The aboriginal population currently incarcerated is shown as overrepresented in Canada and has been for decades. The Canadian government has recognized this and have tried to change the negative treatment that the justice system serves, yet statistics maintain the fact that aboriginals are severely overrepresented. These problems are a result of past racist and demeaning policies set in place by the government. Events like these have resulted in the high rates of alcohol and drug abuse as well as unemployment and poverty. All of this is a cycle which shows that aboriginals are far more likely to be arrested and convicted for crimes than other races are.
During residential schooling, children were assimilated ending in a generation who knew nothing of their culture or of their languages passed from generation to generation. John Braithwaite in Th British Journal of Criminology ‘advances the theory that nations with low crime rates, and periods of history where crime is more effectively controlled, are those where shaming has the greatest social power’(Braithwaite, 1993). With Canada’s low crime rate, it results in over shaming any type of offenders creating outcasts instead of reintegrating shaming which includes denunciation following the forgiveness and an extending hand. Reintegrative shaming lowers the chance of offenders committing more crimes. Many Canadian residents have the idea that Aboriginals have everything handed to them on a silver platter and that it is a waste of taxes. This ideology spreads resentment towards First Nations groups, creating unnecessary tension in areas.
The result of many passed bills aimed at Aboriginal peoples is shown in their diminishing place amongst other Canadians. Introduction of outside cultures has created massive movements in Aboriginal lives. Data from a Saskatchewan survey (Quann, 2000, p. 7) showed that a half of Aboriginals living on reserves had never been to high school and that the average income of reserve dwellers was less than half of that of someone living off reserve. First Nations people are lacking the funding required to send more children to school. With overcrowding houses, it is a strenuous task having two or three families working a busy lifestyle in the same residence. Poverty is a major factor as parents cannot afford proper supplies for their children to attend school and learn. Parents cannot afford healthcare and as a result, their children tend to have more illnesses compared to their peers (Lithopoulos & Ruddell, 2016, p. 188).
Crime rates are incredibly high amongst aboriginals, and the types of offenses tend to be more violent than nonviolent crimes such as property theft. The national crime average is double the rate of Aboriginal peoples (Griffiths, 1996, p. 197). Published research on Aboriginals tends to emphasize information on Status Aboriginals, not Inuit, non-Status or other tribes. Evidence has shown that Aboriginal Peoples