In 2011, Aboriginal people were reported as imprisoned at a rate of 756 per 100,000 in contrast to non-aboriginal Canadians at a rate of only 76 per 100,000 (Jeffries, 2014). However, why are Aboriginal People in Canada overrepresented in prison? Could it be sentencing policies or are these citizens more harmful to society? Many factors are involved in this presumption, including high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and a large percentage of judges will decide jail for their sentence even when there are laws against jail being the first option. Even with laws put into place to consider other alternatives, judges have the final say and most of these Aboriginal people are still sent to jail over rehabilitation (Jeffries, 2014).
Firstly, the …show more content…
However, since the law clearly points to Aboriginal people only, the judges are able to find ways around this without problems of being termed racist. An example of this: a young mother of Aboriginal descent, stabbed her boyfriend to death however since she was living in an urban area off reserve, the judge considered her non-Aboriginal and sentenced her to 3 years in prison (Anthony, 2015). Sentencing judges are still eager to sentence Aboriginals similar to that of non-Aboriginals even though their situations are usually a lot more complex than their …show more content…
Understanding why substances affect people in such a way to act violent is a very important topic in regards to understanding criminal intent and inevitability
Since substance abuse is so prevalent in Aboriginal communities and has such a drastic affect on the body, physically and mentally, it has a strong connection with the high rates of Aboriginals imprisoned in Canada. It may not be why Aboriginals are overrepresented in prison but it has evidence to show why there are high rates of convictions.
In contrast to personal traits that affect the rates at which a specific race is convicted other problems could be included in the overrepresentation, such as criminal justice policies. Criminal justice has been focusing on a ‘war-on-drugs’ tactic to eliminate the use and distribution of drugs in Canada. This would lead to a focus on the race or type of person who uses these drugs, which is the Aboriginals, are mentioned previously (Umsted,
Firstly, the …show more content…
However, since the law clearly points to Aboriginal people only, the judges are able to find ways around this without problems of being termed racist. An example of this: a young mother of Aboriginal descent, stabbed her boyfriend to death however since she was living in an urban area off reserve, the judge considered her non-Aboriginal and sentenced her to 3 years in prison (Anthony, 2015). Sentencing judges are still eager to sentence Aboriginals similar to that of non-Aboriginals even though their situations are usually a lot more complex than their …show more content…
Understanding why substances affect people in such a way to act violent is a very important topic in regards to understanding criminal intent and inevitability
Since substance abuse is so prevalent in Aboriginal communities and has such a drastic affect on the body, physically and mentally, it has a strong connection with the high rates of Aboriginals imprisoned in Canada. It may not be why Aboriginals are overrepresented in prison but it has evidence to show why there are high rates of convictions.
In contrast to personal traits that affect the rates at which a specific race is convicted other problems could be included in the overrepresentation, such as criminal justice policies. Criminal justice has been focusing on a ‘war-on-drugs’ tactic to eliminate the use and distribution of drugs in Canada. This would lead to a focus on the race or type of person who uses these drugs, which is the Aboriginals, are mentioned previously (Umsted,