CH 11 Crime (QUESTIONS) Flashcards
Deviance vs Crime (Severity, Consequence, Harm, Intentionality, Impact on social order, Type of action)
- Severity
- D: ⬇️
- C: ⬆️ - Consequence
- D: Stigma, Marginalization
- C: Legal enforcement, Sanctions - Harm
- D: May or not cause harm
- C: Causes a great degree of harm - Intentionality
- D: May or not be intentional
- C Often intentional - Impact on social order
- D: Often pushes boundaries but doesn’t necessarily undermine them
- C: Threat to social order - Type of action
- D: Deviates from social norms
- C: Criminal offences
4 components of Criminal Justice
- Laws
- Police and law enforcement
- Courts
- Incarceration and corrections
4 Principles of Criminal Justice
- Crimes are committed against society and not just the victim.
- Everyone is entitled to have their case determined by an open court with a fair trial.
- The presumption of innocence
- The adversarial system
Structural Functionalist perspective on Crime and Deviance (2,3)
Deviance is a normal part of a health society and performs a specific function.
Functions of Crime:
- Social Regulation
- Social Change
- Social Integration
Symbolic Interactionist perspective on Crime and Deviance (1,1)
Deviant behaviour is socially and culturally specific. It is determined not by those committing the behaviours, but by the reactions of others to those behaviours (Labelling theory).
- Primary deviance & Secondary deviance
Conflict Theoretical perspective on Crime and Deviance (3)
- Law as an instrument of oppression that maintains the economic status quo and the interests of the ruling class.
- Inequality under capitalism is responsible for much of the crime committed in society.
- Crimes of the working class – or blue collar crimes – carry disproportionately high penalties.
Fleras and Elliott (2003): 6 indicators of institutional racism
- is supported by cultural values,
- is expressed through widely accepted norms
- is tacitly approved by the state or government
- is intrusive in many interpersonal relations
- is codified into laws that openly discriminate against minorities
- excludes minorities from equal participation as part of the normal functioning of society
Evidence of Institutional Racism in the Criminal system
(4 + ex.)
- Laws
- Indigenous concepts of crime were suppressed (crime as a wrong between individuals) in favour of Western notions of crime (against the state).
- Law Enforcement
- Stereotypes in law enforcement mean Indigenous people are less likely to report being victims of crimes.
- Courts
- Indigenous people are underrepresented as employees in the criminal justice system.
- Incarcerations
- Indigenous people are overrepresented as offenders in the criminal justice system, according to incarceration rates, and length of sentences.
The Indian Act banned ________ ceremonies on the ________ and the ________ and ________ ceremonies in the ________
- Potlatch
- West Coast
- Rain dance
- Sun dance
- Prairies
Why did colonists ban potlatches? (1,1)
- Making these ceremonies criminal aided in assimilation efforts.
Colonists saw sharing of wealth and food at potlatches as wasteful; but also knew how integral it was to sustaining First Nations cultures.
When was the pass and permit system established? What was its purpose?
- After the 1885 Battle of Batoche
- Confined Indigenous peoples to reserves
How did the the pass and permit system work? What were the consequences? (3)
- Pass: Required Indigenous peoples to obtain a pass from an Indian agent in order to leave reserves (form of racial segregation)
- Permit: Required Indigenous peoples to obtain a permit to sell goods; led to underdevelopment of Indigenous communities
- Contributed to widespread mistrust between police and Indigenous peoples
Cause of overincarceration within Indigenous communities (5)
- Residential schools’ effects
- Poverty
- Addictions
- Racialized policing
- Systemic discrimination
The concept of Indigenous deviance is defined by the ____________
Western colonizer
Indigenous perspectives on crime, law, and deviance can be understood through interpretations from _______
Elders
Colonial interpretations have constructed Indigenous peoples as _______, _______, and in need of _______
- Deviant
- Backwards
- Colonization
How did Indigenous peoples carry out justice pre-colonization? How are these practices manifested today? Why were they surpressed by colonizers?
- Indigenous communities carried out justice by including the victim, offender, and community in a justice process that focused on healing and repairing harm
- Today, this is manifested in healing circles
- Indigenous ways of justice were suppressed by colonizers because they emphasized community-based healing rather than punishment.
What is considered a crime in the western world that is not in Indigenous culture?
Land defence
Name 2 examples of how Indigenous peoples have been systematically alienated from their traditional laws and justice systems
- Lack of traditional restorative justice programmes that work with the provincial courts
- Lack of First Nation police departments on reserves.
How does the UVic video define the importance of law when applied to the Indigenous identity (4)
- “Law is the set of stories that help us regulate ourselves and our relations with others.”
- “[Law] enables human dignity and agency, and provides ways for people to challenge internal oppressions, power dynamics.”
- “It is not just what once was important to Indigenous peoples in their laws, it is what is important to us today.”
- “Persuasion is always a present-oriented activity, which means our traditions are living traditions.”
The Indigenous experience of the criminal justice system cannot be explained without understanding what factor?
Western justice and its punitive ideology
What is the western criminal justice system based on?
Punishment & Incarceration
Indigenous people are more likely to be incarcerated for ..?
The same crimes as non-indigenous people
What Do the Swampy Cree Elders Say about Crime, Deviance, and the Law?
- They follow the Four Directions philosophy: Mental, Spiritual, and Physical components of our being
- Emphasizes a system focused on healing
- Mental real: feelings and emotions are implicated in justice
- Elders emphasized open-mindedness, the ability to have non-judgmental community involvement, accountability, reparation, reconciliation, and restoration
- Physical realm: the ned for offenders to take responsibility for their actions
