CRM 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Restorative Justice, Assault Causing Bodily Harm
5 Jun 2018
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Scott Wortley Article--Issues With Research on Race and Crime in Canada:
● Race-based crime statistics not collected or shared in Canada
● Historical opposition from minority groups and criminal justice system itself
● Arguments for and against collection
● Minority groups generally believe that the collection of these types of data might be used
to further facilitate discriminatory practices
● Officers argue that this would also complicate community relations and makes their jobs
that much harder
● Argument for:
○ Collecting these types of statistics from the criminal justice system might allow us
to analyze levels of racial discrimination/stereotyping in the criminal justice
system
■ Better insight into systematic discrimination and see which groups are
overrepresented
● Argument against:
○ Can be used to facilitate discriminatory practices
○ Can be used in an inappropriate way
○ Used to support crime prevention strategies that are discriminatory in nature
● Information readily available and accessible to the public, media connections between
race and crime are also readily available
● Academic research even in the Canadian Charter has also pointed to certain
connections between race and crime
Wortley Article-- Findings on Race and Crime in Canada:
● Race frequently intersects with gender, age, and social class
○ Important in trying to understand that a simple variable will never provide for a
great explanation
○ Race can’t be considered in and of itself, race is a variable that intersects with
other variables like gender, age and social class
■ Black males are more vulnerable to be targeted by police stop and search
practices than black females or men and women from other categories
■ Age and social class protect white, older, males from police contact but
don’t have the same effect for black males
● For black males this age and social class doesn’t lessen their
contact with the police
● Older black males are more likely to report contact with the police
than younger black males
○ Wortley connected this to the fact that they attracted a
greater attention to the police given they’re more affluent
● Racial discrimination in courts
○ Aboriginal and black accused are significantly higher/face higher denial of bail,
spend lengthier time in custody
■ Suggestion that the lengthier time in custody making them more likely to
accept a guilty plea as a result
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Scott wortley article--issues with research on race and crime in canada: Race-based crime statistics not collected or shared in canada. Historical opposition from minority groups and criminal justice system itself. Minority groups generally believe that the collection of these types of data might be used to further facilitate discriminatory practices. Officers argue that this would also complicate community relations and makes their jobs that much harder. Collecting these types of statistics from the criminal justice system might allow us to analyze levels of racial discrimination/stereotyping in the criminal justice system. Better insight into systematic discrimination and see which groups are overrepresented. Can be used to facilitate discriminatory practices. Can be used in an inappropriate way. Used to support crime prevention strategies that are discriminatory in nature. Information readily available and accessible to the public, media connections between race and crime are also readily available.
