Centring First Nations and Métis perspectives: addressing colonial context in forensic assessment reports
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Colonial and structural conditions that shape First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) peoples’ involvement in the Canadian criminal legal system are often documented in forensic reports as individual risk factors, with limited discussion of how colonial context underlies the individual’s presentation or should inform interventions. Despite growing concern, there is limited practical guidance for forensic professionals on understanding and integrating colonial context into assessment and report-writing practices. The present project used an Indigenous relational qualitative design, guided by the North Hawk Elder Council, to explore how colonial context is represented in forensic reports and recommendations for meaningfully integrating colonial context and creating culturally safer assessment practices. Eight First Nations and Métis professionals with experience working alongside FNIM peoples involved in the criminal legal system in Manitoba, Canada took part in the project as relatives. Relatives reviewed two mock forensic reports reflecting current forensic reporting practices and met with me in person (n = 6) or through Zoom (n = 2) for a semi-structured research conversation. Reflexive thematic analysis generated five interconnected themes: (1) The person at the centre; (2) When system constraints limit understanding; (3) One-eyed seeing: when a Western lens becomes the whole picture; (4) “Where is the healing?”; and (5) Two-Eyed Seeing: bringing the person back into the process. Relatives described the mock reports as realistic and connected them to reports and circumstances encountered in their professional practice. Across themes, relatives described how system constraints and a Western risk-centric lens shape what is known about the person and how that information is interpreted and communicated. Together, the first four themes suggest that the mock reports presented a disproportionately risk-focused and deficit-based picture of the person in which colonial context, strengths, and the person’s future were largely absent. The final theme, Two-Eyed Seeing, offered a direction for bringing FNIM and Western knowledge together while recentring the person throughout. Findings informed organizational, policy, and system-level recommendations, as well as practice recommendations for forensic professionals. Overall, the project provides applied guidance for culturally safer forensic assessment and reporting that centres the person and recognizes healing as integral to longer-term public safety.
Source: Mspace (University of Manitoba)
Author: Claeys, McKenna
Institution: University of Manitoba
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204618066