6: YOUTH & DEVIANCE Flashcards
Troubling Youth
primarily at risk to others (crime, gangs)
Troubled Youth
primarily at risk to themselves (substance use)
Punishable Young Offender
Coined by Hogeveen to describe the discursive construction of some young offenders as “troublesome” and therefore requiring punishment in order to make them accountable for their criminal acts
Reformable Young Offender
Coined by Hogeveen to describe the discursive construction of some young offenders as “troubled” and therefore needing intervention in hope they can be rehabilitated
Most Common Youth Crime Offenses
- Assault level 1 (slapping, spitting)
- Mischief (vandalism)
- Shoplifting under 5k
- Uttering threats
- Assault level 2 (punching or use of a weapon)
Reality Versus Perception of Youth Crime in Canada
- Popular perceptions are that they’re “out of control” and that it’s “worse than ever”,
- More criminal and more violent now?
- Gap between perception versus reality explained in reference to media (moral panics) and professional groups (government, police
> There’s a steady downfall in frequency & severity of youth crime.
Youth Justice System
Juvenile Delinquents Act (1908) → Young Offenders Act (1984) → Youth Criminal Justice Act (2003)
Juvenile Delinquents Act
- jurisdiction over children 7-15 years of age
- Based on parens patriae: state has a duty to assume the role of a parent in case of delinquents with no parents
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Child welfare: believed with the right assistance they could be set on a good path
Court’s Power - Imposing fines
- Going to a foster home
- Impose a probationary sentence
Probation Officer’s Role - Conducted investigations for the court
- Assisted and directed the court
- Represented the interests of the child in court
- Supervised children sentenced to probation
- Aim to reform the child and to reform the family
Young Offender’s Act
> Introduced because JDA was perceived as being…
- too soft on youth crime
- too expensive
- probation officers did not adequately supervise the children
- Justice over child welfare principles
Focus on protecting society from youth offenders & criminals, not delinquents
Focused on youth responsibility (treating them like adults) and societal protection
Extended legal rights to youth (right to an attorney)
Youth Criminal Justice Act
> Introduced because YOA…
- contained conflicting principles
- resulted in the overuse of incarceration
- failed to adequately provide for youth reintegration
YCJA introduced a bifurcated youth justice system
- Two-pronged system that allows for diversion of the first time and less serious offenders out of the system while allowing for punitive forms of punishment for more serious offenders
Chronic or violent ones were treated more stringently, while first-time and non-violent ones are likely to be treated via community & alternates
YCJA and Less Serious Offences/Offenders
- Community service
- Compensation in cash or services
- Referrals to specialized programs for counselling, treatment or education (e.g. life skills, drug or alcohol treatment, anger management)
- Referrals to community, aboriginal or youth justice committees (which can recommend sanctions)
- A letter of apology or essay
Restorative Justice Program
- Allows victims, offenders and communities affected to talk about the causes, impact, and needs
> Understanding that crime is a violation of relationships and principles of respect
(e.g., victim-offender reconciliation programs): focus on victim and restitution and restoration of the wrong, as opposed to criminal vs the state
> Encourages meaningful engagement and accountability and provides an opportunity for healing and repartition and reintegration
Sentencing as Adult - Murder
- Attempted murder
- Manslaughter
- Aggravated sexual assault
- Or a violent offence in which they’ve already been convicted twice before
> Less young people go to jail under YCJA so it’s seen as an improvement
Oudshoorn & Issues with the Youth Justice System
> Fails to support meaningful change because it fails to sufficiently address youth trauma.
Trauma individually is expressed by poverty, neglect, abuse, discrimination & victimization by crime.
Collectively, trauma is experienced in social groups subject to intergenerational trauma at the macro level. Collective trauma contributes to overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the justice system
Alcohol Use
- 40% of high school students (more than those in their 20s) engaged in high-risk drinking (5+ drinks in one occasion)
- 30-40% of Uni students are binge drinkers (within last few weeks) more than non-students
The Industry: Widely criticized for promoting youth use with FABs (flavoured alc beverages) during shows where 30% or more of the audience was under legal drinking age, on gaming sites, youth-oriented sites and Youtube & Facebook.
> Binge drinkers are correlated with binge drinking among peers (hanging out with other drinkers)
Controlling Alcohol Use
- Preventative & Retroactive social controls that target them and attempt to motivate from refraining are found at universities, stimulating self-control and self-regulation. Effectiveness is questionable
- Effective control may lie in the Population Approach: changes to regulatory environments (uni) or at the societal level (higher alcohol taxes, higher drinking age and stricter accessibility and driving while intoxicated).
Prevention Paradox: Because university binge drinking tends to be treated as. individual problem. The growing harm hasn’t been reduced and comes from students who engage in occasional binge drinking on weekends rather than those with alcohol dependency
Drug Use
- Cannabis is the most widely used, with 18% (gr 7-12) have tried it within the past year. Did not change after the legalization
- Youth are more likely to abuse prescription drugs and OTD medication than illicit drugs
Individual factors: genetic & environmental dispositions, trauma, mental health, gang involvement
Community factors: norms about its use, prevalence of crime, community disorganization, nature of peers
Family factors: parenting style, degree of parent-child attachment, abuse or neglect, family history to substance use
School factors: academic success, problem-solving abilities, participation in activities, feelings of belonging
Preventing Drug Use: Must be age-appropriate and occur prior to the likely exposure to drugs
Tobacco & Vape Use
- 19% (gr 7-12) have tried them, barely any smoke daily
- Smoking in movies impacts the perception of smoking, leading to smoking
The Industry: Promoting marketing to youth, eventually being sued in the U.S.
Gangs
- Material Incentive: Joining based on the belief they will increase their money
- Recreation: Gangs provide entertainment and social life
- Place of refuge and camouflage (anonymity)
- Physical protection
- Time to resist as a statement of rejection to society
- Commitment to community if its family tradition to follow
Social Construction of the Gang Problem
Communicated through the discussions of media. Media also racializes the “gang problem”. The overrepresentation and socialization of gangs contributes to a view far from reality
Controlling Youth Gangs
- Formal regulation: integrating awareness programs to teach the dangers and consequences
- Retroactive: persuading existing members to leave the lifestyle such as job training, helping with employment & counselling
- Preventative: teaching children basic life skills & social skills, or providing organized community activities
- Informal regulation: social controls in interactions, such as parenting efforts & community involvement with children
Comprehensive gang model - Taking social intervention
- Develop programs to help economically, educationally and socially
- Suppress through holding members accountable through the justice system
Biological & Genetic Factors to Youth Deviance
> Prefrontal cortex is considered to help make good decisions & develop discipline, stopping impulses
Nucleus Accumbens is responsible for wild and impulsive reward based behaviours
Risk Factors: FASD, brain injuries, learning disabilities
Protective Factors: Resiliency, intelligence, athleticism
Psychological Factors Related to Youth Deviance
Risk Factors: Poor mental health, low self-esteem, antisocial behaviours & attitudes
Protective Factors: Intellectual and interpersonal abilities, positive self-esteem, personal responsibility, pro-social behaviour
Why do some children coming from dysfunctional families turn out good but others turn to crime?
> Children turning out well commonly had…
- A safe place in their community to go to
- Recognized their family was dysfunctional
- Small traditions in family life
Family: Social Bonds Theory and Deviance
> Children with strong bonds & attachments have better mental and physical health and are unlikely to become involved in criminal activity
Children who are poorly treated and/or witness domestic violence are at higher risk of gang behaviour
School: Social Bonds Theory and Deviance
> Provide structured daytime activities and support healthy socialization
- Many gang members spend long periods of time outside of school (suspensions, absenteeism, drop-outs)
School related factors: success, bonding, participation in extracurricular activities, low delinquency rate
Peer-Group Factors Related to Youth Deviance
Risk Factors: Delinquent siblings/peers (Differential Association Theory)
Protective Factors: Pro-social peers, positive peer-group membership
Explaining the Gender Gap: Differential Association Theory
Heimer & De Coster: Gender & Violent Crime
- The idea that the gender gap is the result of cultural processes and structural position
- The nature of the illegitimate opportunities present in the community determines the nature of gang behaviour
Cultural Processes (Social Learning Theory, Gender Role Socialization)
Men: Aggressive, risk-taking, emphasis on physical strength
Women: Nurturing, sexual virtue, ethic of care
- Families more stringently monitor young girls
- Women & sexual currency: allows women to rely on sex if needed rather than other crime
Structural Positions (Artz)
- In general, the most violent males are those who are the most disadvantaged
- Structural disadvantage has a greater impact on men’s criminal behaviour than on women’s
- Issues of power are at the centre of girl violence
- Locates girl aggression in society characterized by sexism, abuse and inequality
- Many violent girls have psychosocial problems: dysfunctional families, internalization of sexist gender roles, lack of anger management skills
Nasty Girl Moral Panic
- sinister products of feminism
- Western culture promotion of “bad girl”
Biopsychosocial Theory: “Maturational Reform”
> Fact that people are less likely to commit crime as they grow older
- Physiological limitations
- Jobs and marriage are incentives to conform
- People come to depend on us (social bonds)
- More socially responsible as we age out of youth
Community and Neighbourhood Factors to Deviance
Risk Factors: Community disorganization, Exposure to violence (Social Learning Theory)
Protective Factors:
- Living in community with mixed socio-economic backgrounds of families
- Organized and accessible community
- Bonding to institutions outside family and school
- Strong cultural identity and racial harmony
Social Disorganization Theory
> Crime is a function of neighbourhood dynamics
- Crime is more likely in areas of change and slum areas
- Areas lack development of conventional institutions of social control characterized by poverty and racial tension
- Children growing up in these communities experience doubt, hopelessness and uncertainty, leading to drug use and trafficking to cope
- Maybe that in a slum-setting, delinquency often the most exciting and interesting thing they do
Radical Conflict Theory
- Based on Marx
- Capitalism is root cause of crime
- CJS is the tool of capitalist class to control the working class
Greenberg: Young people at increased risk of criminal activity because capitalist structures force them into financial dependency, and working class youth work for low pay
Schwendinger: Capitalist drive for profit displaces workers through adoption of technology, increasing economic dependency of unskilled workers
Strain Theory
- Gangs form where legitimate opportunities for social status are limited, forming as an alternate way of achieving status, acceptance and economic success
Moral Panic
Moral Panic includes: heightened concern, hostility toward the offending group, a certain level of consensus that there is a real threat, disproportionality (the attention given to the phenomenon is far greater than the level of objective threat that the phenomenon presents), and volatility (it erupts suddenly and then may just as suddenly disappear
