Dispositions as Indicators of Conflicting Social Purposes Under the JDA and YOA (From Young Offenders Act: A Revolution in Canadian Criminal Justice, P 158-169, 1991, Alan W Leschied, Peter G Jaffe, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-134506)

• NCJ Number: 134514
• Author(s): A W Leschied; P G Jaffe
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

Empirical data from Canada in 1981-82 and 1986-87 show that the incarceration of juveniles has increased since the Young Offenders Act took effect in 1984.

Abstract

In contrast to the previous Juvenile Delinquents Act, the Young Offenders Act emphasizes youths' responsibility and accountability within a legal framework. It therefore allowed standardization of dispositions across jurisdictions; provisions for determinate sentencing; prohibition of commitments to child welfare agencies; and prohibition of commitments to treatment without the consent of the parents, the youth, and the treatment facility. The data from the Canadian Center for Justice Statistics show that about 31 percent of dispositions under the new law have been for custody compared to a rate of commitments to training schools of only 13 percent under the previous laws. Thus, the effort to protect civil rights and due process and save youthful offenders from the unlimited paternalism of juvenile court judges may have produced a worse consequence through the reduced access to rehabilitative services. Tables and 25 references