A CENTURY of PRINT MEDIA PERSPECTIVES on YOUTHFUL OFFENDING Chantal Faucher B. Soc
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BAD BOYS AND GIRLS, YESTERDAY AND TODAY: A CENTURY OF PRINT MEDIA PERSPECTIVES ON YOUTHFUL OFFENDING Chantal Faucher B. Soc. Sc., University of Ottawa, 1997 M. A., University of Ottawa, 1998 DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the School of Criminology O Chantal Faucher 2007 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY 2007 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Chantal Faucher Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Dissertation: Bad boys and girls, yesterday and today: A century of print media perspectives on youthful offending Examining Committee: Chair: Joan Brockman Professor Dr. Dorothy E. Chunn Senior Supervisor Professor - Department of Sociology and Anthropology Dr. Robert Menzies Supervisor Professor - Department of Sociology and Anthropology Dr. Dany Lacombe Supervisor Associate Professor - Department of Sociology and Anthropology Dr. Marilyn Gates Internal Examiner Associate Professor - Department of Sociology and Anthropology Dr. Bernard Schissel External Examiner Professor - Department of Sociology University of Saskatchewan Date DefendedlApproved: 30 November, 2007 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the "Institutional Repository" link of the SFU Library website cwww.lib.sfu.ca> at: ~http:llir.lib.sfu.calhandlell892/112~)and, without changing the content, to translate the thesislproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. While licensing SFU to permit the above uses, the author retains copyright in the thesis, project or extended essays, including the right to change the work for subsequent purposes, including editing and publishing the work in whole or in part, and licensing other parties, as the author may desire. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Revised: Fall 2007 In order to assess the relevance of claims often found in contemporary print media accounts that youth crime is out of control and that youth today are worse than ever, this dissertation examines Canadian print media coverage of youthful offending throughout the twentieth century. The research endeavour is situated within the existing research literatures on youth crime and justice and media coverage of crime. A sample of 1937 news items from three Canadian daily newspapers (The Toronto Star, The Province from Vancouver and La Presse from Montreal) is examined using quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques and from perspectives that draw on cultural studies and feminist media studies. Quantitative analysis reveals certain patterns in coverage over time as well as similarities and differences between the three newspapers examined. The qualitative thematic analysis exposes several key narratives in the print media discussion of youth crime and justice. This research confirms existing research literature in several ways, while also offering new insights about the social construction of youthful offending in the print media. The media simplify and decontextualize youth crime for its presentation as news. Official sources, particularly police, play a privileged role in shaping the news. Since the 1950s, however, print media coverage of youth crime has shifted significantly in terms of both quantity and quality of coverage. The narrative themes of fear and violence feature more prominently in the post-1950 discussions. Explanations of youthful offending are largely absent from or trivialized in the coverage. Moreover, when they are offered, explanations of and responses to youth crime do not tend to challenge the status quo in any significant manner. They largely draw on the conventional paradigms represented by the Classical and Positivist Schools iii of Criminology. The coverage gives very little consideration to the implications of the broader social structure and context for youth. Notably, gender stereotypes and dichotomies between 'good' and 'bad' are prevalent in the portrayals of offenders and their families, as well as victims. Dominant ideologies of gender, sexuality, family, race and class run through the portrayals of individuals and families in the coverage. DEDICATION For my three great loves, Daniel, Claire and Rose. Without them, I might have finished this project much sooner If not for them, I might not have finished it at all. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My first thanks belong to Doctor Dorothy E. Chunn. The numerous ways in which she has helped me throughout this process could fill this entire page. In the interest of brevity, I will say only that her encouragement and support are the very meaning of mentorship. My thanks are also extended to Doctor Robert Menzies whose boundless enthusiasm for this project (in the various forms it took over time) often served to re-energize my own enthusiasm. Additionally, I am very appreciative of his editorial help which was tremendous. Thank you also to Doctor Dany Lacombe for her critical feedback and insight. I am grateful as well to all three members of my supervisory committee for the hours spent discussing this project, hours during which they never bothered to look at their watches. Thank you. I would like to acknowledge my examiners, Doctor Bernard Schissel and Doctor Marilyn Gates, for their very constructive comments and suggestions. I also wish to extend my sincere thanks to my family whose sacrifices were great in encouraging me to come to B.C. to study and to see this project through to its end. Their love and support have been extraordinary. Some of my friends and colleagues have helped me through this experience as well with their humour and support in various forms. I would especially like to mention: Eva Silden, Camilla Sears, Sheri Fabian, Steven Kohm, Margaret Jackson, and Rebecca Godderis. Perhaps more than anyone else, I would like to thank Daniel Paradis for his endless love, help, patience and support, for bearing with me throughout and giving me strength to push ahead. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval .......................................................................................................................... ...ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... III Dedication ....................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ vi Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. x List of Tables .................................................................................................................. xi List of Boxes .... .............................................................................................................. xii List of Abbreviations and Acronyms .............................................................................. xiii Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 - YOUTH CRIME AND JUSTICE: A LITERATURE REVIEW......................... 6 A) The youth crime problem and the social construction of delinquency .................... 6 i) The social construction of childhood and the child-savers .................................. 8 B) Laws relating to youthful offending in Canada ................................................... 12 C) Historical perspectives on the regulation and control of youth and families ......... 17 i) From welfare state to neo-liberal state .............................................................. 17 ii) Shifts in dominant familial ideology .................................................................. 19 D) The Province of Quebec's distinctive approach ..................................................