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Punishing Youth Crime in Canada: The Blind Men and the Elephant

NCJ Number
213862
Journal
Punishment & Society Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 223-233
Author(s)
Anthony N. Doob; Jane B. Sprott
Date Published
April 2006
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the provisions of Canada's 2003 changes in the law that governs juvenile offenders shows that although political rhetoric associated with passage of the law made it appear to be "tough on crime," the law's actual provisions reduce the use of incarceration and the formal juvenile justice system.
Abstract
This paper concludes that in gaining passage of the new youth law, its political supporters believed it necessary to package its public face as "getting tough on youth crime." In actual fact, however, the law has attempted to reduce the incarceration of juveniles in favor of community-based sentencing. Hogeveen describes the Youth Criminal Justice Act as purporting "to crack down on youth crime and respond to concerns voiced by the public and victims" ... (2005). The fact that Hogeveen and other academics view the law this way is testimony to the successful public relations campaign that began in May 1998. The theme of exercising restraint in the use of the formal youth justice system is reflected throughout the Act. This restraint comes not only in sentencing but also in deciding whether to use formal court processing at all. The Act makes clear in various provisions that custody is to be used only for the most serious offenses and offenders. These provisions were not emphasized in any press releases related to the Act. The actual provisions of the Act are reflected in comprehensive sentencing data that show no increase in the punitiveness of the sentencing of juveniles over the past decade. 4 figures, 4 notes, and 22 references