exam

Question 1

broad definition of gangs

Answer 1

A Broad Definition
“A group of youths or young adults in your jurisdiction that you or other responsible persons in your agency or community are willing to identify or classify as a gang.”
(USA, National Gang Intelligence Centre)
Subjective definition

Question 2

Specific definition of gangs

Answer 2

Ownership of a name
Wearing of colours or other group symbols
Control of territory
Communal criminal activity, comitting crime with others
Identifiable leadership
A certain number of members

Question 3

4 Levels of gangs (Wortley)

Answer 3

Level 1: Fluid friendship groups with sporadic criminal activity. Short lived and not that violent. “Wanna be” gangs (Gordon).
Level 2: Existed for more than a year. Criminal activities are planned and deliberate. Little specialization of criminal activities. Lack of formal leadership. More likely to engage in violence than level 1.
Level 3: Leadership and hierarchical structure and have existed for at least 1 year . Control a particular type of criminal activity in a defined territory (drug dealing) and violent. Colours and a name.
Level 4:Long, stable history and can span more than 1 generation. Sophisticated organizational structure. Often work with lower level gangs. Violent, make considerable sums of money (Mafia in Italy and Narco in Mexico)

Question 4

Counting Gangs

Answer 4

Most often data from fbi/police
In USA “National Gang Intelligence Centre”
Gangs in over 1,000 jurisdictions in USA early 2000s
Estimated to be 25,000-30,000 gangs in USA
5 times more than in 1980
RCMP in 2018 reported 430 active gangs in Canada. A reliable statistic?
Sometimes data from school and street surveys are used

Question 5

Why do gangs exist?

Answer 5

Early research in USA by Thrasher 1920s (documented activities of over 1,000 gangs in Chicago), much more gun violence now
Much less organized and criminal than today
Oftentimes youth do not join gangs for criminal reasons
Often-times for psychological or social reasons, at least at first (Social Disorganization Theory)

Question 6

Risk Factors for gangs

Answer 6

Poverty
Poor School performance
Gangs present in community
Unstable Homes
Gangs provide a perceived solution to problems that young people face

Question 7

Hagedorn: Milwaukee gang study

Answer 7

Today gangs are more criminal and institutionalized since 1980s
Decline of industry
Looked at how Cities in north east have been deindustrilized
Minority youth have tough time finding decent jobs in labour market
Young people remain gang members longer

Question 8

Venkatesh: Chicago gang study

Answer 8

Gang activity in large African American Public Housing Project
Weak Civil Society that most take for granted: unstructured families, few legitimate jobs; not much hope in educational system
Most money comes from 2 sources: welfare cheques and selling drugs
Working for a gang is a rational choice taking into consideration these constraints
Gangs also function as bankers; employers; police; social needs (driving elderly to medical appointments and voters to polling stations).

Question 9

Camorra in Campania (Naples) Italy. (Gomorrah, Roberto Saviano) gangs

Answer 9

Been around since 1860s
Grew out of prisons like Poggioreale
Mafia and gangs serve similar functions in poor societies with weak governments
Gangs lend money to people in the community
Act as police
$ Support wives whose husbands are in prison
See Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano (book and film)

Question 10

Reacting to Gangs

Answer 10

Prevention (environment and opportunities)
Intervention (draw away from the gang with education; job training)
Suppression (policing [raids] & Laws) most common

Question 11

Early Research on homeless youth

Answer 11

100 years ago there were homeless youth : called street urchins
Issue not on radar until late 1970s early 1980s; largely results from changes in canadian housing policies, housing became less affordable, less affordable housing built
Drew attention:terms used; runaways and throughaways, rather than “homeless”
Runaway; ran away from home
Throughaways; told to leave home, most were throughaways
First to talk about touth homelessness; Badgley Report (1986) on sexual exploitation of Canadian children: many people involved in sex trade were homeless and had been involved with child protection
About ½ were involved in the Child Protection System

Question 12

Broader Definition of homelessness for youth

Answer 12

Precariously housed (couch surfing); not paying rent
Sleeping in youth Shelters, emergency shelters in large cities
Tents, cars, abandoned buildings , roof tops etc.
16-24
Homeless and <16: child protection, not shelters

Question 13

Hagan and McCarthy (Mean Streets, 1997) study

Answer 13

Interviewed 400 street youth in toronto, asked questions through SRS, looked at what predicts why some street youth get involved in crime and some don’t, explanation for deviant behaviour; drug selling, prostitution, and theft
Focus on explaining crime among street youth
Is it due to their backgrounds (strain and control)?
or
Is it due to the situational adversity they face?

Findings reveal that familial and school factors have minimal influence on current criminal behavior.
Instead, criminal behavior is influenced by such immediate factors such as: lack of stable housing, drug and alcohol use, and criminal peers who engage in illegal activities.
Criminal behavior is also influenced by a lack of income, job experiences, and perceptions of a blocked opportunity structure (felt not to be their fault).
More likely to be involved in crime if they blamed external factors rather than themselves for why they ended up on the streets

Question 14

What about non-criminal money making? O’Grady and Gaetz: Main Way of Making $

Answer 14

Job: high school grads; left home 16+
Soc. Assistance.: females, young mothers
Begging/panhandling: left home young
Squeegee: did not finish high school
Sex work: 13.5 age left home, female, no H.S. abuse, Indigenous
Crime: male, poor growing up, came from T.O

Question 15

Victimization of street youth

Answer 15

Often Street Youth are viewed as criminals, yet research from Toronto shows that:
76% reporting at least one instance of criminal victimization in the previous 12 months.
almost three quarters (72.8%) reporting multiple incidents of victimization.
63.6% report being victims of violent crime at least once, while only 56.5% report being victims of property crime.

A very high percentage (23%) report that they do not tell anyone, even friends, when they have been victimized.
This is a reflection of the isolation that often comes with being homeless, and the weakness of social networks that young people are able to rely on when in crisis.

Amongst female street youth, black females were much more likely to report being victims of sexual assault (47%) than were white females (33%).
Sexual orientation was a significant factor in determining victimization, with LGBTQ+ female youth more likely to report being victims of most forms of crime (including both property and violent crimes), and on more occasions.

Sixty percent of LGBTQ+ female youth report being victims of sexual assault during the past year.
This group is perhaps the most victimized of the street youth population.

Question 16

What to do? homeless youth

Answer 16

A balanced response to youth homelessness would emphasize three key elements: preventive measures, an emergency response, and efforts to move young people quickly out of homelessness.

Question 17

RECENT RESEARCH; Homelessness and Self-Identity

Answer 17

Methods of study (1,103 youth, 57 agencies)
Do you consider yourself to be homeless?
Objective vs Subjective
1/3 yes
1/3 used to be, but not now
1/3 no
Even though all were using services for homeless youth (they were all objectively homeless)

Why these differences?
Those who were told to leave home
Been homeless several times in past 3 years
Been a recent victim of violence
Sleeping rough
Males
Youth think of themselves as individuals not belonging to a stigmatized group (the homeless)

Question 18

Male vs Female charges

Answer 18

In Canada, for youth charged by police:
77% male 23% female
Females mostly theft under $5,000 and
Assault 1

Question 19

Early Research male vs female youth crime

Answer 19

Lack of attention before 1970s
A “delinquent” was seen as a “rouge
male”
Thomas “The Unadjusted Girl” 1923
Case studies, mostly prostitution related
Girls used wrong means to achieve right
goals
They were not properly socialized (lacked
controls)
Basically a version of Social
Disorganization Theory

Question 20

Were Girls becoming more violent in
1960s-1970s?

Answer 20

 Popular perceptions based on serious, but
rare cases covered extensively in the
mass media
 Liberation hypothesis (Adler, 1975;
Simon, 1975)
 Labour market participation and post
secondary education
Advances in Post-Secondary Education
Moving into male dominated fields
Rise of the women’s movement
Women had more control over their bodies due to
birth control (The Birth Control Pill)

Question 21

what types of girls get into trouble with the law:

Answer 21

poor, abused, marginalized and socially exclude

Question 22

Power Control Theory (Hagan, Gillis and
Simpson)

Answer 22

Based on survey data from high school
students in late 1970s early 1980s
Patriarchal and Egalitarian Families
Blaming mothers?

Refers to John Hagan and colleagues’ integrated (conflict and social control theories) and feminist- informed explanation of the role of gender socialization in crime distributions.
Hagan, Gillis, and Simpson, who developed power-control theory, a variant of social control theory, suggest that patriarchal families are structured such that they support, and thus provide greater access for, males’ risk-taking and delinquent behaviour, while at the same time, keeping girls’ criminal involvement in check via tighter social restrictions and controls

Question 23

Girls and Gangs

Answer 23

 Anne Campbell, New York City
 Most linked to male gangs
 Not your typical working class girls
 Short-term solutions to problems
 Want to end up different than their
mothers
 Many also subject to victimization: IPV
Sexism too: girls are often not wanted or
valued in delinquent groups
 No affirmative action or pay equity laws
in place in the ‘underworld’
 E.G. Biker gangs (Wolf) and other
organized crime

Question 24

NEED FOR GENDER SPECIFIC THEORY?

Answer 24

Victimization (including IPV)
Economic Marginality
Reproductive Differences

Question 25

Sentencing Principles for Adults

Answer 25

(a) to denounce unlawful conduct and the harm done to victims or to the community that is caused by unlawful conduct;
(b) to deter the offender and other persons from committing offences; general (making example of the person in court so others do not copy) and specific detterance (making the punishment so that person does not repeat)
(c) to separate offenders from society, where necessary;
(d)to assist in rehabilitating offenders;
(e) to provide reparations for harm done to victims or to the community; and
(f) to promote a sense of responsibility in offenders,and acknowledgment of the harm done to victims or to the community.

Question 26

YCJA Sentencing purpose

Answer 26

The purpose of sentencing under section 42 (youth sentences) is to hold a young person accountable for an offence through the imposition of just sanctions that have meaningful consequences for the young person and that promote his or her rehabilitation and reintegration into society, thereby contributing to the long-term protection of the public.

Question 27

Specific sentencing principles emphasize that a youth sentence must:

Answer 27

*not be more severe than what an adult would receive for the same offence;
*be similar to youth sentences in similar cases;
*be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the young person
They should also:
(a)be the sentencing option that is most likely to rehabilitate and reintegrate the young person, and
(b) promote in the young person a sense of responsibility and an acknowledgement of the harm done by the offence

Question 28

How much consistency is there across the country and between judges?

Answer 28

Saskatchewan and manitoba more severe

Question 29

Judicial discretion

Answer 29

Opposite of judicial discretion; fixed sentences, guidelines like a grid that show what sentence should be based on offence and priors
In our courts today there is pretty much complete judicial discretion

Question 30

Doob and Beaulieu sentencing study

Answer 30

43 Judges from across Canada were asked
Responded to written descriptions of cases
Then recommended a disposition and said why
Much variability was found in sentences that judges gave
Different treatment for identical offences
Raises questions re: lack of overall policy dispositions under YCJA

Question 31

Ex multiple choice; As discussed in class, one of the main problems for carrying out evaluation research in the area of restorative justice concerns the issue of
a) Confidentiality
b) Difficulties getting Ethical Approval to carry out the
research
c) There are so few females who are given these
measures
d) Self-Selection Bias

Answer 31

Self Selection bias

Question 32

Glen Elder long term life course

Answer 32

Elder - linked to life course theory
Introduces 2 key concepts in life course theory:
Transitions (driving license, graduating high school, voting for the first time, first ‘real’ job)
Landmarks that standout in a persons life time
Movement from one event to another that changes one’s status
Trajectories (employment history, relationships [marriage and family], education, involvement in a sport or hobby)
Aspects of individual’s lives over time
E.g. employment history - past, present, future

Question 33

Longitudinal designs - cohort versus panel

Answer 33

Cohort - tracks groups of individual’s (cohorts) over an extended period of time
E.g. Grade 8 students

Panel study - tracks individuals over time
E.g. looking at one persons progress throughout their lifetime

Question 34

Longitudinal designs - Retrospective Research

Answer 34

• asking the same people questions; recall questions (e.g. what was the relationship with your mother like 5 years ago?)
  Issue: difficult to recall specific details; attitudes change over time
  More cost effective than panel or cohort studies
  Panel studies have a higher chance of attrition - dropping out of study

Question 35

Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck (long term life course study)

Answer 35

Interviewed 500 delinquents & 500 non-delinquents (all males)
All from working class background; 1/2 were in conflict w/ law, other half was not
Wanted to know why some were criminal & others were not; what occurred within the life course that these kids with the same social class differed in terms of criminality
Looked at kids body types - do criminal have different physical attributes than non-criminals?
Tracked kids through time
Criminal justice interventions, family life, school and employment history, and recreational activities
Followed up over the years (25 and 32)

Question 36

Sampson & Laub life course study

Answer 36

Is crime due to low self-control or lack of turning points?
Latent Trait of Low Self-Control: therefore career criminals
Turning points: age graded theory of informal social control (employment, children, marriage)
Long Follow-up
Men in early 70s were interviewed; interviewed when they were teens
Those involved in crime during high school had: Poor verbal skills, low self control
do not explain long term offending
Found that strong social ties with family and community led to low offending
Even luck and personal agency can make an impact (situated choice)
Therefore, they avoid a deterministic approach (like GTC)

Question 37

T. Moffit life course study

Answer 37

Life Course Persistent: small group (10%); long criminal career; problematic backgrounds (social, psychological, neurological).
Low-self control individual’s
High levels of recidivism
Adolescent Limited: much larger group (90%); age out of crime in late teens/early 20s; “normal” youth; commit crimes such as underage drinking, joy riding, stealing liquor from parents. Maturity gap.
Deviant activities had unintended positive consequence - “normal” youth had better social skills & performed better in life than those who didn’t engage in such behaviours

Question 38

*Pederson et al. Reading life course

Answer 38

Youth who abstained from deviance and how they are later in life
Question: Are delinquent abstainers an isolated and vulnerable group with poor life prospects?
Isolated (conformists) kids did better in life than deviant kids; changed the idea that Moffit put forth
adolescent limited vs life course persistent

Question 39

Long Arm of the Law: Tanner & Davies life course study

Answer 39

This article offers a test of labeling theory by exploring whether contact with school and justice system authorities has long‐term, negative, and independent effects on an individual’s labour market success.
Did kids who got caught have worse life outcomes than those who didn’t?
Do experiences ranging from school suspension to incarceration during ages 15–23 can predict occupational status, income, and employment during ages 29–37?
Unlike previous studies, this study controlled for an exhaustive list of variables: social background, human capital, prior deviant behavior, family status, and local context.
The findings generally support labelling theory.
Severe forms of labeling like incarceration had the strongest negative effects; role played by education.

Question 40

Self Selection bias

Question 41

Defining legislation among youth crime

Answer 41

1 criminal code, 2 criminal justice systems
Youth justice legislation is federal, administered in a provincial jurisdictional matter

Question 42

social Disorganization theory

Question 43

Conflict theory

Question 44

Life course theory

Answer 44

This theory focuses on a number of facets of criminal behaviour, such as the onset, persistence, and desistance of criminal behavior; the nature and severity of involvement in crime; crime specialization; the protective and risk factors that emerge at different ages; and the impacts these factors may have on offending variations across the lifespan. Known as an “integrative theory,” developmental and life course theory bridges sociological theories like strain, control, and differential association.

Question 45

Feminist theory

Question 46

Most common sentence in court

Answer 46

PROBATION

Question 47

Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)

Answer 47

The federal legislation enacted in 2002 to replace the Young Offenders Act and which came into effect on 1 April 2003.
When the YCJA was enacted in 2002, for instance, it contained sections that provided for the harsher, adult-like punishment of violent young offenders while re- stricting the use of custody sentences for youth convicted of non-violent crimes. The Act also introduced a wide range of formal and informal extrajudicial measures for diverting first-time and less serious young offenders out of the youth justice system. Such measures included police warnings, cautions, and community-based conferences. In effect, these measures made Canada’s new youth criminal justice system, at least formally on paper, a bifurcated youth justice system—“wherein petty and non-serious offenders would be handled through community-based and diversionary programs while serious and violent offenders would be subject to more carceral and punitive interventions”

Question 48

Move to YCJA (2003)

Answer 48

YCJA: a balancing act between:
Protecting Society vs unnecessary criminalization of minor offences
Punitiveness continued in society: Garland And Culture of Control
Self Discipline and Personal Responsibility (welfare, single mothers and ex-cons), placing more responsibility on the individual
E.G. Project Turnaround in Ontario (bootcamp), attempt at rehabilitation, first private prison in canada
New Legislation was needed to curb youth crime
Increase use of Adult sentences for 16-17 year olds
Easing restrictions on publishing names of Young Offenders
Holding parents accountable
Growth of Victim’s Rights in Canada

On the other hand…
Quebec did not want a more punitive Act
Some lobbying for more diversion (EJM’s (extrajudicial measures) and EJS’s (extrajudicial sanctions) [warning, caution (parents)], young person has to admit guilt, EJMS designed to put fewer youth in court
As it turns out, fewer youth in court after YCJA in part due to this change
BUT….
2012 amendments to YCJA (Safe Streets and Community Act) by the Federal Conservative Govt
Protection of public as key goal of Act
Specific Deterrence and Denunciation for youth
Pre-trial custody now not related if custody for crime if found guilty would not happen—more youth have been in pre-trial custody as a result

Question 49

Early sociological explanations; Durkheim and Anomie

Answer 49

Everything in society has a place and role
-Functionalism
-Anomie: a condition of normlessness
-Suicide (1897) analysed demographics of suicide statistics, men have higher rates etc
Less interested in why, more in the rates
-Social patterns, function of group’s relationship, integration and moral regulation

Question 50

Sociological explanations; The Chicago School and Social Disorganization (Burgess, Shaw and McKay)

Answer 50

Social ecological approach
Looked at population density, residential instability, etc
-Concentric Zone Model: Zone of Transition (1925); burgess mapped out chicago in concentric areas and looked at different rates of crime in areas, zone of transition is highest crime rates, least desirable areas to live, poor infrastructure, poverty, etc, inhabitants in that zone experience anomie that causes deviance
Chicago school emphasized deviance is a structural phenomenon
Doesnt work well for cities out side of us
looking at individuals instead of characteristics

Question 51

Shaw & McKay’s application to juvenile delinquency in Chicago (1942);

Answer 51

peak interest towards youth crime, analyzed and found delinquency clusters in certain areas, inner city areas, found consistency in delinquency rates across neighborhoods, regardless of characteristics of people being there
-Census data, official court records; delinquency across neighbourhoods over time
Critique of use of census data, cannot be taken at face value

Question 52

The Strain/Anomie Tradition
Robert Merton

Answer 52

Took durkeims notion of anomie and stretched it to general deviance
-“Social Structure and Anomie” (1938)
Economic focused
-Data: social statistics in U.S.
-‘Innovation’: type of crime emphasized in his theory
-Lacks discussion of non-utilitarian crime
Critique; not all working class individuals commit crime, overestimation of working class vs white collar
Utilitarian crime serves a purpose ex stealing food, non utilitarian; crimes of passion, vandalism

Question 53

The Strain/Anomie Tradition
Albert Cohen

Answer 53

-Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang(1955)
-Theoretical explanation for gangs in the U.S.
-General Theory of Subcultures
Focused on middle and working class youth, value differences between middle and working class
Studied merton
Schools evaluate working class children based on middle class standards, resulting in strain
-‘Reaction Formation’: working class boys had status frustration, norm rejection and replacement, replaced norms with deviant norms

Question 54

Control & Labelling
Control Theory (Hirschi)

Answer 54

-focus on Weakened social institutions & loss of control
Less about starin and more about drive towards crime
-Critique of Strain Theory
Most people can control urges but question is why offenders dont commit crimes vs why they do
-Self-report data rather than crime stats
-Shifting focus: why don’t individuals commit crimes?
Theorized notion of bonds; 4 bonds; attachment, commitment, involvement and belief
Attachment to pr social institutions
Commitment to social relationships
Involvement in pro social activities and curving deviant social activities
Beliefs
Significant because centres age particularly youth

Question 55

Labelling Theory (Lemert, Becker)

Answer 55

-Symbolic interactionism, interpretive perspective
Interactive and constructive
Labels are given, labels stick and internalize
Recidivism
-’Primary’ and ‘Secondary Deviance’
Primary; reprimanded for devaint act, deviance is committed again until you are stigmatized and labelled
Secondary; individual resents label and begins to identify with label

Question 56

Conflict Theory

Answer 56

Hierarchical power structures in society
Societies organizational structure
-Inequality & conflict as a root of crime
-Dominant groups: define & weaponize the law
-Oppressed groups: law weaponized against them;
crime as resistance

Question 57

Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA);

Answer 57

Canada’s first juvenile delinquency legislation enacted in 1908 and in force until 1984.
individual provinces could set their own maximum age of jurisdiction of the JDA at anywhere between 15 and 17 years old, while different age cate- gories could also be selected for males and females. This was the case in Alberta, where the maximum age of jurisdiction was 15 for boys and 17 for girls (Hackler 1978). In addition, although all Western countries eventually established separate criminal court processes and institutions for dealing with juvenile offenders, the specific nature and timing of these developments varied considerably and, in some jurisdictions, occurred only quite gradually over the course of the first half of the twentieth century

Question 58

Indigenous Youth Crime In Canada

Answer 58

Not about the crime itself, however the harm between relationships
Crimes are influenced by relationships between famalies, individuals and communities that intersect with broader social institutions ie. Education.
Strain, anomie, normlessness theory
Feeling of being lost (from a loss of values)
Understanding the Complexities of Indigenous Youth Crime
Two main features:
Shared experience of Indigneous people
Historical, cultural, social and economic defined by their relations with settlers
Relations marked by racism, broken treaties, assimilation attempts and domination
Intergenerational trauma
Repercussions felt in daily lived experiences of Indigenous youth
Poverty, unemployment, no education, family violence, substance abuse, poor health, overrep in CJS, racism and discrimination

Question 59

Understanding the causes of crime

Answer 59

Identity/self esteem and risk protective factors
Part of the attraction to gangs is a sense of belonging, protection and identity they promise to provide their members.
Identity = adults internalized to make sense of their life and youth are expected to develop a core identity that is stable and suitable while living within society.
Indigenous youth inherit the legacy of residential schools, intergenerational trauma and colonialization.
Indigneous youth take responsibility for their liveds in a context that sets them up for failure.

Question 60

Risk factors of crime

Answer 60

-Young people who are at a trajectory toward a myraid of problems that threaten their present and future adjustment
-Non-liberal ideologies turn social structural issues like Poverty, disadvantage, oppression into individual issues
This placed pressure on indigenous youth to deal with be responsible for their lives that sets them up for failure.
At risk = defecit

Question 61

Yessine and Bonta risk factors of crime for indigenous youth

Answer 61

High-offending indigenous youth shared common backgrounds , unstable family environment, substance use, and negative peer association
One main risk faced by Indigeous people is trauma
Trauma of Indigenous youth = common experience
Produces symptoms = high rates of risk among indigenous youth

Question 62

Risk protective factors

Answer 62

Elements in a young persons life that offer insulation against negative influences
A healthy family situation
Positive role model
Pro-social friends
Positive activities
Positive educational experiences
Many youth that are Indigenous risk factors outweigh the protective factors

Question 63

Biological/genetic influences of crime

Answer 63

Behavioural problems, mood disorders are genetic and relate to criminal behavior
Intellectual functioning, personality characteristics (negativity), temperal factors (impulsivity) are genetic
Behavioural precursors to delinquency
ADHD
Biological and environment go hand in hand
Influence of fetal alch disorder
Higher risk of criminalization
Exposure prenatal to alchohol affects the fetus genetics, matneral characteristics, nutrition,
Cognitive, physical, social functioning implications

Question 64

Psychological influences of crime

Answer 64

how people perceive themselves
Classification
Distinguish one type of offender, and shows crime is located more in one group than another
Classifications are based on stereotypical deciptions of who is and who is not a criminal

Question 65

Socio-cultural influences on crime

Answer 65

Social control
Social systems surrounding him or her
Delinquent behavior is resulted from the failure of personal and social controls to produce behavior that conforms to the norms of social systems.
Delinquency occurs when the norms are not internalized (due to anomie, marginalization)
Criminal behavior is a critical importance of the interaction between an individual and other in her or his immediate extended social world
Children with peer difficulties = aggression, academic problems, anxiety, depression, loneliness = criminal behavior and leads to gangs owning a desire for social belonging and social identity

Question 66

Demographical influences of crime

Answer 66

Relationship between poverty, race, neighbourhood
Shows the house of large numbers, poor and marginalized people shown to exert damaging influences on an individuals social, physical and psychological health = uncertain future due to compromised accessibility
Absence of resources implicated for the likelihood of victimization
Intellect:
do not learn from previous experiences
difficulty generalizing one event from another
Attention: restless
Limited focus on questions asked
Memory
Short and long term memory impairments
Language social communication
Speech difficulties
Lack of social cues
Shy

Question 67

Intersectionality;

Answer 67

Refers to a movement away from thinking categorically and toward thinking about the connections and crossroads between social facets. Intersectional thinking and theorizing recognize the multiple, changing, and often overlapping dimensions, demographics, roles, and identities of lawbreakers, victims, other individuals, and collectives.

Question 68

Gender differences; female crime

Answer 68

• girls rarely develop crime specialities.
  -Self-report data on girls’ delinquency gathered in the United States shows that incidence rates have not substantially changed in the past 30 years, and where increases have occurred, they relate to minor and administrative offences, not serious, violent behaviours
  -Girls commit crime for reasons that are often different from boys
  -gender differences are often pathologized through locating differences in girls as weaknesses in their biological and psychological chemistry.
  -This approach tends to be translated into gender-responsive correctional programming that focuses on the individual girl rather than examining welfare and institutional cultures and practices that target troubled girls, and it may perpetuate stereotypical, sexist assumptions about young women
• This self-reported data show us that female young offenders, particularly those who become incarcerated, face significant mental, emotional, physical, and social challenges, and that, in an overwhelming number of cases, they are victims as well as offenders. The dual victim and offender status experienced by offending girls, and the more numerous and severe needs and risks they must deal with, present significant concerns for intervention and treatment

Question 69

administrative offences;

Answer 69

Offences against the administration of justice— that is, violations of court-ordered behavioural requirements, such as complying with a curfew, attending mandated programmes, and following through on all manner of bail conditions and probation orders.

Question 70

Canadian girls are most often brought to court for…

Answer 70

non-criminal breaches of court orders (i.e., administrative offences)

Question 71

net narrowing;

Answer 71

A phenomenon that occurs when youth who have been diverted from the criminal justice system struggle to access adequate resources.
In a qualitative study of the British Columbia context undertaken by Stoneman (2016), less serious offenders were reportedly faced with trying to access non-existent or inappropriate programs in their communities, while more serious offenders were often incarcerated far away from their families and communities. The resulting phenomenon, described by Stoneman as net narrowing

Question 72

gender gap;

Answer 72

A term that acknowledges the persistent and well- documented difference in the arrest rates for males and females, with males consistently committing significantly more crime than females.
Before the 1970s, few theorists concerned themselves with female crime and delinquency. When females were considered, the focus was generally on the gender gap (the lower crime participation of females in comparison to males), rather than on the conditions or the motivations that move females toward crime and delinquency. The gender gap in crime—still configured in terms of binary sex differences—has been variously explained as located in the biological differences between the two heteronormative sexes, or derived from differences in stereotypically dichotomized gender role socialization. When that gap appeared to close, as it did to some degree when a rise in female crime occurred, this was explained as a failure or double-edged sword of the feminist movement because of the “masculinization” of women brought on by increasing social equity between the sexes

Question 73

biopsychosocial model;

Answer 73

An approach that addresses interdependent and bidirectional biological, psychological, and social risk factors related to the development of behavioural problems that are implicated in females’ involvement with the justice system.
They show that biological dispositions like autonomic nervous system hyper- activity, intelligence potential, and temperament can be mediated positively or negatively by prenatal factors such as exposure to toxic substances and by socio-cultural context variables like family income, occupation and education, age of the mother, the absence or presence of parental conflict, divorce, and family violence; and, as the child matures, the mediating effects of positive or negative peer, school, and neighbourhood influences.
Dodge and Pettit also note that these dispositions and socio-cultural interactions are not unidirectional but reciprocal, so that a child’s sensitivities and temperament can influence parenting behaviour and the behaviour of other family members, which in turn also in- fluence the child’s behaviour. In this way, children’s early experiences serve to set in place their social knowledge frameworks for how the world works. These frameworks influence how children make sense of what is expected and acceptable, and exert a strong influence on behaviour and personal choice where delinquency is concerned. Thus the development of delinquency is considered interactive.

Question 74

Trauma Theory

Answer 74

The neurobiological and criminogenic impacts of traumatic life experiences and the per- vasiveness of trauma are becoming more well understood as researchers clarify the link between early victimization, later criminal behaviour, and recidivism, especially for female youth offenders. Research shows that psychological trauma may result from a single traumatic episode (acute trauma), or a prolonged traumatic period (complex trauma), during which individuals perceive their emotional well-being or physical safety to be under significant threat

Question 75

trauma-informed approach;

Answer 75

An approach to practice that incorporates an understanding of how experiences of acute and complex trauma shape the lives, identities, and perspectives of the people we respond to throughout the human services and the legal system. Trauma- informed practice requires us to implement steps that avoid re-traumatizing individuals and support wellness, recovery, and resilience
With this theoretical framework in mind, Randall and Haskell (2013) outline a trauma-informed approach as grounded in an awareness of the pervasiveness of trauma among the population served; a recognition of how trauma can impact an individual’s well-being in the short and long term; and the identification of advantageous approaches to responding to people with these histories by promoting skills development and resilience in a culturally safe manner that avoids re-traumatizing individuals. The exceptionally high proportion of young female offenders who have traumatic histories requires us to deeply consider and embed into our responses the im- pacts trauma has had on girls’ anti-social behaviour and to view this through a socio-structural lens.

Question 76

gender role theories;

Answer 76

Those explanations of delinquent and criminal behaviour that focus on the role that gender socialization plays in the lives of young people who are involved with the criminal justice system.

Question 77

Four sociological approaches that fit with a gender role analysis are

Answer 77

(1) social learning and differential association theories, (2) social control theories, (3) strain theories, and (4) life course theory

Question 78

Social Learning and Differential Association Theories; gender

Answer 78

It is well established that the primary source of social learning is the family. In an extensive review of the research on family and youth delinquency and crime, Kruttschnitt and Giordano (2009) found that girls and boys both suffer the negative consequences of family conflict, harsh and coercive parenting, and other problematic emotional family dynamics, including exposure to crime by family members, abuse within the family, divorce, and living in stressed lone-parent households. These researchers found few consistent sex differences in the effects of these factors on the socialization of children except in the area of sexual abuse, where girls consistently suffer far higher rates of such abuse and long-term negative effects of this kind of trauma, especially when combined with family criminality. Kruttschnitt and Giordano’s analysis calls into question the commonly held belief that girls have stronger connections with their families and are thus more positively socialized and less inclined to become involved in crime and delinquency. They point instead to learned gender performance for dealing with emotional and interpersonal processes as a more promising area for further research in that whatever their social location or exposure to abuse and other difficult circum- stances, girls learn early that being “nice” and being “good” have enormous social value and may, therefore, internalize greater constraints on delinquent behaviour.
Giordano, Deines, and Cernkovic’s (2006) qualitative research shows gendered path- ways to crime in which girls’ exposure to sexual abuse along with gender non-specific factors such as poverty and association with delinquent peers contribute to offending onset.
Peggy Giordano (2009) shows that some socialization practices seem to be involved in protecting girls from greater involvement with delinquent peers: girls generally spend more time in structured social activities than boys and less time simply “hanging out.”

Question 79

Social Control Theories; gender

Answer 79

Social control theories of crime and delinquency focus on the capacity of all human beings to engage in deviance and crime. For social control theorists, self-control, grounded in a positive and socially conventional self-concept, is central to the containment of delinquency and crime, as are effective family functioning, the existence of a positive social structure, and the presence of socially positive attachment, commitment, involvement, and beliefs (Hirschi 1969). Positive bonds with family, friends, peers, school, and neighbourhood are of central importance to social control theorists, as they are to learning theorists.
In applying social control to research with girls, Jensen and Eve (1976), Cernkovich and Giordano (1987) and Ryder (2014) found that attachment to conventional others—especially family members—and a belief in the legitimacy of rules have predictive power for both male and female delinquency. Cernkovich and Giordano and Ryder also found that lower rates of female delinquency could be partly explained by higher levels of parental supervision and more intimate communication and attachment between parents and daughters.

Question 80

Strain Theory; gender

Answer 80

Strain theory builds on the notion that delinquency can be explained as a response to being denied access to socially and conventionally approved opportunities for power and material success. Agnew’s general strain theory (GST) explains the overall differences in female and male rates of crime in terms of the differences in types of strain to which females and males are subjected. Higher criminal involvement among males is linked to their more often being subject to material- and status-related strains; lower criminal involvement among females is linked to their more often being subjected to oppression via family violence, sexual abuse, and high levels of social controls and restrictions, including restrictions related to criminal opportunity.
Additionally, Broidy and Agnew (1997) suggest that female and male differences in crime rates can be further explained by socialized gender differences in the processing of the negative emotions associated with strain. Males learn to “act out” with other- directed overt anger, aggression, and violence. Females, in contrast, learn to “act in” with depression, guilt, and shame and inner or relationally directed, more covert aggression. Females also learn to disperse their negative emotions by gaining support from others in their more developed social networks and have been socialized to espouse values and use coping styles that discourage criminal behaviour. Males, on the other hand, are typically rewarded for their displays of aggression and encouraged to use coping styles that support the commission of crime.

Question 81

Life Course Theory; gender

Answer 81

Developmental and life course theory adds to the study of girls’ criminal behaviour by examining how an individual’s offending pattern varies over time at different age and role transitions (e.g., gaining/losing employment, marriage, becoming a parent).
In general, longitudinal research that includes females shows that these offenders do not offend as frequently or for as long in duration as males, meaning that they often begin later and/or desist before adulthood.
In their recent work, Schwartz and Steffensmeier (2017) explain the observed within and between sex differences in criminal behaviour over the life course as hinging on individual agency mediated by a combination of gendered risk preferences that are culturally and socially influenced; gender-stratification of crime opportunities and markets; and tangible reproductive and biological differences. Concerning serious and chronic offending, they argue that social positions like age, race, social class, and gender influence in- dividual decision-making by making specific opportunities more or less attractive and more or less available to an individual. They refer to a “glass ceiling” of the underworld where, except in rare circumstances, girls and women are not afforded the opportunity to become involved with criminal associates (gang activity and white-collar crime) and thus have fewer opportunities to commit highly profitable property and serious violent crimes. These barriers are not in place where less serious offences are concerned, which may help to explain why we see large variations between the sexes in the commission of serious violent offences, but smaller differences in relation to offences like theft and minor assault.

Question 82

Anti-colonial Theory

Answer 82

We have made the case that it is important to understand how girls from these particular groups encounter oppression and find themselves being overrepresented in the criminal justice system in Canada. Delinquent girls are not a homogeneous group. Neither official crime statistics nor the available theoretical approaches to understanding female crime adequately recognize that Canada’s history with Indigenous, racialized, and the queer communities has its roots in racist and gender stereotypical notions of dominance and in colonialism. Anti-colonial theory gives us tools to recognize that colonialism is an ever-present part of our current struggles. As Hogarth and Fletcher (2018) state, “the reality is that colonialism is a modern day, presently occurring phenomenon firmly embedded in our history and even more so present in our everyday. There is nothing post about colonialism”

Question 83

gender-sensitive responses;

Answer 83

Responses by the criminal justice system that recognize that the pathways to criminal involvement and the needs of female offenders are different from those of male offenders. Such approaches include risk assessments, treatments, and supervision.
Gender-sensitive responses to female offenders should match the needs and learning styles of individual offenders and must be versatile. One evidence-based example of effective gender-sensitive treatment—particularly useful with girls convicted of an offence who live with serious mental illness, trauma from abuse, and heavy substance use—is dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), a collaborative, therapeutically based intervention that helps clients to achieve cognitive and emotional self-knowledge and self-regulation and strengthens their ability to deal with stress and trauma

Question 84

Inherent Challenges of Measuring Adolescent Substance Use; social desirability effects;

Answer 84

Biases in research caused by respondents’ desire to provide what they feel is the socially acceptable response or “what the researcher wants to hear.”
Drug and alcohol surveys are inherently unable to procure information from the entire youth population. The information obtained through these types of surveys typically comes from the youth who attend public schools or from youth who can be contacted through telephone surveys and who agree to participate in the surveys. In addition to an array of potential methodological problems with these types of self-report surveys— such as social desirability effects, errors in memory, exaggeration, and deception

Question 85

street-involved youth;

Answer 85

People 25 years of age or younger who do not have a safe home or are underhoused; who have been forced to leave their family of origin; who have run away from their home without the consent of their parents or guardian or who left foster- or group-care placements; or who are not living on the street but who experiment and engage in street-involved activities and identify with street culture and street peer groupings.
In Canada, estimates of the number of street-involved youth have been cited at 150,000

Question 86

method of administration;

Answer 86

The path by which a drug or other substance is brought into contact with the body. Common methods include smoking, ingestion, injection, and intranasal inhalation.
Both the type of substance used and the method of administration can have serious ad- verse effects on the health of users young and old

Question 87

Psychological Risks of substance use

Answer 87

Psychosis; A symptom of mental illness involving a substantial alteration to an individual’s personality and a loss of contact with objective reality.
Co-morbidity; Two or more independent and coexisting medical conditions.
As is the case with psychosis, studies have found high levels of co-morbidity of substance use and mental health problems among adolescents similar to levels among adults

Question 88

Dependence;

Answer 88

When use of a substance is needed to achieve normal daily functioning, or when substance use leads to tolerance. Abruptly stopping use may lead to symptoms of withdrawal.

Question 89

substance abuse;

Answer 89

Characterized by a pattern of recurrent use of a substance where at least one of the following occurs: failure to fulfill roles in major life areas, use in physically dangerous situations, recurrent alcohol- or drug-related problems and continued use despite this use contributing to social or interpersonal problems.

Question 90

Stigma;

Answer 90

An attitude of disapproval, discredit, or shame directed towards an individual, or group of individuals, based on a particular behaviour or attribute.

Question 91

Adolescent Substance Use and the Link to Criminal Behaviour

Answer 91

The connection between substance use, delinquent activity, and criminality in adolescents has been well documented. Adolescents involved in the justice system tend to initiate substance use at earlier ages, use a greater variety of substances, and use more frequently and at higher doses than their peers the same age. Youth who continue to use substances across adolescence are more likely to have longer criminal careers and increased contact with the criminal justice system. In general, research has found a strong relationship between adolescent substance use and crime, although other un- derlying factors likely contribute to both

Question 92

drug recognition expert (DRE) evaluation;

Answer 92

A standardized procedure performed by a trained drug recognition expert— involving visual cues, vital signs, questioning, and the provision of bodily fluids by the potentially impaired driver—that is used for determining impairment by drugs or by a drug in combination with alcohol.
Police have the power to demand that a driver complies with a standard field sobriety test or provide an oral fluid sample if they suspect a driver is impaired by drugs. If those tests produce reasonable grounds to believe an offence has occurred, an officer may demand a blood sample or a drug recognition expert (DRE) evaluation.

Question 93

proactive police work;

Answer 93

Enforcement activities that are police initiated rather than in response to a call for service.
Many drug offences go undetected, with most reported offences resulting from proactive police work. Therefore, the statistics largely reflect the direction of police focus on drug crimes

Question 94

Dial-a-dopers;

Answer 94

Individuals, often youth or young adults, who are given one or more cellphones by a criminal organization and deliver drugs to specific locations when customers wanting drugs call the phone to place an order.
Police in British Columbia (Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit [CFSEU] BC 2015) have also reported that many youth who appear to come from affluent and main- stream family backgrounds are being recruited into organized drug trafficking as dial- a-dopers, drawn in by the perception of the status surrounding criminal gangs and the promise of easy money.

Question 95

Alternatives to Fear-Based Communication

Answer 95

Researchers generally agree that fear-based communication is an ineffective approach to dissuading youth from using substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis
Other prevention approaches might include increased taxation of unhealthy sub- stances, regulation to ensure appropriate use and deter unsafe use, and harm-reduction strategies to address factors that contribute to the negative consequences associated with substance use

Question 96

fear-based communication;

Answer 96

Messages used to frighten youth away from experimentation with substances by emphasizing the potential negative effects of use.

Question 97

harm-reduction strategies;

Answer 97

Any policy or program that is designed to reduce the level of harm associated with substance use without requiring the cessation of use.

Question 98

Indigenous youth crime

Answer 98

an outcome of historical policies and practices resulting in severe and entrenched trauma among generations of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Question 99

Criminalization;

Answer 99

The process whereby individuals are assigned the label of “criminal.”

Question 100

Colonization;

Answer 100

Refers to historical and ongoing processes that began with the arrival of Europeans to the country and that include attempts to dominate and assimilate Indigenous peoples.

Question 101

Marginalization;

Answer 101

The partial exclusion of certain groups from mainstream society who routinely suffer as the result of gross inequalities.

Question 102

Trauma;

Answer 102

Experience that is psychologically painful, distressful, or shocking (such as suffering sexual abuse or witnessing serious violence) and often results in long-term mental or physical problems (such as depression, anxiety, or insomnia). Also, the community-level and individual-level damage, pain, and suffering of Indigenous peoples— physically, spiritually, emotionally, and psychically—is a result of the historical and current processes of colonization.

Question 103

Victimization;

Answer 103

The experience of being a victim, which can be linked to future criminalization.

Question 104

Public Perceptions of Racialized Youth Criminality

Answer 104

Criminologists have established very well the ways in which news media promote panic and fear of immigrants and “ethnic” crime. Ethnic youth crimes are portrayed as worse than other crimes, and racialized youth’s images are exaggerated to reinforce the ethnic character of criminality in a way that stigmatizes the whole community, thereby creating moral panic among the public

Question 105

traditional risk factors for youth gang involvement

Answer 105

Conventional research on gangs has put forward numerous traditional risk factors for youth gang involvement, such as poverty, substance abuse, school failure, dysfunctional families, childhood abuse, and poor parenting.

Question 106

Risk Factors for Gang Involvement among Racialized Youth

Answer 106

Youth who are involved in gang violence come from multiple backgrounds—from young people who would be considered “traditionally” at risk due to their poor socio- economic backgrounds, substance abuse, and unstable families to those who display “non- traditional” risk factors, with intact families and multiple life opportunities, as described above in the case of Indo-Canadian youth.

Question 107

Linkage between Immigration, Ethnicity, and Crime
The four sociological models used in the literature to explain the relation between immigration and crime (Wortley 2009)

Answer 107

the importation model, the strain model, the cultural conflict model, and the bias model.

Question 108

Linkage between Immigration, Ethnicity, and Crime; the importation model

Answer 108

According to Wortley (2009), the importation model presents the direct relationship between crime and immigration. It states that the youth who come to Canada from countries where crime is a common occurrence are more likely to commit crimes in Canada. The development of criminal gangs, organized crime groups, and terrorist organizations is often explained using this model.

Question 109

Linkage between Immigration, Ethnicity, and Crime; The strain model

Answer 109

recognizes that the criminal behaviour and gang involvement of youth from immigrant families is a result of their marginalized and disadvantaged position in the host country. The social and economic experiences of immigrants are marked by difficulties in seeking employment; low household incomes; and discrimination in housing, education, and politics. This multiple marginality pushes youth toward street socialization, which often leads to criminal and gang involvement. In contrast to the importation model, the strain model puts the blame for youth criminal behaviour on the negative experiences of immigrants in the new country and therefore proposes that instead of law enforcement options, the focus should be on resolving social (in)justice by eliminating discrimination and reducing the economic disadvantages of immigrants

Question 110

multiple marginality

Answer 110

The combined disadvantages, marginalization, and powerlessness that racialized youth face, which often result in street socialization and gang involvement.

Question 111

Linkage between Immigration, Ethnicity, and Crime; The cultural conflict model

Answer 111

proposes that the intersection of immigration and culture are at the root of criminal behaviour. According to this model, the vast majority of im- migrants do not intend to commit crime in their host country. However, racialized youth from certain cultures “maintain cultural or religious practices” that condone actions that conflict with the laws of their host country, such as violence, prostitution, and drug use/ trafficking. But although this model may be able to explain some of the crime of new immigrants, it fails to do so for the criminality and gang involvement of youth who are born in Canada.

Question 112

Linkage between Immigration, Ethnicity, and Crime; the bias model

Answer 112

argues that the overrepresentation of certain racialized groups in the criminal justice system is a result of racial discrimination and bias within the criminal justice system. Youth from certain ethnic and racial backgrounds face systemic discrimination at the hands of criminal justice professionals that results in their being “more likely to come under intense police surveillance (racial profiling), more likely to be arrested by the police, and more likely to be convicted and given tough sentences by the criminal courts”

Question 113

The overrepresentation of minority youth in the criminal justice system has been widely framed in relation to

Answer 113

disproportionate minority contact (DMC) and systemic racism. In particular, youth from black, Indigenous, South-Asian, and Latino communities have publicly complained about differential treatment by the police, including harassment, illegal searches, and street interrogations, excessive use of force, and unjustified arrests and laying of charges.

Question 114

disproportionate minority contact (DMC);

Answer 114

A term describing the consistent overrepresentation of persons from certain ethnic minority backgrounds in police–citizen contacts, relative to their representation in the population. In particular, young men from black, Indigenous, South-Asian, and Latino backgrounds have been found to be overrepresented in these statistics.

Question 115

systemic racism;

Answer 115

Critical racism theorists contend that racism is reflected in a variety of areas of social life, including public policies, institutional practices, economic systems, and cultural representations. Systemic racism serves to perpetuate the political and economic dominance of whites in society over all other groups.

Question 116

street interrogations;

Answer 116

A tactic whereby persons are proactively stopped and questioned by police. Critics have alleged that these stops disproportionately target youth from racialized backgrounds and constitute a form of racial profiling as they are typically not predicated on involvement with criminal behaviour.

Question 117

racial profiling;

Answer 117

The use of the perceived “race” or ethnicity of a person as a factor in determining police suspicion, rather than that person’s involvement in a specific criminal incident. Victims of racial profiling are often subject to excessive police–citizen contacts, detentions, interrogations, searches, and police brutality.

In particular, it has been widely argued that the over-policing of youth from certain racialized minority backgrounds can be attributed to racial stereotyping by police—a practice that has widely become known as racial profiling

Question 118

order-maintenance strategies;

Answer 118

Policing tactics designed to regulate the use of public spaces and to address signs of “disorder.” Order- maintenance objectives have been associated with aggressive policing strategies that target high-crime areas through proactive arrests for minor crimes.

Policing practices in these neighbourhoods have come to be characterized by aggressive order-maintenance strategies that emphasize intensive police surveillance, especially over youth

Question 119

social-ecology of crime;

Answer 119

The impact of human interactions with the lived environment on crime causation and victimization. Crime has been found to be concentrated in areas with high levels of socio- economic disadvantage and disorder. These areas are therefore also prone to high levels of police supervision.
The impact of the social ecology of crime has been well documented as it relates to racialized youth and the police, with race and place remaining key predictors of negative experiences with the police, in particular for black youth

Question 120

“hot spots” policing;

Answer 120

A strategy of identifying the specific areas, usually in urban settings, where crime has been shown to be concentrated. Through “hot spots” policing, the police are able to focus their resources on areas most likely to experience criminal activity.

The growing concern over racial bias in policing misconduct toward racialized youth can be linked to the advent of “hot spots” policing, an approach that considers the relationship between crime and place, with the neighbourhood as the unit of analysis. This approach contends that crime is localized in “hot spot” communities within a city that generate a disproportionate amount of criminal activity, and even within those communities there are areas where crime is more concentrated

Question 121

police legitimacy;

Answer 121

The extent to which individuals find the police to be legitimate has been linked to number of law-related behaviours, including compliance with the police and obeying the law. Legitimacy has been found to be predicated on the extent to which the police are seen to be acting in a fair or just manner consistent with the tenets of procedural justice.
Several qualitative studies have evidenced the collateral consequences of these approaches, including diminished police–community relations and a diminished perception of police legitimacy

Question 122

“street checks” or “carding”;

Answer 122

A common policing tactic involving police-initiated stops against persons in situations that typically do not involve an arrest. During these encounters, the police collect personal information from those stopped, which is later entered into a police database.
In 2016, Ontario moved to regulate the controversial practice of “street checks” or “carding.” Carding allowed police officers to stop, question, and docu- ment persons in non-arrest situations. Carding activities have been found to disproportionately target young people, and in particular black and brown males.

Question 123

Radicalization;

Answer 123

The process whereby persons holding moderate beliefs are converted to extreme social, political, and religious beliefs that justify and compel violence. This has been a primary concern of the post-9/11 security discourse, the focus of which has been young black and brown men from Arab and Muslim backgrounds living in Western nations.
An increasingly featured issue has been Islamic- inspired terror groups and so-called domestic radicalization, whereby persons living in Western nations are converted to extreme social, political, and religious beliefs that justify and compel violence.

Question 124

procedural justice;

Answer 124

A process-based approach to legitimacy whereby judgments are made about the quality of treatment received by the police and the fairness of the process by which the police make decisions. For young men residing in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, a heightened police presence can represent a further source of danger rather than protection against criminal activity. Furthermore, low levels of police legitimacy can also contribute to the use of self-protective behaviours among youth as a means of ensuring their personal safety. This can include a willingness to engage in violence rather than rely on the police, thus furthering the cycle of high crime rates
Fair treatment by the police that is consistent with the tenets of procedural justice is the most influential factor in determining youth’s perceptions of police legitimacy. Research has shown that youth who have been stopped and treated disrespectfully by the police are more likely to hold negative views of the police and that these views can contribute to hostile attitudes toward police during police–citizen encounters (Hinds 2007). This cycle of disrespectful behaviour on both sides can engender youth’s negative views of police and contribute to an unwillingness on their part to comply with police directives or to assist the police with their investigations, thus furthering high rates of crime

Question 125

Street-involved youth

Answer 125

Youths 25 years of age or younger who do not have a safe home or are underhoused; who have been forced to leave their family of origin; who have run away from their home without the consent of their parents or guardian or who left foster- or group-care placements; or who are not living on the street but who experiment and engage in street-involved activities and identify with street culture and street peer groupings.

Street-involved youth experience a decrease in rights, opportunities, and social supports, and this may exacerbate the risks associated with living on the streets. Street-involved youth are also at higher risk of developing mental health problems, some of which can lead to suicide; becoming involved in survival or obligatory sex; developing physical health concerns, including contracting sexually transmitted diseases; getting involved in criminal and delinquent activity; using and abusing drugs; and simply not meeting their basic physical needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

Question 126

Underhoused;

Answer 126

Youth who are underhoused live in housing that is temporary in nature and inadequate for space, that does not meet safety or health thresholds or has high risk for eviction.

Question 127

Throwaways;

Answer 127

Youths who are asked, or encouraged, to leave home by their parents/guardians, with the purpose of ending parental responsibility for the well-being of the youths.
homeless youth; Youth who either have left or have been urged to leave home with the full knowledge or approval of legal guardians. They have no alternative home in which to live.

Question 128

Runaways;

Answer 128

Youths who run away from their family or child welfare placement, at least overnight, without parental or caretaker permission. They often leave as a result of family conflict or maltreatment.

Question 129

squeegee kids;

Answer 129

A group of street-involved youth who are resourceful in attempting to develop and maintain a livelihood and means of survival by offering to clean windshields at major intersections.
A study of homeless Toronto squeegee kids, for example, suggests that the lives of this group of street-involved youth are characterized by a con- stant struggle to find safe, secure shelter, to generate income, and to find sufficient food

Question 130

youth-centric programming model;

Answer 130

Youth play a significant role in developing and evaluating programs, and agencies continue to be flexible in adapting to the changing needs of street- involved youth.
Studies advocate a youth-centric programming model that allows youth to play a significant role in developing and evaluating programs and in which the agencies continue to be flexible in adapting to the changing needs of street-involved youth

Question 131

Nordic model;

Answer 131

An approach to legislating sex trade activities that criminalizes the demand side (the buying of sex) and third-party profit from prostitution without imposing punishment for selling sex.

Initially, adults involved in the sex trade were thought to be independent choice makers, and although prostitution itself was never illegal in Canada, communicating for the purposes of prostitution was illegal. This changed with the landmark Bedford decision in 2013, when it was decided that the existing laws violated the security-of-person provision ensured by section 7 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. After this decision, the federal government passed Bill C-36, legislating that individuals communicating and performing the commercial exchange of sex were no longer criminalized. Instead, following the Nordic model, only the clients who purchase sexual services are penalized criminally. The Bedford decision and subsequent legislative changes have not directly impacted youth, as young people are not governed under the same provisions as adults.
-some have argued that the new legislation has resulted in youth, particularly young men involved in the sex trade, being more hidden than they were under previous legislation

Question 132

sexual exploitation;

Answer 132

The abuse, particularly of children and youth, through the exchange of sexual activity for money, drugs, and/or basic needs.
The term youth sex work is used synonymously with sexual exploitation as developing young people are seen to have less objective choice in sex trade involvement than adults.
The definition of sexual exploitation is best conceptualized on a continuum. It ranges from sexual slavery to survival sex to the more bourgeois styles of sex trade, like escort services, where both adults are consenting, albeit in a way that is shaped by their gender, sexuality, occupation, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and cultural values

Question 133

sexual exploitation trade (SET);

Answer 133

A term for the systems of sex work and the sex trade industry.
The issue of youth involved in systems of sex work—referred to henceforth as the sexual exploitation trade (SET)—gained prominence in the 1980s with the Badgley Report (1985) and has since evolved as understanding and terminology has shifted. Badgley sug- gested that “youth prostitution is the sexual abuse of a young person rather than a case of delinquency by a youth

Question 134

child welfare;

Answer 134

In Canada, this term is used to describe a set of government and private services intended to protect children and encourage family stability. The main purpose of these services is to safeguard children from abuse and neglect. One of the primary activities of the child welfare agencies is the investigation of allegations of abuse and neglect.

There is also significant overlap with child welfare legislation, and many provinces have adopted specialized legislative initiatives to address the sexual exploitation of young people in Canada.

Question 135

survival sex;

Answer 135

The exchange of sexual services for food, shelter, and other necessities, or for money to purchase food/ shelter/necessities.

Question 136

gay for pay;

Answer 136

A person who is heterosexual but who, in order to survive, will work in the SET as a homosexual. In McIntyre’s Under the Radar study (2005), respondents reported that customers often found the perceived opportunity to alter a young man’s heterosexual orientation very attractive.

Question 137

straight for pay;

Answer 137

A person who is homosexual but who, in order to survive, will work in the SET as a heterosexual.

Question 138

absolute homelessness;

Answer 138

A term used to refer to experiences of living on the street or in emergency shelters. Relative homelessness refers to experiences of being housed but at risk of losing housing or living in substandard housing. Hidden or concealed homelessness refers to living without a place of one’s own (e.g., living in a car, with family or friends [couch surfing], or in a long-term institution).

McIntyre (2009) reports that 64 per cent of her respondents had stayed in shelters. For many, this was the only option available to them. Entrance into, and continuation within, the SET often results in a distinct lack of options. Miller et al. (2011) found that 69 per cent of youth sex workers reported absolute homelessness, which was almost twice the rate of the adult sex worker population.

Question 139

bad date;

Answer 139

An episode of harm enacted upon a sex worker by a client, including assault, sexual assault, incidents of theft, refusal of payment, threats, rudeness, time wasting, harassment, aggressive behaviour, etc. Bad dates that include physical assault can lead to harm so profound a sex worker dies.

Violence takes many forms for those in the SET. Being victimized by clients is the most predominate fear of those involved. Twenty-nine percent of McIntyre’s (2009) respondents indicated that their greatest fear was a “bad date,” and 80 percent had experienced one at some point

Question 140

Legislation: Official Regulatory Regimes and Ideology; Youth involved in the SET

Answer 140

Youth involved in the SET in Canada are governed by at least two sets of legislation: the federal Criminal Code and provincial child welfare acts.
Provincially, most of these legislative initiatives include a controversial strategy known as protective confinement or involuntary coercive holding, permitting police and/or social workers to apprehend anyone under the age of 18 who is involved in prosti- tution, either after obtaining a court order, or—in emergency situations—without such an order
protective confinement or involuntary coercive holding; A type of detention to protect a person from harm, either from outside sources or from themselves.

Question 141

The Quebec Intervention Model for Young Offenders: The Right Measure at the Right Time

Answer 141

Before 1950, in Quebec, as in the rest of Canada and some other Western countries, young offenders found themselves in adult prisons. It was several decades before the incarceration of minors ended in Quebec. This chapter describes the evolution of this process from various perspectives over the past 100+ years. The changes made to the judicial system during this period were accompanied by new concepts of intervention and more extensive criminological, psychological, and psycho-educational research. The dynamic relationship between research and intervention has also played a major role in defining a differential intervention approach that has become more explicit and is now recognized as the basis of the Quebec intervention model used.

Question 142

differential intervention;

Answer 142

An approach arguing that, based on the identification of the type of delinquency associated with the behaviours of young offenders, interventions must then be tailored to meet young offenders’ treatment needs and the level of risk they pose to society (risk of recidivism). It considers that people do not come in one-size-fits- all packages and therefore refrains from applying the same approach to each person involved in a class, program, or other forms of group-based change process.

Question 143

extrajudicial programs;

Answer 143

Measures that are designed to hold youth responsible for their actions without the creation of a criminal record. They are generally applied to youth who are not engaged in a serious delinquent trajectory.

In extrajudicial programs, the assessment carried out by the provincial director must examine certain key factors: the offence committed as well as who is responsible for the offence; the character of the offender and of his/her family; and the social environment.

Question 144

Boscoville;

Answer 144

A unique program in Quebec that was based on a social welfare and psycho-educative model and that introduced elements in its program designed to teach delinquent youth the necessary skills, values, and attitudes that would allow them to develop a sense of social responsibility.

Beginning in the 1950s, during the creation of the court for “social welfare,” uprisings against youth imprisonment and large repressive institutions intensified. At the same time, groups of professionals began setting up pilot experiments in rehabilitation, like that of Boscoville. Educators and other professionals took young offenders out of prisons and integrated them into newly designed rehabilitation programs, considered as alternatives to adult prisons and reform schools.

Question 145

psycho-educative model;

Answer 145

The program at Boscoville contributed to psycho-education, one of its areas of specialty being the rehabilitation of troubled youth. The psycho-educative model was unique to Quebec.

Developed in Quebec, this model followed the Boscoville experience and is now recognized as a profession specializing in the intervention of troubled youth.
This profession was created based on several assumptions. The first assumption was that “love” was not enough for working with youth. Contrary to what is believed in some religious environments, this model proposed that the worker must be relatively competent in certain areas. The second assumption was that re-education of young offenders must be integrated into every activity throughout the day and shared with the psycho-educator so that these youths would have a chance to change and take responsibility for their development

Question 146

dynamic security;

Answer 146

Security that is ensured by the relational dimension. It is achieved by the constant presence of educators and the bonds built between the youths and them. As a result, the quality of the social climate is improved among peers, who in turn contribute to the security of the institution.

Question 147

alternative justice agencies;

Answer 147

In addition to the efforts made to improve rehabilitation methods in institutions and to the rigorous community follow-up for moderate to high-risk offenders, there was also an opportunity to create community interventions with lower-risk offenders. These represented the first steps in creating alternative justice agencies.

Quebec-based agencies that are responsible for the application of the extrajudicial programs for youth, who are referred either by the police or by the provincial director, in accordance with the YCJA. Measures can include information and awareness programs on shoplifting, drugs, and law reinforcement as well as mediation or damage repair for the victim or, if that is not possible, damage repairs through community service.

Question 148

Extrajudicial Measures
Police Measures

Answer 148

The YCJA introduced a preliminary step that was referred to as “exchange measures.” Under the Act, it was considered that a certain number of youths who committed offences could benefit from measures applied directly by the police. Besides the possibility of laying charges, the police could decide not to apply any measure, to give a warning, or to direct the adolescent to a community centre where measures would be taken. The inter-ministerial committee of the YCJA in Quebec prepared a framework for these measures before implementing the law. The framework anticipates the type of offence and the measures that are necessary according to the severity of the offence, to traces of the offences left in the youth’s police file, and to the role each partner plays in applying measures (i.e., police officers, prosecutors, alternative justice agencies, and provincial director). The framework also includes allowances for regional committees under the authority of the PD who follows its progress. The alternative justice agencies take care of some of the measures for teens referred by the police. Most of these measures are information and awareness programs on shoplifting, drugs, law reinforcement, and so on. Though nonparticipation has no consequences, since 2003 young offenders in Quebec have participated in significant numbers.

Question 149

Extrajudicial Sanctions

Answer 149

As mentioned in the previous section, extrajudicial measures define some offences for which the young offender can be held liable for criminal and penal prosecution. All other offences are referred to the PD for evaluation and implementation of the possible extrajudicial sanctions. Every youth centre has staff dedicated to this task.

Question 150

use of restorative justice in canada

Answer 150

Over 30 years have passed since Taking Responsibility, a 1988 report authored by a House of Commons Justice Committee (the Daubney Committee), recommended the use and evaluation of restorative justice in Canada. The report stated that the “Committee found the evidence it heard across the country about the principles of restorative justice compelling,” and recommended that governments at all levels support the expansion and evaluation of RJ programs at all stages of the criminal justice process. In particular, Recommendation 19 supported the expansion and evaluation by the federal government, preferably in conjunction with provincial/territorial governments, of victim–offender reconciliation programs (VORP) at all stages of the Canadian criminal justice process that (a) provide substantial support to victims through effective victim services, and (b) encourage a high degree of community participation.

Question 151

victim–offender reconciliation programs (VORP);

Answer 151

A process through which a trained mediator(s), who could be a community- based volunteer, brings offenders and victims in a criminal event together to achieve a resolution that is satisfactory to both parties

Question 152

restorative justice (RJ);

Answer 152

Restorative justice is “a justice that puts its energy into the future, not into what is past. It focuses on what needs to be healed, what needs to be repaired, what needs to be learned in the wake of a crime. It looks at what needs to be strengthened if such things are not to happen again”

In 1996, Canada became the first country in the world to include restorative justice, through the provision of reparations to victims and communities, as a legitimate option within the Criminal Code (see section 718.2 (e)). Canada has a strong legacy in the development and expansion of restorative justice (RJ) principles, programs, and practices; yet such programs and practices currently remain at the margins of the Canadian justice system, compared to developments in other countries. This chapter explores the history of the development of RJ as it relates to juvenile justice, using developments in British Columbia as a case study.

Question 153

Sharpe (1998) offers five touchstones of restorative justice:

Answer 153

invite full participation and consensus; heal what has been broken; seek full and direct accountability; reunite what has been divided; and strengthen the community, to prevent further harms.

Question 154

JDA > YOA > YCJA

Answer 154

The Young Offenders Act (YOA) replaced the JDA in 1984, with the focus shifting to rights and procedural justice through a formalization of due process. The Act bridged youth justice with that of adults by referring to youth as offenders rather than delinquents; by having youth represented by counsel in court proceedings; by holding public court hearings; and by increasing the use of custody

The use of custody increased until 1999, when Anne McLellan, then Canada’s minister of justice, declared that we “incarcerate youth at a rate of four times that of adults and twice that of many US states”. Canada’s youth incarceration rate at that time was the highest in the Western world.

In response to rising youth custody rates, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) was implemented in 2003, as a middle ground between the JDA and the YOA

Question 155

YCJA; restorative justice

Answer 155

The YCJA introduced significant reforms to address concerns about how the youth justice system had evolved under [previous legislation] . . . the overuse of courts and incarceration in less serious cases, disparity and unfairness in sentencing, a lack of effective reintegration of young people released from custody, and the need to better take into account the interests of victims. With this Act, the influence of RJ theory and practice begins to be recognized in the legislative direction:

While the YCJA makes no direct reference to RJ, there is general agreement that the Act “does seem to open the door to the development of initiatives generally associated with restorative justice”. For example, numerous extrajudicial measures form an essential first response to youth crime rather than a possible alternative to court as was the case under the YOA. That is, the Act requires that police and Crown attorneys consider extrajudicial measures, including informal warnings, police or Crown cautions, police referrals to community programs or agencies, referrals to pre-charge screening programs or youth justice committees, or conferences

The YCJA authorizes the use of conferences by a youth justice court judge, the provincial director, a police officer, a justice of the peace, a prosecutor or youth worker, or a youth justice committee. Defined in the YCJA, section 2(1), as “a group of persons who are convened to give advice in accordance with section 19,” conferences refer to various types of processes in which affected or interested parties come together to formulate plans to “address the circumstances and needs involved” and may take the form of family group conferencing, youth justice committees, community accountability panels, sentencing circles and interagency case conferences”

Overall, the YCJA has decreased youth incarceration, Yet the aggregate data masks a disturbing trend for Indigenous youth, who continue to be overrepresented in the justice system at increasing rates

Question 156

Two primary methods of allowing for RJ initiatives are

Answer 156

the inclusion of victims and communities in the process and the authorization of RJ conferences.

Question 157

family group conferencing;

Answer 157

“. . . a process of collaborative planning in situations where decisions need to be made for children or youth. It is a formal meeting where members of a child or youth’s immediate family come together with extended kin and members”

Question 158

Under section 5, the YCJA directs (in part) that extrajudicial measures must:

Answer 158

encourage acknowledgment and reparation of harm to the victim and community;
encourage families (including extended families) of young persons, as well as the community, to become involved in the design and implementation of those measures; and
provide an opportunity for victims to participate in decisions related to the measures selected and to receive reparation.

Question 159

sentencing/peacemaking circle;

Answer 159

A process that brings together individuals who wish to engage in conflict resolution, healing, support, and/or decision-making. It provides a space for offenders to acknowledge responsibility for their behaviour and invites community members to participate in the decision- making and/or sentencing.

Sentencing/peacemaking circles are recognized within the Indigenous Justice Program (IJP) strategy (previously known as the Aboriginal Justice Strategy [AJS]). This program is cost-shared federally, supporting approximately 31 programs in British Columbia. The program supports the use of traditional justice in Indigenous communities, which may or may not include the use of peacekeeping circles.

Question 160

community justice forum;

Answer 160

A safe, controlled environment in which the offender, the victim, and their families or supporters are brought together under the guidance of a trained facilitator. Together, using a scripted dialogue process, the participants discuss the offence and how they have all been affected, and jointly develop a plan to correct what has occurred.

This adapted model was brought to BC in the late 1990s and was adopted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as a diversion process from court. While sometimes known as an FGC, this scripted model has also been called a community justice forum and a community conference.

Question 161

engaged institutions (EI) strategy;

Answer 161

A program strategy that incorporates a range of institutions important and influential to the economic, social, and emotional well- being of a young person, including schools, local government, agencies, and organizations.

Building on its peacemaking circle strategy is Roca’s engaged institutions (EI) strategy. This strategy recognizes that a range of institutions are important and influential to the economic, social, and emotional well-being of a young person, including schools, local government, agencies, and organizations

Question 162

Baron; how crime is related to several factors in the lives of street-involved youth

Answer 162

Extensive work by Baron has shown how crime is related to several factors in the lives of street-involved youth. These factors include monetary dissatisfaction; unemployment; deviant/criminal peers; being a victim of robbery, violence, or theft; perception of blocked opportunities; drug/alcohol use; low self-control; and low self-esteem. All of these factors interact to increase the risk of crime involvement in street-involved youth. As can be seen, criminal involvement among street-involved youth is a complex interaction of numerous factors and cannot simply be explained as deviant behaviour.
Street-involved youth consistently report that selling drugs is a means of earning money while on the streets. A significant proportion of street-involved youth are involved in some form of gang activity while on the street, while violent crime such as assault is also commonly noted in Canadian and US studies