The Over Representation of Aboriginal People in Australian Prisons - Coursework Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxxx Institution: xxxxxxxxxxx Course: xxxxxxxxxxx Title: The over representation of aboriginal people in Australian prisons Tutor: xxxxxxxxxxx @ 2009 The over representation of aboriginal people in Australian prisons Introduction 1Aboriginals in Australia are among the marginalized groups of people who face stereotype treatment. The racial criminalization of the Aborigines can be attributed to their historical background in terms of the kind of life that they were subjected to by the colonial administration. According to the previous colonial legislations, the Aborigines were considered as a group of people who were not worthy of any form of fair treatment. Consequently, majority of Aborigines were denied the right to receive justice unlike their Australian counterparts. Moreover, they were subjected to severe imprisonment. In reference to Wagner (2000, p7) over the course time, these stereotypic perceptions in regard to the Aboriginals in Australia have been projected in the existing Australian systems for instance the prison systems. It is alleged that there is an over representation of the Aboriginal in the existing Australian prison systems. This paper seeks to provide an incisive outlook on the over representation the Aboriginal people in the Australian prisons in reference to a theoretical lens and key concepts from this framework so as to heighten our understanding on this issue. Moreover, this paper will briefly highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the theories that have been used to enhance understanding. Colonialism lens 2The history of Australia was characterized by dispossessions and wrangles geared towards the possession of the indigenous land. These wrangles yielded antagonistic reactions from both the colonialist settlers and the indigenous people. As a result the colonial authorities did away with legal recognition and rights of the pre existing indigenous groups. 3The indigenous people were retracted from their original right of negotiation and fair representation in regard to their existence and privileges. Colonial quest in Australia brought about marginalization, dispossession and dispersal of indigenous populations such as the Aborigines. Colonialist viewed Aborigines as less human thus deserving no right of protection or owning property. According to Glover (1998, p 67) they perceived Aborigines as paternalistic in nature and based on their biological, cultural and social outlook Aborigines were considered as inferior, uncivilized and primitive. Currently, such beliefs have formed the basis of the Aborigine outlook in the Australian society. 4In the Australian society there exist some stereotype beliefs concerning the Aborigine people that can be attributed to colonial ideologies. For instance in the current Australian prison systems the rate of imprisoned Aboriginal people is 13 times greater than the rate of imprisoned non-Aboriginal people. Based on this fact it would be inherently rational to conclude that the current Australian police force inherited racial and stereotypic opinions in regard to the Aboriginal people from the precedent colonial authorities. As a result the Aboriginal people are more likely to be arrested or implicated of crime as compared to the non Aboriginal people. Aborigines are considered as a group of people who are more vulnerable to crimes. This explains their over presentation in the Australian prisons. The establishments of social, economic and political systems based on racist and colonial ideologies have coincided to form colonized cultural values. The colonial cultural value systems reserves political power and socio economic privileges to people from dominant structures of power. 5The alternative groups of people who are not part of this frame are considered as inferior and overly unprivileged. Racialization of Crime 6Aboriginals in Australia unlike other groups of people are considered to be more vulnerable to certain crimes. This is stereotype belief can be attributed to racialization and criminalization of certain crimes. Blue collar crimes such as aggravated burglary, drunkenness and disorder, drug and sexual offenses among many other crimes are commonly associated with the Aborigines. Consequently, these crimes are heavily policed and punished. Furthermore, heavy policing on these forms of crime shifts the much needed attention and intervention from white collar crimes which generally exert lots of economic costs as compare to blue collar crimes which are commonly associated with non-Aborigines. Over policing the minority and at the same time associating them with some crimes translates in to social stratification. The Aborigines being the minority and at the bottom of the social stratification are thought to be the most prone to committing crimes in Australia. 7A research study conducted on two police forces within Australia established that majority of the police officers have stereotype perceptions on the Aboriginal community. As a result, they associate the Aborigines with particular crimes in the course of their criminal investigations and prosecution. The study also established that police officers are quick to arrest and implicate the Aborigines with crime even before they are proved to be guilty in the court room. The over policing of the Aborigine has translated in to the different treatment they receive from the criminal justice and their evident overrepresentation in a number of carceral institutions. Recent statistics show that approximately ninety percent of the people admitted in carceral institutions are from Aboriginal community. Fifty percent of the female populations in these institutions are women from the Aborigine community who have been incarcerated in various provincial institutions with a similar twenty percent having been housed in a number of federal institutions. Evidently, the high rates of Aborigine incarcerations can be attributed to the certain stereotype, inferiority and stigma that Aborigines are known for in Australia (Tatum 1996 p33). In the perspectives of Aboriginals, the police are considered as a threat rather than body that exists to defend their interests. This kind of out look has over the course of time influenced the projected treatment and response between the police and Aborigines. 8Several research studies have pointed out that men of the Aboriginal community who happen to have defaulted are as twice bound to be incarcerated unlike their Anglo-Saxon male counterparts. Aboriginal women on the other hand are thought to be three times bound to be incarcerated unlike their Anglo-Saxon women counterparts. It emerges that ideal fine defaulters in the society are males of the Aboriginal community aged between twenty two to about twenty nine years of age. Such men are both single and unemployed with an education that is less than the twelfth grade and mostly resides in the rural area. It is obvious that men of the aboriginal community are more bound to be incarcerated than their Non-Aboriginal counterparts. It was also established that Aborigines are severally denied bail and submitted to detention (Tatum 1996 p33). The overrepresentation of the Aborigine community in provincial and federal prisons is a clear indication of the failure of the Australian criminal and justice system towards the Aborigine people. The royal commission on Aboriginal people considers the Aboriginal overrepresentation as “Injustice personified”. The supreme courts in Canada consider this overrepresentation as a crisis in the Australian justice system. The colonial administration in Australia is largely takes the blame for the existing stereotypes towards the Aborigines that have brought about criminalization and racialization. The colonial authorities allegedly set rules for the Aborigines in regard to their settlements, activity and movements. For instance, as far as settlement is concerned they were settled and restricted in the unproductive rural reserves. The violation of these regulations was considered unlawful and perpetrators were out rightly prosecuted. Majority of the Aborigines who attempted to leave these reserves to other regions were imprisoned. This kind of treatment towards the Aboriginals brought about strong stereotypic perception towards Aborigines. Allegedly, this community was associated with poverty hence they hardly intermingle with the rich and affluent in the society. Consequently, majority of Aborigines are still afraid of their identity while in Australia (Blagg 2008). Strengths and Weaknesses of the used theoretical lenses 9The used theoretical lenses in this essay have played a great role in providing an outlook from the point of view the colonized. In this case the used theoretical lenses have assisted to portray the predicaments of the Aborigines in Australia. These theoretical lenses have brought out a prevailing criminology narrative that tends to represent both sides of the involved persons at all times and occasions. Furthermore, the used theoretical lenses have adopted a multi theory based frame work that incorporates both post-structuralism and post-modernism (Blagg 2008, p129). On the other hand, these theoretical lenses tend to incline one side. The issue of the Aboriginal overrepresentation in the Australian prisons by using these theoretical lenses has overly accentuated on their unfair treatment and implications to particular crimes. Consequently, we are made to believe that the populations of Aborigines who have been imprisoned are innocent and their imprisonments are simply cases of Injustice personified. Conclusions The racialization and criminalization of the Aborigines can be attributed to stereotype attitudes of the colonial administration. The aborigines were considered as less deserving owing to the type of treatment that the colonial administration subjected them to. According to the colonial legislation, the Aborigines were perceived as a group of individuals who did not deserve any form of fair treatment. This explains why majority in the years later are denied the right to justice and subjected to severe imprisonment. A research study conducted on two police forces within Australia established that majority of the police officers have stereotype perceptions on the Aboriginal community. As a result, they associate the Aborigines with particular crimes in the course of their criminal investigations and prosecution. . Bibliography Glover, R, 1998, Scientific Racism and Australian Aboriginal, Department of History, University of Sydney, p 67-129. Tatz, C, 1999, Genocide in Australia-AIATSIS Research Discussion Paper No 8 Collier, J, 1911, The pastoral age in Australia, Whitcombe & Tombe, London, p 45. Wagner, H, 2000, Colonialism and the science of race difference, Department of Sociology, University of Sydney, p 7-11. Blagg, H, 2008, ‘Colonial critique and critical criminology: issues in Aboriginal law and Aboriginal violence’, In T. Anthony and C. Cuneen (eds) The critical criminology companion, Sydney: Hawkins Press, pp 129-143. Tatum, B,1996, ‘The colonial model as a theoretical explanation of crime and delinquency’, In A. Sutton (ed) African American perspectives on crime causation, criminal justice administration and crime prevention, Boston: Butterworths-Heinman, pp 33-52 Agozio, B, 2003, Counter-colonial criminology: A critique of imperialist reason, London: Pluto Press, especially Chapter 12: What is institutionalised?: The race-class-gender articulation of Stephen Lawrence, pp 194-213, and, Conclusion, pp 228-246. Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G. and Tiffin, H. (2000) Post-colonial studies: The key concepts, Routledge, London. Cain, M, 2000, ‘Orientalism, Occidentalism and the sociology of crime’, British Journal of Criminology, 40: 239-260. 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