La realización de sí: la concreción del poder

This section uses examples from international Indigenous policies to provide an alternative view on what it means to ‘feel safe’ and live in a secure environment for Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. These examples show how a more holistic and socially appropriate approach could be used in Indigenous contexts. While safety and security have distinct meanings in Western contexts, one cannot assume that these concepts are applicable and transferable to contexts where different histories and socio-cultural patterns are prominent. Western criminological theories continue to continue to influence community safety policies worldwide (Carrington, et al., 2016; Connell, 2007; Hughes, 2002), yet little is known about the appropriateness of these approaches in meeting the needs of Indigenous communities in Australia or internationally (Capobianco, et al., 2009).

99 _{The purpose of this recommendation was to incorporate community engagement activities in every} remotely-located police officer’s work plans, in order to reduce the perception that ‘community engagement’ was an activity that the CEPOs coordinate and that operational police officers were not required to engage positively with the community in which they are stationed.

4.4.1

United Nations and other international approaches

International approaches to building safer community encompass a broad range of issues relating to personal safety, security and human development. Community safety definitions vary according to the institutional framework in which the concept is used, in addition to the language, geography and social development needs of the targeted population (Sagant & Shaw, 2010). There is little consensus on how to define community safety and the identified outcomes and applications of the concept often vary (Capobianco, et al., 2009; Whitzman, 2008).

The public vision of creating safe and secure environments is an internationally recognised development goal. The United Nations’ Safer Cities programme recognises that informal and formal crime hinders a state’s social and economic development, particularly given that people living in poverty are increasingly vulnerable to violence, insecurity, crime and poor urban governance (United Nations, 2012). This principle is further supported in other United Nations conventions such as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Adopted by Australia on 13 September 2007, the Declaration identifies that Indigenous people worldwide have the “collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples” (United Nations, 2008). At the forefront of this policy, Indigenous people have the right to protection from violence, discrimination and coercive or punitive government policies that impinge on Indigenous peoples’ practice of self-determination. Articles 7 and 21 identify that liberty, peace and security should be a fundamental principle (United Nations, 2008, pp. 5,9). In implementing the declaration, public policy needs to enhance the social, emotional and economic development of Indigenous men and women, including the elders, youth, children and persons with disabilities (articles 21 and 22 in United Nations (2008, p. 9)). These policy ideas are important when considering what values currently guide international crime prevention frameworks.

4.4.2

International Centre for Crime Prevention, Canada

The International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, established in 1994 in Canada, is a non-government organisation that focuses exclusively on crime prevention. It identifies Indigenous community safety as a holistic approach to crime prevention that addresses broader influences across the community including economic development, social and emotional wellbeing, and crime and justice intervention (Capobianco, 2006; Capobianco, et al., 2009).

Capobianco (2006) specifically states that a community safety concept focusing exclusively on crime prevention in Indigenous communities is too narrowly focused and restrictive.100 _Such

an approach would miss the strengths-based initiatives that are occurring in other disciplines such as health, community development and Indigenous studies.

Capobianco, et al. (2009, p. 4) developed a working definition of Indigenous community safety as “strategies, initiatives, practices and tools developed by and with indigenous peoples to improve the wellbeing of communities”. The framework recognises the effect that colonisation, dispossession and assimilation have had on Indigenous communities including the present reality in which people experience racism, discrimination, marginalisation and inequality. It also acknowledges that mainstream society needs to value and respect different traditional knowledge systems, as well as the importance of community contributions in the co-production of safety including elders, youth, children, women and men (Capobianco, et al., 2009). From this perspective, safety for Indigenous peoples needs to include measures beyond reductions in the rates of crime and violence. This example shows that definitions of ‘safety’ must be based on the self-identified needs of the community where the strategy is being implemented, as has been identified in other research (Capobianco, et al., 2009). Although the focus of this thesis is on crime and crime prevention, there are limitations and opportunities in relying too heavily on standard definitions of ‘crime’ when considering the needs of Aboriginal communities.

Capobianco (2006) further identifies that positive indicators of safety include increased school retention rates, literacy, meaningful employment opportunities, strong parental abilities, vocational skills and protection of livelihoods. I suggest that this definition delves into important aspects of safety that interact with broader aspects of an individual and family’s experience of social, emotional and physical wellbeing. However, this concept may be too broad as it does not distinguish between aspects of social life that impact on wellbeing and those that impact on safety.

To truly understand what being and feeling safe means for Aboriginal people in Australia, further research is needed to develop a locally-grounded, strengths-based approach to

100 _{To elaborate on this point, community safety in Gunbalanya was envisioned by participants as a holistic concept} that needs to consider issues beyond criminal behaviour. As such, gambling at card games is a major concern for participants in this study and is an example of an issue that is not a crime. Gambling at card games needs to be managed through collaborative efforts between community elders, service providers and the police. This issue is further examined in chapters five and eight.

understanding physical and social safety from their perspectives. This thesis addresses this gap by using an in-depth case study to understand what community safety means, and how a culturally inclusive approach could be operationalised in one remote Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land. Chapters five, six and seven present this intercultural concept of community safety based on the research I undertook in Gunbalanya. This multilayered concept details how indicators of social harm are interlinked and influence each other. Chapter seven and eight examine whether a partnership-based approach to community safety is practiced in Gunbalanya’s service delivery environment.

4.5

Discussion

This chapter highlights the gaps and opportunities in the Australian Government’s conceptualisation and utilisation of the community safety concept. Future approaches to improving partnerships between Indigenous communities and government must be built on capacity building and empowering strategies that are locally grounded in Indigenous knowledge. This model for community safety cannot be driven by the political ideologies that fuel government interventions, particularly those which have in the past been detrimental to rebuilding trust between Indigenous peoples and the state. In this vein, the following chapter begins to define and contextualise how the Kunwinjku people understand and visualise safety in their own communities. These perspectives are presented to show a counter discourse to the paternalistic and harmful policies that dominate the narrow policy vision today.

5

Community safety and neighbourhood problems