Youth in Conflict - Midterm

3 institutions of CJS

police, courts, corrections

3 sources of knowledge

Official data, unofficial data, media

Official data

is data collected and published by government agencies and organizations, including crime reports and statistics from law enforcement.

Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics

is the national agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and publishing data on crime and justice in Canada, providing valuable insights for policymakers and researchers.

Unofficial data

is information gathered from informal sources, such as community reports, victimization surveys, and anecdotal accounts, which may provide a different perspective on crimes and justice issues.

Victimization surveys

are surveys conducted to gather information about individuals' experiences with crime, including unreported incidents, to better understand the prevalence and nature of victimization in a community.

Crime is sensitive to variation in:

• Report-sensitive: reporting practices

• Policing sensitive: how much police enforcement

• Definition sensitive: legal definitions are fluid

• Media sensitive: media portrayals different

Risk factors

that increase the likelihood of youth engaging in criminal behavior or becoming victims of crime, including socio-economic status, family structure, peer influence, and community environment.

Main way for most to know about youth crime

Media coverage

How media distorts protrayal of crime

Media often exaggerates or selectively reports sensational incidents, leading to skewed public perceptions of the prevalence and nature of youth crime.

Creates perception that most crime is random when stats show victimization is typical from familar people

Media content analysis

Research method used to systematically evaluate and analyze the presence, meanings, and implications of specific attributes within media texts, helping to understand how youth crime is represented. This is done by comparing media portrayals to actual data

Sprott’s study

Compared news articles in Toronto to Bala and Youngs Offenders reporting service (content analysis) to find out if they exaggerated claims of youth statistics

Sprott’s study findings

• Less reports on property crimes than violent crimes despite actual occurances showing they are opposit ein prevelance

• Media emphasized impact of crimes rather than the sentancing and reasoning behind

  • Leads to call for punish over rehab

• Led to people believing that sentences are to leniant, slightly more likely to want harsher sentences

Cultivation hypothesis

The theory that long-term exposure to media content can shape an individual's perceptions of reality, often leading to a skewed understanding of social issues such as crime and violence. Leads to more fear.

Social construction analysis of media

Researchers media by looking at wording and images used to construct a narrative. Sees social problems as constructed/defined by media

Main themes of social construction

• Media presents violence as growing social problem

• Innocent victims and guilty predators who prey

• Link between a new problem and an existing one

• Claim makers call for change (i.e. politicians)

Spencer’s study

• Examine high profile coverage of youth violence in 1994

  • presented as growing social problem

  • growth of violence at crisis level, spreading geographically

• Ambiguous portrayal of youth as both victims and perpetrators. This study highlighted media's role in amplifying fears and shaping public perception.

Hogeveen and patterns of media coverage

Analyzed house of common debates and media reports in the 1990s

Looked at “punishable young offender” that emphasized the need to protect the public from the risk associated with youth crime

Construction of media discourse based on percieved iadequcy of the laws, focus on victims

Social construction limitation

Assumes that we are all passive looked of media incapable of analyzing and meaningful public debate

We’re not all impressionable consumers

general strain theort Robert Agnew

A psychological theory that explains how individuals may experience strain due to societal expectations, leading to negative emotions and potential criminal behavior.

Strains

Experiences of situations that individuals percieve as being negative creating neg emotional reaction which can lead to copig with crimes

anger amplifies feelings of hurt/harm, creates need for retaliatiom, lowers inhibitions, lowers fear of punishment

3 broad types of strains

Failure to achieve goals, removal of positive stimuli, and presentation of negative stimuli.

Three different froms of failure to achieve goals

• disjunctions between aspirations and expected achevemet

• disjunction between expected achievemebt and actual achievement

• disjunction between just/fair outcome and actual outcome

Limitation fo GST

• no focus on emotions other than anger

• no look at gender differebces

• anger can also lead to internalized harm

Cohen’s lower class reaction theory

A theory that explains how individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may respond to their perceived lack of success based on middle class value system by forming delinquent/gang subcultures that reject mainstream societal values, often resulting in delinquent behavior.

Where is the first place lower class youth are faced with class disparities

Education system

evaluated based on outside values, discrimination based on performance gap leading to stress and damaged self esteem

Cohen’s 3 propositions

• Delinquent subculture emerges in response to adjustment challenges for failure to meet standards and loss of status leading to turning to delinquent peers to resolve strain

• Delinquent subcultures provide new criteria that resolves adjustment challenges and self essteem issues

• Delinquent subcultures value non utilitarian and malicious that reject MC values

Limitations of lower class reaction theory

• Doesnt address gender

• based on stereotypes of lower class values

• doesnt look at middle class youth delinquency

• ignores beneficial aspects of delinquent groups'

• ignores different cultures

• assumes lower class youth care about middle class values

social process theories

Theories that explain how social interaction with social institutions and orgs and relationships (socialization, family and freindships) shape individual behavior, particularly concerning deviance and delinquency.

Shaw and McKay social disorganization theory

A theory positing that crime and delinquency are linked to neighborhood characteristics, including poverty and residential instability, which weaken community cohesion and social control.

Concentric zone theory

concentric zone theory

A model explaining urban social structure, where cities expand outward from a central point in concentric circles, each associated with different types of land use and varying levels of social cohesion and stability.

Shaw and Mckay findings

• strong correlation between distribution of delinquency and distribution of business and industry

• highest delinquency in transitional zones with high rates of povertu, unemployment, poor health, high density housing

chicago area project

A community-based initiative aimed at reducing crime and delinquency through neighborhood organization, social services, and youth engagement.

focus on supporting community autonomy, non white no MC community and emphasis on traditional values before transition period

Social control theories

Based on the classical school of though that individuals naturally persue pleasure and avoid pain, deviance delinquency and crime are normal responses

Hirchi’s social control theory (social bond theory)

proposes that strong social bonds between individuals and their community reduce the likelihood of delinquency. It emphasizes the importance of attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief in social norms.

Hirchi - attachment

Refers to the emotional connection with individuals and institutions, which can deter them from engaging in delinquent behavior, as they care about the expectations and values of those they are attached to.

Hirchi commitment

Refers to the investment and stakes an individual has in conforming behavior, such as educational or occupational aspirations, which can motivate them to avoid delinquency.

Hirshi involvement

Refers to the participation in conventional activities and social institutions, which can occupy individuals' time and reduce opportunities for delinquent behavior.

Hirshi belief

Refers to the acceptance of social rules and norms, which influences an individual's commitment to avoiding delinquency by reinforcing the importance of abiding by societal standards.

Hirshi limitations

• no look at gender, class and race

• Deviance can be an escape

• doesn’t look at if involvement in cjs can weaken bonds

Terrance Thronberry Inetractional Theory

A theory that combines elements of social control and social learning theory to explain the onset and continuation of delinquent behavior. It emphasizes the role of social relationships and the interactions between individuals and their environments.

TT and bonds

• Parental, school and peer bonds reduce risk of delinquency

• lack of strong parental bonds leads to incread liklihood to associate with delinquent peers, further weakening bonds

• looks at bonding w education systemTT

TT on dinquency in childhood and early adolescence (<11)

• parental bonds matter most and can develop behaviour problems if exposed to disadvantaged neighbourhoods, poverty, poor school

  • Greatest risk for continued anti social behaviour and more serious delinquency

TT on delinquency in middle adolesence (12-16)

• School/peer bonds matter more, previously behaved well but may act out in minor ways (drink, shoplift)

  • Will likely end bc strong parental bonds are not wiped

TT on delinquency in early adulthood (16+)

• Relatively small amount who were well behaved, mat have had younger personal problems that didn’t manifest in deliquency

  • Long protected environment leads to more influence by peers

  • May encounter relationship problems

Gottfredson and Hirschi Self control general theory

The theory posits that low self-control (ability to restrain from temptation), primarily developed through ineffective parenting, leads to higher likelihood of criminal behavior and delinquency. Self control traits are seen to come together in some people, act together in tadem and persist over life time. Emphasis on early childhood socializarion , poor parental relationships and bad parenting skills

Gottfredson and Hirsch self control traits

• impulsivity: act before thinking

• lack of diligence: do not think of consequences, short sightedness

• risk-taking: thrill from risks

• Physicality: favour physicality over cognitive skills, more aggression

• insensitivity: no sympathy for harm caused

• low frustration tolerance: negative responses to events interpreted as injustice

Research on self control theory

• Supports claim that low self ocntrol increases liklihood of engaging in crime'

• not necessarily over lifecourse and ppl can change

Sampson and Laub age graded theory of social control

seeks to examine the pathways to crime and delinquency and the possible trails back to conformity. Formal and informal social control restricts criminality, starts early in life and continues throug life course

3 elemnts of age graded theory

• trajectories: paths or avenues if development throughout the lifespan

• Life course turning points:  events that serve to direct individual development of criminals paths (desistence or onset/0

  • can terminate or sustain crimial careers

  • arrest/punishment can lead to continued career, hard to reintegrate (labelling theory)

• Social capital: resources and relationships that individuals can draw upon to support positive life choices and discourage criminal behavior. Social capital can reinforce prosocial networks and foster resilience against delinquency.

2 critical life course turning points

career and marriage

Limitation to age graded theory of social control

need to integrate qualitative and quantitative dimensions of behaviour

Terrie moffit’s developmental taxonomy of offenders

Moffitt's theory classifies offenders into two groups: life-course persistent offenders, who engage in delinquency throughout their lives, and adolescence-limited offenders, who only offend during their teenage years. This distinction highlights different motivations and social influences on criminal behavior.

Two key types of offending paths: Life course persistent offenders

• 5-10% of populatoon

• misbaviour early in children and persist into serious forms

• Often suffer from neurophyschological problems based on envrionmental factors or parenting (malnutrtion, parental substance use, toxins, etc)

• more likely to be hyperactive or have limited verbal/mental skills

• correlation between growing up in disadvantaged neighbourhoods

Two key types of offending paths: adolescence limited offenders

• begins and ends in adolescence

• exhibt behaviours indicating adult status, minor delinquency such as drinking

• express independance and maturity

• nomrla pattern of baheviour at this stage of life course when most heavily influenced by peers

• Typically take on responsibilities or have turning points that deter

• more likely to come from advantage

Farrington’s integrated cognitive antisocial potential

Looks at antisocial potential in adolescent boys distinguishing between:

• Long term AP - tend to come from poor fmsilies, poorly socialiazed, impulsive, sensation seeking, low IQ

• Short term AP - suffer few or any deficits but may temporarily increase AP in response to certain situations

Antiscocial potential

Refers to the likelihood or capacity for an individual to engage in behaviors that violate societal norms and can lead to criminal activity, often influenced by various personal and environmental factors. Ordered on a continuum with very few people at high levels and can vary over time often peeking in adolescence

Farrington desires and teen years

• Desire based on status, material goodm relationships, etc

  • When lack of legit means or frustraed/bored people will seek legitimate means

  • Everyone has potential but may fluctate over life course

• Strong desires and lack of prosocial means to satisfy them or the cognitive means to make wise choices may lead to ST

  • LT may persis if find consequences are reinforcing, stress, criminal labelling or incarceration

Limitation of Farrington’s theory

• Not extremely experically tested

• may not apply to girls

Critical criminology

Focuses on the societal structures and power dynamics that contribute to crime, emphasizing the role of inequality and social justice in understanding criminal behavior. Begins from premise that the lives of most marginalized are based on circumstances not of their choosing

The “marginalized other”

Refers to individuals or groups who are socially, economically, or politically excluded from mainstream society, often facing systemic barriers that hinder their opportunities and rights.

Foucault and crime/control

Look at structures and how young poeple are governed and surveilled + disciplined. Youth labelled as disobedient or marginalzied experience increased surveillance

Foucault and power

• Extends beyond particular class or state

• Relational

• Doesn’t exist unless exerted, we only know power when we see it

• Not solely negative or repressive, creative form of creating desirable behaviours/oucoms, influence behaviour without consequences

• Operates in everyday experiences

• Discipline

Discipline

subtle form of power shaping how people think, act and behave not through violence but rules, surveillance and everday routines

Different from discipline in premodern socities that was based on violence and public displays

Panopticon

A theoretical design for a prison by Jeremy Bentham, exemplifying Foucault's concept of surveillance. It allows a single watchman to observe all inmates without them knowing if they are being watched, thus inducing a state of conscious and permanent visibility.

People police themselves out of fear of surveillance

Ericson and Haggerty

Youth are frequently targets of surveillance bc they have a higher rish or calculated probability of events

Marginalization of youh is camouflaged as risk management, compunded with other disadvantages

Youth and disciplinary technologies

Disciplined through architectural design, daily routine interactions with agencies of social control and inmates

Classificantion systems

Risk assessment tools

Methods used to evaluate the likelihood of youth engaging in problematic behaviors, often influencing surveillance and intervention strategies.

Ranks risk as low, medium or high to create individual plans to prevent recidivism

Screening tools

Identify youth who have exhibited characteristics assocuated with delinquency or criminal conduct that helps assist with referrals to programs and services

Risk-Need-Responsivity Model

Framework used to screen out low/med risk offenders to better help high risk who will better benefit from intervention and treatment

3 key principles of Risk-Need-Responsivity Model

• Risk principle: assessment stats based on risk of recitivism

• Needs principle: assessment to establush criminigenic needs, risk factors and protective factors

• Responsivity principle: assessment of likely receptivity to intervention strategies

Youth assessment and screening instrument

Employed in community/costodial youth justice places

• Static risk factors: unchangeable traits contributing to offending that cannot be altered

• Dynamic risk factors: changeable and can be modufied through targeted intervention

Youth assessment and screening instrument preliminary findings

• effective tool to evaluate youth risk level

• Needs contemporary understanding of gender/ queer needs in cjs

• standard test is based on straight white middle class men

Youth assessment and screening instruments limitations

• Reliable in future reoffending risks for male and females, more research needed on how gender informs treatments and needs

• Intended for incarcerated youth based on empirical evidence of youth behavioral patterns and aggression in youth

• Standardized - need for BIPOC 

Risk-Need-Responsivity Model limitations

• Can overlook practical differences

  • quantifies behaviour but i.e. youth who miss court apperences bc of job commitments

• Standardized and biased approach

• Risk constructions are racialized and gendered along class lines

• Individual problems vs societal problem

• Conflate risk and need

Derrida’s deconstruction of “justice”

• actors of YJS are instruments of punishment and confinement and do little to ammeliorate suffering 

• Authorize to deliver pain as punishment for harm

• penetentiaries run based off of this misguided principles

Terminology changes

• Juvenile delinquent act to young offenders act

• Juvenile delinquent to youth offender and youth crime

YCJA definition of young person

Young person who is or appears to be 12 years or older or less than 18 including person charged under the act with having commited an offense when they were young

Limitation of purely legal definition

• focuses primarily on predatory and aggressive “conventional” crimes deemed punishable by law

  • Less focus on victimless crimes and techonoly based crimes

• Cases of youth crimes are often elminated because of policy and admin variation

• Reporting rates can differ based on public willingness to report crime

Historical trends in delinquency

• Preconfederation - 19th C: Very little surveillance of youth, economic loss (many keeps unemployed and not in school), abuse leading to increased youth delinquency

• Introduced universal public education to alleviate delinquency and jj kelso helped establish the first Ontario juvenile court system

• 20th century: juvenile courts led to large increase in convictions, typically property related offences, more ffort put into training kids

  • youth rates briefly dopped during “helping mode” when improved sociall and economic conditions led to more love

  • erosion of social cohesion and mass mediainfluence led to “alarming increase”

Today’s youth offenders

• youth are 7% of population but 13%n of crimes

• youth crime rate steadily dropping

• increase during covid but less violent crimes

Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics 3 ways to express crime

crime expressed in 3 ways:

• number of youth charged

• rate of youth charged per 10000 aged 12-17

• percentage of change in total youth rate between years

YO gender demographic facts

• young males tend to commit more crimes (80% vs 20%)

• Involvement inreases with age for both genders

• Male more likely SA, drug possession, attempted murder and weapons

• Females more likely common assault, admin offeces and shoplifting

YO age demographic facts

• rate of accused steadily increases from 12 to 17 then declines

• Younger people more likely to commit violent crimes

• older youth more likely to commit admin offences, failure to appear in court and faiure to comply witth deposition

• all age groups commit comparable rates of property crimes

• Involvement in delinquent activities younger age

Crime Severity Index

A measure that reflects the perceived seriousness of different crimes and their impact on society, often used to analyze trends over time. Each offence is assigned a seriousness “weight”

Regional crime statistics

• PEI has lowest rate of violent crime

• Saskatchewan has highest rate

• Most common assault, then uttering threats and attempted murder

• PEI has highest guilty pleas and Manitoba has lowest

non violent crime statistics

• decrease in property crimes but still most considerable proportion of all youth crimes

• Most common theft un $5000, then common assault and mischief

• Notable decline in frauds, breakins and possession of stolen property

Disposition trends

Moving less punitive

• Decrease in youth found guilty and placed on probation

• Peak for youth placed in secure custody in 2004 then decreased

  • Increase in sentences of one month or less

• Decrease in youth court cases

• Incarceration rate dropped due to increased diversion

• Increase in process delays

Recidivism rates

• Decrease in charged youth with one or more prior convictions

• The older youth get the more likely they will have prior charges

Limitation to self-reported surveys

• literacy level and ability to comprehend questions

• short term vs long term memory

• Willingness to give info voluntarily

• Exaggeration of answers to conform

Stanley Cohen’s Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers

A sociological study exploring media, public perception, and the societal reaction to youth subcultures, particularly focusing on the Mods and Rockers in 1960s Britain. Coined the term moral panic to describe exxagerated fears about youth deviance generated by media

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistic’s Uniform Crime Report

provides annual data on crime reported by police, including statistics on youth crime and recidivism rates, which helps in understanding trends in youth conflict. Originally created to measure police work, compare crimes across jurisdictions and justify police resource use

5 factors affecting official crime statistics

• Crime is report sensitive

• Crime is police sensitive

• Crime is definition sensitive by law

• Crime is media sensitive

Sources of information on YCJS

• 59% primarlily newspaper, magasine and tv/radio

• 8% on academic sources

• 5% first hand experience

Baron and Hartnagel (1996) Survey

Respondents quite punitive towards youth justice, less about person experiences with victimization and more with conservative social valued

Simplistic coverage of sensational cases brings awareness to latent public fears

Study of juvenile homicide in Chicgo newspaper

• While crime rates declined news coverage incressed

• News articles focus on atypical cases 

  • 90% of homicides commmited by men but 30% of reports by famales

• More coverage on white youth than lack or latinex

• One year increase in age correspond with 28% reduction in liklihood of coverage

John Lowman’s “discourse of disposal”

Media descriptions of atttempts by politicians, police and residents groups to rid street prostitution contributed to sharp increase in street murders

Cyber bullying

• Youth seen as misusing social media and harm is easier to perpetuate and experience

• 35% have been victims of online harassment

Frame analysis

A method for examining how media portrays and influences public perception of issues/develop cultural understandings of youth, focusing on the specific angles and narratives presented

Cadman’s call for victims

Called for changes in CC that create formal recognition of victims, victims are informed of progress in investigation, restitution by offenders given for harm