Police officers skate with a youth at the opening of the Regent Park skating rink in Toronto. Why might positive experiences with police officers help discourage criminal behaviour in youth? (rmnoa357/Shutterstock.com) Online Chapter: Youth Justice in Canada LEARNING OUTLINE After reading this chapter, you will be able to • Describe current trends in youth crime • Identify the differences between the Juvenile Delinquents Act, the Young Offenders Act, and the Youth Criminal Justice Act • Provide some reasons why sentences for youth are mitigated • Describe the involvement of youth in serious and violent crimes • Identify the pathways to girls’ involvement in crime 2 CASE STUDY Youth Involved in Homicide Brett Wiese, a University of Calgary student, was stabbed to death on 12 January 2013 after a group of young people who had been kicked out of a house party “returned with a ‘posse’” to carry out a “revenge-motivated assault” (Martin, 2015). Wiese was stabbed seven times, another partygoer was severely wounded, and several others were assaulted. Jazlyn Radke, who was 17 years old at the time, was found guilty of second- degree murder, two counts of assault, and one count of aggravated assault for her role in the offences. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2015), Radke had been kicked out of the party but she “refused to go and was scream- Mitchell Harkes, the 19-year-old who was sentenced to ing, swearing and swinging at partygoers before life imprisonment along with Radke, is shown here being vowing to return.” arrested. The public is generally understanding of youth Although the murder occurred in January 2013, who commit minor crimes but is less forgiving of youth and Radke was convicted in April 2014, the sen- who commit violent offences. Although sentences for tencing did not occur until May 2015. Radke was youth are often mitigated due to factors such as lack sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge ruled of maturity, youth convicted of murder will be under the that Radke can stay in a youth custody facility until supervision of the Correctional Service of Canada for the remainder of their lives. she turns 21 years of age, and then she will be transferred to a Correctional Service of Canada prison. Because she was under 18 years of age at Like any other Canadian sentenced to life impris- the time of the offence, Radke will have to serve at onment, she will be under correctional supervision least seven years before she can apply for parole. for the rest of her life. CRITI CAL QUESTIONS 1. It has been said that justice delayed is justice 3. Does the gender of the offender in a mur- denied. Can you think of reasons why it is pref- der case change your perceptions about the erable for the youth justice system to move amount or type of punishment the offender slowly in these types of cases? should receive? 2. Why do we hold punitive feelings toward young people who commit serious and violent crimes? Youth Justice in Canada 3 INTRODUCTION It is not uncommon for youth to engage in some minor criminal offe ces such as shoplifting, theft, vandalism, trespassing, drug use, or mis- chief. In addition, there are a variety of actions that are considered lawful for adults but not for youth, such as drinking alcohol, gambling, run- ning away from home, skipping classes, or buying tobacco products. Young people caught engaging in these acts are rarely arrested, but the police will typically caution them or bring them home to face their parents. Many officers are reluctant to go through with an arrest because of the lifelong consequences an arrest or conviction can have on an individual, including for minor offe ces. Even supporters of “tough on crime” punishments are often sympathetic toward young people who have committed minor offe ces. As a result, justice sys- tem officials have developed alternative measures programs to divert young minor offe ders from the formal justice system. Our positive or sympathetic feelings toward youth are challenged by young people who have Photo Hansen/iStock Shane Vincent © repeatedly appeared before the courts and con- A police officer arrests a female youth in this photo. tinue to reoffe d. But support for juvenile re- Rates of crime committed by youthful offenders have habilitation is generally fairly high, even in cases been decreasing since the mid-1990s, and homicides of violent or repeat offe ders. Mays and Ruddell committed by youth are at the lowest level since the (2015, p. 279) found that over three-quarters 1980s. Although those statistics suggest that current strategies to control youth crime are successful, some of respondents in seven US polls conducted people are still pessimistic about youth involved in between 1998 and 2011 supported placing crime. juvenile offe ders in rehabilitative programs— delinquents An and Americans tend to be more punitive than outdated term for young Canadians. Yet, there are also Canadians who awareness by the 1850s that children and youth people who believe that young people who have committed are diffe ent than adults in terms of behavioural have committed criminal acts. violent offe ces should be treated similarly to development. Youth were acknowledged as being adult offe ders by “locking them up and throw- less mature and more impulsive, having poorer status offence Under ing away the key.” This raises the question of decision-making skills, and lacking sophistication the Juvenile whether youth should be treated the same as compared to adults. As a result, the sentences that Delinquents Act, adults in the justice system. this term refers youth received for committing crimes were often to actions In the past, Canadian juvenile delinquents mitigated due to their immaturity. Bernard and that were not (an outdated term for young people who have Kurlychek (2010) observe that children less than considered crimes for committed a criminal act or a status offe ce— seven years of age were seldom held criminally adults but were which is an act that is unlawful for a youth but responsible because they lacked the maturity to unlawful for youth, such legal for an adult, such as drinking alcohol) were diffe entiate between right and wrong. Criminal as drinking treated much like adults, but there was growing sentences for youngsters aged eight to fourteen alcohol. 4 Exploring Criminal Justice in Canada were also mitigated in many jurisdictions. Older the following: How much crime do young offe d- adolescents, however, were often treated the same ers commit? How serious are these offe ces? What as adults. Pfeifer and Leighton-Brown (2007) are the characteristics of these youthful offe ders? report how three British Columbia brothers and Figure 1 shows that the number of youth court a co-accused were hanged on 31 January 1881 for cases in Canada has been declining for over two their involvement in a murder even though three decades. There were fewer than 40,000 youth court of them were under 18 years of age at the time of cases in 2013–2014, which is a decrease of over the offe ce. one-half since 1991–1992 (Statistics Canada, 2015). In the pages that follow, a short discussion of What is remarkable about this decrease is that the youth crime in Canada is presented, as examin- size of the youth population (aged 12 to 17 years) ing the volume and seriousness of youth crime is increased during that time. While fewer youth a first step in understanding and then solving the may be involved in crime, there might be other problem. This discussion is followed by a descrip- explanations for this decrease, including the fact tion of the evolution of the youth justice system that alternative measures programs can reduce the in Canada since 1908. An overview of Canada’s number of youth appearing before the courts. youth laws is provided, and boxed features pay The types of offe ces for which youth are appear- special attention to topics such as adolescent brain ing in court can shed light on the seriousness of development, Aboriginal youth in the justice youth crime, and the “top 10” most common youth system, and pathways to crime for young female court cases are presented in Figure 2. According offe ders. to Alam (2015), the most common offe ce is theft, which accounts for 11.7 per cent of all cases, and the seven non-violent offe ces represent almost one- YOUTH CRIME IN CANADA half (47.2 per cent) of all cases. These findings sug- In developing responses to crime, there are several gest that most youth offe ces are relatively minor questions that need to be considered, including (see Department of Justice, 2004). When assessing the seriousness of youth crime, we can also consider the youth Crime Severity Index, which is shown in Figure 3. This figure shows that the volume and severity of youth crime (overall) and violent youth crime have been decreasing since 1998 (Allen & Superle, 2016). Although Figures 1 to 3 represent all youth crimes, the public is also very concerned about homicide rates. The number of youth aged 12 to 17 years accused of homicide is presented in Figure 4. The homicide rate fluctuated during the 30 years from 1983 to 2013, but it has been on a down- ward trend since 2009. As Cotter (2014) reports, in the past decade there were an average of 35 to 40 youths accused of involvement in homicide Colin McConnell/Toronto Star via Getty Images offe ces each year. That number dropped to 24 youths accused of murder in 2014 (Miladinovic The photograph above shows a youth courtroom in Toronto.