Research Reports
Reflections on Traditional American Indian Ways, 1998
Threats to Tribal Sovereignty, 1998
Traditional American Indian Leadership: A Comparison with U.S. Governance, 1997
Findings
Results of this project run parallel with research around disparities in the criminal justice system. Normally, a number of factors contribute to disparities in arrests including sentencing patterns and incarceration rates. Findings indicate that along with bias in the criminal justice system, local policies and practices in conjunction with numerous social factors contribute to disparities at all levels of the criminal justice system. Related social factors that contribute to disparities include limited educational success, poverty, alcohol and drug use, gang involvement, low self-esteem, and lack of positive role models. American Indian communities are affected by many of these social maladies that increase likelihood for their contact with the criminal justice system.
Many community participants were familiar with the criminal justice system because of the significant number of Natives who are or have been involved with the system. Another reason for this familiarity is that the Indian community in the seven county metropolitan area is primarily a cultural community rather than a geographical community. That is, Indian community members frequent many of the same places, host social events like pow-wows, and attend conferences focusing on Indian affairs. Hence, while Indians appear geographically separated, they nonetheless stay in close communication.
Among participants, ex-offenders told the most vivid accounts. They spoke about primarily about the criminal justice systems, but also expressed personal feelings about how they acted or responded to certain conditions within the system. While AIPC is experienced with discussions among policy makers and criminal justice administrators, impressions from ex-offenders reflect a very wide gap existing between divergent perspectives. Ex-offenders told about oppressive and regressive real-life situations within the system along with their feelings of personal weaknesses and helplessness. In the system, they lacked any opportunity to utilize their own cultural and spiritual strengths. It seems that a subtle indifference by Indians to criminal justice programming and policy initiatives thwarts attempts to discuss the divergent perspectives. This condition may best be characterized as “historic distrust” which stems from social institutions and non-Indian attempts to change Indians to a non-Indian way of life.
Pope, C.E.; Lovell, R.; Hsia, H.M. “Disproportionate Minority Confinement: A Review of the Research Literature from 1989 through 2001. US Dept. of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2002.
The
Well-Being of American Indian Children in Minnesota: Economic Conditions,
1994
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Tuesday November 1, 2005