Social Stratification In Australia's Criminal Justice System
“Their way is not our way!”
INSTITUTIONAL RACISM AND INDIGENOUS OVER-REPRESENTATION IN AUSTRALIA’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND - The Lucky Country?
Hidden from the eyes of the world, two thirds of Aboriginal people in remote communities in Australia live in circumstances comparable to those 700 years ago in Europe. Health and mortality statistics in remote Aboriginal communities are some of the worst in the world. Despite decades of government attempts to close this health gap faced by Indigenous Australians, little has improved. With Aboriginal life expectancy now the lowest of any Indigenous group in the world. (Saban & Curtis, n.d.)
For 60.000 years, Australia has been home to over …show more content…
From there I will argue that Australian society on part of the Indigenous community is a closed system of stratification not allowing for social mobility which also prevents the Aboriginal community from forming parties, something which is crucial if you are striving for racial equality. Social stratification is a term used to describe social inequalities. It refers to a person’s position in a stratified society. Social inequalities create a hierarchy of privileges in areas such as property, prestige and power and may be evident between the groups recognized as the classes, the races, the genders or nationalities. Social inequality exists when people have unequal access to property, wealth, power and prestige and in the case at hand exists between the dominant and the minority group. It relates to an unequal distribution of resources within and between societies, that is between the Western or White Australian society and Aboriginal society. Sometimes this inequality is intentionally created whilst at other times it is a consequence of social processes and relationships. Stratification is often defined in terms of socio-economic status, which can be determined in many ways. (e.g. income, wealth, education) These measures reflect the characteristics of wealth, prestige and power that a person holds and the three combined can indicate a person’s social status. (Hughes, Martin, & Sharrock, 199) In order to link racial stratification to social mobility it is necessary to look at the system of stratification which exists in Australia. To do so I will only consider the system which prevails between ‘White’ (non-aboriginal Australians) and ‘Black’ (Indigenous Australians), meaning I will concentrate on racial relations and the strata they bring forth. Social systems fluctuate regarding
INSTITUTIONAL RACISM AND INDIGENOUS OVER-REPRESENTATION IN AUSTRALIA’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND - The Lucky Country?
Hidden from the eyes of the world, two thirds of Aboriginal people in remote communities in Australia live in circumstances comparable to those 700 years ago in Europe. Health and mortality statistics in remote Aboriginal communities are some of the worst in the world. Despite decades of government attempts to close this health gap faced by Indigenous Australians, little has improved. With Aboriginal life expectancy now the lowest of any Indigenous group in the world. (Saban & Curtis, n.d.)
For 60.000 years, Australia has been home to over …show more content…
From there I will argue that Australian society on part of the Indigenous community is a closed system of stratification not allowing for social mobility which also prevents the Aboriginal community from forming parties, something which is crucial if you are striving for racial equality. Social stratification is a term used to describe social inequalities. It refers to a person’s position in a stratified society. Social inequalities create a hierarchy of privileges in areas such as property, prestige and power and may be evident between the groups recognized as the classes, the races, the genders or nationalities. Social inequality exists when people have unequal access to property, wealth, power and prestige and in the case at hand exists between the dominant and the minority group. It relates to an unequal distribution of resources within and between societies, that is between the Western or White Australian society and Aboriginal society. Sometimes this inequality is intentionally created whilst at other times it is a consequence of social processes and relationships. Stratification is often defined in terms of socio-economic status, which can be determined in many ways. (e.g. income, wealth, education) These measures reflect the characteristics of wealth, prestige and power that a person holds and the three combined can indicate a person’s social status. (Hughes, Martin, & Sharrock, 199) In order to link racial stratification to social mobility it is necessary to look at the system of stratification which exists in Australia. To do so I will only consider the system which prevails between ‘White’ (non-aboriginal Australians) and ‘Black’ (Indigenous Australians), meaning I will concentrate on racial relations and the strata they bring forth. Social systems fluctuate regarding