Structural Violence Perpetrated Against Indigenous Peoples in Canadian Criminal Courts: Meta- Analytic Evidence of Longstanding Sentencing Inequities

Abstract

Social justice entails opposing discrimination and working towards eliminating structural violence. The problem of overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples across Canada’s criminal justice system, a site of structural violence, has persisted for decades. Most studies uncovered through this review and meta-analysis indicated Indigenous disadvantage in criminal sentencing. Specifically, Indigenous peoples were at much greater risk of receiving punitive sentences than non-Indigenous people. Additionally, the disparity was observed to be significantly greater among women than men. This synthesis also elucidated the paucity of data and research related to Indigenous peoples’ involvement with the court system. Implications and future research needs are discussed.

Keywords

• research synthesis, criminal justice system, sentencing, Indigenous, Canada