The construction of the racially different indigenous offender.

Source: (2009) Australia and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference 2009: Conference Proceedings. Pg. 215-227.

The over-representation and increased growth of Indigenous offenders in all Western criminal justice systems is
longstanding and undeniable. Yet it was not until the 1990s that the issues of Indigenous over-representation or expanding
Indigenous offender populations began to be presented as a problem within Australia’s correctional literature. This paper
explores the parameters of these ‘problems’, and present three main arguments. First, the issue of over-representation was
constructed within the correctional literature as a symptom of the different nature of Indigenous offending. Second, the
different nature of Indigenous offending was in turn constructed as a problem of race. Finally, although alternative
constructions of the Indigenous offender have emerged within the correctional literature, these constructions ultimately
struggle and fail to gain traction within the correctional sphere. (Authors abstract)