Aboriginal young people and the criminal justice system: Not an Aboriginal problem nor a race problem

[Extract] The first point I wish to make is that Aboriginality does make a difference. I contradict the view that Aboriginal over-representation is an artefact of age and class differences. This view (by Carol LaPrairie in Canada and others) suggests that because Aboriginal people as a group have a younger age profile and because there is also widespread economic disadvantage, that it is age and class that result in higher rates of representation for all measures in the criminal justice system.
'For well over four decades, researchers have attempted to determine the impact of race on decision making within both the adult and juvenile justice systems. Oftentimes the findings ... have been contradictory, ambiguous, and somewhat confusing' (Pope and Clear 1994, 132). However, the majority of studies show that direct or indirect effects of race are present (Pope and Feyerherm 1992).