The Australian Criminal Justice System
A Repetitive Cycle Conditioned to Fail.
Contrary to popular belief that is molded by media influence, political campaigns and more importantly a false interpretation of justice - Australia’s criminal justice system is failing (S. Jefferies, 2005). This is not peculiar to Australia but to most western countries, the worst being America whilst we follow closely behind with high incarceration rates, particularly of Indigenous people from a low socio-economic background. The burden of a criminal record has a severe impact on a person’s reputation and chances of future employment and just like clock-work, we begin to see a cycle form as the offender cannot financially support themselves and are forced to return to crime to survive.
The ‘Lock-Em-Up’ Principle – Keep Society Safe
Instinctively, through no fault of our own but from news media exposure and Australian culture, our understanding of crime is to avoid risk at all cost – rendering the prosecutor’s and the public’s discretion “basically useless” (A. Foss, 2016). When a large majority of Australian criminals are first-time offenders, troubled youth or people who are now reliant on the government for care due to prior criminal records and now an inability to support themselves honestly, the news media needs to take responsibility. Its reach and power to influence social ideologies should prioritize community safety, victim rehabilitation and the decrease of crime. One may argue that the media does promote such notions as do political campaigns through the ‘lock-em-up’ principle. However to give the illusion that this principle promotes well-being and public safety whilst still maintaining Australia’s current criminal justice system is evidence of the Australian public being unofficially hoodwinked. With the continued introduction of harsher laws and new prison facilities, we are creeping ever closer to the USA’s notoriety (World Today, The (ABC), 2012). However, an empathetic view of criminals as to how they came to be involved in crime or if they have the ability to return as a contributing member of society, which in itself is a more profitable option (Australian taxpayers spend approximately $2.6 billion annually to keep criminals incarcerated (SBS, 2015)), can prevent Australia from mirroring that same future. Rather than demonizing criminal behavior in a manner that disengages the accused from society and abandoning the ‘lock-em-up’ principle, the media can suggest an alternative to prison through victim-centered assistance with reintegration of the non-violent offender. However, the media will continue to follow political campaigns and therefore Australian politicians need to redirect their policies and demands which in-turn will re-narrate the media.
Victims Behind Bars
Indigenous Australian youth attacked by prison guard during his time in solitary confinement. (C. Medlrum-Hanna, M. Fallon & E. Worthington, 2016.)
Ex- criminal prosecutor turned juvenile justice reformer; Adam Foss suggests “history has conditioned us to believe that somehow, the criminal justice system brings about accountability and improves public safety, despite evidence to the contrary” (A. Foss, 2016). In fact, criminal negligence, abuse, and in some cases torture is practiced in the vast majority of youth and adult criminal facilities, be that of independent or government run prisons. Recently, ‘Four Corners’ released an expose on the brutality of Australian juvenile facilities, “It almost defies belief…there is a prison system that locks up ten year olds and places children as young as thirteen in solitary confinement” (Medlrum-Hanna, Fallon & Worthington, 2016) Prison reform advocate Ismael Nazario was a teenage inmate in New York’s Rikers Island Jail and spent 300 of 400 days in solitary confinement before ever being convicted of his alleged crime. According to Nazario, solitary confinement “…was originally designed to break a person mentally, physically and emotionally” (Nazario, 2015). In fact this exact method has been linked to suicide both in adult and juvenile facilities (Dierkhising, Lane & Natsuaki, 2013). The severity of juvenile abuse particularly links back to recidivating and dependence. A history of child maltreatment, be that during home-life and furthermore when incarcerated, is a robust predictor of later criminal involvement and distancing from society (Dierkhising, Lane & Natsuaki, 2013). If the media, however, was to question “why are we not providing support to young kids facing these challenges?” (Goffman, 2015) this deep-rooted cycle could potentially be broken. In addition to this, the likelihood of committing an offense is much more apparent if you fit particular characteristics. Statistics continue to show Australians of low socio-economic background and Indigenous Australians filling the majority of our prisons (See graph below).
(News. (2016). How much does it cost to keep people in Australian jails?)
Crime, Shame and Reintegration
Australian criminologist John Braithwaite and his theoretical model ‘Crime, Shame and Reintegration’ gives hope for a flexible and effective method of justice. Braithwaite argues that the breakdown of community ties in modern urban society, such as in Australia, has meant that perpetrators are not made to feel ashamed of their actions, or even understand the implications of their crimes and so are likely to continue victimizing others without remorse. However, if they were made to feel guilty and further empathize with victims to foresee shame, they would be deterred from committing crime altogether. When a crime is committed, Braithwaite’s reintegrate shaming offers confrontation between the victim and their perpetrator in a safe environment. Confrontation forces the offender to view their act outside of their own perspective and see the harm they have caused whilst the victim can experience a sincere apology which would assist in their recovery more effectively than a jail sentence or fine which has no personal connection (Braithwaite, 1989). If Australia’s news media was to promote and discuss such an idea, positive societal reverberations are sure to come about deflecting the current fear inducing material that breeds prejudice, phobias and even racial disparity. For example, the prevalent racism in Australia against Aboriginals which contributes to a lack of remorse for crimes against the community and its members. (Pedersen & Barlow, 2008).
Conclusion
Australia’s criminal justice system should not be lenient to breaches of law and purposeful harm to others. Shame and responsibility is crucial for the victim’s recovery and the perpetrator’s comprehension of their actions on those they have effected. However, we must still acknowledge the system as detrimental, not only to offenders through psychological and physical abuse and their inability to reintegrate back into society, but also on the victims who are not provided with total recognition and empathy from the criminal. Furthermore, the media must take responsibility for their perception of crime and punishment by promoting effective reintegration through community understanding, rather than care for political agendas and assist in creating a false sense of justice and government action.
References:
Dierkhising, Carly B. Lane, A. and Natsuaki, M.N. (2013) Victims Behind Bars: A preliminary Study of Abuse During Juvenile Incarceration and Post-Release Social and Emotional Functioning. Vol.20, No.2, 181-190 Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263919832_Victims_Behind_Bars_A_Preliminary_Study_of_Abuse_During_Juvenile_Incarceration_and_Post-Release_Social_and_Emotional_Functioning (Accessed: 16 August 2016).
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Foss, A. (2016) A prosecutor’s vision for a better justice system. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_foss_a_prosecutor_s_vision_for_a_better_justice_system (Accessed: 16 August 2016).
Goffman, A. (2015) How we’re priming some kids for college — and others for prison. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/alice_goffman_college_or_prison_two_destinies_one_blatant_injustice (Accessed: 16 August 2016).
Hannem-Kish, S. 1989, Crime, Shame, and Reintegration. Available at: https://marisluste.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/crime-same-and-reintegration.pdf (Accessed: 16 August 2016).
Jefferies, S. (2005) ‘Current issues in criminal justice’, How Justice Gets Done: Politics, Managerialism, Consumerism, and Therapeutic Jurisprudence., 17(2), p. 254.
Meldrum-Hanna, C., Fallon, M. and Worthington, E. (2016) AUSTRALIA’S SHAME. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm (Accessed: 16 August 2016).
Nazario, I. (2015) What I learned as a kid in jail. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/ismael_nazario_what_i_learned_as_a_kid_in_jail (Accessed: 16 August 2016).
News. (2016). How much does it cost to keep people in Australian jails?. [online] Available at: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/02/02/how-much-does-it-cost-keep-people-australian-jails [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016].
PEDERSEN, A. and BARLOW, F.K. (2008) ‘Theory to social action: A university-based strategy targeting prejudice against aboriginal Australians’, Australian Psychologist, 43(3), pp. 148–159. doi: 10.1080/00050060802318587.
'Warnings of deaths in custody as WA prison population explodes', World Today, The (ABC), Published: 09 Aug. 2012, Newspaper Source Plus, EBSCOhost, viewed 23 August 2016.
