Healing Lodges: A strong predictor Of success In Canada & recommendations moving forward

In response to the vast overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in Canadian corrections, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) developed initiatives that are intended to provide Indigenous offenders with culturally appropriate services to address their unique needs and reduce the number of Indigenous offenders in corrections. There is strong statistical evidence that validate the notion that culturally specific healing programs can improve the recidivism rates of Indigenous offenders post-release. In turn, this suggests that Indigenous spiritual healing has the capacity to address risk factors and prevent high recidivism rates (Milward, 2011, p. 47). However, healing lodges lack the capacity to effectively deliver culturally appropriate programming to offenders. This systematic literature review examines relevant articles and studies that confirm the effectiveness of healing lodges on Indigenous offenders risk of recidivism. As promising healing lodge sound in terms of deterring offenders away from crime, healing lodges are under-funded, under-staffed, and lack appropriate resources to effectively administer culturally specific programs to Indigenous offenders who need it most. It is recommended that the CSC allocate government funding to support such initiatives and provide greater resources to Indigenous offenders in the system to ensure healing lodges are being utilized. It is recommended that legislature and policy makers revise the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and that the CSC provides Elders, Indigenous communities and Indigenous offenders with more freedom to effectively facilitate traditional healing methods.