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Community Justice or Just Communities? Aboriginal Communities in Search of Justice

NCJ Number
158216
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 37 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1995) Pages: 521-545
Author(s)
C LaPrairie
Date Published
1995
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This article explores the role of justice in aboriginal communities in Canada, and discusses the growing willingness of the Federal Government to accommodate a more informal, accessible form of local justice for native peoples.
Abstract
The discussion is based on findings from three distinct research activities on the subject of aboriginal justice, two conducted on reserves and one in the inner core areas of four Canadian cities. Some of the issues emphasized by this research included value-conflict in contemporary communities, social and economic conditions in contemporary communities, social stratification in contemporary communities, and the impact of State law on local justice. The author challenges the conventional wisdom that popular justice and State transformation are in opposition to each other, and that the State is in need of transformation through the activities of popular justice. The article concludes that popular justice is concerned with the potential for transforming communities by responding more realistically and effectively to their needs, inequalities, and conflicts. 18 notes and 45 references

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