Jane B. Sprott

The Importance of School: Protecting At-Risk Youth From Early Offending

Using longitudinal data, this study explored the protective effect of a school bond (on violent and nonviolent delinquency) across a variety of risk factors. A strong school bond protected children with early aggression from continuing on in violence 2 years later. A strong school bond also protected children with numerous environmental risks from violent and nonviolent offending. Finally, a strong school bond acted as a protective factor against the influence of peers who were delinquent (for nonviolent offending only). From a policy perspective, these findings suggest that zero-tolerance polices that aim to exclude children considered to be a problem through suspensions or expulsions could be counterproductive.

The Effect of Urban Neighborhood Disorder on Evaluations of the Police and Courts

Are people dissatisfied with the courts as well as the police when they perceive high levels of disorder in their neighborhoods? Consistent with previous research, this study, using a representative sample of Canadian adults, demonstrates that people are significantly more negative about the police when they perceive high levels of disorder. They are not, however, more negative toward the courts when confronted with these social problems. It is possible that they have heard the police rhetoric—namely, that the police form the “thin blue line” between order and chaos. Although the public holds the police and the courts responsible for increasing rates of crime, victimization, and fear, they do not see the courts as being responsible for neighborhood disorder, which they see as being the sole responsibility of the police.

Understanding Public Opposition to a Separate Youth Justice System

This study examined the frequently reported finding that the public believes that youth court sentences are too lenient and that young offenders should be processed in the adult justice system. These beliefs, along with the view that sentences for specific cases should be harsher, were all related to one another in an Ontario, Canada, survey. However, the nature of the relationship was complex, and more detailed analyses suggested that the wish to imprison young offenders was not solely a desire for more punitive responses but instead was due, in part, to perceptions that alternatives to prison were ineffective.

Trust and Confidence in the Courts Does the Quality of Treatment Young Offenders Receive Affect Their Views of the Courts

It is assumed that legitimacy of the legal system is important, yet almost nothing is known about how young offenders view this institution. A sample of youths were interviewed at their first appearance in court and asked about their feelings regarding how they have been treated (procedural justice) by their lawyer, by the crown attorney, and by the judge, as well as their views on the overall legitimacy of the legal system. Youths were again interviewed at sentencing, using the same questionnaire, to explore changes in their views over time. Generally, it appears that how youths feel they have been treated— specifically, by their own lawyer and by the judge—affected broad views of legitimacy, even when controlling for their overall satisfaction of the outcome of their case.

Punishing youth crime in Canada The blind men and the elephant

The Government of Canada, in its 2003 changes in the law governing young offenders, managed to appear to be ‘tough on crime’ while, at the same time, attempting to reduce the use of the formal youth justice system. This was accomplished by focusing public statements on tough, symbolic measures that had little impact on the manner in which young offenders were punished while at the same time promoting, in its legislation, attempts to reduce the rates of formal processing and of incarceration of young people. It is understandable, then, that some critics, including academics, who focused on public statements described Canadas new youth law as being unnecessarily harsh. We suggest, on the basis of an analysis of the law and of its administration – including comprehensive sentencing data showing no real increase in punitiveness over the past decade or so – that the law as written and administered is quite different from the way in which it has been described in this journal and in the Canadian mass media. In this way, the Government of Canada was able to have its cake and eat it, too.

Confidence in the Police: Variation across Groups Classified as Visible Minorities

Il est clair que la confiance du public envers les policiers est un facteur important et elle risque de varier selon le groupe culturel/racial et la région canadienne. Par contre, lorsque les données nationales sont utilisées, les différences de perception sont examinées du point de vue des « minorités visibles » en tant que groupe mixte comparé aux minorités « non visibles ». À l’aide de données recueillies lors de l’Enquête sociale générale sur la victimisation de 2009, nous raisonnons que parler des perceptions des « minorités visibles » envers les policiers est une simplification exagérée. Une catégorie de personnes aussi grande cache des moyens plus nuancés qui font en sorte que certains groupes diffèrent d’autres groupes sur divers sujet et à divers endroits.

Unintended Consequences of Multiple Bail Conditions for Youth

En vertu du Code criminel et, plus récemment, de la Loi sur le système de justice pénale pour les adolescents, les objectifs législatifs des conditions de remise en liberté sous caution semblent mettre l’accent sur les raisons de la détention, notamment assurer la présence au tribunal et réduire le risque de récidive. Alors que des études canadiennes ont exploré les effets de multiples conditions sur les chances qu’un contrevenant se retrouve devant un tribunal pour ne pas s’être conformé à une ordonnance, il n’y a eu aucun examen de l’effet de nombreuses conditions sur l’atteinte de ces principaux objectifs législatifs. À l’aide d’un grand échantillon représentatif de causes devant des tribunaux pour la jeunesse, nous étudions le lien entre l’imposition de nombreuses conditions et l’atteinte de ces objectifs. Nous découvrons que l’utilisation de nombreuses conditions de remise en liberté n’est pas associée à un plus haut taux de présence au tribunal ou à un plus petit taux de nouvelles accusations criminelles (violence, propriété, drogues). Au contraire, de nombreuses conditions ne sont liées qu’à un plus haut taux de manquement à se conformer à une ordonnance. La nécessité d’imposer de nombreuses conditions de remise en liberté est mise en doute.

Assessing punitiveness in Canadian youth justice A response to Hogeveen

Canadian youth justice policy has been contentious for much of the past 40 years but most notably since Canada’s second youth justice law (the Young Offenders Act) came into effect in 1984. During the 1990s, there were two major sets of amendments to that law, and in 1999, a new law was first introduced into Parliament. This new law, which came into effect in April 2003, like the law it replaced, was controversial within the political process as well as among academics. In the context of this broad youth justice debate, Hogeveen, in this journal, suggested he would ‘highlight how the punishable young offender has been manifest in, and governed through, increasingly harsh penalties, austere punishments and high rates of incarceration’ (2005: 73). He further suggested that the Government of Canada, in the late 1990s, was ‘prompted’ to denounce ‘youth crime through tougher youth justice legislation (the Youth Criminal Justice Act)’ (p. 73). In that article, Hogeveen made a number of empirical assertions about Canadian youth crime and youth justice during the 1990s including the following: