How just is the justice system?
What is the relationship of the criminal justice system to social justice? Scholars invested in gender equality, decolonization, anti-racism, and social justice argue that retributive models of justice that emphasize crime and punishment exacerbate inequality. In fact, critical prison studies scholars in the United States argue that the prison system is a continuation of slavery. Of the Canadian prison system, political theorist Robert Nichols argues that incarceration is a fundamental part of the settler-colonial project of land theft. Do you think working towards social justice requires re-thinking prisons? Why or why not? These are the questions we would like you to discuss for this module.
Discussions
- Reflect on your thinking about prisons: where did you learn about prisons and their role in achieving justice? Analyze your views: do retributive, restorative, or transformative approaches to justice inform them? How has this lesson challenged your views? Explain how or how not by referencing specific course resources and lessons. Explain all concepts you use.
- Do you think working toward social justice requires re-thinking prisons? Why or why not? In your response, refer to the reading by Angela Davis and examples from other assigned resources from the course. Make sure to define all concepts you use.
Remember to check into eClass to submit upcoming activities and assignments, participate in the discussion board, and communicate with your instructor.
If you choose to do your BIC for this module, here are your options. Check out all the requirements listed in the ACTIVITIES section of this website.
BIC MODULE TEN: SOCIAL JUSTICE & THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
1) DISCUSS A SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT EMERGING FROM WITHIN A CANADIAN PRISON.
Find an example of a social justice movement emerging from within a Canadian prison. What are the people who are incarcerated fighting for? Why? Make sure you connect your discussion to the big idea for the module, and substantively reference at least two assigned resources. Reference all your sources using the author-date format.
2) DISCUSS ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO CRIME & PUNISHMENT.
Identify an example of an approach to justice that deviates from the retributive prison system. You may choose an example from a different national, provincial, or local context. For example, you could explain the Norwegian approach — does this provide an alternative to the retributive model? Why or why not? Develop your argument by drawing on at least two resources from the course. Make sure you reference all your sources of information.
References
“13th.” 2020. Produced by Netflix, April 17, 2020. Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8
Bakare, Lanre. 2020. “Angela Davis: ‘We knew that the role of the police was to protect white supremacy’.” The Guardian, June 15, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/15/angela-davis-on-george-floyd-as-long-as-the-violence-of-racism-remains-no-one-is-safe
Bellrichard, Chantelle. 2020. “Over-Representation of Indigenous People in Federal Prisons Reaches ‘Disturbing’ Historic High.” CBC News, January 21, 2020. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-overrepresentation-prison-oci-statement-1.5434712
Brodie, Janine, ed. 2018. Contemporary Inequalities and Social Justice in Canada. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Chartrand, Larry, and Kanatase Horn. 2016. “A Report on the Relationship Between Restorative Justice and Indigenous Legal Traditions in Canada.” The Department of Justice Canada. October, 2016. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/rjilt-jrtja/index.html
Crawford, Lucas and Nichols, Robert. 2012. “Rethinking Hate Crimes: The Hard Work of Creating Social Equity” In Beyond the Queer Alphabet: Conversations on Gender, Sexuality & Intersectionality, edited by M. S. Smith and F. Jaffer, 57-60. Malinda S. Smith and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Davis. Angela Y. 2003. “Prison reforms or Prison Abolition” In Are Prisons Obsolete?, 9-21. New York: Seven Stories Press. https://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Angela-Davis-Are_Prisons_Obsolete.pdf
Generation Five. 2007. “Toward Transformative Justice, A Liberatory Approach to Child Sexual Abuse and Other Forms of Intimate and Community Violence.” Generation Five, June, 2007. https://azinelibrary.org/approved/towards-transformative-justice-generation-five-1.pdf
John Howard Society of Canada. 2018. “Financial Facts on Canadian Prisons.” Updated August 23, 2018. https://johnhoward.ca/blog/financial-facts-canadian-prisons/
John Howard Society of Canada. 2020. “Data on Canada’s Prison System.” Updated January 25, 2020. https://johnhoward.ca/blog/data-on-canadas-prison-system/
Nichols, Robert. 2014. “The Colonialism of Incarceration” Radical Philosophy Review, 17 (2): 435-55. https://nycstandswithstandingrock.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/nichols-2014.pdf
OCI (Office of the Correctional Investigator). 2012. “A Case Study of Diversity in Corrections: The Black Inmate Experience in Federal Penitentiaries Final Report.” Updated February 28, 2014. https://oci-bec.gc.ca/en/content/case-study-diversity-corrections-black-inmate-experience-federal-penitentiaries-final#toc8
“The Case for Prison Abolition: Ruth Wilson Gilmore on COVID-19, Racial Capitalism & Decarceration.” 2020. Produced by Democracy Now!, May 5, 2020. Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HWqYANmWLY&t=376s
“What is Transformative Justice?.” 2020. Produced by Barnard Center for Research on Women, March 11, 2020. Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-_BOFz5TXo
World Prison Brief. n.d. “World Prison Brief Data, Northern America, Canada.” https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/canada