Native Indian Victims in Canada: Issues in Policy and Program Delivery
| Author | Curt Taylor Griffiths,J. Colin Yerbury |
| DOI | 10.1177/026975809100100404 |
| Date | 01 January 1991 |
| Published date | 01 January 1991 |
International Review ofVictimology, 1991, Vol. 1, pp. 335-346
0269-7580/91 $10
©
1991
A B Academic
Publishers-Printed
in
Great
Britain
NATIVE INDIAN VICTIMS IN CANADA:
ISSUES IN POLICY
AND
PROGRAM DELIVERY
CURT
TAYLOR
GRIFFITHS
and
J.
COLIN
YERBURY
School
of
Criminology, Simon
Fraser
University, Burnaby, British Columbia,
CANADA
V5A 1S6
ABSTRACT
The
plight
of
Native Indians in Canadian society has received increasing attention in recent
years
and
the ongoing difficulties encountered by Native persons, bands,
and
communities
have been extensively documented by social scientists.
To
date, however, little attention
has been given to Native Indian victims
of
crime.
The
following discussion
is
designed as
an
exploratory consideration
of
the issues surrounding Native victimization in Canada and
identifies several key issues that governmental agencies and ministries as well as Native
Indian bands, organizations
and
communities will
be
required to-address in any
attempt
to
develop policies and programs
to
assist Native Indian victims. A
major
assertion
of
the
discussion
is
that,
to
date, legislators, policy makers and program administrators have
given little attention to the special needs
of
Native victims
or
to
the factors
that
precipitate
and perpetuate
the
high rates
of
Native victimization which exist in Canada.
CRIME VICTIMS IN CANADA: POLICY
AND
PROGRAMS
Over the past decade, an increased concern
With
the needs
of
the
victims/witnesses of crime and the impact of criminal victimization on
individuals and communities in Canada has resulted in the creation of a
wide range of services for the victims of crime operated by government and
private, non-profit agencies (Brown and Peachy, 1984; Department of
Justice, 1987; Weiler and Desgagne, 1984). Further, there has been the
recognition that the victims and witnesses of crime require special
attention, not only to address the physical and emotional consequences of
crime, but to insure their active involvement in the criminal justice
process.
Reflective of the increasing attention being given to crime victims was
the passage of the Justice for Victims of Crime Act in the province of
Manitoba in 1987. This Act, the first of its type in Canada, outlines a set of
principles for providing justice for the victims of crime and includes
provisions for victim assistance, the handling of victims by criminal justice
personnel and for providing information to the victim
as
the case moves
through the criminal justice system. Several years earlier, the final report
of a Federal-Provincial Task Force on Justice for the Victims of Crime
(Canada, 1983) set forth seventy-nine recommendations relating to victim
needs and services, including several proposed amendments to the
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