Incarceration Analysis

Incarceration rates of Aboriginal people have increased over the last decade. There are a significant amount of factors that contribute to the over representation of Aboriginals in the Justice System. One way to address this issue is to analyze how stereotypes affect low income in relation to low level of education; gangs; drug and alcohol, and assimilation of Aboriginals. These are some of the reasons why there are an increasing amount of Aboriginal men and women among penitentiaries. Over the years the rates of Aboriginal men and women sentenced to prison has increased at an alarming rate. "The number of Aboriginal women who were locked behind bars in federal institutions grew a staggering 97 percent between 2002 and 2012" (Rennie,
As already mentioned, Aboriginal people experience racism and stereotypical judgement. This can result in a harder time in finding employment. Without education the opportunity for a higher paying job with a relatively steady income becomes difficult to find. In an article posted on the CBC News website, a study was made to show the public just how much a typical person would need to make on minimum wage to afford basic things. In this article, "workers need a minimum of $16.77 an hour to live modestly in Saskatoon. The study looked at how much a typical family of four would need to spend on housing, food and clothing in a month " (Koschik, 2015). If this study suggests that the minimum wage needs to be increased, it is a big indicator as to why income levels are so low for Aboriginal people. Evidently, it costs money to be put through a higher level of education such as university. Minimum wage will not make the cut in affording education and other life necessities every human needs to live day in and day out making it a struggle for Aboriginal people to obtain and afford higher levels of education and to be employed at better paying jobs to where they afford things they need in life. It has been shown that Aboriginal people are considered to be lower class and live day in and day out with no
"Alcohol is a major reason for Aboriginal over representation in police cells" (McDonald, 1992; McDonald & Biles, 1991). It is a substance that is very easy to get a hold of, and can become an addiction to some people. However, "among current drinkers, the risk of being locked up increased with frequency of drinking, and with quantity consumed but the relationship between quantity consumed and the risk of being locked up was stronger for persons of mixed than of full Aboriginal descent" (Hall, Hunter, Spargo, 1994). It is a proven fact that drinking too much alcohol impairs a person's ability to think and comprehend what is going on around them, "risky behaviour, can result in: fights, arguments, getting into trouble with the cops and getting a criminal record, injuries and accidents" (Drinking & You, 2015). Participating in such behaviour can have lasting effects, whether that persons spends time in jail for their actions, and/or they have to live with any damage they may have caused while under the influence of any type of