U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Impact of the Young Offenders Act on Dispositions in the Juvenile Justice System of Canada

NCJ Number
127436
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 14 Issue: 1-2 Dated: (Spring/Winter 1990) Pages: 289-305
Author(s)
J McCowan
Date Published
1990
Length
17 pages
Annotation
A study was conducted to determine the impact of the Young Offenders Act (YOA) which replaced the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA) on judicial dispositions for 13- to 15-year old young offenders at the Provincial Court in Frontenac County, Canada. The study controlled the nature of the cases and the type of individuals brought before the court.
Abstract
A comparison of the dispositions under the two acts revealed that youths sentenced under the YOA were more likely to receive some types of dispositions, while those sentenced under the JDA did not receive dispositions. Youths dealt with under the YOA were older and more likely to have a previous history of convictions than those under the JDA. Individuals who were given a particular disposition under each act were found to differ in age, sex offenses, and previous history variables. Lastly, when individuals given a particular disposition under each act were matched according to common background factors, the probability of receiving a more severe form of disposition was greater for youths under the YOA. Possible reasons for the different dispositions are discussed. 9 tables and 28 references (Author abstract modified)

Downloads

No download available

Availability