Thèses / Dissertations

The magnitude and severity of violent and sexual assaults committed against Inuit women in the Nunavut Territory is tremendously alarming. This is of particular importance when considering the paucity of programming initiatives designed for Inuit offenders that target such offences. Current rehabilitation strategies for offenders in Nunavut (NU) emphasize the importance of victim-offender reconciliation and traditionally based healing programs. However, such approaches often ignore the needs of female victims, and may subject them to secondary harm. The birth of Nunavut has empowered Inuit to tailor correctional initiatives to meet their needs, and created the opportunity for tremendous reform within the existing justice structure. Research related exclusively to criminality amongst Inuit would greatly facilitate this process. The purpose of my project was to seek insight and understanding regarding Inuit experiences of violence against women, while highlighting aspects of such violence that were distinct to Inuit. I conducted semi-structured interviews in Iqaluit, NU with male inmates at the Baffin Correctional Centre, female victims at Qimavik Women's Shelter, as well as employees in justice-related positions. I utilized qualitative methodology to analyze the interviews, with grounded theory techniques as my primary investigative framework. Ultimately, my objectives were to provide suggestions for intervention programming with Inuit offenders that would not re-victimize women. The treatment guidelines I developed focused upon personal and community healing of Inuit, largely through cultural redefinition and reintegration. La magnitude et la sévérité des assauts sexuels et violents commis contre les femmes inuit dans le territoire du Nunavut est extrêmement alarmante. Ceci est particulièrement important lorsque l'on considère la pauvreté des initiatives visant les assaillants inuit responsables de tels crimes. Au Nunavut, les présentes stratégies de réhabilitation mettent l'emphase sur l'importance d'une réconciliation entre la victime et son assaillant basée sur des programmes de guérison. Néanmoins, de telles approches ignorent souvent les besoins des femmes victimes et peuvent leur faire subir d'autres traumatismes. La naissance du Nunavut a permis aux Inuit d'instaurer des initiatives correctionnelles spécifiques à leurs besoins ainsi qu'une large réforme dans la structure de la justice. Des recherches sur la criminalité chez les Inuit devraient grandement faciliter ce processus. Le but de mon projet était de comprendre les expériences inuit de la violence contre les femmes, tout en identifiant les aspects d'une telle violence distincts aux Inuit. J'ai fait des entrevues semi-dirigées à Iqaluit avec des détenus du Baffin Correctional Centre, avec des femmes victimes au Qimavik Women's Shelter, ainsi qu'avec des employés du système judiciaire. J'ai utilisé une méthode qualitative pour analyser les entrevues, ainsi qu'un modèle théorique. Mes objectifs étaient de donner des suggestions pour des programmes d'intervention avec les assaillants inuit qui n'allaient pas traumatiser les femmes une deuxième fois. Les directives que j'ai développées se basent sur la guérison personnelle et communautaire chez les Inuit, grâce à une redéfinition et réintégration culturelle. Yup'ik narratives of place make powerful statements about the health or illness of the world. Such stories illustrate how the land itself is responsive to human thought and action. The land, in essence, is a being among beings, and a particularly powerful and sensitive one. The sentient world responds to joy as well as to sorrow. This is an essential aspect of place in southwestern Alaska. In Hooper Bay, stories confer both personal and political power, allowing people to instruct others about dangerous situations, and indirectly make statements about events that are otherwise unspoken for fear of "making bad things worse." Narrative discourse of place empowers people who have experienced a history of domination and control. Man-made places, like the land, are also barometers of change. Stories allow people to speak about unspeakable …