Profile of Inuit Offenders in Custody and the Community: Implications for Programming

Why we did this study

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) requires information on the profile of Inuit offenders to contribute to culture-specific program development.

What we did

The study included a snap-shot profile of all male Inuit offenders in custody and under community supervision (N=217) on October 1, 2016. The profile includes data extracted from the Offender Management System (OMS) and the Computerized Mental Health Intake Screening System (CoMHISS).

What we found

Most Inuit offenders spoke Inuktitut as their home language but almost all stated that English was their preferred language. The majority (79%) of the Inuit offenders were single. About 30% of Inuit offenders in custody were serving an indeterminate sentence. The vast majority were serving a current sentence for a crime of violence with 36% serving a sentence for a sexual offence. Mean age of the custody and supervision samples was 36 and 38 years respectively.

Tabel 1

Factor	Custody	Supervision
	%	%
Determinate Sentence	71	94
Average Sentence Lengtha	4.5	3.7
Current Offence Type
Homicide	31	14
Sexual	36	41
Assault	19	27
Otherb	14	18

^a Determinate sentences only ^b Includes robbery drugs, other violent, property and other non-violent.

The group was highly criminalized with 88% having a previous offence as an adult. Most of these were violent offences including 41.5% for previous sexual offences. Regarding the current offence, 47% have a conviction that includes a sexual component and 29% are for homicide. These violent offences most commonly involved multiple victims. The majority of Inuit offenders were rated as high risk and high needs and low reintegration potential. All domains on the DFIA-R indicated a significant level of need. Domains with the highest need were Personal/Emotional, Substance Abuse and Marital/Family. Positively, 77% were moderately or highly motivated to change.

Tabel 2

Offender Profile Variables: Risk and Need

	Custody	Supervision
	%	%
Overall Static Risk
Medium	15	25
High	84	72
Overall Dynamic Need
Medium	10	16
High	90	83
Reintegration Level
Low	74	32
Medium	24	62
Motivation Level
Medium	74	80
High	4	t
DFIA-R Domains
Employment/Education domain
Moderate or high need	82	66
Marital/Family domain
Moderate or high need	68	63
Associates domain
Moderate or high need	48	45
Substance Abuse domain
Moderate or high need	91	86
Community Function domain
Moderate or high need	35	19
Personal/Emotional domain
Moderate or high need	97	99
Attitudes domain
Moderate or high need	71	46

Most Inuit men were found to have a low level of education and 45% had an indication a significant cognitive deficit . Also of note, 40% of the custody sample had symptoms of ADHD. Family violence is also prevalent. Over 70% have a past incident of spousal violence. Over 50% were themselves abused or witnessed family violence as a child.

Alcohol and drug abuse is implicated in the offence pattern of 90% of Inuit offenders and in their acts of violence. Many have criminal and substance abusing associates and few have social or community supports and little involvement in structured activities.

Tabel 3

Selected DFIA-R Indicator Endorsement

	Custody	Supervision
DFIA-R Indicator	%	%
Employment/Education
Less than grade 10	79	75
Unstable job history	82	77
Marital/Family
Abused during childhood	57	49
Witnessed family violence during childhood	54	57
Family members criminally active during childhood	34	25
Intimate relationship(s) problematic	82	65
Perpetrated spousal violence	70	61
Attitudes support spousal violence	43	37
Significant difficulties handling parenting responsibilities	45	35
Investigated for suspicion of child abuse/neglect	11	10
Associates
Associates with substance abusers	94	87
Many criminal acquaintances	57	48
Resides in high crime area	48	33
Prosocial support from intimate partner limited	67	69
Prosocial family support limited	38	36
Prosocial support from friends  limited	77	63
Substance Abuse
Frequently engages in binge drinking	78	72
Alcohol or drug use has resulted in law violations	92	87
Becomes violent when drinking or using drugs	89	87
Alcohol and/or drug use is part of the offence cycle	93	86
Community Function
Unstable accommodation	30	14
Financial instability	59	50
Leisure activities limited	61	47
Community attachment limited	37	18
Personal/Emotional
Problem recognition skills limited	82	77
Ability to generate choices limited	91	80
Ability to link actions to consequences limited	81	79
Difficulty coping with stress	75	66
Gives up easily when challenged	38	19
Impulsive	92	90
Difficulty setting long-term goals	64	60
Difficulty solving interpersonal problems	89	79
Frequently feels intense anger	67	51
Frequently acts aggressively	71	71
Low frustration tolerance	77	66
Deviant sexual preferences	44	36
Deviant sexual attitudes	35	42
Attitudes
Attitudes support instrumental/goal-oriented violence	57	44
Attitudes support expressive/ emotional violence	65	57
Denies crime or uses excuses to justify or minimize crime	69	61

¹ This measure may not have been a culture-fair estimate of cognitive function, but low scores would be associated with problems in an academic setting and have implications for program participation.

What it means

Interventions for Inuit men should focus on sexual deviance, general and family violence including child abuse, and substance abuse. Despite low levels of social support or involvement in structured prosocial activities, two-thirds report a link to their community, a protective factor that could be considered a strength. Program targets should include strategies to address deficits in problem solving, consequential thinking, emotion management, sexual deviance, criminal associates, and attitudes supporting violence.

For more information

Please e-mail the Research Branch or contact us by phone at (613) 995-3975.

You can also visit the Research Publications section for a full list of reports and one-page summaries.

Prepared by: K. Wardrop, J. Thompson, & L. Stewart