Indigenous Studies (INST) 348

Overview

Indigenous Studies 348: Aboriginal Justice in Canada discusses the impact of the Canadian criminal justice system on Aboriginal people and communities, and the efforts Aboriginal people are making to regain control over the administration of justice. It has long been recognized that Aboriginal people make up a disproportionately large segment of the prison population in Canada. In this course, we discuss the reasons for this “over – representation,” and some of the strategies Aboriginal nations and communities are developing to address it.

Outline

• Unit 1: Aboriginal Peoples’ Over- representation in the Criminal Justice System
• Unit 2: Canadian Justice
• Unit 3: Aboriginal People and the Police
• Unit 4: Gendered Differences
• Unit 5: Racism and the Criminal Justice System
• Unit 6: The Sentencing of Aboriginal People
• Unit 7: Sentencing Alternatives
• Unit 8: Improving the Canadian Criminal Justice System
• Unit 9: Justice as Self-determination

Evaluation

Your final grade in INST 348 is based on the grades you achieve on four tutor-marked assignments. To receive credit for INST 348, you must achieve a minimum overall course grade of D (50 percent). The weighting of assignments is as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.

Materials

Physical course materials

The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:

Green, Ross Gordon. Justice in Aboriginal Communities: Sentencing Alternatives. Saskatoon, SK: Purich, 1998.

Neugebauer, Robynne, ed. Criminal Injustice: Racism in the Criminal Justice System. Toronto: Canadian Scholar’s Press, 2000.

Other Materials

The course materials include a study guide, a student manual, and a book of readings.

Important links

• Academic advising
• Program planning
• Request assistance
• Support services