Chapter 1: From 'Misguided Children' to 'Criminal Youth'

Question 1

Juvenile Delinquency

Answer 1

The legal term, which came into popular use in the nineteenth century to describe violations of the law by persons who had not reached the legal age of adulthood.

Question 2

Juvenile Courts

Answer 2

Specialized courts first created in the nineteenth century to apply juvenile justice laws in the care of dependent and delinquent children.

Question 3

Youth Criminal Justice System

Answer 3

A term often used today as a substitute for juvenile courts. Critical criminologists argue that it signifies a shift toward treating young offenders more like adult offenders.

Question 4

Reformable Young Offender

Answer 4

A term coined by Bryan Hogeveen to describe the discursive construction of some young offenders as ‘troubled’ and therefore needing intervention in the hope they can be rehabilitated.

Question 5

In regions such as Canada, Britain, and Australia, how has criminal justice for youth changed?

Answer 5

The child-welfare model has been replaced with more legalistic, arguably more punitive crime-control models.

Question 6

Punishable Young Offender

Answer 6

A term coined by Bryan 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.

Question 7

Punitive Turn Thesis

Answer 7

The argument that in recent decades the criminal justice systems of many Western countries have become more punishment oriented, with longer prison sentences and higher rates of incarceration.

Question 8

Which author is regarded by most criminologists to be the most influential concerning the changing role and status of children in Western society?

Answer 8

Philippe Aries.

Question 9

Aries argued that the concept of childhood was ‘found’ in…

Answer 9

Western Europe in the 17th Century.

Question 10

What was he case before the concept of childhood was found?

Answer 10

Few distinctions were made between individuals on the basis of age.

Question 11

Why did Aries say that parents did not invest very much in their children?

Answer 11

Because of the high infant mortality rate that existed until the 17th Century.

Question 12

Aries laid out a controversial argument in which he said that children were treated better…

Answer 12

Before the discovery of the concept of ‘children.’

Question 13

Who opposed Aries’ findings that there was a ‘discovery’ of childhood?

Answer 13

Beatrice Gottleib.

Question 14

What is the age group somewhere in between childhood and adult called, according to Gottlieb?

Answer 14

Youth.

Question 15

In Gottlieb’s eyes, when does youth end?

Answer 15

When you get married.

Question 16

When did the juvenile justice systems begin their transformation?

Answer 16

Late nineteenth century.

Question 17

Is it true that prior to the development of juvenile courts, youths were treated the same as adults?

Answer 17

No. Judges were more merciful and sympathetic.

Question 18

What were the ages governing English common law?

Answer 18

7 and under could not be liable for crimes, while youths between the age of 7 and 14 were subject to the doctrine of doli incapax.

Question 19

Under English common law, those between the ages of 7 and 14 were subject to the…

Answer 19

Doctrine of doli incapax.

Question 20

Doli Incapax

Answer 20

A legal doctrine that literally translated means ‘incapable of doing harm’ and refers to the English common-law presumption that children between 7 and 14 years of age could not be prosecuted for committing criminal offences, unless this presumption was contested by the Crown.

Question 21

What are the 3 features that characterize the operation of all newly invented juvenile courts and the laws provided for their establishment?

Answer 21

1. Laws recognized 3 distinct age-graded levels of criminal accountability.
2. Based on the principle of parens patriae.
3. Should be viewed as misguided children, and treated with friendly helpfulness.

Question 22

What are the 3 distinct age-graded levels of criminal accountability?

Answer 22

1. No accountability.
2. Some (reduced) accountability.
3. Full accountability.

Question 23

Diminished Criminal Responsibility

Answer 23

The general view that individuals who are no adults should not be held fully responsible for their criminal behaviour.

Question 24

Parens Patriae

Answer 24

The legal doctrine that the state has a duty to assume the role of a substitute parent in the case of delinquent or dependent children who do not have parents who are able to adequately control or care for them.

Question 25

Adolescence

Answer 25

A term popularized by the child development expert G. Stanley Hall to refer to the stage of life during which a person progresses, both biologically and emotionally, from being a child to being an adult.

Question 26

Child-Saving Movement

Answer 26

Led by middle-class social reformers, who attempted to control the moral behaviour of lower class families and immigrants who were seen to pose a threat to moral values and economic interests of the middle class.

Question 27

Which court is seen as the first juvenile court?

Answer 27

Chicago Juvenile Court

Question 28

What were two ways in which youth justice was seen as coming about?

Answer 28

1. The child-saving movement.

2. Social reform.

Question 29

What was the perceived problem with the way youth crime was being dealt with that led to the social reform in many nations?

Answer 29

It was an “all or nothing” response. Youth were either getting a very harsh sentence, or the alternative was to set them free. There was no middle-of-the-road punishment for them.

Question 30

What was the initial purpose of juvenile youth courts?

Answer 30

To reduce the severity of the penalty to increase the frequency of its application.

Question 31

Juvenile Delinquents Act

Answer 31

Canada’s first juvenile delinquency legislation enacted in 1908 and in force until 1984.

Question 32

Did the JDA give discretion to provinces in terms of age categories to provinces? Give examples.

Answer 32

Yes. Different provinces had different age jurisdictions ranging from 15-17 years. Notably, in Alberta, the age for males was 15 while the age for females was 17.

Question 33

Which countries duplicated the Chicago Juvenile Court model?

Answer 33

France and Germany.

Question 34

Who was J.J. Kelso?

Answer 34

A strong advocate of the child-savers movement in Canada.

Question 35

Was any individual (Kelso or Scott) responsible for the juvenile justice reform in Canada?

Answer 35

Not directly. There were other early precursors, and there was a changing social and economic climate as well as a move towards the social welfare state.

Question 36

Status Offences

Answer 36

Behaviours that are considered delinquent or criminal only because the person who engages in the behaviour is not yet an adult. Examples include truancy (skipping school), underage drinking, and promiscuous sexual behaviour.

Question 37

Indeterminate Offences

Answer 37

Sentences of incarceration that have no fixed expiration date, which means that a person can be held in custody until he or she is deemed by correctional officials either to be rehabilitated or to no longer pose a threat to society.

Question 38

Judges being given much discretion and lawyers not appearing is characteristic of which juvenile justice act?

Answer 38

The JDA.

Question 39

When was the YOA introduced?

Answer 39

1984.

Question 40

How did the YOA improve upon the JDA?

Answer 40

Brought in ‘due process’ rights and safeguards for young offenders, which included a right to obtain and instruct legal counsel.

Question 41

What was a criticism of the YOA when it replaced the JDA?

Answer 41

It was a unfortunate shift away from the child-welfare based child-saving approach and a more justice and crime control based child-blaming approach.

Question 42

When was the YOA replaced?

Answer 42

2003.

Question 43

When was the YCJA introduced?

Answer 43

2003.

Question 44

YOA

Answer 44

The federal legislation that replaced the JDA from 1984 to 2003.

Question 45

YCJA

Answer 45

The federal legislation enacted in 2002 to replace the YOA, and which came into effect on 1 April 2003.

Question 46

Like the JDA and the YOA, the enactment of the YCJA was clearly a part of a broad international shift away from…and a shift towards…

Answer 46

A child-welfare model of juvenile justice, a more legalistic and ostensibly punitive justice and crime control models.

Question 47

What were some changes brought in by the YCJA?

Answer 47

• Harsher sentences reminiscent of adult sentences.
• More diversionary measures such as police warnings, cautions, and community-based conferences that kept young offenders out of the youth justice system.

Question 48

Bifurcated Youth Justice System

Answer 48

Literally, a two-pronged justice system, meaning that it provides avenues for the diversion of first-time and less serious young offenders out of the system, while at the same time making possible more punitive forms of punishment for more serious offences.

Question 49

Is it true that the YCJA represented a punitive turn?

Answer 49

Not necessarily. It could be that it was made to appear more punitive to quell critics, while actually reducing punitiveness.