Indigenous Australians and Criminal Justice

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Abstract

This subject has been designed to enable students to closely examine the complex relationships between Indigenous Australian peoples and the Australian criminal justice system. This subject applies a sociocultural and historical framework to enable students to critically analyse the impacts of health, education and socio-economics on these complex relationships. Students will critique dominating frameworks of Western approaches to justice, rehabilitation, and recidivism to develop a foundation for practice that is community-driven and culturally responsive. Dimensions of power, class, race and culture in Australian criminal justice will be examined through neo-colonial, decolonising, and critical race theory. Students will demonstrate advanced knowledge of protocols for working with Indigenous Australian peoples in professional contexts.

Syllabus

Module 1: History, Theory and Critical Self-Reflection Topic 1: Theoretical perspectives in CriminologyTopic 2: The criminalisation of poverty in AustraliaTopic 3: Indigenous Australian sovereigntyTopic 4: Close Case Study AnalysisModule 2: Theoretical Approaches and Contemporary Criminal Justice in AustraliaTopic 1: Institutionalised racism, racialisation, and Indigenous imprisonmentTopic 2: The theatre of courtroom … For more content click the Read More button below.

Module 1: History, Theory and Critical Self-Reflection
Topic 1: Theoretical perspectives in Criminology
Topic 2: The criminalisation of poverty in Australia
Topic 3: Indigenous Australian sovereignty
Topic 4: Close Case Study Analysis
Module 2: Theoretical Approaches and Contemporary Criminal Justice in Australia
Topic 1: Institutionalised racism, racialisation, and Indigenous imprisonment
Topic 2: The theatre of courtroom and neo-colonialism
Topic 3: The role of social media, media in transforming institutionalised approaches to Indigenous interactions with the criminal justice system
Topic 4: Western criminal justice and contemporary Indigenous Australian justice practices
Module 3: Workplace Project for the Professions
Topic 1: Standpoint statement and framing the workplace project
Topic 2: Project design and protocols for working with Indigenous Australian peoples
Topic 3: Examination of key issues and identifying solutions
Topic 4: Applying culturally competent solutions in the workplace

Assessment items

1. Reflective Journals

2. Case-study Analysis

3. Workplace Exploration Project Plan

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

be able to analyse the impact of historical and socio-cultural theories and practices of criminal justice in Australia and analyse and apply contemporary theoretical perspectives in Criminology;

be able to critically reflect on and analyse the impact of Western perspectives of criminal justice on Indigenous communities, cultures, and peoples;

be able to analyse and critically reflect on the relationships between Indigenous Australian peoples and the Australian criminal justice system to identify key issues and solutions; and

be able to apply culturally relevant research approaches to design a criminal justice workplace project using an Indigenist framework that respects protocols for working with Indigenous Australian peoples.