Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System

'This collection presents significant summaries of past criminal behavior, and significant new cultural and political contextualizations that provide greater understanding of the complex effects of crime, sovereignty, culture, and colonization on crime and criminalization on Indian reservations.' Duane Champagne, UCLA (From the Foreword) Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System offers a comprehensive approach to explaining the causes, effects, and solutions for the presence and plight of Native Americans in the criminal justice system. Articles from scholars and experts in Native American issues examine the ways in which society's response to Native Americans is often socially constructed. The contributors work to dispel the myths surrounding the crimes committed by Native Americans and assertions about the role of criminal justice agencies that interact with Native Americans. In doing so, the contributors emphasize the historical, social, and cultural roots of Anglo European conflicts with Native peoples and how they are manifested in the criminal justice system. Selected chapters also consider the global and cross-national ramifications of Native Americans and crime. This book systematically analyzes the broad nature of the subject area, including unique and emerging problems, theoretical issues, and policy implications.

Jeffrey Ian Ross, Larry Gould

I: Introduction; 1: Native Americans, Criminal Justice, Criminological Theory, and Policy Development; II: Theoretical Issues in the Area of Native Americans and Criminal Justice; 2: Navajo Criminal Justice: A Jungian Perspective; 3: Criminalizing Culture; 4: Justice as Phoenix; 5: The Link between Environmental Policy and the Colonization Process and Its Effects on American Indian Involvement in Crime, Law, and Society; III: Current Policy Issues Affecting Native Americans and Criminal Justice; 6: Alcoholism, Colonialism, and Crime; 7: Examining the Interpretation and Application of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978; 8: Law Enforcement and the American Indian; 9: Policing Native Americans Off the Rez; 10: Imprisonment and American Indian Medicine Ways; 11: Criminalization of the Treaty Right to Fish; 12: Indian Gaming and the American Indian Criminal Justice System; 13: Research on Juvenile Delinquency in Indian Communities; 14: Recent Trends in Community-Based Strategies for Dealing with Juvenile Crime in the Navajo Nation; 15: Scattered Like the Reindeer; IV: Conclusion; 16: Integrating the Past, Present, and Future