CRIM2020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Christopher Skase, Pseudomedicine, Truancy
Week 2: Colonialism and Indigenous People
Do class money and respectability afford protection from the criminal law?
• Yes
• Alan Bond (business man in high profile dealings): spent 1298 days in jail for stealing
$15 million compared to Indigenous who spent a year in jail for stealing $25 worth of
biscuits
o 1 day for ever million dollars
• Christopher Skase: Australian businessman who later became one of his country's most
wanted fugitives, after his business empire crashed spectacularly and he fled to
Majorca, Spain.
How did European settlers justify oppressive and criminal acts against Indigenous
people?
• Tried to convince them that they didn’t deserve their basic human rights
• Use of language to dehumanise Indigenous
• Scientific theories were misused (survival of the fittest)
Phrenology: pseudomedicine primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based
on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have
localized, specific functions or modules.
Reynolds article how was ideology used in justifying rape and murder of Aboriginal
People?
• Most communities have shared values
Malcolm Smith
1. Happy and free 11 year old (truant from school)
2. Taken away from his family who he didn’t see again until he was 19 (mother passed
away)
3. Was forced in despotic institutions left him illiterate, unskilled and without experience
of normal society
4. Experienced the law as a system which gave him no rights and representation
5. Turned 19 and left the institution and reunited with his family
6. Was protecting his sister from domestic violence
7. Killed her sisters partner (manslaughter)
8. Was sent to jail (was respected by staff and prisoners for his string leadership
personality and artistic talent)
9. Committed suicide by stabbing himself in the eye by following the words of the bible
How was the 'welfare and protective' policy of removing Aboriginal children from their
families from 1909-the 1970's criminogenic?
• Physically and emotionally separated
What are the different ways to explain the causes of over-representation of Indigenous
people in the CJS?
• 24% of prisoners are Indigenous (2% of Australian population)
• Greater visibility = more crimes noticed
• Trifecta of Aboriginals in court: offensive conduct, resist arrest, assault police
• Police discretion is a reason why there are so many Indigenous rocking up in courts
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Do class money and respectability afford protection from the criminal law: yes, alan bond (business man in high profile dealings): spent 1298 days in jail for stealing. How did european settlers justify oppressive and criminal acts against indigenous people: tried to convince them that they didn"t deserve their basic human rights, use of language to dehumanise indigenous, scientific theories were misused (survival of the fittest) Phrenology: pseudomedicine primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules. Reynolds article how was ideology used in justifying rape and murder of aboriginal. How was the "welfare and protective" policy of removing aboriginal children from their families from 1909-the 1970"s criminogenic: physically and emotionally separated. What are some of the means by which the aboriginal people have kept their own subjugated knowledge alive: stories that are passed down to each generation.
