International prison population statistics have found that the female prison population is increasing at a faster rate than the male prison population. Research has confirmed that, in the majority of countries, the male imprisonment rate is predominantly larger than that of the female imprisonment rate, however this does not apply to indigenous women within Australia. Overwhelming research shows that the imprisonment rate for indigenous women within Australia has increased at a significantly faster rate compared to indigenous males, most clearly highlighted through the general trends in prison rates within the last decade. This essay will discuss how the presence of indigeneity plays a key role in explaining the disparity between male and female imprisonment rates, further explaining why indigenous women are incarcerated at significantly highly rates. Moreover, there are numerous sociological and criminological theories, which provide an explanation for the disparity of male and female imprisonment rates. Furthermore, this essay will also discuss the social implications of these prison population trends in relation to criminal justice polices, other social policies related to …show more content…
Research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2001) found that there were 21,714 prisoners within Australian corrective facilities as of June 30, 2000. Where subsequently, the imprisonment rate was 148 prisoners per 100,000 population (ABS, 2001). Whereas statistics from the ABS taken in 2015, illustrate that the imprisonment rate had increased to 196 prisoners per 100,000 adult populations. Moreover, the overall recorded number of prisoners as of June 30, 2015, was 33,789 (ABS, 2015). From this it is apparent that in the period from 2000 to 2015, there was a significant increase of 12,075 individuals in the general prison population of
This alienation from the community is leading Aboriginal women to experience violence because they are not being protected by the community. This is alarming because today at least three quarters of Aboriginal women are experiencing family violence and the mortality rate for Aboriginal women due to violence is three times higher for Aboriginal women than none Aboriginal women (ibid 23). The Indian Act is a direct result of why Indian women are experiencing increased violence and being attacked because the Indian Act is refusing women Indian status and therefore they are forced off reserves where they are unprotected by the community and frequently target for acts of violence. Aboriginal women also face higher suicide rates and sexual abuse rates which are three times higher then the national average (ibid: 23). As Aboriginal women are being exiled from the community they are being increasingly targeted for sexual violence and abuse, this increased violence is due to the Indian Act because it is not allowing women who marry non-Aboriginal men to gain Indian status and therefore they are subjected to more violent acts because they are left defenseless.
Rational choice or societal norms? Perhaps in the case of Cody Kimewon who has been in and out of jail cells since the age of thirteen, its is the interaction of self interest and culture that has driven him into a cycle of dubious encounters with the law. From home to home as a foster child, and from jail cell to jail cell as a petty criminal, Kimewon fought homelessness and happenstances with the law throughout his young adult life. Could he be reacting to the surrounding externalities as a member of a tribe, as a minority facing sociopolitical and economic disadvantages a typical white Torontonian may not be? Or is it an inherent cyclical culture of crime associated with Tribal members who are fundamentally deprived of societal standings
British government transported over 160,000 convicted felons to Australia between 1788 and 1868; of which at least 20% were convict women. Australia seemed like the perfect place to relocate “the very worst of British womanhood,” so they loaded them up and sent “hordes of drunken prostitutes who proceeded to infect everyone in sight with their criminal tendencies” to Australia. Or at least this is what most Australian historiographies would have you believe! With a shortage of testimonies and information about these convict women, many historians tried to paint a picture of the experiences and challenges these women encountered upon their arrival in Australia. These convict women were described as ‘damned whores’ of an ‘incorrigible class’
Over the past 40 years U.S. incarceration has grown at an extraordinary rate, with the United States’ prison population increasing from 320,000 inmates in 1980 to nearly 2.3 million inmates in 2013. The growth in prison population is in part due to society’s shift toward tough on crime policies including determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing laws, and mandatory minimums. These tough on crime policies resulted in more individuals committing less serious crimes being sentenced to serve time and longer prison sentences. The 1970s-1980s: The War on Drugs and Changes in Sentencing Policy Incarceration rates did rise above 140 persons imprisoned per 100,000 of the population until the mid 1970s.
was built in Fremantle, Western Australia, between 1851 and 1859 using convict labour. Royal Commissions in 1898 and 1911 instigated some prison reforms, but after World War II, significant reforms lagged behind those occurring elsewhere in Australia and the world. Improvements in the late 1960s and early 1970s included an officer training school, social workers, welfare officers, and work release and community service programs. Punishments varied over the years, with flogging and leg irons eventually replaced by lengthening of sentences and restriction from visitors or entertainment. More than 40 hangings were carried out at Fremantle Prison, which was Western Australia's only lawful place of execution between 1888 and 1984.
Mack and McNamara (2011) state that while Indigenous courts have progressed in addressing these goals, there are still ongoing challenges. Moreton-Robinson (2015) argues that the courts have made some progress in providing culturally appropriate justice services and fostering community engagement. However, they have not significantly reduced the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system (Marchetti & Daly, 2004; Moreton-Robinson,
However, when comparing Aboriginal adults and non-Aboriginal adults with the same education and employment characteristics, the incarceration rates among Aboriginal adults were 3.3 to 5.1 times higher. In short, these socio- economic characteristics reduced the difference in incarceration rates of adults aged 20 to 34 by half in Alberta. A similar pattern occurs in Saskatchewan (Table 7). Still, even when comparing persons with the same characteristics, incarceration rates for Aboriginal young adults remain higher than those of their non-Aboriginal counterparts.” (statcan, 2015)
Aboriginal women are account for 35 percent of the homeless Aboriginal population while non-Aboriginal women are accounted for 27 percent of non Aboriginal homeless population (Walsh et al, 2012) The cycling between poverty, homelessness, and incarceration exist because, in social services are unavailable or inadequate to meet the needs or women and men prior to them coming into conflict with the criminal justice system. This includes education, foster care and systems both of which play critical roles in the lives of young people. Programs for the homeless are still lacking and those that are available within the institution often have a long wait lists (Walsh et al, 2012).
A 2011 survey showed that Indigenous Australians aged 15-64 were less likely to be participating in the labour force than non-Indigenous Australians aged 15-64 (55.9% versus 76.4%). The same survey showed that Indigenous Australians aged 15-64 were three times as likely to be unemployed when compared to non-Indigenous Australians (17.2% compared to 5.5%) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). When comparing these rates to the occurrence rates of family violence in Indigenous Australians versus non-Indigenous Australians mentioned previously, we can see that they support the statement that a stable economy and abundant resources greatly decreases the risk of family violence. Studies in the United States have also shown that when controlling for socio-economic factors, domestic violence levels will be mostly equal among African American communities versus white communities, corroborating the idea that higher levels of poverty are associated with higher levels of family violence (Sokoloff, 2004).
Since 1970, our prison population has risen by some 700% - an increase far outpacing rates of population growth and crime1”. The reason America has so many incarcerated people is not because Americans commit more crimes or the police are just better at finding criminals,
The amount of mass incarceration in the United States as reached an all time high over the years. Mass Incarceration is the incarceration of a person or race based off of them being different and can be identified as a trend among law enforcements. These tensions have reached a certain extent and has received the attention of American citizens and the nation’s government. The laws of the United States seems fair, however with the enforcement of these laws, specific groups are targeted and abused by them daily.
Research strongly indicates that transitional housing reduces the recidivism rates of parolees. Housing for many released inmates is very difficult to obtain for a variety of reasons, including prohibitions against people with drug convictions living in federally subsidized public housing. The state department of corrections has decided to rent a multiple-dwelling unit in a low-income area and to allow 200 inmates to live there six months following their release from prison. People in the neighborhood complain that this parole housing unit will increase crime in an already trouble area, will endanger local children, and will place an undue burden on local police and social service. So now the question is do you open the parole transitional
This essay is written by a columnist, in order to discuss the situation of the prison system and persuade audiences to consider bring back flogging in order to replace jail. Jacoby is serious about his point of view, which may not be unbreakable nor convincing, but the fact that such a person wrote about replacing a system is worth to think over. Cages may work for animals and pets, but how do those iron bars make a criminal become a good person again? What can we do about it if a criminal continue his crime behavior in jail without supervision? Send him to another jail?
The prison community is one of best ones to be analyzed through the sociological perspective. It could provide insight into several unique characteristics of the inter-human relations, power, attitude toward money and wealth. Moreover, it gives an author a possibility to depict important social problems and concerns. The concept of power is the first sociological issue to be addressed in the novel.
There are many indicators of the huge impact in disparities in sentencing women as compared to men and more so when it revolves around minorities ( race and class). Though there are lower crime rates among women as compared to men, there are significant disparities which tend to show favouritism to women. Research has shown that men get 63 per cent longer custodial sentences than women. In addition, it is twice more likely to have women get non custodial sentences even after conviction. However, as mentioned the disparities are more profound when issues of race and class are intertwined in the sentencing.