Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system: A tale of nine cities

Abstract

This paper explores the contribution certain large Canadian cities may make to the over- representation of aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. The nine cities under study are large urban areas known in Statistics Canada terms as Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA's). The cities are located in eight provinces, and represent Western, Prairie, Eastern and Atlantic Canada. For the analyses, a variety of Statistics Canada and Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) data, as well as Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) and Correctional Services Canada (CSC) data on aboriginal offenders and over-representation and other aboriginal criminal justice research, were analysed. The paper explores a number of theoretical concepts such as social disorganization, social learning theory, and posits others to understand the urban reality for aboriginal populations and, from that, regional variation in over-representation. Prairie cities appear to contribute disproportionately to the over-representation problem and advantage and disadvantage are disproportionately distributed in urban centres across the country. The nine cities are grouped into high, medium and low "contribution to over-representation" cities based on the demographics of their aboriginal populations. The paper suggests that more research is required to understand how advantage and disadvantage are bestowed on reserve and, by implication, on urban aboriginal populations.