Lecture 3: Societal Response to Youth Crime Flashcards
The debate of children going wayward is a modern phenomenon. True or false?
False, the notion of the “good old days” is a myth.
Myth of the “Good Old Days”
The idea that children were not a problem in the past, but are increasingly going wayward.
Why would people propagate the myth go the “Good Old Days?”
Because romanticization of the past has a feel good effect.
In the very beginning, youth were not giving any lenient treatment when it came to justice. True or false?
True.
What are some ways in which youth were punished in the very beginning?
In spectacular ways to make a statement. Spectacle had to be made, and young offenders were not excluded from the harsh environment of the treatment of criminals.
What was the distinction that was made between adult and young offenders in the beginning of youth justice?
There was no distinction.
In the very beginning, youth justice focused mostly on which group?
Boys.
“Boy Problem”
The idea that young boys were problematic when it came to criminality, and it warranted a severe response.
Conceptions of ___ and ___ contributed to the “Boy Problem.”
Masculinity, femininity.
The idea of “youth” and “childhood” are very old concepts, dating back to the very early years of human existence. True or false?
False, they are fairly recent constructions.
Originally, the discourse of juvenile delinquency considered children as “___ ___” who learned and took on adult roles.
Little adults.
When did the idea of juvenile delinquency materialize?
When childhood was recognized as a distinct stage of development.
Why was there originally an indifference to children?
Because of high mortality rates. People tended to disengage themselves emotionally from their kids.
The chances of children dying off in today’s society are relatively ___.
Low.
Recognition of juvenile delinquency was influenced by the social change in the…
Late 19th Century.
What change came about in the late 19th Century?
Children were recognized as distinct social stages that individuals went through. Correlated with specific chronological ages, and we comet expect a certain level of behaviour from them.
Social Reformers
Mainly upper-middle class business, political, and male elites.
Social Reformers were mainly what religion?
Protestant.
What did the Social Reformers do?
- Questioned the use of a generalized system.
- Argued that juvenile offenders should be treated differently using to a distinct set of laws.
- Encouraged informal governance: church discipline, shaming, and other community strategies.
In informal governance, do you put youth through the court system?
No, rather you use measures such as church discipline, shaming, and other community strategies.
Objectivist Perspective on Youth Crime
Youth crime constitutes ap problem and actual danger to society.
Social Constructionist Perspective on Youth Crime
Youth crime becomes a problem when it is defined as such.
Which perspective would argue that there is a palatable thing that constitutes youth crime, and that it is a real phenomenon?
Objectivist Perspective.
Symbolic Interactionist theories on youth crime would subscribe to which perspective on youth crime?
Social Constructionist,
What perspective on youth crime would say that it is real to the extent that we perceive it to be real, and that youth crimes become a problem when we treat is as such?
Social Constructionist Perspective.
Name some characteristics of Classical Legal Governance of youth.
- Little to no distinction between adult crimes and those of your persons.
- Actus reus and mens rea.
- Notion of “doli incapax.”
- Punishment to ensure retribution and deterrence.
- Housing adult and young offenders together.
- No immunity from prison discipline like flogging.
What element of crime is questioned and challenged by those who think youth and adult crime should be separated?
Mens rea.
Why do people question children’s ability to commit mens rea?
The wonder whether children have the mental capability to think of and plan crime, fully aware of their consequences.
NCRMD exists when it is not possible to determine ___ ___ due to a mental disorder.
Mens rea.
Doli Incapax
Means incapable of doing wrong.
When did Doli Incapax apply under Classical Legal Governance up until 1982/1983?
Children under the age of 7. Presumed at
The MACR in Canada was raised to __ years in 1984, where it still is today.
12.
Which type of youth justice ensured punishment was to ensure retribution and deterrence?
Classical Legal Governance.
True or false? Youth were housed separately from adult offenders in Classical Legal Governance.
False.
What was the turning point in youth justice where Classical Legal Governance became outdated?
When the Brown Commission reported on the Kingston Penitentiary in 1849.
What did the Brown Commission find concerning the treatment of youth prisoners at Kingston?
- There was beating of children for behaviour like laughing.
- Flogging children for doing things that were expected of children.
What were factors in the formation of a distinct juvenile justice system?
- Working class “menace.”
- “Derelicts” from all over the world.
- The growth of factories and wage labour.
- Family disorganization as a result of urbanization.
What were the socio-economic conditions leading to the formation of a distinct juvenile justice system?
Immigration, urbanization, and industrialization.
Social Reform Movements drew from findings by the…
Brown Commission.
How did the social reform movements influence the formation of a distinct juvenile justice system?
- Call for compulsory and free education.
- Reformatories and refuges.
How did Social Welfare influence the formation of a distinct juvenile justice system?
- Rise of the welfare state.
- Legal doctrine of parens patriae.
When the state began to develop its capacity to the point where it began to cater to people’s welfare, it becomes tied to the rise of the ___ ___.
Welfare state.
Parens Patriae literally means…
Parent of the nation.
Parent Patriae means the state…
Must act in the child’s best interest when parents fail.
Anti-Institutional Discourse came about as a result of…
Widespread dissatisfaction with institutional governance and calls for deinstitutionalization.
