Policing Youth

Question 1

In what ways do youth come in contact w/ the police?

Answer 1

• Police contact begins at a young age: schools, public events, mass media
• Begins in primary schools - police give presentations at school; deterrence
• Shifts as youth begin to spend more time in public

Question 2

What does it mean when youth begin to go out more as they shift from childhood to adolescence?

Answer 2

• More time in public spaces
• More time away from parents/caregivers
• More time with friends
• More time away from home - spent in competing Arenas/Spaces (malls)

Question 3

How has the shift from private to public spaces resulted in more youth crime?

Answer 3

• Historically, society has become increasingly urban, allowing youth to become more mobile as a result of technology
• E.g. youth have more access to transit, schools, jobs
• Gave them more opportunity to become involved in deviant behaviours
• Routine activities theory - based on the assumption that crime can be committed by anyone who has the opportunity; victimization occurs by placing oneself in situations where a crime can be committed against them

Question 4

What is the role of part-time jobs in youth deviance?

Answer 4

○ Part-time Jobs - gave discretionary income (money & less responsibilities = money spent on drugs, alcohol, etc.)

• Youth working w/ young adults who are of legal age - social network led to more drug & alcohol use

Question 5

How do police exercise discretion in instances of youth crime?

Answer 5

• most youth crime comes to police attention by complainants
• Discretionary measures - warning, take kid to parent, enter program, charge & have child go to court
• Extra Judicial Measures (warn, contact parents, program)

Question 6

Describe the change in rates of charges under the YOA & YCJA.

Answer 6

• In 1990s under Young Offender Act 56% of cases resulted in charges
• often due to punitive approach & MMP
• In 2018, 44% resulted in charges (compared to 63% for adults) (YCJA)
  ○ Considerable drop has taken place due to the use of Extra Judicial Measures
• EJM - measures police have at their disposal

Question 7

What are legal factors considered when police exercise discretion?

Answer 7

• Legal: seriousness of offence and prior arrests
  ○ more serious the offence, more likely a charge will be laid
  ○ More likely to charge if individual has criminal history/prior arrests

Question 8

What are the extra legal factors considered when police exercise discretion?

Answer 8

• Extra legal: Race, Demeanour; Class, Gender, Age, Family and Community; Variation in Police Departments

○ Impact whether charge will be laid of not
EXAMPLES:

○ Demeanour - how the youth responds to police (e.g. youth seen as respectful/apologetic, charge not likely to be given; respond w/ aggression - more likely to receive a charge
○ Social class - poor youth have greater probability of being charger
○ Chivalry hypothesis - girls get off of a charge easier than boys

Question 9

Are lower class youth more likely to be charged than middle class youth?

Answer 9

Gillis and Chan found that police attitudes of certain areas in Toronto and citizen complaints were significant predictors of arrests

Charges likely to occur in “bad” neighbourhoods w/ high complaints

Question 10

What is the role of family in determining whether a charged will be laid or not?

Answer 10

• Both parents being present & if they are apologetic helps kid get out of the charge
• Attitudes of Parents (more likely to be charged):
  ○ minimized seriousness
  ○ denied that son or daughter was involved
  ○ Didn’t want anything to do with young person

Question 11

What are the 2 most important predictors of whether a police will charge or not charge?

Answer 11

Prior police contact & seriousness

other factors: age (older kids more likely to be charger than younger kids), weapons, indigenous, sex

Question 12

In the USA, which groups are over-represented in policing arrest rates?

Answer 12

Black youth are over-represented in police arrests rates (about 15% of population and about 30% of arrests)

Question 13

Why are Indigenous youth overrepresented in the YCJA?

Answer 13

• Harsh Living conditions:
  ○ Colonialism
  ○ Lower levels of formal education, high unemployment. Low life expectancy, family instability, residential school systems
  ○ Last residential school not closed until 1996
  ○ Stripped of language and culture
  ○ Perhaps led to a resistance to education
  ○ Many Indigenous youth live with despair and anger
  ○ Much of the crime that these youth are involved in (Vagrancy, Public intoxication and stealing) is due to their poverty
• Bias and Discrimination
  ○ Contact with the police at earlier ages than non-indigenous youth
  ○ Many end up in jail due to bail and probation violations

Question 14

What is racial profiling?

Answer 14

idea that certain racial groups have higher crime rates than others in some measure because police target people due to their racial characteristics