Discrimination in the Criminal Legal System Study Notes

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key terminology, theories, and social factors related to discrimination in the Australian criminal legal system, focusing on First Nations representation and structural disadvantage.

Criminal Legal System (CLS)

The term used in this course to replace the traditional 'Criminal Justice System' (CJS) because the system often fails to deliver justice in practice.

Social contract

The set of rules societies agree to live by, governing how individuals relate to one another and to the state.

Rule of law

The legal expression of the social contract which posits that no person is above the law, including officials and private citizens.

Conflict Theory

A sociological perspective that studies how the differential possession of power and unequal relationships shape crime and justice outcomes for groups and individuals.

Egalitarianism

An ideology of equality, often associated with Australia's self-perception as the 'land of the fair go,' contrasted by actual social stratification.

Social stratification

The categorization of people into rankings based on wealth, status, and power, which determines access to education, health, and justice.

Three R's

The three stages—Recognised, Reported, and Recorded—required for a crime to formally exist in the system, each involving discretionary decision-making.

Judicial ghetto

A term used by Luke Vcon to describe how prisons function as warehouses for stigmatized and marginalized populations.

Barometer of discrimination

A criminological view of prisons as 'collection points' that reflect broader social, health, economic, and policy inequalities.

Post-release mortality

The elevated risk of death, particularly within the first $14$ weeks after prison release, including a high risk of self-harm.

Under-policing

A form of discrimination where certain crimes or victims are overlooked, under-prosecuted, or shielded by the law despite causing significant harm.

Settler colonialism

A historical and ongoing structural factor in Australia involving land dispossession, genocide, and family policing that produces disadvantage for First Nations peoples.

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1991)

An investigation into $99$ deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody that made over $300$ recommendations, most of which were not enacted.

National Deaths in Custody Monitoring Programme

An AIC initiative established as a Royal Commission recommendation that publishes annual reports and maintains a real-time dashboard on deaths in custody.

Double victimisation

A risk faced by temporary visa holders or people in vulnerable employment who may suffer abuse while their residency status is used as leverage against them.

MMIWG

An acronym for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, a global issue in settler-colonial contexts.

Black Witness

A work by journalist Amy McGuire regarding the invisibility of Indigenous femicide and the lack of media coverage for the Senate inquiry into the issue.

Indigenous femicide

A term recognized by the Senate inquiry to describe the disappearance and murder of Indigenous women, supported by long-term state practices and legacies of genocide.

Social determinants of health

A structural explanation for high incarceration rates that links health outcomes and social disadvantage to historical factors rather than inherent traits.

Out-of-home care

A risk factor for criminal legal system involvement, particularly when combined with poverty, early police contact, and mental health conditions.