Youth Offenders and their Crime

Question 1

What and when was Paren Patriae establish?

Answer 1

15th century
acknowledges states responsibility of welfare of child and established foster care
states assumed custody of children with unfit/no parents

Question 2

What and when was the New York House of Refuge?

Answer 2

1825
goal to save children from criminal ways through a safe place to escape it
Female staff as social work and advocates
movement to reform behaviour (decorum, manners, civilized society’s rules)

Question 3

What and when was the Child Saving Movement?

Answer 3

1st juvenile court in Chicago in 1899
rescue narrative for girls through white woman’s saviour complex

Question 4

What was the age of consent campaign? What was the problem?

Answer 4

to protect girls from men preying on their innocence with age minimums only for girls
punished girls for sexuality and sent them to reformatories

Question 5

How did age of consent models affect Black girls

Answer 5

North: reformatories for white girls
South: custodial model, no treatment of assistance for Black girls, often Black girls in North sent here, “incapable of reform”

Question 6

What was the Juvenile Delinquency Act of 1908?

Answer 6

“Parens Patriae”
moral offenses (truancy, sexual behavior)
prosecution: 8-21 with goal of rehabilitation
viewed them as victims of abuse and poverty

Question 7

What were the problems with the Juvenile Delinquency Act?

Answer 7

wealthy criminals and girls not considered delinquent
womens offenses explained as related to sex (and sexual repression)
No formal sentencing guidelines

Question 8

What was the Young Offenders Act of 1984?

Answer 8

prosecution: 12-21 and only if in criminal code
kids same rights as adults
mandatory and max punishment of 3 years was seen as too light

Question 9

What was the Young Offenders Act Amendment of 1996?

Answer 9

max punishment increased to 10 years for murder, attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault w/ weapon
16yo prosecuted as adults
publication bad on identity and potential expunged records after 18

Question 10

What was the youth criminal justice act of 2003?

Answer 10

scrapped YOA
goal to prevent crime, rehabilitate and reintegrate through accountability
prosecution: 12-18 & 16+ tried as adults in youth facility till 18
focus on securitization

Question 11

What does the focus on securitization do?

Answer 11

increased incarceration rates, mostly Indigneous youth in foster care, Manitoba Youth Center as last resort

Question 12

What is the nature and extent of female delinquency?

Answer 12

fastest growing pop. in JJS, more likely to be formally processed, increase in severe punishments, lack of rehabilitative programs

Question 13

What did the sexual abuse of girls in confinement 2009 case study find?

Answer 13

lawsuits, majority of assaults perpetrated by staff
survey: juvenile males more likely to be victims of staff sexual abuse, transgender girls are at extreme victimization risk

Question 14

What was the Ashley Smith case?

Answer 14

sent to JJS for minor offense, kept in isolation, led to behavioural issues that kept her there, basically tortured, selfharm for human interaction, no psychiatric assessment for 3 years, died at 19 (spent 48 hours outside since 13)

Question 15

How did the youth centers respond to Ashley Smith?

Answer 15

they used violent and physical measures, and there were no resources for her to help her with her mental health

Question 16

What is Grand Valley Institution?

Answer 16

it was built with female inmates in mind and has special mental health programs tailored to women. something that Ashely could have used, but instead she was locked in segregation the minute she got there?

Question 17

What is the Elizabeth Fry Society?

Answer 17

a national organization advocating for women in prison

Question 18

What was different about Ashely Smiths jail/prison time?

Answer 18

it was spent almost completely in segregation which is incredibly inhumane, illegal to do indefinitely, and dangerous for the inmate especially mentally. they kept moving her every 60 days to restart the clock (there is a limit of 60 days of segregation at the time)

Question 19

What was the response to having “too many use of force incidents” against Ashely Smith?

Answer 19

to ignore her all together, even if it did appear that she was strangling herself, and not to intervene until she stops breathing. they were even threatening the guards that they could be fired if they intervened.

Question 20

why was Ashely never fully evaluated or treated meanginfully?

Answer 20

she was never in one place long enough.

Question 21

what percent of youth offenders are indigenous?

Answer 21

43%