Indigenous People in the Canadian Criminal Justice System: a Recognition Dilemma
Abstract
This article intends to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the Canadian criminal justice system due to Canada’s colonial past policies that influence current trauma among the Indigenous Canadian population. It explores the role of recognition, which has an impact on Indigenous people’s representation and experiences in the criminal justice system as offenders. It discusses some changes and challenges in ways of recognition of Indigeneity in the context of the Canadian criminal justice system. It claims that beyond the political rhetoric of the condemnation of any legacy of colonization in Canada and the acknowledge of colonial harm to Indigenous people, there is a recognition dilemma that concerns criminal justice sentencing. The interplay of criminalization and victimization plays a crucial role in creating recognition dilemma. Moreover, even when Indigeneity is interpreted in mitigation, especially in the instances of Indigenous female offenders, they are founded on some simplicity that omits the significance of structural inequalities and intergenerational trauma of colonialism. The purpose of the article is to contextualize the experience of Indigenous people within the criminal justice system to better understand the role of recognition dilemma in the light of the overrepresentation of Indigenous people.
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University of the National Education Commission, Kraków Poland
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