SOCI-321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Youth Criminal Justice Act, Short, Sharp Shock, Young Offenders Act
18 Jun 2018
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SOCI 321 – Chapter 2 – Creating A Juvenile Justice System
The law that applies is the law that there was at the time that an offence occurred
Ex. A sexual assault that took place when an individual was 13 but is brought up
in their 60s: Have to follow the law that would have dealt with the individual when they were
13, not the current law
Juvenile Delinquents Act
Shall be treated not as a criminal, but as a misdirected child
Varied from province to province about what age is considered an adult (usually
between 16 and 18)
Primarily the welfare approach
Provision with the definition of a delinquent: Any child who violates the criminal code
(more included in textbook)
With this broad definition, any child with misbehaviour could be dealt with
Children put in the reformatories with an indeterminant sentence; put here
until the child reforms (determined by the staff, who notifies the judge and court)
Heavy emphasis on probation: key role before, during, and after trial
A youth charged of a criminal defence wouldn't really have a jury trial
Criticisms raised about the lack of due process
Issues around status offences (offences that weren't considered criminally, such as
incorrigibility or truancy)
70 years before this was replaced
Young Offenders Act
Principles:
Accountability of children
JDA put the accountability on the parents instead
Purpose is to protect society from children
JDA had the purpose to reform the children
Children have special needs, so they must be treated differently than adults
Introduced alternative measures as a sentencing option available to the courts
Rather than incarcerating into a youth criminal center, one could
impose some other kind of sanction that is less onerous (community service)
If an individual breeches a condition, it becomes a new and separate
offence
Wasn't used often because alternative programs were not set up at the
time, or the things that did exist were not known to judges
Specific provisions for the rights of young people
Minimal Interference with freedom of the young person
All the judges were really presented with was release to the community
or go to jail for short, sharp shock; although they preferred alternative measures
Parental Responsibility
Parents were the reason their child was delinquent, but there was
nothing in the law that could be imposed on the parents for that
Parents were relatively uninvolved, but they were notified that their
child was charged and had to appear in court
Focus shifted from rehabilitating/reforming to protecting society from these children by
making them accountable
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Soci 321 chapter 2 creating a juvenile justice system. The law that applies is the law that there was at the time that an offence occurred. A sexual assault that took place when an individual was 13 but is brought up in their 60s: have to follow the law that would have dealt with the individual when they were. Shall be treated not as a criminal, but as a misdirected child. Varied from province to province about what age is considered an adult (usually between 16 and 18) Provision with the definition of a delinquent: any child who violates the criminal code (more included in textbook) With this broad definition, any child with misbehaviour could be dealt with. Children put in the reformatories with an indeterminant sentence; put here until the child reforms (determined by the staff, who notifies the judge and court) Heavy emphasis on probation: key role before, during, and after trial.
