Indigenous Incarceration: The Violence of Colonial Law and Justice

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the violence of incarceration for Indigenous people in Australia. The chapter uses a broad concept of violence that includes overt physical violence, ill-treatment, and the failure to exercise a reasonable duty of care. These issues are explored in relation to Australia’s history of colonial dispossession and control, and the relationship between the violence of incarceration and Indigenous dispossession from land and denial of sovereignty.