Theorizing and Addressing the Needs of Indigenous Justice-involved Populations: A Systematized Review and Qualitative Investigation of the Responsivity Principle

The dominant rehabilitation model in Western criminal justice systems, the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) framework, is criticized for disregarding the unique circumstances of Indigenous clients while at the same time under-researched on the very dimension—responsivity—that addresses this kind of tailoring. This dissertation comprises two studies investigating responsive rehabilitation for Indigenous clients from an international evidence base and local practice perspective, structured around two established and two proposed components of the responsivity principle. Study 1 is a systematized literature review of intervention with Indigenous justice-involved individuals in four countries, capturing research published between 1990 and 2022. Using narrative synthesis, I identified key themes emerging from 310 papers: that Indigenous individuals experience certain specific responsivity factors in greater numbers or to a greater degree of severity than the general justice-involved population; that services following the general responsivity principle yield positive results for Indigenous participants; that access to programs may be limited by the remoteness and poverty of Indigenous communities, representing a systemic responsivity issue; and that, at the level of ‘political responsivity,’ Indigenous scholars and communities sharply question state justice institutions and fight to implement locally owned programs under poorly resourced conditions. Study 2 presents the results of interviews with 16 service providers from northern Ontario working with Indigenous justice-involved youth in custody, probation, and community settings. I used thematic analysis to generate themes organized around the four categories of responsivity. Participants reported working in ways highly consistent with specific responsivity elements. On the topic of general responsivity, participants placed the therapeutic alliance at the core of effective treatment, noting the complexity and viability of cross-cultural relationships with Indigenous clients. With respect to systemic responsivity, participants identified remoteness and resource scarcity on reserves as significant barriers to intervention. As regards political responsivity, participants shared concerns about the “revolving door” of justice for Indigenous youth. Poverty, geography, racism, and trauma were significant cross-cutting themes. Together, these papers paint a picture of a highly vulnerable and resilient population that benefits from RNR-consistent individualized and multisystemic care but that enters the justice system with significant challenges and continues to struggle against systemic racism and inequality.

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