Summary
As the title implies, Yvonne Johnsons life was just that, Stolen. Born into a cruel and unforgiving world this is Yvonne’s story of her journey through her life as she remembers it. Writing her first letter to Rudy Wiebe, a co-author of the novel, on the 18th of November 1992, Yvonne began the process of revealing her dark secret life that lead her to commit murder and become the first Native women in Canada serving a life sentence for first degree.
Born in the town of Kalispell, Montana, Yvonne emerged into the world with numerous disadvantages that plagued her throughout life. First of all she was what she often referred to as a “half-blood”, a mix of race between her Norwegian Father, Clarence Johnson and her Cree mother, Cecilia Bear. The most obvious ailment to Yvonne was her double cleft lip, which probably had the most detrimental effect on her development in life. This condition caused her major difficulties in early childhood with speech development. Which in turn silenced Yvonne for a large part of her life, making her a prime target for the abuse she received. Although she has some fond memories of childhood, they are overshadowed with the overwhelming sexual abuse she received from various family and friends. However, it was the death of her brother, Earl, that really tipped the ice berg in Yvonne’s life. Following his death Yvonne’s parents split up and she spent the rest of her life meandering between Canada and the States between parents. With a stint in Manitoba’s skid row Yvonne’s life really started to go off the tracks. Consumed by alcohol and constant fights Yvonne lost herself. After three kids, a failed relationship, and an alcoholic boyfriend it’s a wonder that Yvonne even survived.
Criminal Data
The murder of Leonard Charles Skwarok took place on September 15th 1989. The individuals charged with his murder, where originally accused of second degree murder. They included Yvonne Johnson, Dwayne Wenger, Ernest Jensen and Shirley Anne Salmon. However their convictions differed dramatically. Shirley Anne was charged under section 268 (aggravated assault) in the criminal code of Canada. Dwayne Wenger and Ernest Jensen were charged under section 235 of the criminal code (murder in the second degree). Lastly Yvonne was charged under section 235 of the criminal code (murder in the first degree). The penalties were as follows: Everyone who commits an aggravated assault is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. In Shirley Anne’s case she only got one year in prison and five years probation. For second degree murder the sentencing is dependent on the judge who by recommendation of the jury can sentence the accused to anywhere from ten to twenty five years without parole. Both Dwayne and Ernest received the sentence of life up for parole in ten years. The first degree sentencing is an automatic twenty five years in prison without the possibility of parole. This was Yvonne’s sentence life without parole. Although she did appeal this conviction she was denied by unanimous decision of the judges. The sentencing and sections of the criminal code have not significantly changed since this case.
Theoretical Underpinnings
Only four percent of the Canadian population is aboriginal, so why is it that this ethnic group makes up eighteen percent of the adults admitted into federal custody? (Statistics Canada 2006/07). Sociological theories can help us to determine why this is the case. For instance, Control theorists would argue that some answers to this gross over representation of Aboriginal people in prisons lie in the eminent fact that their bonds to society are weak or broken. By looking at the social bond of attachment and how it pertains to the commission of deviant acts in the aboriginal population, and by using Labelling theory to identify what happens in conviction of those apprehended once they are labelled deviant, we can attempt to see why this problem in prisons exists.
Social bond theorists talk about various other bonds of attachment, commitment, involvement and belief, and state that weakness in any or all of the bonds can potentially result in deviant behaviour. For our purposes I think that analysing the bond of attachment is most useful when looking at deviant behaviour among Natives. Attachment itself refers to how strongly an individual feels attached to others and becoming “alienated from others [leads to] socially derived hostility sufficient to account for the aggressiveness of those whose attachments to others have been weakened.” (Hirschi, 2008). That is the basis of our social bond argument; the socially derived hostility from non-ethnic groups towards natives entices them to commit deviant behaviour. One does not have to look far to find a negative stereotype about aboriginal people; for example, “in the last decade, record numbers of Aboriginal persons have graduated from institutions of higher learning… however, in the past three to four years, attitudes toward Aboriginals have deteriorated.” (Facing the Future: Relations Between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Canadians) This creates a huge problem in Canada, because it emphasizes the idea that despite scholastic achievements of first nation’s people, we as a Canadian society are still attaching a negative stigma to that ethnic minority. This in turn is creating a feeling of alienation among aboriginals, for how can one feel attached to a society that looks down upon them regardless of the achievements they make? Reinforcing this idea, we turn our gaze onto the non-fiction novel A Stolen Life: Journey of A Cree Woman. Yvonne, the main character, often talks of the numerous bar fights she got into as a fight between, “Indians against the world” (Wiebe & Johnson, 1998). It is surprising that something as simple as a bar fight is being characterized in this fashion, as a fight against the world, or more specifically against Canadian society. Looking at life in this manner creates a huge feeling of alienation within Yvonne, who ultimately feels isolated from conventional Canadian society. She expresses this feeling through her consistent references of feeling alone, “to depend only on [herself]. There [is] no one else.”(Wiebe & Johnson, 1998). This could help us to understand why she commits murder which is due to this lack of attachment. Within this context is the idea that Aboriginal’s are more likely to commit crime due to their feeling of alienation caused by the negative stereotypes Canadian society places on them, ultimately leaving them feeling detached from society.
Looking at committing crime is only half the problem. Once someone commits a crime there is a legal process and conviction that follows. This might lead us to question what really is going on in our justice system and if fair trials are actually occurring with regards to trials involving ethnic minorities. Using labelling theories, we can see that this is far from the case. First, in dealing with conviction of offences, studies in rural areas revealed that, “[p]robation officers…sentence Indian and Métis offenders severely, without the justification of correlated legal variables”( Cattarinich, 1996). The study shows that due to the label Indians receive in regards to possible convictions, they are more severely punished; expressing the notion that there is a more than obvious problem when it comes to the conviction of Aboriginals. With regards to court decisions studies have shown that, “based on an analysis of Edmonton courtroom data, found that race acts as an intervening variable under certain conditions and affects the accused chance of successfully negotiating a plea.” (Cattarinich, 1996). This example exemplifies just how detrimental the effect of a negative or criminal label is on someone of ethnic background, and more specifically of Native decent. We can see that once labelled a deviant, natives face harsher consequences and sentencing, because without being able to negotiate a plea leaves them at the mercy of the courts. This has a lot to do with the idea that “ the degree to which an act will be treated deviant depends on who commits the act and who feels he has been harmed by it.” (Becker, 2008). In the case of first nation’s people, when they face the courts, the judges and jury generally feel more threatened then if someone of Caucasian decent was to appear on the stand. Again looking back to our non-fiction novel Yvonne has similar experiences regarding apprehension and conviction of her offense. Similar to the example from before once Yvonne was identified as a possible suspect in a minor complaint the RCMP who, “sure as hell [had] no warrent” (Wiebe & Johnson, 1998), proceeded to assume the worst and attempted to break into her household. Yvonne tried to convince them that nothing was wrong, but because she had already been labelled deviant by a complaint there was no convincing them. This was before a body or further evidence of wrongful doing was present. It shows how native people once labelled deviant have a difficult time convincing anyone otherwise. Later after being convicted of first degree murder Yvonne files for an appeal, which was, “disallowed…on all counts. Unanimous negative ruling by all three judges.” (Wiebe & Johnson, 1998). This again emphasizes the problem that once receiving a deviant label, it is immensely difficult for those of Native American heritage to break out of that association with the label. In Yvonne’s case the judges of her appeal request seemed in full agreement that once a killer always a killer and therefore denied her an appeal. This could be helpful in looking back at our prison populations, for it could offer another possible explanation. Perhaps the reason that aboriginals are over represented lies in the fact that once they are labelled deviant it is hard to persuade anyone otherwise, and therefore it is more difficult for them to get out of the criminal justice system.
So looking back we see that there are many possible reasons for why this dilemma is occurring in our Canadian prisons. It could potentially be a lack of attachment to conventional Canadian society leading Aboriginals to commit deviant acts. It could lie in our justice system that acts harshly towards Native Americans once labelled deviant, making for more severe punishments and roadblocks when trying to exit our federal justice system. By analysing these possible accounts, we can try to come up with some solutions to this prison problem, making Canada a more equal place for anyone to reside in.
Critical Analysis
Focussing our attention more towards the novel, A Stolen Life: The Journey Of A Cree Woman, we now look at the role that race/ascribed status, the victim, and the offenders played in the commission of the deviant act.
Being born into a world as a Métis with a physical disability had immense effects on Yvonne. Not only did society make her feel out of place because of her ethnicity, as explored earlier with the theoretical analysis, but on top of this she faced another challenge with her double cleft lip. Yvonne often mentioned that, “there are lots of reasons I don’t want people close to me. My lip is only one.” (Wiebe & Johnson, 1998). By isolating herself from others due to the shame and unattractiveness Yvonne felt about her lip, she created an easy target for sexual abuse. And because of this apparent weakness she portrayed she received endless abuse throughout her life. This, blatantly had a negative effect on Yvonne, causing her low self esteem, a more aggressive nature and various other extremely complex psychological issues.
This ties in nicely with the role of our victim Leonard Skwarok, who, unbeknown to Yvonne had been previously accused for child molestation. Being a victim of sexual abuse herself at a young age caused Yvonne a predisposed anger associated with the idea of it. Talking about the night of the murder Yvonne states, “I was angry at the possibility that this man could be a child molester, sitting in my home,”(Wiebe & Johnson, 1998). The fact that the victim was potentially a child molester plays a key role in his murder, for if this had not been the case Yvonne, or the others involved may not have attacked him. And Yvonne would not have had the wounded memories of her childhood ripped open causing her immense pain and aggression towards Leonard.
Lastly we look at the role of the offenders in this murder case, all of which are socially tied to Yvonne as either family or friends. Shirley Anne, Yvonne’s cousin, Dwayne Wenger, Yvonne’s husband, and Ernest Jensen, a family friend, were all offenders in this murder. By looking at various aspects of the accused lives we see some common trends that may explain why they took part in this brutal assault that ended Leonard’s life. First of all, all of the accused were heavy alcoholics and, “just got drunk.” (Wiebe & Johnson, 1998), at the time of the crime. This may have contributed to their lack of judgement, in stopping to beat the victim before it was too late. When Dwayne was questioned about how many times he kicked the victim he responded, “when drunk, once, twice, three times, can seem like once when you sober up.” (Wiebe & Johnson, 1998). Dwayne reveals how clouded his judgement was that night, due to his intoxication. Another key fact was that all of the offenders were of lower socioeconomic status which put them at a higher risk of committing violent crimes. For example, “Deprived areas marked with poverty and inequality spawn social exclusion, alienation, and violence” (Tepperman, 2006). This expresses the idea that because the role of those involved was such that they all were members of lower socioeconomic status they were at high risk to become offenders in the first place.
References
Becker, Howard. (2008). Labelling Theory. In Alex Thio, Thomas Calhoun & Addrain Conyers, Readings in Deviant Behaviour (pp.51-53). Boston.Pearson Education, Inc.
Cattarinich, Xavier. (1996). Alternative Perspectives on the overrepresentation of Native Peoples in Canadian Correctional Institutions: The Case Study of Alberta. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, XVI, 15-36. Retreived March 27, 2009 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.brandonu.ca/Library/cjns/16.1/Cattarinich.pdf
Frederickson, Kris. (2004). Cultural and Historical Understanding is the Key. Facing the Future: Relations Between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Canadians. Centre for Research and Information on Canada. Retrieved March 27, 2009 from the World Wide Web:
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/calgarypubpolicy/Doc?id=10079808&ppg=16
Hirschi, Travis. (2008). Control Theory. In Alex Thio, Thomas Calhoun & Addrain Conyers, Readings in Deviant Behaviour (pp.42-44). Boston.Pearson Education, Inc.
Statistics Canada. n.d. ‘The changing profile of adults in custody 2006/2007.’ Retreived March 27, 2009 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2008010/article/10732-eng.htm#a4
Tepperman, Lorne. (2006). Deviance, Crime, and Control Beyond the Straight and Narrow. Canada. Oxford University Press.
Wiebe, R., & Johnson, Y. (1998). Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman. Toronto. Random House.
