Ontario School-to-Prison Pipeline Analysis PDF

Ontario School to Prison Pipeline Content Warning: 9:00 - Descriptions of racist incidents and the George Floyd Protests 1. What systemic inequities exist in the school and justice system in Ontario? 2. What is the Ontario Safe Schools Act? How did it affect students of colour? 3. W...

Ontario School to Prison Pipeline Content Warning: 9:00 - Descriptions of racist incidents and the George Floyd Protests 1. What systemic inequities exist in the school and justice system in Ontario? 2. What is the Ontario Safe Schools Act? How did it affect students of colour? 3. What factors impact the likelihood that students of colour end up in prison? 4. What is culturally relevant pedagogy? 5. How does the child welfare system affect people of colour? 6. How does the school to prison pipeline affect generations? 7. How does the Fuse program aim to help the community? 8. What is Adinkra Farm? What is their goal? 9. How can we reverse the school to prison pipeline? 10. What resources exist in London?  Issues in Canada’s Prison System: Statistics from the Government of Canada Indigenous Canadians are over-represented in the CJS Although police and courts statistics are not available by Indigenous identity, corrections data shows that Indigenous adults accounted for 28% of admissions to federal custody and 27% of admissions in provincial/territorial custody in 2015/2016 while comprising 4.1% of the Canadian adult population. Indigenous women accounted for 31% of admissions to federal and 38% of admissions to provincial/territorial custody (compared to 23% and 26% for Indigenous men respectively). At provincial/territorial levels, the overrepresentation of Indigenous offenders exceeds their proportion of the general population from double to almost seven times (refer to Figure 5). Figure 5. Percentage Indigenous adult admissions to custody and general population by province/territory, 2015/16 Note: Correctional data from Alberta is not available. Calculations where Aboriginal identity is known. Sources: Statistics Canada. Adult correctional services, custodial admissions to provincial and territorial programs by aboriginal identity (CANSIM Table 251-0022); Census 2016. Custom tabulation prepared by Justice Canada. 1. In what ways is the data presented here problematic? In terms of those represented in our prisons? Indigenous peoples are also disproportionately victims of criminal incidents: 28% of Indigenous people living in the provinces and territories reported being the victim of one of the eight types of offences measured by the 2014 GSS (compared to 18% of non-Indigenous people). They were also more than twice as likely as non-Indigenous people to report being a victim of spousal violence (9% versus 4% respectively) and Indigenous people were victims of homicide at a rate six times higher than that of non-Indigenous people (7.2 versus 1.13 per 100,000 population respectively).  2. In what ways is the data presented in this section problematic? Large proportion of Chronic Offending A disproportionate amount of criminal activity, particularly for property and administration of justice offences, is committed by a small number of offenders. Often, these ‘chronic offenders’ experience substance abuse and mental health concerns, and are disproportionately Indigenous. In British Columbia, more than two-in-three offenders in 2012 were re-offenders; 40% had 10 or more convictions, and five per cent had 24 or more convictions over 10 years. In 2015, property offences (e.g., theft under $5,000, mischief) and administration of justice offences accounted for 71% of all police-reported violations.Statistics Canada indicated that 64% of persons with police contact in Saskatchewan had at least one re-contact with police, and that 21% of persons were responsible for 57% of offences over a three-year period (from 2009/10 to 2011/12). 3. Who is most likely to reoffend? 4. In what ways does intersectionality affect those who reoffend? High rates of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Problems There is significant overrepresentation of accused with mental health/developmental disorders and substance abuse problems in the CJS. In 2012, 34% of Canadians with a mental or substance use disorder reported coming into contact with police, twice as many as those without a disorder (17%). Police have noted an increase in calls for service, a significant percentage of which include incidents related to mental health and addiction issues. In cases like these, police become the default responder. There are various responses from the CJS to address these issues, including specialised courts and diversion programs. These programs are located primarily in larger cities and deal with only a small proportion of accused/offenders with mental health/substance abuse problems. Some research studies have found that graduates of drug treatment and mental health courts re-offend at lower rates than offenders processed through the traditional CJS; however, many participants in specialised programs do not graduate from these programs. 5. Why are those with mental health concerns and substance abuse problems very likely to offend? 6. Why do you think the government of Canada grouped mental health concerns and substance abuse issues together in this section?  College Behind Bars: From Punishment to Rehabilitation Watch the video linked here. Then, read this linked article and answer the questions. 1. What personal experience led Dameon Stackhouse to become involved in college courses while incarcerated? 2. How has the New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP) initiative changed the educational landscape within New Jersey's prison system? 3. What factors contributed to the limited access to college education for incarcerated individuals prior to recent changes in federal policy? 4. Describe the significance of the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative. 5. How will the reinstatement of Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals impact the accessibility of college education for those in prison? 6. How has college education in prison affected CJ Suranofsky's perspective on his future while incarcerated? 7. What are some potential benefits of offering college education programs in prison, as suggested by research findings mentioned in the article? 8. How does Lee College in Texas contribute to reducing recidivism rates among formerly incarcerated individuals, according to Donna Zuniga? 9. How has college education within prison environments been observed to influence the culture and atmosphere of the institutions, according to CJ Suranofsky? 10. Describe the support services provided by the Anchor Program at Shorter College for formerly incarcerated students, as outlined in the article.  Prison Reform Quotation Analysis “And I do talk a lot, obviously, about my clients; “I don’t know how to save the world. I don’t have those are the people I have to advocate for, and the answers or The Answer. I hold no secret when I say that each of us is more than the worst knowledge as to how to fix the mistakes of thing we’ve ever done, I am thinking specifically generations past and present. I only know that about them. But I’m also thinking about everybody without compassion and respect for all of Earth’s else. I mean, I believe that for every human being. I inhabitants, none of us will survive—nor will we think if someone tells a lie, they’re not just a liar, deserve to.” that if someone takes something, they’re not just a thief. If you kill someone, you’re not just a killer. “We are not statistics. We are the people from whom you took this land by force and blood and But it’s also true, a nation that committed genocide lies. We are the people to whom you promised to against Indigenous people, a nation that enslaved pay, in recompense for all this vast continent you Black people for two and a half centuries, a nation stole, some small pitiful pittance to assure at least that tolerated mob lynchings for nearly a century, a our bare survival. And we are the people from nation that created apartheid and segregation laws whom you now snatch away even that pittance, throughout most of the 20th century, can also be abandoning us and your own honor without a more than that racist history suggests.” qualm, even launching military attacks on our women and children and Elders, and targeting — illegally even by your own self-serving laws — those of us, our remaining warriors, who would dare to stand up and try to defend them. You practice crimes against humanity at the same time that you piously speak to the rest of the world of human ― Bryan Stevenson - Executive Director of the rights! Equal Justice Initiative America, when will you live up to your own 1. How does the quote challenge principles?” conventional notions of identity and moral judgement, particularly regarding individuals and nations? ― Leonard Peltier, Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance 2. In what ways does the quote highlight the importance of recognizing humanity and 3. What does Peltier mean by “We are not potential for redemption in both individuals statistics”? and societies? 4. What part of this quotation hits the hardest? “Prisons do not disappear social problems, they “Historians will likely wonder how we could disappear human beings. Homelessness, describe the new caste system as a system of unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and crime control, when it is difficult to imagine a illiteracy are only a few of the problems that system better designed to create—rather than disappear from public view when the human beings prevent—crime.” contending with them are relegated to cages.” ― Michelle Alexander The New ― Angela Davis Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 5. In what ways does the quote challenge the effectiveness of incarceration as a solution 6. In what ways does the quote challenge to complex social problems, and how conventional perceptions of the might alternative approaches be more relationship between crime and conducive to fostering rehabilitation and punishment addressing underlying issues? 7. What common themes exist between the quotations provided? 8. Which quotation resonated most with you and why? 9. If you could take 1 idea from any of the above quotations, what value would you apply to our current justice system to improve it? 10. What anthropological, sociological, or psychological changes will society have to face in order for these values to be implemented?