There has been a lot of talk in the news lately about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome offenders not really being responsible for the crimes that they are committing. In an article from the Winnipeg Free Press that I read Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson talks about how to many people with fetal alcohol syndrome are ending up in the justice system.
“The Canadian Bar Association passed a resolution urging the government to change criminal sentencing laws for people who are disabled with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, or FASD.” (Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders, 2010) This resolution states that those who have this disorder should not be sent to prison, instead when they are convicted of a crime their “disability” should be recognized and their jail time should “accommodate” that disability. (Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders, 2010)
Rod Snow states that the normal conviction and jail time for a crime doesn’t seem to help those with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.(Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders, 2010) Which to me makes sense because some of the affects of fetal alcohol syndrome are poor memory, attention deficits, impulsive behaviour, and poor cause-effect reasoning. (wikipedia) If a person cannon cannot look at the cause and effect reasoning of why they are in jail it makes sense to me that jail would not be a good place for people who have FAS to be.
Growing up I have always been around children who have fetal alcohol syndrome. My grandparents have been foster parents for the last 35 years and have had over 100 foster children, and when I found this article I thought of them instantly. I had the opportunity to be around her 3 foster children all summer, and got to experience working and being around kids that do have FAS. Seeing them in a safe loving environment gives me hope for them in the future, but like the article talks about once her kids are out of foster care the chance of them getting in trouble with the law is a possibility. Because they won’t have that constant motherly figure keeping them inline. (Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders, 2010)
The statistic from the “Justice Department show that more than one in ten youth coming before Canada’s review boards had suspected or confirmed FAS.(Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders, 2010)
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome also has a greater affect on Indigenous people. “Statistics show that about 14 per cent of indigenous people accused going through the review system were either confirmed or suspected FASD, compared to the .2 per cent of non-indigenous people accused.”(Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders, 2010)
I think this statistic could be a repercussion of the poor living conditions Indigenous people have to live with as well as the low employment rates, and the the affect that residential schools have had to several generations. (Mawhiney and Hardy, 2009) I personally think having your child stripped from you to go to school would cause harm to any parents.
I really wish that the Canadian government could come up with some other alternative placements for the accused to fill out their sentence. It doesn’t seem right to me for people who have a mental disability like FAS to be in jail when their condition can prevent them from grasping the consequences of their actions. (Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders, 2010) But on the other hand I do see how the public could react to having criminals on the streets if they are responsible for their actions or not. Either way I think it is great that the government is trying to fix this problem.
Alyssa V
References
Justice ministers look at solutions other than jail for fetal alcohol offenders. (2010, October 11) Winnipeg Free Press
Retrieved from
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/justice-ministers-look-at-solutions-other-than-jail-for-fetal-alcohol-offenders-104691609.html
Fetal Alcohol quandary (2010, August 18)
Retrieved from http://winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/fetal-alcohol-quandary-100963279.html
Aboriginals People in Canada (Mawhiney & Hardy, 2009)
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ReplyDeleteGood post Alyssa!
ReplyDeleteI work in Community and Youth Corrections, and there are a large amount of clients we work with who have FASD. I agree with you that jail is not the best option, and sometimes it may even make matters worse. I am glad to hear that the government is recognizing this!
However, I think the government also needs to focus on crime prevention for FASD clients who are more at risk for criminal behavior. Whether it’s more services available to those with FASD in order to support them through community life, or creating safer living environments for those living with FASD, this is also a social policy issue.
-Erin Roche
This issue is a perfect example of why we should not have such strict and "set in stone" punishments for offenders. More often than not jail is the most reasonable option for some individuals. But issues with FAS and the recent one in the news about the Alzheimer man accused of domestic violence, the repercussions must be in a way that will help integrate these individuals back into society, and that is not what the government is doing. Great post!
ReplyDelete-Avery F
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your post on FAS/FASD and it is clearly a serious social issue that needs to be addressed. I do not disagree with your suggestion of alternative methods for dealing with criminals diagnosed with FAS/FASD; however I will raise some points for the opposing side of this discussion. Considering FAS/FASD is a spectrum disorder, one could wonder, how many ineligible people will get a lesser punishment for committing a crime. What level on the spectrum would make you eligible for a lesser sentence or an alternate sentence? What level on the spectrum is considered functional enough to pay for your choices with a full sentence? Certainly these differences would continuously come up in court regardless of the severity of FAS/FASD. The individuals would need to be examined to determine the extent of impairment caused by FAS/FASD and the variation between cases could backlog the courts with appeals in comparing previous rulings. Understandably this could become a controversial topic within our society if actions were taken to deal with this problem at the court and sentencing level. I personally would prefer a more proactive or preventative approach be examine prior to changing the reactive approach first. While i agree that these people going through the justice system didn't elect to have FAS/FASD, it does not excuse criminal actions. I suppose to decide if jail time is an appropriate punishment for the party at hand, several factors would need to come into play.
- Darcie B.
Good points Darcie,
ReplyDeleteI do agree with what you are saying. I think this matter really comes down to each case. I don’t know how they could go through each of the cases and decide what end of the spectrum the offender would be on. I guess when I think of this topic I think of people who claim insanity after they have committed a crime or a severe action. I feel like they have a wide spectrum as well when going through courts thinking on what level is this person sane. I do agree that it would be beneficial for the government to put more programs in place to be more proactive, and hopefully take away some of the higher functioning FAS/FASD offenders out of the courts to begin with. But I do think this is something that the government does need to evaluate.
Alyssa V