CRM 3312 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Juvenile Delinquency, Young Offenders Act
11 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
CRM 3312
Youth and Justice
K. Campbell
VNR 2095
Lecture 1: Monday, January 9, 2017—Introduction
Youth and Justice
• Young offenders are “victims first and offenders second… survivors who are punished by
law for offences viewed out of context” (Schissel, 1997, p. 108)
Law and Order vs. Youth Advocates
• Youth Advocates—view youths as victims
o 1. Important issues: economic, social and political realities
o 2. Youth crime exaggerated, misrepresented by the media
o 3. Facts: reported youth has dropped
o 4. Youth were treated harshly under previous law (YOA)
• Law and Order Group—view young offenders as the “enemy”, out of control due to:
o 1. Lack of respect
o 2. Lack of a sense of responsibility
o 3. Increasingly involvement in violent criminal behaviour
• Law was considered a problem because:
o 1. Youth cannot be identified
▪ Labelling theory—continued to be seen as a criminal because they’ve been
viewed as such
o 2. Youth are not punished for their crimes
▪ Truer with Young Offenders Act, but not like that anymore
o 3. Youth have more rights than their victims
o 4. Youth are too protected
Rationale for a separate Youth Justice System
• Children/youth are recognized as different from adults and not held accountable in the
same way
• In Canada, this treatment has evolved considerably over the past century
o First youth court in 1908
o No jury
o No preliminary hearing
o Judge often talks directly to the young offender
• Children’s rights evolve as they grow
• Beginning of adolescence—at age 12—growing social, intellectual, moral and sexual
awareness, increasing size/strength
• Adolescence as time of great change/development; high-risk behaviours increase
• Three distinct stages of criminal accountability (Canada):
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Youth and justice: young offenders are victims first and offenders second survivors who are punished by law for offences viewed out of context (schissel, 1997, p. 108) Youth advocates: youth advocates view youths as victims, 1. Important issues: economic, social and political realities: 2. Youth crime exaggerated, misrepresented by the media: 3. Youth were treated harshly under previous law (yoa: law and order group view young offenders as the enemy , out of control due to, 1. Lack of a sense of responsibility: 3. Increasingly involvement in violent criminal behaviour: law was considered a problem because, 1. Youth cannot be identified: labelling theory continued to be seen as a criminal because they"ve been viewed as such, 2. Youth are not punished for their crimes: truer with young offenders act, but not like that anymore, 3. Youth have more rights than their victims: 4.
