CRM 304: Canadian Criminal Justice

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CRM 304 Canadian Criminal Justice

• Week 12
• Youth Crime and Justice

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Today

• Statistical Overview
• Theories/Explanations
• Responses to youth crime / Young Offenders
• Prevention
• Enforcement
• Rehabilitation/Treatment

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Overview

• Young offenders can be classified into three
  groups
• Youth who commit illegal acts that must be dealt
  with, either through the CJS or alternative
  sanctions
• Most of these young people are not committing
  serious crimes and most do not continue a life of
  criminal activity.
• Those engaging in minor anti-social/illegal
  activities, but who may be at risk for more
  serious actions (exhibit early warning signs of
  later criminal activity).
• A very small number of youth who engage in
  serious, damaging persistent criminal activity.
• A high percentage of this group are likely to
  continue their criminal activities into the adult
  years.

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Statistical Overview

• Youth crime rate
• decreased between 1991 and 1999
• increased slightly in 2000 2001
• dropped 5 in 2002
• Youth property crime rate
• decreased between 1991 1999
• continued to drop in 2001, down 3.
• dropped by 5 in 2002 to its lowest level in over
  25 years
• The two most common crimes heard in Youth Court
  are theft of goods valued less than 5,000 and
  breaking and entering.

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Statistical Overview

• The rate of youths charged with violent offences
  
• decreased throughout the 1990s
• increased in 2000 2001
• declined 2 in 2002
• Since 1992, the national rate of violent crime
  among female youth has increased from 38 to 47
  per 10,000.
• The rate of youths charged with drug offences has
  been climbing steadily since the early 1990s in
  2002 there was a 6 increase mostly possession
  of marijuana

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Responses to Youth Crime

• Responses
• Prevention (respond to at-risk youth)
• Enforcement (punishment deterrence)
• Rehabilitation (treatment)
• The focus of social efforts should be on
• youths engaged in serious or persistent criminal
  activity
• those at high risk for initiating those
  activities
• those at risk of continuing criminal/anti-social
  behaviour into adulthood
• The type of intervention will vary with each of
  the above categories

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Prevention

• What Young People Need to Lead
• Crime-Free Lives
• Young people need opportunities and
  responsibilities.
• Young people need to feel they are useful,
  appreciated and of value.
• Young people need meaningful things to do.
• Youth need a voice in what happens to them.
• They need fair, clear, consistent meaningful
  consequences for their actions
• Young people need a life free from abuse.
• They need both physical and emotional support.
• Youth need freedom from other types of harm
• Young people need accurate, complete information.
• They need positive role models.
• Young people need a chance to be part of the
  solution.

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Prevention

• Principles of preventing delinquent behaviour
• Target groups or individuals which are most
  at-risk
• Address the roots of the problem
• Early prevention and intervention (early in a
  childs life)
• Community ownership (Informal Social Control)
• Focus on the unique needs and situations of
  at-risk individuals (highly individualized
  interventions)
• The more risk factors addressed, the better.
• Multiple solutions to address multiple risk
  factors

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Prevention

• Parent and Family Support
• Support for new Parents (emotional, training,
  etc.)
• Day care / Pre-school / Headstart programs
• Support for parents of Adolescents
• Approaches that Build Youth and Community
  Involvement
• Youth Councils/Committees
• (Crime prevention) programs initiative
  controlled by youth
• Schools
• Good education!, nurture thinking skills,
  remedial programs, identifying at-risk youth,
  conflict resolution programs, peer counselling,
  sports/recreation, drug/sex education, reducing
  truancy/drop-out rate, alternative schools
• Sports, Recreation and Leisure Activities

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Enforcement YCJA

• Youth Criminal Justice Act
• On April 1, 2003, the Youth Criminal Justice Act
  (YCJA) came into force, replacing the Young
  Offenders Act (YOA).
• Objectives/principles of the YCJA include
• Clear and coherent principles to improve
  decision-making in the youth justice system
• Distinguish between serious violent offences and
  less serious offences
• Diverting less serious cases from the CJS
• Reduction in the high rate of youth incarceration
  
• Help address the root causes of criminality among
  youth
• Effective reintegration of young persons

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Youth Criminal Justice Act

• Problems/weaknesses addressed by the YJCA
• Canada has the highest youth incarceration rate
  in the Western world, including the United
  States.
• Courts are over-used for minor cases that can be
  better dealt with outside the courts.
• Previous legislation did not ensure effective
  reintegration of a young person after being
  released from custody.
• The process for transfer to the adult system
  resulted in unfairness, complexity and delay.
• The system did not make a clear distinction
  between serious violent offences and less serious
  offences.
• The system did not give sufficient recognition to
  the concerns and interests of victims.

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Youth Criminal Justice Act

• Emphasis on Diversion
• Part 1 of YCJA Extrajudicial Measures (Court
  Diversions)
• Objective to increase the use of alternative
  measures for less serious offences
• Strongly encourages police and prosecutors to
  divert young offenders to community-based
  alternative processes
• Emphasis on restorative justice
• Meaningful consequences, such as requiring the
  young person to repair the harm done to the
  victim.
• Youth must admit guilt, express remorse,
  apologize, reparations
• Provide the opportunity for the community to play
  a role in developing community-based responses to
  youth crime.

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Youth Criminal Justice Act

• Part 4 of YCJA Sentencing
• Purpose hold young persons accountable through
  just sanctions that ensure meaningful
  consequences and promotes their rehabilitation
  and reintegration into society.
• A specific set of criteria must be met if a young
  person is to be incarcerated the court must also
  have considered and rejected all reasonable
  alternatives to custody.
• YCJA provides youth court judges with options.
  Sentences include reprimand intensive support
  and supervision order attendance order deferred
  custody and supervision intensive rehabilitative
  custody and supervision

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Youth Criminal Justice Act

• Adult Sentencing of Young Offenders
• The age at which the presumption of an adult
  sentence applies is 14. However, provinces can
  set the age at 15 or 16.
• Youth court first determines whether the young
  person is guilty of the offence and may impose an
  adult sentence.
• A pattern of repeated, serious violent offences
  may result in adult sentence.
• Court cannot impose adult sentence if not sought
  by the Crown.
• Court must first consider youth sentence before
  handing down adult sentence

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Youth Criminal Justice Act

• Custody and Supervision in the Community
• Every period of custody is to be followed by a
  period of supervision in the community, as part
  of the sentence.
• YCJA contains a list of mandatory conditions that
  apply to all young persons while under
  supervision. Additional conditions can be imposed
  by judge.
• If a young person breaches a condition, reviews
  will be held that can change conditions or return
  youth to custody.
• If provincial director of YJCA has ordered the
  youth to be returned to custody, the court will
  conduct a review.

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Youth Criminal Justice Act

• Reintegration Plans
• When a youth goes into custody, YCJA requires a
  youth worker plan with the young person for
  his/her reintegration.
• The reintegration plan sets out the most
  effective programs for the young person to
  maximize his or her chances for successful
  reintegration.
• Youth worker will supervise provide support and
  assistance to the young person, while serving
  supervision portion of sentence
• Reintegrative paroles are emphasized for youth
  in custody

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Responses to Youth Crime

• Incarceration
• In Canada, this is the last resort reserved for
  chronic, serious, violent young offenders
• Punitive sanctions include incarceration, shock
  incarceration, and boot camps
• Punitive sanctions are generally ineffective in
  their effects on reoffending rates
• Research indicates that, at best, these sanctions
  produce small decreases in reoffending rates and,
  at worst, actually produce increased rates of
  offending

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Responses to Youth Crime

• Rehabilitation/Treatment
• Community reintegration, with conditions
  supervision, considered the best form of
  rehabilitation
• Various forms of individual and group
  counselling, educational and vocational
  interventions, and other types of treatment.
• Behavioural and cognitive-behavioural
  interventions represent the most effective type
  of rehabilitative strategy.

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Rehabilitation

• Case Study Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Focuses on (1) cognitive and behavioural
  deficits of offenders while (2) providing them
  with pro-social alternatives and expressions.
• Theory criminal behaviour is caused by a pattern
  of thinking young offender is asked to examine
  know his own offence cycle so that he can
  interrupt it, and prevent himself from recidivism
• CBT interventions include training participants
  in cognitive self-control anger management
  social perspective taking moral reasoning
  substance abuse and social problems solving.

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Responses to Youth Crime

• Incarceration/Rehabilitation Case Study Boot
  Camps
• In-prison programs that resemble military basic
  training.
• They emphasize vigorous physical activity, drill
  and ceremony, manual labour, and other activities
  that ensure participants have little, if any,
  free time.
• Strict rules govern all aspects of conduct and
  appearance
• Correctional officers act as drill instructors,
  initially using intense verbal tactics designed
  to break down inmates' resistance and lead to
  constructive changes.

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Responses to Youth Crime

• Incarceration/Rehabilitation Case Study Boot
  Camps
• First boot camps emphasized military discipline,
  physical training, and hard work
• Theory reduce recidivism by changing inmates'
  attitudes, values, and behaviours through
• Shock incarceration therapy
• Instilling work ethic
• Instilling a respect for authority the law
• Better physical condition and abstinence from
  drugs
• Use of group pressure to encourage conformity
  positive attitude change (socialization)
• Second generation camps emphasized rehabilitation

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Responses to Youth Crime

• Incarceration/Rehabilitation Case StudyBoot
  Camps
• Studies of boot camps produced mixed results
• Participants reported positive short-term changes
  in attitudes and behaviors they also had better
  problem-solving and coping skills.
• With few exceptions, these positive changes did
  not lead to reduced recidivism.
• Those that did produce lower recidivism rates
  offered more treatment services, had longer
  sessions, and included more intensive
  post-release supervision.
• http//ottawa.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filenam
  eot_youthjail20031126