Australian Indigenous Death in Custody Case - Essay Example

? Australian Indigenous Death in Custody Case Task Introduction Peter Campbell was an indigenous Australian male born in the year 1946 near Rivers Murray’s mouth. Located in the Southern side of Australia, on Lake Alexandrina’s shores was Point Macleay where his ancestors had settled in 1859 by an association from a Protestant missionary group promoting holistic well being of natives of South Australians. Peter was born second of the eleven children that his Ngarrindjeri parents Alan and Stella sired. He was to live in this area for the first sixteen years of his life and got really close to one of his siblings Alan who was just 13 months younger than he was. His ancestors were active members of his community and are recorded to have been industrious fellows who had battled many shortcomings such as the always inadequate land supplies in efforts to rehabilitate the previously destroyed communities. The land was however acquired by the government managing the South Australian Side who brought in white settlers to manage the now established well-farmed land and dairy farming, needless to say, much to the disappointment of the Aboriginals. For the white settlers, this was considered their temporary homes even though there was major segregation and discrimination of the aboriginals. As with the other children his age, Peter underwent schooling up to Grade 7 which in normal schools outside Point Macleay, would have compared to Grade 5, thus making it hard for him to join high school. This clearly went to show the different rights and privileges accorded to the aboriginals usually of lower standards than the whites did (Hunter, 1993). He joined his father in activities such as rabbit trapping, wood cutting and fencing amongst other odd jobs together with the some of his age mates. Peter’s stay in the mission ended in 1963 due to an odd incident whereby 39 young boys were charged with carnal knowledge when a young girl was discovered pregnant. The circumstances by which the young boys were charged were very marred and efforts to investigate on the same bore little fruits since they took place much later. The young boys including Peter’s little brother Alan were excommunicated from the mission even if Alan at the time, 14 years old, did not have any sexual experience and did not even know of the proceedings that had convicted him only remembering being told to plead guilty. Even if Peter was not included in this conviction, he was left lonely and that prompted him to move to Adelaide to live with his aunt while the brother, who after being excommunicated went to live with the grandfather but joined Peter in Adelaide after some time. For Peter, criminal life started right then in 1963 when he was 16 with the first crime for begging alms and though no penalty was given, he was soon back in crime now being charged with drunkenness which at the time was illegal for an aboriginal. The two years later were almost spent at reformatory with crimes ranging from illegal use of motor vehicles theft. Experiences at the reformatory just toughened him up for the world outside and after the age of 18years to 21 years, he spent almost the entire time in jail due to illegal use of motor vehicles, which the brother explained were for use in robberies. Thereafter, Peter’s lifestyle alternated between jail and his new home in Murray Bridge. In 1970 when Peter was 23, he got a job but moved back to Adelaide where he was arrested again for similar offences as in the past. After his release, he returned home and acquired his old job alongside his father. Bouts of drunkenness increased with time with violence registered during his stupors. He was laid off work in a strike and returned to Adelaide where he battered his wife and police officers. Thereafter he left to Brisbane where he was arrested for driving a stolen car and was sentenced to two years from1972. Upon release, he did not return home nor make any contact with family save for one letter in the late seventies congratulating her for the birth of her new baby from Sydney, which was his next destination after Brisbane in 1975. Once there, he was arrested again for assault most of which happened while drunk. The parole officer in charge of Peter noticed his lonely nature, delusions and his uncertainties were verified when at one time, upon request, he wrote about his life citing the existence of a dead sister. He claimed that she had been in the hands of the Englishmen where she had been taken captive for services to the King as such of a prostitute. More so, he spoke of his interest in marrying Princess Margaret, which he saw as a definite possibility within a certain time before elections. The officer confesses that it was difficult understanding Peter but he lived in the same residence for the entire time to December 1976 when he quit working from the council but he did not cite reasons for doing so. When Peter moved to Hobart, he got a job with the council immediately but things turned downhill when he assaulted the public and was arrested. He seemed detached to the family at the time and was quoted to express his state as a loner. By this time, his development of racial discrimination had grown and it was evident that he viewed himself as the leader of the aboriginals. He felt that the system was unjust to the Aboriginals and that as the next of kin to his grandfather, a former chief of the Ngarrindjeri; it was time for them to be compensated for the social injustices. The parole officer recommended treatment since he suspected psychological problems as was shown by his delusions, often talking of a dead sister and his believe that he had seen her. This did not work as the systems were not very keen on restoring his well being and he only got more delusional and with time returned to drunkenness where he got to assault charges repeatedly and when he was eventually released he went to Mildura instead of returning home (Tatz, 2005). Later he found himself arrested due to seriously assaulting two people and using very strong suggestive language on racialism. He was eventually put to prison in 1989 and stayed there for the time leading up to his death whereby he was found with a slit throat and two bloody razors in the cell (Wootten, 1990). The RICIADIC investigation concluded that it was suicide since no one could access his cell and due to the constant interaction with him from his childhood, there was no reason to believe someone had plotted his murder. More so, it the most widespread grounds of the demise in jail (Noonan). There is a clear correlation between some factors of Peter Campbell’s life, an indigenous man that led him to a life of constant imprisonment in police custody Factors Influencing Peter Campbell’s Pathway to Crime Racism and socio economic disadvantages were major factors affecting the social cultural environment in which the Aboriginals lived which was exceptionally different from the whites. The Aboriginals were clearly less regarded as shown by the lower standards of education that was offered to them. It was difficult for a child from aboriginal schools to be admitted to a high school therefore forcing the aboriginal child out of the education system. Peter Campbell was one such victim who was left to do odd jobs including trapping rabbits, wood cutting and fencing while the other white kids advanced in their education and gave them opportunities to work in white collar jobs where the earnings were much more than the odd jobs that aboriginals were left to do. He uttered statements showing that even in his deluded state he thought that the whites were responsible for his dead sister and that he was the son of an Aboriginal king and that the government was in debt of the aboriginals. The attempt to save the young white boy who was being sodomized at the reformatory had been rewarded by 28 days in the dungeons a place described by Alan, “When you're down there, bread and water, and you're completely - clothes, there 's no clothes on you and it's a dirty, stinking, damp old dungeon, you know. You got to run on the spot when you're in there; you know ... They brought him up. They caned him and took him over to the block” (Wootten, 1990). Peter then developed a sense of hatred toward the whites and is demonstrated by when he lacks to defend himself in prison when one of them had tried picking a fight with him, citing that the all whites would have been after him. Aboriginal resentment and sense of injustice that was felt by the indigenous people even if they were not all politically active and therefore could not express their frustrations. When the ancestors of Peter occupied the Point Macleay area and later it was taken from them by the government of Southern Australia. Their efforts were always thwarted by the selfish Europeans and governments and as Peter’s ancestors were well involved in these initiatives, he felt the resentment for the whites who later repossessed the land. Most this anger was usually pent up until such a time as when he was under the influence of alcohol when all these feelings were brought out in a violent manner. During the days nearing his death, more of the violent busts when drunk became more and more frequent and his thoughts on the social injustices against aboriginals were sensed by his patrol officer and psychiatrist (RCIADIC, 1991). The absenteeism of the family’s role in the life of Peter Campbell is another major issue that contributed to his frequenting to police custody. Family is set as the main tool for instituting morals and intervening for the wholesome development of an individual (Carling, 1995). Parental control is a factor of socio economic forces and the aboriginals watched as their parents tried to re-establish themselves just for this to be taken away from them. This resulted to mistrust in the systems that disregarded their families and parental power was questioned and with time, developing low self-esteem. More so aboriginals were used to strong family ties that were slowly cut off by the system that required one to get a permit just to visit one’s home if one had gone for more than two weeks . This discouraged one to keep in touch with family and thereafter break ties altogether. Peter being away from family and with his lonesome nature and possible low self-esteem sought redress in criminal activities and alcohol to his otherwise lonely life especially as he continued to distance himself from them. The role of culture in moral upbringing of children was thoroughly undermined by the government when they required getting a permit to be able to visit one’s home place (Wilkie, 1997). The other very significant factor that was a clear contributor to Peter Campbell’s criminal record was indulgence in alcohol that seemed to trigger his actions of violence. Peter’s criminal record began way before he attained the age of 18years, with the first crimes being related to alcohol, first for juvenile drinking and again for committing numerous other offences including stealing and was remanded in reformatory. Subsequent crimes were pronounced in quantity and intensity as a factor to his sobriety. At one time, the parole officer recommended for him to be put in hospital for psychological treatment and for his drinking for despite his maniac nature after drinking, Peter was an intelligent man. More of drinking could have been spurred by factors such as absenteeism of family and resentment towards the white community. The latter was more apparent as he was violent towards white individuals when drunk. Some of the drinking could have been triggered by separation of the parents as he was reported to be doing well up until his parents separated. It is after this then he got into an argument with his sister and destroyed her property and was arrested yet again. The other factor that could have resulted to his multiple arrests is the criminal justice system that deliberately biased against the youngsters of aboriginal origin. For instance, when 39 young boys were excommunicated from the Point Macleay due to pregnancy of a woman in the area, they judgments were not according to the innocence of the accused. No state officer seemed to represent his or her rights. Instead, all were couched on how to plead guilty and were excommunicated in two weeks. The criminal justice system seemed to be set in a way that targeted the indigenous people. Once all of Peter’s friends and brother went away, it was only a short time before Peter left the mission to join them on the outside and in an exceptionally short time without parental guidance were arrested and put to reform schools. Peer pressure and boredom are the other factors that influenced and facilitated Peter Campbell’s way into crime and his eventual demise. Peter after being left in the mission by the friends experienced boredom that encouraged him to move out of the mission to the outside world. If he had remained in the mission, there would have been fears that he would become a misfit as most of the boys had been excommunicated and running from the mission was saving Peter from losing face and friendships. Later on, he quickly started indulging in alcohol and later in theft causing his first arrest. He was together with his brother in the reformatory center signifying that the two had been together in their criminal life. As Peter distanced himself from family, being the loner he was, he was involved in more alcohol abuse and criminal activities. At those times where the recreation facilities were few and far in between and therefore the youth engaged in activities such a robbery, hijackings and breaking traffic rules for fun. Conclusion The short life of Peter Campbell was characterized by neglect from the family, governance and the environmental surrounding with the biggest factor being the governance and the criminal systems. Constant pressures elevated slowly to the point he allegedly committed suicide. As much as he was constant in the state prisons, in his view he lacked purpose or reason to deviate from his ways, as the systems were unjust to his kind his behavior was a way of counteracting the situation. References Carling, P. (1995). Return to community. New Hampshire: Guilford Press. Hunter, E. (1993). Aboriginal health and history: power and prejudice in remote Australia. Sydney: Cambridge University Press. Noonan M. (2007). Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2007. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice. Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, 1991. The annual report. Australia: Australian Government Publishing Service. Tatz, C. (2005). Aboriginal suicide is different: a portrait of life and self-destruction. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. Wilkie M. (1997). Bringing them home: report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families. Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Wootten, J. (1990). Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody: Report of the Inquiry into the Death of Peter Leonard Campbell. Australia: Australian Government Publishing Service. Read More