Chapter 12 Assessment and Treatment of Young Offenders

Question 1

Juvenile Delinquents Act 1908

Answer 1

Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA), 1908

• Separate court system for youth
• Minimum age of 7 to be charged with criminal offence
• Sentencing discretion and options increased
• Parents encouraged to be part of process

Question 2

Young Offenders Act YOA 1984

Answer 2

Replaced JDA in 1984

• Youth held accountable for their action not to the full extent as adults
• Public has right to be protected
• Young offenders have legal rights and freedoms
• Minimum age of 12 to be charged with criminal offence

Question 3

Youth Criminal Justice Act 2003

Answer 3

Replaced YOA in 2003

• To prevent youth crime
• Provide meaningful consequences and encourage responsibility of behaviour
• Improve rehabilitation and reintegration of youth into the community

Question 4

YCJA: Key Changes

Answer 4

1. Less serious and less violent offences should be kept out of the formal court process
2. Extrajudicial measures are increased
3. Greater focus on prevention/reintegration
4. Transfers to adult court removed; impose adult sentence
5. Interests and needs of victims recognized

Question 5

Naming Youth

Answer 5

Name of youth cannot be reported to public but only under special circumstances

• Defendants between 14 and 17 years and are convicted of serious, violent offences
• Youth is considered dangerous
• Youth has not been apprehended yet

Question 6

Youth Crime Rates

Answer 6

• Total number of crimes by youth decreasing
• Probation is the most frequent sentence
• Youth in custody during 2008-09 down 8%
• Down 42% from 2003-04 when YCJA introduced

Question 7

Assessing Under 12s

Answer 7

1. Levels of consent
2. Internalizing problems (e.g., depression)
3. Externalizing problems (e.g., delinquency)
4. Childhood psychiatric diagnoses:
   - Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
   - Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
   - Conduct Disorder (CD)

Question 8

Assessing the Adolescent

Answer 8

Court-ordered assessment – no consent/assent required

Determine level of risk for reoffending

Risk factors may vary for youth vs. adults

Use developmentally appropriate measures

Question 9

Rates of Behaviour Disorders

Answer 9

5% to 15% of children display severe behavioural problems (possibly higher)

Behavioural disorders co-occur

20% to 50% of children with ADHD also have symptoms consistent with CD or ODD

Question 10

Trajectories of Young Offenders

Answer 10

Child-onset, life-course persistent

• Early onset related to more serious and persistent antisocial behaviour
• 3% to 5% of general population

Adolescent-onset, adolescent limited

• About 70% of general population
• Common for youth to desist antisocial behaviour

Question 11

Theories

Answer 11

• Biological theories
• Cognitive theories
• Social theories

Question 12

Biological Theories

Answer 12

1. Frontal lobe functioning
   - Responsible for planning and inhibiting behaviour
2. Physiological
   - Slower heart rates for youth who engage in antisocial behaviour
3. Genetic studies/biological link
   - Antisocial father, more likely to engage

Question 13

Prevention, Intervention and Treatment

Answer 13

Primary intervention strategies

Secondary intervention strategies

Tertiary Intervention strategies

Question 14

Primary Intervention Strategies

Answer 14

Strategies that are implemented prior to any violence occurring, with the goal of decreasing the likelihood that violence will occur later on

• Family oriented strategies
• School oriented strategies
• Community-wide strategies

Question 15

Family-Oriented Strategies

Answer 15

Target the family

• Parent-focused interventions: Interventions directed at assisting parents to recognize warning signs for later youth violence
• Family-supportive intervention: Intervention that connect at-risk families to various support services

Question 16

School-Oriented Strategies

Answer 16

Preschool programs, social skills training for children, and broad-based social interventions designed to alter the school environment

Question 17

Community-Wise Strategies

Answer 17

Structured community activities for children and increasing a community’s cohesion

Few community-based programs exist for children younger than 12 who are at risk for future young offending

Question 18

Secondary Intervention Strategies

Answer 18

• Strategies that attempt to reduce the frequency of violence
• Provide social and clinical services so that young offenders do not go on to commit serious violence
• Many of the same approaches used in primary intervention strategies are used here, the difference is the target rather than the content

Question 19

Secondary Strategies

Answer 19

• Diversion programs
• Alternative and vocational education
• Family therapy
• Skills training
• Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is an example that has undergone considerable evaluation

Question 20

Tertiary Intervention Strategies

Answer 20

• Strategies that attempt to prevent violence from reoccurring
• More “treatment” than prevention
• Directed at chronic and serious young offenders
• In-patient treatment (e.g., institutional)
• Community-based treatment