Week 9 : Readings Flashcards
1
Q
Textbook youth
The term youth…
A
- Youth Criminal Jusitce Act defines it as 12-17
- UN and WHO defines it as 15-24
- Others define youth as a process
- the concept is socially constructed
2
Q
Textbook youth
youth ‘at risk’
A
- some youth are considered deviant & are subject to measures of social control cuz they’re ‘at risk’
- they are a danger to themselves
- being bullied, tobacco & vape use, drug use, alcohol use
- grades 7-12 most commonly used substances are alcohol (42%), vaping (23%) & weed (22%)
3
Q
Textbook youth
Being bullied
A
- negative emotions likely to arise when strain is percieved as unjust, strain is severe individual lacks control over situation
- Agnew proposes that bullying is a form of strain that fits those 3 criteria
4
Q
Textbook youth
Tobacco & E-cigarette use
A
- 19% grades 7-12 have tried tobacco but very few do it regularly
- it was way more common in the 70s & this shows that measures of social control directed at youth smoking has been very effective
- youth smoking is controlled by… federal tobacco & vaping products act (no sale -18), advertising is prohibited & smoking is banned in many public places
- the tobbacco industry has faced social control through legal action
- images of smoking in movies has a large impact on yout smoking (there has been efforts to control this too w/ R-ratings, anti-tobbacco messages, etc.)
- decline in smoking = vaping (age 15-19)
- governments criticized for their slow implementation of vaping legislation & for promoting them as better than smoking
5
Q
Textbook youth
Drug use
A
- weed most widely used among youth
- most common illegal drugs are hallucinogens & synthetic cannabinoids
- youth are more likely to abuse perscription drugs than illicit drugs
- Individual factors… genetic & environmental predispositions, degree of personal competence, trauma, mental health & gang involvement
- community factors… norms abt sustance use, prevalence of crime, community disorganization, economics & nature of peers
- Family factors… parenting style, parent-child attachment, abuse/neglect & family history
- School factors… academic success, reading skills, problem-solving abilities, participation in extracurriculars & feelings of belonging
- effective programs target all these factors & must occur prior to child’s likely exposure to drugs
6
Q
Textbook youth
Alcohol use
A
- 40%+ of youth drink
- alcohol companies target youth (flavours)
- Binge drinking among university students & is increasingly moving off campus
- Binge drinkers associate with other binge drinkers and the same with ppl who aren’t
- Cuz uni binge drinking tends to be treated as an individual problem, there is a prevention paradox in the uni environment
- Population prevention approach has been found to be the most effective in reducing harm… so targeting the uni environment as a whole
7
Q
Textbook youth
Youth ‘as a risk’
A
- the view that youth crime is out of control & worse than ever isn’t acc true but is in media
- huge difference in perception vs actual patterns of youth crime
- this is cuz of moral panics (concern, hostility, consensus, disproportionality & volatility)
8
Q
Textbook youth
Youth crime
A
- crime rates & severity of crimes has declined in youth
- most common crimes are level 1 assault, theft of $5000 or under & mischief
- but… youth are overrepresented in the CJS
- a lot of objective theories are used to explain youth crime
- Most effective predictor of criminal activity among youth is peer behaviour
- the rate of violent crimes committed by females have increased, leading to a new moral panic
9
Q
Textbook youth
Gang-involved youth
A
- popular media topic
- ## 2 streams of research on youth gangs can be identified… (1) focuses on causation/motivation (2) focuses on various aspects of the social constructed ‘gang problem’
10
Q
Textbook youth
The how and why of youth gangs (objective mostly)
A
- strain theory, status frustration theory, differential opportunity theory
- ethnographic research involves researchers embedding themselves in gangs for extended periods of time
11
Q
Textbook youth
The reasons for joining a gang are based on a rational calculation of what is in best interest at that time for the individual… reasons include…
A
- material incentives
- recreation
- place of refuge & camoflauge
- physical protection
- time to resist
- commitment to the community
12
Q
Textbook youth
The construction of the ‘gang problem’…
A
- criteria for gangs is… several ppl w/ organized structure, group identity, geographical area is theirs & deviant/criminal behaviour present
- can be hard to distinguish a gang from other groups of youth (e.g. frat matches criteria)
- media makes it a bigger problem than acc is
- media racialize the gang problem
- media makes a moral panic and then ppl can benefit from it (profit, politicians toughen legislation, law enforcement gets more funding, gangs get publicity etc.)
13
Q
Textbook youth
Factors influencing gang involvement
A
- family indicators… parent treatment, criminality among family, low education level, etc.
- Personal indicators… low self-control, grades, low aspirations, substance abuse, etc.
- Community indicators… community disorganizations, high crime rates & population turnover, gang presence, etc.
- School indicators… negative environment, violence, low expectations, inadequate funding, lax control, etc.
14
Q
Textbook youth
controlling youth gangs & youth crime (4)
A
- formal… schools have gang awareness programs to prevent children from joining gangs
- Informal… everyday social interactions, typically preventative & can include parenting & community involvement
- retroactive… try to persuade gang members to leave lifestyle
- preventative… work with schools teaching kids life & social skills & police departments have specialized gang units
15
Q
Textbook youth
Formal legal control of youth gangs
A
- 1908 Canadian Juvenile Justice System Juvenile Delinquents act… basically child welfare legislation, there were jails for youth specifically
- 1984 replaced by young offenders act… based on justice principles, delinquents changed to young offenders
- 2003 Youth Criminal Justice Act… bad offenders treater worse & less bad given community service to be supervised in the community (most)
