We need to rethink our prison system -- QUICKLY

We have a problem.

No, it's not going to effect your no-foam-double-latte this morning, nor will it have a direct impact on your work day (be it a corporate, entrepreneurial, or a home-based responsibilities) -- but we do have a problem. And because of our reluctance to deal with it a decade ago, it is getting worse.

The problem is the sheer number of women that are now being incarcerated.

I know: you do the crime, you do the time. Yes, I do agree with the necessity of taking responsibility for one's actions; I also believe that our actions can be directly and disproportionately impacted by our socio-economic needs.

In November 1996 the Canadian government published the four-thousand-page, $58 million Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP 1996), a report that reviewed and made recommendations about a wide range of social and economic issues related to Canada's Aboriginal peoples. The Globe and Mail's John Gray, summarized the conditions of natives in Canada: "an endless circle of disadvantage--family violence, educational failure, poverty, ill health, violence" (Gray 1997).

Now, a decade later, Beverley Jacobs, the president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, blamed aboriginal over-representation in the prison system on poverty, poor education, unemployment, dismal living commissions, alcoholism and violence in aboriginal communities.

Metis National Council President, Clément Chartier agreed saying in a recent press release that, "For years we have witnessed our men and women filling Canadian jails. We believe this is a direct correlation to the fact poverty and unemployment rates in our Métis communities have reached staggering proportions."

A 2004 CSC Research report found approximately 68% of the federal
Aboriginal offender population are First Nations, 34% are Métis and 4% are
Inuit.

Compare this to the proportion of the population made up by Aboriginals: at present, Aboriginals represent less than 2.7% of the country's population, yet, they make up nearly 18.5% of federal prison numbers. Statistics are even more dire for native women, who comprise 32% of all females in federal custody. The startling fact is, if current trends continue 25% of aboriginal Canadians could be incarcerated in less than a decade.

Canada's prison watchdog blasted the federal government on Monday for discriminating against aboriginal prisoners by putting a disproportionate number in maximum-security penitentiaries and segregation, keeping them jailed longer, and failing to provide proper programs to help them survive when they leave.

"The general picture is one of institutionalized discrimination," said Howard Sapers, the Correctional Investigator of Canada.

The fact is that despite the wide-ranging and damning Royal Report tabled in 1996, we as a country have done little to halt the "the endless circle of disadvantage" that Aboriginals and other socio-economically disadvantaged people find themselves in. Rather than institutionalized and societal change, we have relied on the quick incarceration fix -- rather than deal with our irrational fears (crime continues to decrease, yet our fear of crime continues to increase) we have chosen to ignore our part and lock up the perceived problem.

Don't believe me? Then examine the number of criminals currently incarcerated that were living below the poverty line before their conviction.

Snapshot data from Statistics Canada indicates that 47% of Aboriginal youth in custody lived in families that received social assistance. This, then, lends creedance to the notion that the central factor of the higher incarceration rates among Aboriginal people is poverty. Throw on top of this the large number of incarcerated Aboriginal youth with substance abuse problems. Approximately 57% of Aboriginal youth had a confirmed problem and an additional 24% had a suspected problem with alcohol and/or drugs. Substance abuse has been well documented as a correlate of criminal behaviour among youth (Dawkins, 1997; Huizinga & Jakob-Chien, 1998; Latimer, Kleinknecht, Hung & Gabor, 2003). Previous research has also demonstrated a clear link between alcohol or drug abuse and violent crime (Fergusson, Lynskey & Horwood, 1996; Watts & Wright, 1990), which is associated with more serious sentences. And this cycle starts early. Again, Statistics Canada Snapshot data indicates that 39% of Aboriginal youth were involved with child protection agencies. Recent research into the correlates of delinquency found that negative parenting (e.g., inconsistent parenting, low levels of supervision, harsh discipline) was significantly correlated with criminal behaviour among youth (Latimer, Kleinknecht, Hung & Gabor, 2003). Involvement with child protection agencies is a good indication that a youth has experienced negative parenting.

To lock up a criminal as a method of demanding responsibility for one's actions should be the intent of incarceration. Since the convicted will eventually re-enter society, it is hoped that this method of attempting to teach responsibility will enable a person to re-examine their life and determine a better course of action (a course that helps them become productive, rather than destructive, members of society). However, this is not the case. More often than not our penal system has become a holding and breeding ground for more and more criminal behaviour. Rather than learning, growing and changing, convicted felons become entrenched in institutionalized life and criminal behaviour. Part of the problem is the perceived disparity between "them" and "us" -- a disparity that is marked by economics, but also by opportunities and advantages.

As such, and due to the shocking statistics that are emerging this week, we need to, as a society, re-examine our use and abuse of the penal system. If we really are an inclusive society we also must become a tolerant society -- a society that holds people (criminals) accountable, yet provides opportunities for change.

We can start in the most diseffected communities; the reserves and small towns that are home to the relatively small Canadian Aboriginal population. By injecting time, money and expertise we may be able to create vibrant, responsive and inclusive communities that provide alternatives to criminal behaviour. If not, we are looking at a nation of incarcerated minorities -- a situation that can only be compared to intolerant regimes.