Residential School System
NATI 3116EL – Aboriginal People and the Criminal Justice System
Final Research Paper
Residential School System & Intergenerational Impact The purpose of residential schooling was to assimilate Aboriginal children into mainstream Canadian society by disconnecting them from their families and communities and severing all ties with languages, customs and beliefs (Chansoneuve, 2005). The following paper with depict the history behind residential schools, the varying schools across Canada, the intergenerational impact and influence the residential school system had issues such as alcoholism, family violence, substance abuse, lack of education, the increasing crime rate and the role of the Criminal Justice System in Canada. In addition to, what the government has accomplished in terms of compensation for the suffering that occurred. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation defines residential schools as being industrial schools, boarding schools, homes for students, hostels, billets, residential schools, residential schools with a majority of day students, or a combination of any of the above by which attended by Aboriginal students (Chansoneuve, 2005). Children were taken away from their families and reserves and put in these schools whereby they were taught shame and rejection for everything about their heritage, including their ancestors, families, languages, beliefs and cultural traditions. Many of these students were not only disconnected from their families but also sexually and physically abused and often by multiple authoritative figures and many for a long duration of their stay. The Aboriginal Healing foundation classified the cultural disconnection, cultural shame and trauma as a cultural genocide. The unresolved trauma and exploitation that occurred in these schools has now directly contributed to the problems that Aboriginal people face today. In 1845 the Canadian government proposed a report to the legislative assembly of Upper Canada that
Final Research Paper
Residential School System & Intergenerational Impact The purpose of residential schooling was to assimilate Aboriginal children into mainstream Canadian society by disconnecting them from their families and communities and severing all ties with languages, customs and beliefs (Chansoneuve, 2005). The following paper with depict the history behind residential schools, the varying schools across Canada, the intergenerational impact and influence the residential school system had issues such as alcoholism, family violence, substance abuse, lack of education, the increasing crime rate and the role of the Criminal Justice System in Canada. In addition to, what the government has accomplished in terms of compensation for the suffering that occurred. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation defines residential schools as being industrial schools, boarding schools, homes for students, hostels, billets, residential schools, residential schools with a majority of day students, or a combination of any of the above by which attended by Aboriginal students (Chansoneuve, 2005). Children were taken away from their families and reserves and put in these schools whereby they were taught shame and rejection for everything about their heritage, including their ancestors, families, languages, beliefs and cultural traditions. Many of these students were not only disconnected from their families but also sexually and physically abused and often by multiple authoritative figures and many for a long duration of their stay. The Aboriginal Healing foundation classified the cultural disconnection, cultural shame and trauma as a cultural genocide. The unresolved trauma and exploitation that occurred in these schools has now directly contributed to the problems that Aboriginal people face today. In 1845 the Canadian government proposed a report to the legislative assembly of Upper Canada that
References: Chansonneuve, D. (2005). Reclaiming Connections: Understanding Residential School Trauma Among Aboriginal People. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation. McCaslin, W. (2005) Justice as Healing: Indigenous Ways. Canada: Living Justice Press * Reading on pages 280-296 which deals with restorative justice and the sentencing of Aboriginal offenders in relation to the Gladue case