Sociology / en Life expectancy study reveals the dangers of ‘model minority’ stereotype /news/life-expectancy-study-reveals-dangers-model-minority-stereotype <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Life expectancy study reveals the dangers of ‘model minority’ stereotype </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2026-01/GettyImages-959057594-crop.jpg?h=94b651e3&amp;itok=hwY3-IIy 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2026-01/GettyImages-959057594-crop.jpg?h=94b651e3&amp;itok=-bNzFK_7 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2026-01/GettyImages-959057594-crop.jpg?h=94b651e3&amp;itok=yDwWI0zG 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2026-01/GettyImages-959057594-crop.jpg?h=94b651e3&amp;itok=hwY3-IIy" alt="south asian senior citizens walking in a park"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-02-03T12:07:11-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 3, 2026 - 12:07" class="datetime">Tue, 02/03/2026 - 12:07</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-credits-long field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</p> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by&nbsp;AscentXmedia/Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chris-sasaki" hreflang="en">Chris Sasaki</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/united-states" hreflang="en">United States</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Researchers found that the trend towards increased life expectancy for Asian Americans - who are often perceived as well-educated, hardworking, prosperous and healthy - has either slowed or reversed</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The “model minority” myth holds that certain ethnic groups – for example, Asian Americans – are well-educated, hardworking, prosperous and healthy. But a recent University of Toronto study examining life expectancy among Asian Americans suggests that this perception is just that: a myth.</p> <p>Lead author <strong>Hui Zheng,</strong> a demographer and social epidemiologist who is a professor in U of T’s department of sociology&nbsp;in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, said the increase in life expectancy of Asian Americans has either slowed or reversed compared to non-Hispanic white Americans between 2000 and 2022.&nbsp;</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2026-01/hui-zheng-portrait-crop.jpg" width="250" height="250" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Hui Zheng (photo by Diana Tyszko)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“The longstanding mortality advantage of Asian Americans compared to non-Hispanic white Americans has actually declined during the early 21st century,“ he says.</p> <p>"This was really surprising to us.”</p> <p>For the study, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article/81/2/gbaf248/8419857?searchresult=1" target="_blank">published recently in&nbsp;<em>the Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences</em></a>,&nbsp;the researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis of life expectancy using years of life lost (YLL) – a measure representing the years of potential life lost before reaching average life expectancy. They looked at data collected from 2000 to 2022 for 25- to 84-year-olds in the six largest Asian ethnic subgroups in the United States: Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese.</p> <p>The study found that among individuals with bachelor’s degrees, life expectancy increased by 1.11 years for white men but decreased by 0.17 years for Asian American men. Among women, life expectancy increased by 0.89 years for white women compared with a much smaller increase of .004 years for Asian American women.</p> <p>At the same time, the analysis revealed significant heterogeneity, or diversity, in mortality trends across six Asian ethnic groups.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-right"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2026-01/leafie-ye-portrait-CROP.jpg" width="250" height="250" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Leafia Ye (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“For example, since the turn of the century, Indian and Korean Americans experienced an increase in years of life lost; in other words, a&nbsp;decrease&nbsp;in life expectancy,” says&nbsp;<strong>Leafia Ye</strong>, an assistant professor of international migration and aging in the department of sociology and a co-author of the study. “This stands in contrast to Japanese and Chinese Americans, who have generally experienced an&nbsp;increase&nbsp;in life expectancy.”</p> <p>The study also highlights complex variations among Asian Americans in socioeconomic status, health behaviours, racialized experiences and country of origin –&nbsp;all of which make it challenging to form an accurate picture of the health of individual subgroups.</p> <p>The researchers say that continued acceptance of the model minority myth, along with its implicit suggestion of homogeneity, can have serious consequences.</p> <p>“Because of this myth, academia has paid little attention to Asian Americans’ health trends, operating under the assumption that they’re doing fine,” says Zheng. “Unsurprisingly, only a limited number of studies have examined their health outcomes. Also, analyses that ignore this heterogeneity can result in misleading conclusions and conceal the vulnerabilities of certain subgroups.”</p> <p>“For example, the two largest Asian American ethnic groups, Chinese and Indian Americans, have divergent trends. If we grouped them together, this could lead to misguided health policy. Effective public health policies must therefore account for this heterogeneity and adopt more targeted interventions.”</p> <p>The study also found that college-educated Asian Americans experienced less favourable mortality trends than their white counterparts, challenging the expectation that higher education consistently leads to better jobs and healthier, longer lives.</p> <p>“This puzzle may reflect labour market discrimination,” says Zheng. “It may be that discrimination is limiting the extent to which Asian Americans can translate educational advantages into occupational and income gains. Or, it could be prolonged exposure to discrimination that’s acting as a chronic stressor.”</p> <p>The researchers’ next step is to develop a more detailed understanding of the mechanisms underlying this heterogeneity – whether it is related to discrimination or a person’s country of origin and the nutritional conditions there.</p> <p>“Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial and ethnic group in the United States, with their population more than doubling between 2000 and 2023,” says Zheng.</p> <p>“As they become an increasingly significant part of the nation, understanding Asian Americans’ health trends is crucial not only for their own well-being but also for accurately assessing overall population health in the U.S.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 03 Feb 2026 17:07:11 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 316516 at The hidden costs of 'free' time: U of T course examines why leisure hours can feel more like work  /news/hidden-costs-free-time-u-t-course-examines-why-leisure-hours-can-feel-more-work <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The hidden costs of 'free' time: U of T course examines why leisure hours can feel more like work </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2026-01/GettyImages-2196893588-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=II_Cmekr 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2026-01/GettyImages-2196893588-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=kWFUzAX4 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2026-01/GettyImages-2196893588-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=zj3Dkvnw 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2026-01/GettyImages-2196893588-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=II_Cmekr" alt="woman sitting and relaxing on her back deck"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2026-01-21T11:44:37-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 11:44" class="datetime">Wed, 01/21/2026 - 11:44</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-credits-long field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</p> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by&nbsp;Halfpoint Images/Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/cynthia-macdonald" hreflang="en">Cynthia Macdonald</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/academics" hreflang="en">Academics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/woodsworth-college" hreflang="en">Woodsworth College</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The “insatiability of wants” has created a vicious cycle in which we sacrifice our leisure to work towards a seemingly infinite array of goods and experiences</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Nothing comes for free. And these days, that includes our time.</p> <p>It’s one of many ideas explored in&nbsp;“<a href="https://artsci.calendar.utoronto.ca/course/soc420h1">The Sociology of Free Time</a>,” a University of Toronto course taught by&nbsp;<strong>Brent Berry</strong>, an associate professor in the&nbsp;department of sociology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.</p> <p>The course highlights how, in a work-centric society, the&nbsp;combination of long hours, perceived material needs, digital dominance, managed play and more people living alone all take a toll on our free time&nbsp;– and can even make it feel more like work.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_250_width_/public/2026-01/Brent%20Berry%20Sociology%20-%20updated%20Nov%202%202023_0.jpg?itok=F0Vr2r9t" width="250" height="243" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-250-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Brent Berry (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“Everybody’s interested in ensuring that their free time is abundant, but also of good quality,” says Berry, a social demographer. “And ultimately, having the ability to choose how much you have and how you choose to spend it is a powerful form of status.”</p> <p>In the course, students learn how free time has: changed over history (and&nbsp;not necessarily for the better); how it’s shaped by class, race and gender considerations; and how the “insatiability of wants” has created a vicious cycle in which we sacrifice our leisure to work toward a seemingly infinite array of goods and experiences.</p> <p>The course also explores how leisure time is increasingly synonymous with screen time.</p> <p>“Technology has a lot of promise for interactivity,” says Berry. “People are engaging in new ways. They’re becoming advocates and getting involved in social movements. But there are a lot of perils, too.”</p> <p>Our lives are now dominated by personal algorithms that confirm biases and reduce our commitment to shared values. “That’s why everybody is at each other’s throats,” Berry adds. “Socialization doesn’t operate the way it used to.”</p> <p><strong>Raysha Khan</strong>, a fourth-year&nbsp;Woodsworth College&nbsp;student, grew up in a digital world but&nbsp;is uneasy about living in a society where so much free time is spent online.</p> <p>“I thought this course would be very interesting and have a lot to say about my daily life, because my friends and I are always looking for ways to fill our free time with something other than scrolling on our phones and watching movies,” says Khan, who’s pursuing a double major in political science and sociology, with a minor in English.</p> <p>She appreciates how the course traces the history of how one particular type of free time has been disappearing more than any other:&nbsp;the time we share with others.</p> <p>“Social media might make you feel communicative,” Khan says, “but it doesn’t build a true connection. It also feels competitive, and can build self-doubt.”</p> <p>Khan’s final research project examined the idea of how children in wealthier families are directed toward “skill-building leisure” from an early age, with after-school hours packed full of piano lessons, hockey, gymnastics and tutoring. This fosters competition, she says, because extra skills equip children with greater status than peers from lower-income households. “Teachers in elementary schools engage in conversations more with kids who participate in those activities. So that gives them early social advantages; they’re talking to the teachers more, and building up their social capital.”</p> <p>Berry says adults’&nbsp;spare time is dwindling, too. “There’s something going on in mass psychology that’s affecting the experiential quality of time,” he says. “Quiet contemplation, being bored and looking for inspiration: that’s simply not as common anymore.”</p> <p>Free time is only appreciated when contrasted with unfree time. For example, Berry notes that people who aren’t able to work often feel more stressed rather than relaxed. Yet, one of the things that drew him to the subject of free time was economist John Maynard Keynes’ 1930 prediction that the reduction in employment caused by industrialization would be positive because of the abundance of leisure it would create.</p> <p>“Keynes tried to make people feel comfortable with the dramatic changes that were happening in the economy by promising them a better future – abundant leisure and the end of scarcity.”</p> <p>“[But] we built an economy around not providing for people’s needs, but their wants, which can never be satisfied and lead to other forms of scarcity. Keynes was correct in saying that the 'permanent problem' was how to live 'wisely and agreeably and well'. High levels of division and fragmentation in society today are tracible in part to ongoing changes as dramatic as industrialization – an attention economy driven by algorithmic media and online platforms that erode common ground needed for social cohesion."</p> <p>More recently, some economists have suggested that artificial intelligence will similarly reduce employment while freeing up time. “We’re at the precipice of a similar kind of change,” says Berry. “But while AI might provide for our material needs, the insatiability of wants is still there. People will always seek something AI can’t provide.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:44:37 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 316488 at U of T undergrad helps develop database on Black health research /news/u-t-undergrad-helps-develop-database-black-health-research <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T undergrad helps develop database on Black health research</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2025-05/DSC_6890-crop.jpg?h=c78090f9&amp;itok=Yc_Fk25t 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2025-05/DSC_6890-crop.jpg?h=c78090f9&amp;itok=PMwCDWMN 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2025-05/DSC_6890-crop.jpg?h=c78090f9&amp;itok=fPEyms6y 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2025-05/DSC_6890-crop.jpg?h=c78090f9&amp;itok=Yc_Fk25t" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2025-05-22T11:50:24-04:00" title="Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 11:50" class="datetime">Thu, 05/22/2025 - 11:50</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>U of T Mississauga undergrad Rayshaun Whyte was one of several presenters who shared their research projects at the BRN Research Symposium (photo by Andy Jibb)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tina-adamopoulos" hreflang="en">Tina Adamopoulos</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/black-research-network" hreflang="en">Black Research Network</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institutional-strategic-initiatives" hreflang="en">Institutional Strategic Initiatives</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">'I wanted to be part of something that didn’t just talk about these issues but actively worked to address the realities for Black people in the health-care system'</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>For <strong>Rayshaun Whyte</strong>,&nbsp;learning about challenges faced by Black Canadians in the health-care system wasn’t enough – she wanted to take action.</p> <p>Whyte, a fifth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga, is part of an&nbsp;interdisciplinary team of student researchers, faculty and librarians that is developing the&nbsp;Black Canadian Health Research Database&nbsp;– a resource designed to improve access to information on health-care outcomes, race and policy development.</p> <p>“I wanted to be part of something that didn’t just talk about these issues but actively worked to address the realities for Black people in the health-care system,” says Whyte, who is majoring in psychology and anthropology with a minor in biology.</p> <p>Expected to launch next year, the database will feature more than 200 academic and community-oriented materials, including journal articles, podcasts, infographics, newsletters and policy documents. It aims to fill a long-standing research gap on Black health in Canada, while remaining accessible to scholars, community members and advocacy groups.</p> <p>Whyte recently presented key insights from the project during the poster sessions at a&nbsp;research symposium&nbsp;hosted by the <a href="https://brn.utoronto.ca">Black Research Network</a>, one of several U of T <a href="https://isi.utoronto.ca">institutional strategic initiatives</a>. The project is supported by the Black Research Network’s IGNITE Grant, awarded to&nbsp;<strong>Prentiss Dantzler</strong>, an associate professor of sociology in U of T’s Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2025-05/DSC_7635-crop.jpg?itok=6qcPWYHT" width="750" height="500" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Whyte delivers a presentation about the&nbsp;Black Canadian Health Research Database (photo by Andy Jibb)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Led by UTM Library’s&nbsp;<strong>David Gerstle</strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>a research services and liaison librarian,&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Maria Ruiz</strong>, a reference and instruction librarian, the project’s current development phase includes gathering and categorizing materials. These resources will be searchable by keyword and topic. The database is also being designed to accommodate diverse language needs, accessibility requirements and learning styles – one of the key reasons for including materials in a variety of formats.</p> <p>Student researchers from disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, geography, sustainability and medicine are contributing to the project. Whyte says this interdisciplinary approach opens broader conversations about health-care access and the social determinants of health.</p> <p>“Race was the starting point, but health care and your experiences with its systems are also shaped by gender, sexuality and class,” Whyte says. “We wanted to reflect that intersectionality.</p> <p>“We want this to be a community effort, and that doesn’t just mean academics or advocacy groups but for anyone who identifies as Black, Caribbean, Afro-Caribbean and Black Canadian.”&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 22 May 2025 15:50:24 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 313631 at COVID-19 exacerbated racial inequities in Ontario’s prison system: Study /news/covid-19-exacerbated-racial-inequities-ontario-s-prison-system-study <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">COVID-19 exacerbated racial inequities in Ontario’s prison system: Study</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2025-05/GettyImages-1230090429-crop.jpg?h=6fbe1981&amp;itok=v8h6I6XX 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2025-05/GettyImages-1230090429-crop.jpg?h=6fbe1981&amp;itok=et7d-FIO 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2025-05/GettyImages-1230090429-crop.jpg?h=6fbe1981&amp;itok=8-sm2yM1 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2025-05/GettyImages-1230090429-crop.jpg?h=6fbe1981&amp;itok=v8h6I6XX" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2025-05-08T09:00:03-04:00" title="Thursday, May 8, 2025 - 09:00" class="datetime">Thu, 05/08/2025 - 09:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>The Toronto South Detention Centre&nbsp;was among the prison facilities that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks in 2020, when Ontario released thousands of inmates to curb the spread of the virus</em><em>&nbsp;(photo by Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/john-lorinc" hreflang="en">John Lorinc</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/anti-black-racism" hreflang="en">Anti-Black Racism</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/6902" hreflang="en">Justice</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/crime" hreflang="en">Crime</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dalla-lana-school-public-health" hreflang="en">Dalla Lana School of Public Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/racism" hreflang="en">Racism</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">"The outcomes that we saw in terms of decarceration in many ways mirrored the inequalities that existed within our correctional and criminal justice systems"</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A pandemic-era push to reduce Ontario’s prison population disproportionately benefited white inmates, new research shows, leaving Indigenous, Black and other racialized people more likely to remain behind bars – and deepening existing inequities in the province’s correctional system.</p> <p>The&nbsp;study, <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X(25)00098-5/fulltext">published in the&nbsp;<em>Lancet Regional Health</em> <em>– Americas</em></a>, analysed data from nearly 149,000 adults incarcerated in Ontario’s provincial correctional facilities between 2015 and 2022, including the period in 2020 when the&nbsp;province released thousands of inmates to curb the spread of COVID-19.</p> <p>The findings suggest that while all racial groups saw declines in incarceration during that period, the sharpest drop was among non-Indigenous white individuals. Indigenous, Black and other racialized inmates were less likely to be released, despite facing heightened health risks in custody.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2025-05/GettyImages-171781577%5B39%5D.jpg" width="300" height="400" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Akwasi Owusu-Bempah (photo by Jim Rankin/Toronto Star via Getty Images)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>“The outcomes that we saw in terms of decarceration in many ways mirrored the inequalities that existed within our correctional and criminal justice systems," says&nbsp;<strong>Akwasi Owusu-Bempah</strong>, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga and co-lead author of the study.</p> <p>“We already had an overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous people, and those two groups did not benefit to the same extent as white people did from decarceration. It exacerbated those racial disparities.”</p> <p>To assess the impact of pandemic-era decarceration by race and Indigenous identity, the researchers used administrative data collected by the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General. Upon admission, individuals self-identified their race and Indigenous status, allowing the team to track incarceration trends across different groups over time.</p> <p>The analysis focused on four key indicators: the number of admissions, number of releases, the number of people in custody each month and total time spent in custody. Researchers concentrated on the changes after April 1, 2020, when emergency decarceration efforts began.</p> <p>After these measures were implemented, the study found that the monthly risk of being in custody dropped by 30 per cent for non-Indigenous white people. For Indigenous, Black and other racialized groups, the drop was notably smaller – closer to 24 per cent.</p> <p>A similar pattern emerged in the amount of time people spent in custody: the decline was steepest for white individuals, while racialized groups saw more modest reductions.</p> <p>The researchers caution that missing data and opaque decision-making processes limit a full understanding of how release choices were made.</p> <p>Owusu-Bempah says the findings point to long-standing systemic issues – including mandatory minimum sentences and bail practices – that contribute to the disproportionate incarceration of people who are Black or Indigenous.</p> <p>The stakes during COVID-19 were especially high. Correctional facilities faced significant outbreaks in the early months of the pandemic, and people in custody were at elevated risk due to overcrowded conditions, limited access to health care and high rates of chronic illness.</p> <p>The pandemic, Owusu-Bempah says, not only highlighted the cracks in the system, but also raised broader questions about who should be behind bars in the first place.</p> <p>“We know diversion can work,” he says, pointing to programs that offer community-based support for people who’ve been charged with, or convicted of, certain offences. “We need to expand community-based alternatives and build a justice system that truly serves all communities.”</p> <p>Co-led by Owusu-Bempah and&nbsp;<strong>Fiona Kouyoumdjian</strong>&nbsp;of McMaster University, the study’s authors include U of T researchers&nbsp;<strong>Nina Lamberti&nbsp;</strong>of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and&nbsp;<strong>Beverley Osei</strong>&nbsp;of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, as well as contributors from several other Canadian universities, the Native Women’s Association of Canada and independent consultants.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 08 May 2025 13:00:03 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 313503 at U of T ranked among top 10 universities globally in five subjects: ShanghaiRanking Consultancy /news/u-t-ranked-among-top-10-universities-globally-five-subjects-shanghairanking-consultancy <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T ranked among top 10 universities globally in five subjects: ShanghaiRanking Consultancy</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-11/UofT%20web%20lead%20instructional%20centre.jpg?h=92953138&amp;itok=69sjwe1L 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-11/UofT%20web%20lead%20instructional%20centre.jpg?h=92953138&amp;itok=10s1JT8A 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-11/UofT%20web%20lead%20instructional%20centre.jpg?h=92953138&amp;itok=1ct7qlka 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-11/UofT%20web%20lead%20instructional%20centre.jpg?h=92953138&amp;itok=69sjwe1L" alt="Students walk through a glass hallway at U of T Scarborough"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-11-18T15:30:13-05:00" title="Monday, November 18, 2024 - 15:30" class="datetime">Mon, 11/18/2024 - 15:30</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by Matthew Dochstader/Paradox Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/mariam-matti" hreflang="en">Mariam Matti</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/temerty-faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Temerty Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dalla-lana-school-public-health" hreflang="en">Dalla Lana School of Public Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/meric-gertler" hreflang="en">Meric Gertler</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rankings" hreflang="en">Rankings</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rotman-school-management" hreflang="en">Rotman School of Management</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/shanghai-ranking-consultancy" hreflang="en">Shanghai Ranking Consultancy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The University of Toronto has placed among the top 10 universities globally in five subjects – sociology (2<sup>nd</sup>), medical technology (5<sup>th</sup>), public health (7<sup>th</sup>), finance (8<sup>th</sup>) and management (10<sup>th</sup>) – in the latest ShanghaiRanking Consultancy rankings by subject.</p> <p>U of T also ranked in the top 100 globally in 42 subjects in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.shanghairanking.com/rankings/gras/2024" target="_blank">Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024</a>, released last week – a feat matched only by the University of Michigan.&nbsp;</p> <p>Among Canadian universities, U of T ranked first in 27 subjects. That’s more than any other institution.</p> <p>“The University of Toronto’s performance in the latest Shanghai subject rankings underscores our academic excellence across an extremely broad range of fields,” said U of T President&nbsp;<strong>Meric Gertler</strong>.</p> <p>“These results are a testament to the talent and dedication of our world-leading researchers and scholars.”</p> <p>More than 1,900 universities across 96 countries and regions are listed in the 2024 edition of the Shanghai subject rankings, which cover 55 subjects across natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences and social sciences.&nbsp;</p> <p>This year, the methodology was updated with four new indicators, increasing the total to nine. The new evaluation criteria include the number of faculty who are: recipients of significant awards, chief editors of academic journals, leaders in international academic organizations and considered highly cited researchers.&nbsp;</p> <p>Existing criteria continue to assess research output, quality and influence, international collaboration and other academic awards.&nbsp;</p> <p>Of the 55 subject areas covered by the rankings, U of T ranked in the top 50 globally in 28 subjects and in the top 25 globally in 21 subjects.&nbsp;</p> <p>The updated methodology resulted in significant changes for U of T in several subjects, including 25 where U of T moved up the rankings. Notable gains included: chemistry, which moved into 37<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;place from outside the top 50; political science, which climbed 23 spots to 18<sup>th</sup>; biology, which rose 12 spots to 21<sup>st</sup>; human biology, which rose 12 spots to 24<sup>th</sup>; and computer science, which climbed seven places to 17<sup>th</sup>. U of T declined in 18 subjects and remain unchanged in 5 subjects.&nbsp;</p> <p>The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy also produces the influential Academic Ranking of World Universities, the most recent edition of which <a href="/news/u-t-ranked-1st-canada-26th-globally-shanghairanking-consultancy">ranked&nbsp;U of T as Canada’s top university&nbsp;and 26<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;in the world</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Overall, U of T continues to be the highest-ranked Canadian university and one of the top-ranked public universities in the five most closely watched international rankings:&nbsp;<em>Times Higher Education’s</em>&nbsp;World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities,&nbsp;<em>U.S. News &amp; World Report’s</em>&nbsp;Best Global Universities and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:30:13 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 310653 at U of T sociologist explores perceptions of street safety in urban and rural communities /news/u-t-sociologist-explores-perceptions-street-safety-urban-and-rural-communities <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T sociologist explores perceptions of street safety in urban and rural communities</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-01/105878792-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=JKfdppnV 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-01/105878792-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=DVPCLIHH 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-01/105878792-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=k9heTUfH 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-01/105878792-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=JKfdppnV" alt="Police car with lights on"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-01-12T11:21:05-05:00" title="Friday, January 12, 2024 - 11:21" class="datetime">Fri, 01/12/2024 - 11:21</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by Daniel Tadevosyan/Shutterstock)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tina-adamopoulos" hreflang="en">Tina Adamopoulos</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/black-research-network" hreflang="en">Black Research Network</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institutional-strategic-initiative" hreflang="en">Institutional Strategic Initiative</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">With a focus on the Halifax area, Timothy Bryan says his research challenges the notion that cities are dangerous while rural spaces are peaceful and quiet</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Crime is often perceived as an urban phenomenon whereas rural life is viewed as more bucolic&nbsp;– but <strong>Timothy Bryan</strong> is putting these ideas to the test.</p> <p>An assistant professor in the department of sociology at University of Toronto Mississauga, Bryan analyzes how urban and rural residents perceive and imagine street safety.</p> <p>“Often, criminological research has assumed certain things about crime. Crime is often perceived as something that happens in urban areas,” says Bryan, whose research revolves around the policing of hate crime and criminal justice reform in Canada.</p> <p>“What this project wants to do is to disrupt some of those binaries that assume that urban spaces are always spaces of danger and that rural spaces are somehow these peaceful, quiet spaces.”</p> <p>He is currently focused on the Halifax area, where two recent events have largely shaped the view of public safety. The first is <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlmntry-bndrs/20200730/021/index-en.aspx">the April 2020 mass shooting that left 22 people dead in rural Nova Scotia</a>, sparking an inquiry into the RCMP’s efforts to keep residents safe.</p> <p>The other event was increased scrutiny of street checks that disproportionally targeted African Nova Scotian residents. A March 2019 study by&nbsp;<strong>Scot Wortley</strong>, a professor at U of T’s Centre for Criminology &amp; Sociolegal Studies, showed that Black residents <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/street-checks-halifax-police-scot-wortley-racial-profiling-1.5073300">were six times more likely to be street checked in the Halifax area</a> compared to white residents.</p> <p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wCDwrjDbbLM?si=xhJeiv-DF7hosh6z" title="YouTube video player" width="750"></iframe></p> <p>Bryan travelled to Halifax last year to interview residents about their feelings on street safety and policing. He was supported by an&nbsp;IGNITE grant from the <a href="https://brn.utoronto.ca/">Black Research Network</a>, a U of T <a href="https://isi.utoronto.ca/">institutional strategic initiative</a>.</p> <p>“On the back of these two events, what I found was that many residents were rethinking their relationship with police,” Bryan says, adding&nbsp;many had previously reported a positive relationship with police or had no negative relationships with police.</p> <p>“But recent events actually started to have residents think differently about whether police were capable of keeping them safe, whether police wanted to keep them safe, or whether the presence of police was even a sign of safety.”</p> <p>The Wortley report ultimately made 53 recommendations focused on street checks, data collection and police-community relations.&nbsp;In October 2019, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nova-scotia-to-ban-street-checks-by-police-after-retired-judge-deems/">street checks were permanently banned in Nova Scotia</a>.</p> <p>Another element of Bryan’s project will use a combination of participant-produced drawings of street scenes and interviews to address questions about street safety and how police contribute to these perceptions.</p> <p>He says the exercise not only helps him gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of urban and rural spaces, it also asks participants to explain what they would change to make their neighbourhoods safer.</p> <p>“I’m hoping that the images not only provide a method of getting at the data and people’s responses,” he says, “but become a kind of artifact in themselves as a kind of snapshot of how it is that people are coming to understand where they live, how they live and perhaps what they want changed about the areas within it.”</p> <p>He is currently completing about 40 interviews with participants in Halifax and developing those responses into an academic publication. He hopes to present preliminary findings at research conferences.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 12 Jan 2024 16:21:05 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 305284 at U of T sociologist explores homecare workers' capacity to avoid coercive labour conditions /news/u-t-sociologist-explores-homecare-workers-capacity-avoid-coercive-labour-conditions <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T sociologist explores homecare workers' capacity to avoid coercive labour conditions</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-11/vecteezy_young-asian-physical-therapist-working-with-senior-woman-on_26571455-crop.jpg?h=537fbfcc&amp;itok=9guHBwK3 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-11/vecteezy_young-asian-physical-therapist-working-with-senior-woman-on_26571455-crop.jpg?h=537fbfcc&amp;itok=ZmgxxGoc 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-11/vecteezy_young-asian-physical-therapist-working-with-senior-woman-on_26571455-crop.jpg?h=537fbfcc&amp;itok=UkypG9L2 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-11/vecteezy_young-asian-physical-therapist-working-with-senior-woman-on_26571455-crop.jpg?h=537fbfcc&amp;itok=9guHBwK3" alt="anonymous healthcare worker pushing a woman in a wheelchair"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-11-22T10:00:55-05:00" title="Wednesday, November 22, 2023 - 10:00" class="datetime">Wed, 11/22/2023 - 10:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>(photo by Vecteezy)&nbsp;</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/u-t-mississauga-staff" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga staff</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/united-states" hreflang="en">United States</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Researchers examined the impact of California’s in-home support service program on homecare providers' ability to advocate for themselves</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>How much power do homecare workers have to resist being exploited by their employers?&nbsp;</p> <p>For Asian women working in this occupation in California, the answer is shaped by several factors, including filial obligations, cultural traditions, language barriers, economic status, state employment regulations, labour unions, immigrant organizations and disability rights groups.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Cynthia Cranford</strong>,&nbsp;a professor of sociology at the&nbsp;University of Toronto Mississauga, examines this complex subject in a new study <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/725842?journalCode=signs">published in&nbsp;</a><em><a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/725842?journalCode=signs">Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society</a>.</em></p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-11/Cynthia-Cranford-picture-2022-summer_0.jpg.jpg" width="300" height="400" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Cynthia Cranford (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Cranford&nbsp;joined scholars from the University of California, Florida Atlantic University and Brown University to analyze how the inequalities of gender, race, class and immigration shape these workers’ ability to refuse coercive labour conditions.</p> <p>Their investigation,&nbsp;funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant,&nbsp;also examined the role of California’s in-home support service (IHSS) state-funded care program in enabling and inhibiting self-advocacy by care providers.&nbsp;</p> <p>“The state, in the design of its program, opens the door for homecare workers to slip into servitude,” says Cranford, author of the 2020 book&nbsp;<em>Home Care Fault Lines: Understanding Tensions and Creating Alliances</em>. “How can they collectivize and access supports within their community to navigate these situations?”&nbsp;</p> <p>The situations to which Cranford is referring were illuminated through interviews with 60 homecare providers. They include:</p> <ul> <li>Being expected to work unpaid overtime and serve members of their family</li> <li>Being subjected to verbal abuse&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li>Being accused of stealing</li> <li>Having food thrown at them.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>The interviews were arranged with the help of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and three partnering community organizations: Asian Immigrant Women Advocates, the Filipino American Services Group and the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California.&nbsp;</p> <p>As Cranford notes, the IHSS program in California, which employs more than 500,000 homecare providers, stands out as a model in the U.S. for empowering homecare workers who are members of the SEIU with the right to engage in collective bargaining for fair wages and benefits.&nbsp;</p> <p>Yet, the authors note the union limits its interventions in cases of homecare worker mistreatment.&nbsp;Due to concessions it has made to disability rights groups, it does not engage in workplace strikes that could jeopardize the health and well-being of people who need continuous care.&nbsp;</p> <p>As well, they write, the IHSS program grants employers full autonomy over the hiring, firing and supervising of homecare workers, taking a “hands-off approach to regulating employment conditions in homecare,” which leaves workers vulnerable to inhumane treatment.&nbsp;</p> <p>The IHSS program allows for spouses, parents, children and other relatives to be paid care providers. While it is beneficial for a relative to be paid for work that they might normally perform for free out of a sense of family duty, Cranford and her colleagues found that family dynamics often contribute to a sense of “unfreedom” since they create expectations to perform extra tasks beyond their paid hours, and threats of firing for non-compliance.&nbsp;</p> <p>This issue is exacerbated by California’s insufficient resourcing of the program, they say, as those who receive care often need funding for more care hours than allotted by the program. Other mitigating factors include the ethno-cultural expectation of female servitude among older care receivers, and the financial precariousness and limited English proficiency of some care providers.&nbsp;</p> <p>Yet, as the authors note, many of the homecare workers they interviewed found ways to respond to their dilemmas of servitude. Taking advantage of what few supports their union offers, they have engaged in grassroots community organizing to cultivate group solidarity among homecare workers, sought help when facing unreasonable demands at work in order to improve working conditions and sometimes resorted to blacklisting abusive employers.</p> <p>Some also connected with local immigrant organizations to help advocate for their rights.&nbsp;</p> <p>“These women are confronting servitude in multiple ways, and when they have collective support from their unions and other community groups, they are capable of confronting it,” Cranford says.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 22 Nov 2023 15:00:55 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 304593 at Search for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls hampered by police apathy: Researchers /news/search-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-hampered-police-apathy-researchers <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Search for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls hampered by police apathy: Researchers</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1247150393-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=dsjfpIYy 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1247150393-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=K8IVETA4 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1247150393-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=deIu54Hl 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1247150393-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=dsjfpIYy" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-06-05T10:58:49-04:00" title="Monday, June 5, 2023 - 10:58" class="datetime">Mon, 06/05/2023 - 10:58</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Participants walk in the Women's Memorial March in Vancouver to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua via Getty Images)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/kate-martin" hreflang="en">Kate Martin</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/girls" hreflang="en">Girls</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/indigenous" hreflang="en">Indigenous</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/truth-and-reconciliation" hreflang="en">Truth and Reconciliation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/women" hreflang="en">Women</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">'The problem of Indigenous women being overpoliced and underprotected is all across Canada'</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em>Content warning: the following contains disturbing subject matter.</em></p> <p>In Canada, research shows Indigenous women are 400 per cent more likely than other Canadians to go missing. The problem is so pervasive that the Canadian government does not know how many Indigenous women are missing or have been murdered. Estimates suggest that around 4,000 Indigenous women and girls and 600 Indigenous men and boys have gone missing or been murdered between 1956 and 2016.</p> <p>To identify the barriers faced when searching for missing and murdered friends and family, <strong>Jerry Flores</strong>, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and graduate student&nbsp;<strong>Andrea Román Alfaro</strong>&nbsp;set out to gather testimony from Indigenous women and Two-Spirit individuals.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_250_width_/public/2023-06/andrea%20roman%20alfaro.jpg?itok=XjNe_er3" width="250" height="333" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-250-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Andrea Román Alfaro (supplied image)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Their findings are discussed in an article titled&nbsp;“Building the Settler Colonial Order: Police (In)Actions in Response to Violence Against Indigenous Women in ‘Canada,'”&nbsp;which was <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08912432231171171">published in the journal </a><em><a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08912432231171171">Gender &amp; Society</a>.</em></p> <p>While several studies have sought to identify why Indigenous Peoples continue to disappear, few have looked at the role of police in violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+&nbsp;people, says Román Alfaro, a sixth-year PhD candidate in sociology.</p> <p>“The problem of Indigenous women being overpoliced and underprotected is all across Canada,” she says, citing a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr20/003/2004/en/">2004 Amnesty International report</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>For their article, Flores – Román Alfaro’s PhD supervisor and a volunteer with several of Toronto’s Indigenous-led organizations – conducted close to 50 face-to-face interviews.</p> <p>When COVID-19 restrictions blocked their ability to do more in-person work, Román Alfaro suggested including the 219 personal statements from the <a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/">National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls</a>&nbsp;to expand their sample of respondents.</p> <p>“The testimony of the women at the inquiry allowed us to see that in their stories, the narratives are all very similar,” Román Alfaro says. “Then we went looking for what is happening in society that lets this happen.”</p> <p>Román Alfaro helped code the respondents’ stories to identify common themes. The team soon identified police indifference as a major thread, with 209 of 219 testimonies referring to negative interactions with police in the management of their missing person cases.</p> <p>The article highlights two major styles of behaviour that the woman said police employed: justifying violence and dismissing violence.</p> <p>The research found that Canadian police repeatedly use negative labels such as “runaways” along with slurs when responding to reported cases of violence against Indigenous women and girls.</p> <p>“There’s nothing we can do,” or “it’s inevitable,” people report hearing from police when trying to report an Indigenous woman missing, the article says.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2023-06/GettyImages-1240472112-crop.jpg?itok=D41SqrGq" width="750" height="536" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>A participant in the 2022 annual Red Dress Day march in Edmonton holds up a sign (photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>The testimonies include complaints that loved ones were provided little or no information on their cases and that police gave up quickly in the search for bodies or culprits. In some cases, police suggested a missing person’s report should be done no earlier than two or three months after a disappearance.</p> <p>Respondents also noted indifferent attitudes, stereotyping and the blaming of poverty, mental health issues and lifestyle choices. Respondents said these responses instilled in them doubt, shame and fear of the police.</p> <p>Born in Peru,&nbsp;Román Alfaro&nbsp;wasn’t aware of the Indigenous experience in Canada when she was growing up, but says the themes are familiar.</p> <p>“I had done a lot of work around violence and victims of violence, marginalized groups, state violence and low-income women in Peru&nbsp;– so I came in with that knowledge,” she says. “I didn’t grow up knowing about Indigenous life on Turtle Island, but this situation, of a culture of women being disappeared and murdered, was not foreign to me.”</p> <p>Flores is now writing a book using the data, which he hopes to publish by the end of the year. Román Alfaro, whose own field of research includes how people respond to and resist violence, says she also wants to delve further into the findings.</p> <p>“I would like to do more work on how a community heals from this violence,” she says. “Red Dress Day, Orange T-shirt Day – these are ways to keep people remembering this issue and those people who exist in these communities, and how they can reconcile with such a tragedy.”</p> <p>Román Alfaro says she would like to talk to police about their perceptions of interactions with Indigenous Peoples and find out whether efforts are being made to improve relations.</p> <p>“The families and friends (of the missing and murdered women) want information, they want to know something is being done, to be involved in the process or to know someone is looking for their loved ones,” Román Alfaro says. “That’s one very big gap in all this: how to deal with the families. They want to know what happened&nbsp;– they need to know what happened.”</p> <p>Flores and Román Alfaro believe their article’s findings have important implications for future research and policy.</p> <p>While the&nbsp;Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls&nbsp;include demands for decolonial education and training for officers, Román Alfaro says their research has identified a need to look for alternatives to the police for state-provided victim support.</p> <p>“There is still a lot of work to do from the Truth and Reconciliation recommendations,” Román Alfaro says.</p> <p>“It’s a long way from saying what the problem is,&nbsp;to doing something about it.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 05 Jun 2023 14:58:49 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 301888 at While researching violence in Peru, U of T PhD candidate helps a community find joy /news/while-researching-violence-peru-u-t-phd-candidate-helps-community-find-joy <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">While researching violence in Peru, U of T PhD candidate helps a community find joy </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/andrea-roman-alfaro-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=QuK-ZrFx 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/andrea-roman-alfaro-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=p9DYn4X- 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/andrea-roman-alfaro-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=MfwcuTiB 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/andrea-roman-alfaro-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=QuK-ZrFx" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-02-28T16:33:10-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 28, 2023 - 16:33" class="datetime">Tue, 02/28/2023 - 16:33</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">U of T PhD candidate Andrea Román Alfaro is researching the dynamics and politics of violence in her hometown Callao, Peru while taking steps to set up an innovative arts program for local youth (photo courtesy of Andrea Román Alfaro)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/cynthia-macdonald" hreflang="en">Cynthia Macdonald</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Andrea Román Alfaro</strong>&nbsp;has always been fascinated by&nbsp;her Peruvian hometown’s struggle with violence and crime – the subject of her doctoral studies.</p> <p>With support from the the School of Graduate Studies’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/article/sgs-announces-new-connaught-phds-for-public-impact-fellowship-program/">Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship Program</a>, the PhD candidate in the University of Toronto’s department of sociology&nbsp;in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science says&nbsp;she is both learning about life in Callao’s most dangerous neighbourhoods as well as inserting herself into the vigorous social life of&nbsp;Puerto Nuevo ⁠– effectively a suburb located on Callao’s outskirts.</p> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/21c72786-1ffa-43b1-84c0-f4fbb7678302-crop.jpg" alt><em>An advocate of participatory action research, Román Alfaro seeks to improve her environment while learning about it.</em></p> </div> <p>She is also taking steps to&nbsp;bring hope to its youth through an innovative arts program.</p> <p>“My interest in doing this research comes from the fact that I grew up hearing people say ‘Oh, Callao is so dangerous,’” she says. “So that is how I got interested in the topic – trying to understand how violence works there. How people understand it, how they respond to it&nbsp;and how they survive it.”</p> <p>In many ways, Peru is a country in crisis. Since the arrest of former president Pedro Castillo in December, approximately 60 people have died and more than 600 have been injured in violent clashes between protesters, the military and police.</p> <p>In Callao&nbsp;–&nbsp;a seaside city immediately to the west of Lima that is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area&nbsp;–&nbsp;the murder rate is twice as high as it is in the rest of the country. As Peru’s major seaport and the location of its biggest airport, the city is rife with organized crime, political corruption and gang warfare centred on the cocaine trade. Life is especially difficult&nbsp;in tiny Puerto Nuevo, one of Peru’s oldest&nbsp;<em>asentamientos humanos</em>, or shanty towns. There,&nbsp;the community largely comprises Black and Indigenous migrants who have settled there seeking work in the fishing industry.</p> <p>The government <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64648641">recently extended a state of emergency</a> in&nbsp;Callao, severely restricting the rights of its citizens&nbsp;– a development that echoes the&nbsp;federal government’s decision several years ago to&nbsp;impose a six-month sentence on the city in a bid to stop rampant crime.</p> <p>Román Alfaro’s ethnographic research covers the entire ecosystem of violence, from politicians and police on one end to marginalized citizens on the other. She focuses in particular on two groups: women and young people.</p> <p>“Women help us to understand that connection between what is happening in the home and what is happening outside,” Román Alfaro says. “Young people tend to experience the most police violence –especially young men. They also get involved more in different forms of violence.”</p> <p>Román Alfaro was introduced to Puerto Nuevo years ago while helping her uncle, who worked for an environmental NGO, with a successful cleanup effort. At the time, trucks trundled through the streets carrying minerals from mining sites. Lead dust spread through the air, poisoning local citizens. The situation was made even worse when people who&nbsp;lacked&nbsp;money for basic necessities&nbsp;jumped aboard the trucks, stole bags of lead&nbsp;and sold them from their homes.</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/defense-slide.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>Local youth receive a lesson in self-defence&nbsp;(photo courtesy of Andrea Román Alfaro)</em></p> <p>It was in Puerto Nuevo&nbsp;that Román Alfaro saw someone shot and wounded before her eyes. And yet, she affirms that there is much more to the community than pain and violence.</p> <p>“People there love bands and parties. They also experience joy and make the most out of their social situation,” she says.</p> <p>While her research involves many interviews with government workers, politicians, ex-prime ministers, police officers and academics, she also converses with locals in “kitchens, dining rooms, streets, at parties – everything that makes up everyday life for them.”</p> <p>Román Alfaro is an advocate of participatory action research, where scholars seek to improve an environment while learning about it.</p> <p>She has always been an activist, organizer and volunteer. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, she co-founded <a href="https://www.thepeoplespantryto.com/">The People’s Pantry</a>, which continues to provide homecooked meals and care packages to those struggling with food insecurity.</p> <p>“I can’t get involved with people and do nothing about their problems,” Román Alfaro says. “My research can’t just be knowledge for knowledge’s sake&nbsp;– and that’s especially true when you research violence. I can’t exist in a world with this much suffering and not do anything.”</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/community-1.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 422px;"></p> <p><em>Citizens participate in a discussion circle&nbsp;(photo courtesy of Andrea Román Alfaro)</em></p> <p>In Puerto Nuevo, Román Alfaro organized a Christmas party last year, with gifts for&nbsp;350 children and the delivery of 50 grocery baskets. She also organized workshops for kids in the community that were&nbsp;centred around drumming, arts and crafts, boxing and music. In addition, she’s now working toward&nbsp;the&nbsp;opening of a youth-led community centre.</p> <p>This spring, she plans to engage teachers who’ll teach young people about photography and videography, as well as helping them to construct a community archive project. A key part of Román Alfaro’s work is getting youth in the community to help with managerial responsibilities and learn job skills.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/community-2.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 422px;"></p> <p><em>Román Alfaro organized a Christmas party in Puerto Nuevo, featuring gifts, entertainment and workshops&nbsp;(photo courtesy of Andrea Román Alfaro)</em></p> <p>As the city of Callao grapples with crises old and new, Román Alfaro remains cautious about the possibilities for peaceful transformation.</p> <p>&nbsp;“In many ways, the vision of young people there is limited in terms of what they think they can do. So seeing them say: ‘Wow, I did this!’ makes me realize something good is happening. Hope is the last thing you lose, but hope is not enough. That’s why I think it’s so important to keep working.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 28 Feb 2023 21:33:10 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 180344 at Canada taps U of T researcher for new Black Justice Strategy steering group /news/canada-taps-u-t-researcher-new-black-justice-strategy-steering-group <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Canada taps U of T researcher for new Black Justice Strategy steering group</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT5475_20120404_Akwasi-Owusu-Bempah_001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fOPrJ2A2 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/UofT5475_20120404_Akwasi-Owusu-Bempah_001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=tF0iYGqA 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/UofT5475_20120404_Akwasi-Owusu-Bempah_001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kDtnDiht 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="370" height="246" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT5475_20120404_Akwasi-Owusu-Bempah_001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fOPrJ2A2" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-02-16T11:22:26-05:00" title="Thursday, February 16, 2023 - 11:22" class="datetime">Thu, 02/16/2023 - 11:22</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, an associate professor of sociology at U of T Mississauga, conducts research on race, crime and criminal justice (photo by Brian Summers)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/kate-martin" hreflang="en">Kate Martin</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/anti-black-racism" hreflang="en">Anti-Black Racism</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/crime" hreflang="en">Crime</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Akwasi Owusu-Bempah</strong>, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, has been named to Canada’s new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cbjs-scjn/sg-gp.html">Black Justice Strategy</a>&nbsp;steering group and will co-author its recommendations to the federal government.</p> <p>“I’m pleased to be taking part in such an important initiative,” said Owusu-Bempah, whose research examines race, crime and criminal justice. “The development of Canada’s Black Justice Strategy provides an opportunity to make meaningful change for Black communities that could have a positive impact for generations to come.”</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2023/02/critical-work-on-the-next-phase-of-canadas-black-justice-strategy-begins.html">official announcement </a>was made&nbsp;on Parliament Hill this week by a panel that included Minister of Justice and Attorney General <strong>David Lametti</strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen and Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien.</p> <p>“Many of us like to tell ourselves that justice is colour blind but, in the criminal justice system, we know it’s not,” said Lametti, noting that Black adults are overrepresented as victims of crime and are also consistently overrepresented in Canadian jails, making up about nine per cent of those in prison despite comprising less than four per cent of the overall population.</p> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="media_embed"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" height width> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">We have a lot of work to do to make Canada’s Black Justice Strategy a reality. It was nice joining <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidLametti?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DavidLametti</a> and colleagues yesterday for this important announcement. <a href="https://t.co/lf2nW2ki2I">https://t.co/lf2nW2ki2I</a></p> — Akwasi Owusu-Bempah (@AOBempah) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOBempah/status/1626194027249893377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async charset="utf-8" height src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" width></script></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <p>The nine-person steering group will be speaking with leaders, experts and members of Black communities across Canada to create recommendations by the end of 2023 to help reform and modernize the criminal justice system.</p> <p>The goal, said Lametti, is to begin implementing changes in 2024.</p> <p>“It’s an ambitious timeline,” he said. “But the circumstances demand it.”</p> <p>The steering group is the first step in fulfilling a pledge made by the Liberal government in 2019 to address anti-Black racism and discrimination in the criminal justice system&nbsp;after advocacy groups and the United Nations criticized the overrepresentation of Black Canadians in federal prisons.</p> <p>“Black people in Canada have a long history of mistrust and experiences of injustice with our criminal justice systems,” said Owusu-Bempah. “For as long as Black people have existed here, our legal and justice institutions have served to oppress them … we know significant changes need to be made to the way we administer justice in this country.”</p> <p>Owusu-Bempah’ s co-author will be fellow committee member Zilla Jones, a criminal defence lawyer and anti-racism educator based in Winnipeg.</p> <p>“(The strategy) is a historic acknowledgment by the Government of Canada that systemic anti-Black racism exists in Canada and that it has poisoned our justice system, negatively impacting the integrity of our communities and the futures of our children,” said Jones. “This initiative aims to give real meaning to the principles of redress and reconciliation.”</p> <p>Owusu-Bempah’s appointment to the steering group follows his recent engagement by the&nbsp;Peel Police Services Board&nbsp;to help its Governance and Human Rights Committee address&nbsp;systemic racism&nbsp;– specifically anti-Black racism.</p> <p>Before joining U of T Mississauga, Owusu-Bempah held positions with Canada’s National Judicial Institute, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General.</p> <p>He is the co-author of&nbsp;<em>Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice</em>.</p> <h3><a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/federal-government-announces-details-of-new-black-justice-strategy-1.6274990">Read more about the Black Justice Strategy at CTV</a></h3> <h3><a href="/news/u-t-akwasi-owusu-bempah-why-he-became-advocate-cannabis-amnesty">Watch Akwasi Owusu-Bempah discuss his research on race, policing and cannabis</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:22:26 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 180063 at