cent, of those incarcerated. This statistic alone is incredibly disproportional. This disproportion is carried on in Australia and New Zealand, and it is proven to be even larger, proving that this overrepresentation of minorities in the prison system is not restricted to Canada. The authors mention that there is disagreement of the exact causes of the overrepresentation of Aboriginals, but there is a consensus that there are multiple factors such as increased offending rates or discriminatory practices by the police. There are also historic roots to this problem, more specifically colonialism and the negative impact on Aboriginal communities. There have been various strategies imposed in Canada to counteract this overrepresentation, though many of these policies have been unsuccessful, and have made the situation worse in some cases. This problem within the prison system is only getting worse. The authors offer more valuable statistics throughout the article, many of which are shocking as they are