Theoretical Perspectives on Youth Crime PDF

Theoretical Perspectives on Youth Crime Traditional sociological theories of youth crimes: Strain e.g., cheating in exams to pass but not reading Social learning e.g., what they see people do on tv, interactions with others, social media Differential association e.g, what they see in their...

Theoretical Perspectives on Youth Crime Traditional sociological theories of youth crimes: Strain e.g., cheating in exams to pass but not reading Social learning e.g., what they see people do on tv, interactions with others, social media Differential association e.g, what they see in their environment like parents, friends, relatives Social control (e.g., hirschi’s social bond theory) e.g, attachment, commitment Labelling e.g, when people are labelled a criminal, that makes them stigmatized, if they are known to be trouble makers they may as well live up to it. Stereotyping and discrimination also fall under labelling *Anomie Theories: state of lawlessness, look up Manitoba doctor case who was dismissed for sexual harassment Anomie theories school of thought include: Durkheim, matron, Agnaw, cloward THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME(GTC) Outlined by Micheal Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi(1990) Focuses on the key concept of self-control; the ability to restrain oneself from momentary temptations Low self-control has social consequences that shape people’s ability to succeeed in social institutions and form social bonds. It can embody up to 6 characteristics which leave individuals less able to refrain from activities that provide short-term pleasure to gain. Those 6 are: 1. Impulsivity: inability think before they act , control impulses. Criminal activities are like pleasure to them atm. 2. Lack of diligence: short-sightedness, cutting corners to avoid doing hard work without thinking if they’ll get a negative result or consequences. 3. Risk-taking: doing it for the thrill, adventure, excitement 4. Physicality: tendency to be physically hurting people instead of mental work e.g., armed robbery 5. Insensitivity: egotistical, don’t care about others or their needs 6. Low frustration tolerance: low frustration tolerance, irritated easily, frustrating tasks can lead to property damage and even interpersonal interactions can lead to violence instead of verbal resolution. The key proposition of this theory is that cause of both crime and analogous deviant behaviours is low self control However, while low self-control leaves one more likely to commit crime, a person also requires the convenience and opportunity to commit crime. Poor socialization. —> Development of low self-control traits. —> Crime -Failure to supervise person -Failure to recognize indicators of self control -Failure to correct or sanction behaviour YouTube Video: Aiden Fucci murded Tristyn Bailey with a total of 114 stab wounds by luring her into the woods behind his home, stabbed her with a knife. This case is an example of risk-taking as he just wanted to kill to see what it felt like. CAUSES OF VARIATION IN SELF-CONTROL low self control is result of absence of training or ineffective or incomplete socialization Teaching self-control requires that caregivers; monitors a child’s play, recognize characteristics of low self- control, sanction and collect those behaviours CRITICISMS -It assumes propensity to commit crime does not change; only opportunities change -However, reach testing other theories (eg., based on Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory) challenges this view. TASK Can someone with low-self control escape criminality, and if so, under what circumstances is that possible?  THE GENERAL STRAIN THEORY (GST) Developed by Robert Agnew (1992,2001) Focuses and de ned strain to be: emotional reaction to negative situations or strains, failure to achieve goals, removal of positive stimuli and representation of negative stimuli that provides possible incentive for using crime as a coping mechanism Outlines how other conditioning factors in uence people in their choice to cope with strain through either criminal or non criminal means Three aspects of strain: Conditioning factors—> Negative reactions—>Criminal coping -Conditioning factors: self-esteem, self-ef cacy, deviant values, deviant peers, low social control, negative emotionality/low constraint. -Negative reactions: anger, frustration, depression -Criminal Coping Types of strains: there’s three types of strains namely; 1. Failure to achieve goals: can take three different forms which are *disjunction between aspirations(desires) and expected achievements(realistic expectations) *disjunction between expected achievements and actual achievements *disjunction between just or fair outcomes and actual outcomes 2. Removal of positive stimuli: *may be actual or anticipated *may range of positively valued stimuli that can cause individuals to turn to crime if they are removed e.g someone stealing your laptop or phone, end of a relationship, unemployment or dismissal 3. Presentation of negative stimuli: *may also be actual or anticipated. *examples of negative stimuli include criminal victimization, child abuse and a negative school environment. ANGER AS A CRITICAL EMOTION: The emotional response to an event or condition is distinct from the type of strain experienced In GST, anger is seen as a critical emotional response that generates a need for revenge or retaliation or some sort of corrective action, while also lowering inhibitions and reducing any fear of punishment for engaging in crime. CONDITIONING FACTORS: Level of self-ef cacy Level of self-esteem Association with deviant peers, and values related to deviant behaviours Amount of blame assigned to others Availability and quality of social support. RESEARCH SUPPORTING GST: Research shows that a range of negative experiences are associated with criminal coping which includes; Parental rejection Failure to achieve core goals Emotional and physical abuse Abusive peer relationships Poor employment conditions Criminal victimization Youth homelessness Negative school experiences fi fi fi fl  AGE-GRADED THEORY OF SOCIAL CONTROL Outlined by Sampson and Laub (1993, Laub and Sampson 2003) De ned informal social control as; control over peoples behaviour that develops as a result of relationships and attachments to signi cant others and investments in conventional activities that could be damaged by engaging in illegal activities. This theory is designed to explain how people become involved in offending in the rst place (the onset of offending) , why people keep offending (continuity in offending), later changes that lead individuals to move from offending to non-offending(desistance), or from non-offending to offending This theory focuses on: the manner in which informal social controls at different stages of a person’s life in uence continuity and change in offending behaviour as a person moves from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood and beyond TYPES OF CONTROL STRUCTURES: 1. An erratic, non coercive environment: Lenient, negligent or weak control controller tends to exhibit indifference or detached involvement to individual being controlled, leads individuals to develop a high-sense of self-ef cacy and an internal sense of control 2. A consistent, coercive environment: Regularly and repeatedly delivered and highly coercive control, Creating highly punitive relationship, Coercion involved can incite anger, but because the coercion is consistent and any external reaction to coercion is punished, the anger is self-directed. Model for social learning of coercive behaviour. Limits probability of criminal behaviour, but also leads to a low probability of pro-social bahviour If constraints are loosened or removed, self-directed anger may be rerouted externally, leading to violent behaviour. 3. An Erratic, Coercive environment: Control takes form of irregular, punitive responses to transgressions Leaves youth feeling that events are beyond their control,unrelated to their behaviour, and that they have little chance of changing their circumstances Extreme avenues for learning coercive behaviour 4. A consistent, non-coercive environment: COERCIVE IDEATION A erratic coercive environment leads to coercive ideation: individual interprets world as an environment enveloped in coercion, only way to combat coercion is though use of coercion Erratic Coercion———> Social-Psychological De cits———> Chronic Predatory Offending SITUATIONAL ACTION THEORY Developed by Wilkstrom(2006,2012), SAT strives to understand the various personal and environmental factors that in uence people to engage in crime Outline that crimes can be best understood as moral cations that are shepherded by moral rules. Action Alternative: Situational action theory suffers that peoples actions are the result of how they perceive their “action alternatives”, which set the boundaries for behavioural choices. The central chraracteristic guiding perceptions of action alternatives is an individuals morality because: Morality creates moral habits When morality has not developed into a habit, it permit that consideration of action alternatives when presented with a motivation for crime SELF CONTROL 1. Self control in uences whether those whose morality allows some deliberation of action alternatives will engage in crime 2. The effect of fear of sanction: based on deterrence, where the action alternatives considered by those with lower morality may be in uenced by potential sanctions. When sanctions are weak, individuals with lower fi fl fi fl fl fi fl fi fi  Morality will be more likely to engage in crime. INTERACTIONAL THEORY BY TERRANCE THORNBERRY It draws on social control and social learning theories to explain variations in offenders and offending acorsss the life course Weak social bonds(a lack of attachment, commitment, and belief in conventional values) increases the behavioural and moral freedoms, leading to the crime onset But learning environment (e.g. association with criminal peers and adoption of subcultural values supporting crime) is required to route weak social control (or weak social bonds) to crime. CONCLUSIONS-THEORIES OF YOUTH CRIME Hirschi’s social bonds theory General theory of crime General strain theory Age-graded theory of informal social control Control balance theory Differential coercion theory Interactional action theory Situational action theory WHY DO WE NEED TO COLLECT DATA FROM YOUTH CRIME AND THE IMPLEMENTATION EFFECTS OF YOUTH JUSTICE LEGISLATIONS How common and serious is youth crime? Is it getting worse? What are its causes? What are the effects of juvenile/youth justice legislation INTRODUCTION Different ways of knowing youth crime: Media accounts of crime, Cases known to victims, Police reports of crime Three different sources of knowledge: of cial statistics, unof cial data and the media Media plays a signi cance role in shaping public attitudes towards youth crime -Moral panic: exaggerated fears about social problems, youth deviance, partly generated by the media -Folk devils: any group that is unjusti ably perceived to pose a threat to the traditional values and institutions of society STATISTICS ON YOUTH CRIME: OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL DATA Of cial Data: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS), a branch of statistics Canada, collects information on crime and offenders from the police, courts and corrections for administrative purposes. CCJC produces reglaur reports available to the public. Some limitations of of cial data: -The dark “ gure” of crime: unreported/unrecorded -Case ltration and dismissal: cases often eliminated -Policy and administrative variation: interpretation of YCJA varies among and within provinces -Method of gathering statistics: StatsCan does not enumerate all crimes; stats may be gathered with speci c purposes or agendas in mind UNOFFICIAL DATA: ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF MEASURING YOUTH CRIME Unof cial data refers to data collected and usually published by private or independent researchers or research facilities. The primary data collection techniques are self-report surveys and victimization surveys Assumpotion that techniques can be devised to catch the dark future of crime missed in off cal statistics and thus to supplement and expand of cial data Unreported crime is measured through victimization subverts and self-report surveys -Construct and “unof cial version” of youth crime that can also be compared to the role of the media in generating knowledge about youth crime fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi  THE UNOFFICIAL VERSION: ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF MEASURING YOUTH CRIME Self-report and victimization surveys: Self-report surveys -Allow many young people TO BE QUESTIONED FOR ONCE Victimization surveys: YOUTH CRIME IN THE MEDIA: For most people, media coverage is the main way of knowing about youth crime. In its 2022 statistical report, Winnipeg police reported 1664 incidents of youth crime and an increase over 2021 and 2020, but still below the 5 year average, police said. In the report, police noted that youth crime in Winnipeg had been declining steadily for a number if years, reaching an historic low on 2021 Important to see if youth crime in the media is portrayed in a. Way that is similar t or indifferent than the others tow ways of knowing The media plays a role in the distortion of crime knowledge The social constructionist approach: an approach that’s sees snails problems as constructed in the media(moral panic). Concerned with more closely analyzing the discursive constructions used in media texts Main themes of social constructionism: -media presents violence as growing social problem (like plague) -usually innocent victims and guilty predators -usually link or convergence between new problem and existing one -claim makers that state social problem is growing; Spencer(2005) says youth violence in the media Ideological Flexibility: where the portrayal of people is ambiguous (e.g a young offender is portrayed as both a villain and victim) Constructionist analysis states that youth violent crime is overrepresented in the media while youth property crime is underrepresented Cultivation hypotheses: the hypothesis that the media inundates the public with ideas about crime Frame Analysis: analyzing media content to see how crime and criminals are depicted Critical Discourse Analysis: analyzing media content approach that links discourse with political structure FEMALE YOUTH CRIME Data shows that a very small percentage of crime is committed by girls which has been a remarkably steady trend for decades. Girls minimal involvement in crimes has led to theories about female crimes and delinquency that until the 1970s largely overlooked the female population. In 2019, only 1% of female youth committed crimes while adult females had 20% crime rate. Of cial charges: after the introduction of the YCJA, the charge rates for girls and boys continued to decline steady Administrative Offeneces: charged for girls related to administrative offences are almost the same as for boys Aboriginal girls: they are overrrepresented at a greater rate than aboriginal boys Although overall sentenced custody rates for females have decreased since the introduction of the YCJA, hence the decline has been smaller for aboriginal females Proportionately more aboriginal females are now serving custody sentences than non-aboriginal female offenders Why are aboriginal girls ove represented in that youth justice system opposed to non-Aboriginal girls? Before the 1970s, theories of female crime focused on crime gender gap-difference in rates of reported crime involvement of males and females Early gender gap focuses on biological differences, differences in gender socialization Biological theories: Lomnroso’s theory: of females because criminals, kin means they wear degenerate abberrations without maternal instinct fi  Other early theories focused on females social biological infertiority Current work on biology and crime includes: Gender Role Theories explanation of delinquent and criminal behaviour that focuses on role gender plays in lives and behaviours of men and women in general, as the outcome of differential gender socialization that imposes higher moral expectations and greater social controls on girls and women Examples: Hoffman-Bustamante(1973): differential socialization and childbearing practices, hegemonic masculinity-role expectations and patterns of practice linked to each sex Power control theory by Hagan et al.: patriarchal family(employed husband and house wife), egalitarian family (both parents employed) Social learning and differential association theories Primary source of social learning is family: learned gender performance where girls often learn the social value of being “nice” and “good” which constrains their behaviour Peer in uence is signi cant for delinquency: techniques, motives and values for crime are transmitted through social and anti-social learning opportunities via close association with delinquent peers Social Control Theories Focuses on positive bonds with family, friends, peers, school and neighborhood Hirschi’s social bond is made of 4 components: attachment, commitment,involvement and belief The Conservative Approach Focuses on the biological differences between females and males to explain female offending (e.g Lombroso) and differences in male and female offending W.I.Thomas(1923): human behaviour is an expression of biological instincts of anger,feat and the will to gain status e.g, women have more varieties of love in their nervous system, so this need for love accounts for most female crimes, especially prostitution. Sexual promiscuity amoral for men but normal for men? Pollak(1950): women’s crimes are equal in severity and scope to those of men however, women’s crime is hidden and thus undetected(vastly undocumented compared to that of men). Women are inherently deceptive and vengeful, females instigate crime or get males to perpetrate the crime, women’s deceit rooted in biological ability to fake orgasm. Also caused by anger,vengefulness,irritability and depression. ANTI-COLONIAL THEORY: Answers the over representation of indigenous girls in the Canadian youth criminal justice system LIFE COURSE THEORY: Examines how individual offending patterns may change overtime as they grow/age and experience different role transitions such as getting married, becoming a parent, gaining/losing a job etc. THE LIBERAL APPROACH/WOMEN’S LIBERATION THESIS: Focuses on differences in opportunities for criminal activities Simon(1975) said increased employment opportunities for females will increase crime opportunities for them WOMEN AS VICTIMS AND OFFENDERS: THE VICTIMIZATION THESIS; TRAUMA THEORY Focuses on the link between victimization and subsequent criminality The victimization thesis indicates that females in trouble with the law are violent in self-defense or more deserving of help than punishment Trauma theory: explores the link between early victimization and later criminal behaviour STRAIN THEORY: Classical Strain Theory: delinquency is explained as response to being denied access to socially and conventionally approved opportunities for power and material success. Did not readily explain female crime Agnew’s General Strain Theory: makes allowances for gendered experiences of strains and the ways in which boys and girls respond differently to strain. fl fi  Panel discussion Heather Pullan-Judge, Jodi Koffman- Crown Attorney, Hillarie Tasche- legal aid lawyer Manitoba advocate: speaks for the youth but not legally trained to do so. They make sure govt systems are working as well as they can in the youth’s interest Use of risk assessment tools oin youth courts and a corrections: Static risk: unchangeable risk factors, they include those traits that may contribute to an individuals offending and recidivism and cannot be altered through rehabilitation programming Dynamic risk factors: changeable risk factors, factors that contribute to criminal behaviour but can be modi ed through treatment Overrepresentation: black people are overrepresented in Canada’s criminal justice system as both victims and people accused or convicted of crime. Racialized immigrant youth in a Canada: the term racialized also referred to as ethnic minority indicates non-caucasians, who are non-indigenous In 1986, the Canadian government of cially introduced the term “visible minority”. Thisgroup consists of people with origins in Africa,china,India,Pakistan,japan,Korea,southeast Asia,the Philippines,the paci c islands,the Arabic countries and the Latin America The media representations of radicalized youth as violent and dangerous is discussed as such representations lead to misinformed policy and intervention Wortley and tanner (2006), note that public not only perceive that racialized youth gang activity is increasing but is also implied that gangs in itself are foreign to Canada and country’s immigration policies are to be blamed for importing “gangsters” from other countries. Criminologists have well established the ways in which news media promotes panic and fear of immigrants and ethnic crime. Ethnic youth crimes are portrayed as worse than other crimes and racialized youths images are exaggerated to reinforces the ethnic character of criminality in a way that stigmatizes the whole community thereby creating moral panic. The media and politician play a leading role in constructing negative images of visible minority groups. The media and politicians do so by using racial and ethnic riots when describing gangs liked to visible minorities but fail to do same when describing gangs linked to white male criminal groups. There are labels such as Asian gang problem, the problem of black gangs in the east, aboriginal gangs in the prairies and Indo-Canadian gang wars in the east, but white male criminal groups are referred to as “biker gangs” avoiding the use of race as an identi er. Traditional risk factors for youth gang involvement: substance use, poverty (economic/opportunity deprivation), school failure, dysfunctional families, childhood abuse, poor parenting, racism/discrimination. But there is also those considered to be non-traditional “at-risk” youth who still become gang members (e.g., the rst generation and wealthy categories of Indo-Canadian gangs) The lived experience of a skilled economic immigrant in Canada are drastically different from those of a refugee. Immigrant children and youth face pressures from parents and schools to integrate into new institutions and do well. The reported crime rates of the Canadian born youth of immigrant parents are similar to the rates of children’s whose parents were native born. Study shows that gang membership is related to racial/ethnic backgrounds. One study revealed that while black, Hispanic and indigenous youths wrote knots likely to report a gang involvement, the majority of gang members n the study were white youth born Social ecology of crime: “hot spots” policing; disproportionate minority contact due to racial pro ling, street interrogations (persons especially the rationalized being stopped and questioned more frequently than others). Rather than focusing on racial/ethnic backgrounds, the attention should be on why some youth engage in crime and what should be done to address the issue fi fi fi Understanding ethnic youth gang involvement Four sociological models to explain the relation between immigration and crime: 1. Importation model 2. Strain model 3. Cultural con ict model 4. Bias model Multiple marginality: combined disadvantage, marginalization, and powerlessness that racialized youth face. Disproportionate minority contact Disproportionate minority contact (DMC): a term used in decscribing the consistent overrepresentation of persons from certain ethnic minority backgrounds in police-citizen contacts, relative to representation in the population. In particular, young men from black, indigenous nad Latino backgrounds have been found to be overrepresented in these statistics. Racial pro ling: the sue of the perceived ‘race’ or ethnicity of a person as factor in determining police suspicion, rather than involvement in a speci c criminal incident. Victims of racial pro ling are often subject to excessive police-citizen contacts, detentions, interrogations,searches and police brutality. Systemic racism: critical racist theorists contend that racism is re ected in a variety of areas of social life including public policies, institutional practices, economic systems and cultural representations. Systemic racism serves to perpetuate the political and economic dominance of whites in society over all other groups. When black medical students weren’t welcome at queen’s- “the ban on black students studying medicine was in effect for decades, then forgotten and wasn’t repealed of cially until recently’ “Street checks” or “carding”: a common policing tactic involving police-initiated stops against persons in situations that typically do not involve an arrest. During these encounters, the police oldest personal information from those stopped which is later entered into a police database. Resreach on perceptions and experiences with the police in Canada has found that black Canadians are signi cantly more likely to perceive police-citizen contacts as unfair and motivated by racial bias. Racial disparities in street checks and carding rates have been evidenced in various Canadian jurisdictions, including Toronto, Hamilton, Edmonton. Calgary, Ottawa and Peel region of Vancouver. According to Toronto police service data, between 208 and mid-2011 the number of young black men aged 15-24 carded was 3.4 times their representation in the city’s population Culturally responsive approaches: efforts to address the diverse needs of racialized youth require shared vision and collaboration between the different stakeholders—families, schools, communities, and laws enforcement. Summary: media portrayals of racialized youths in gangs and radicalized groups generate negative public and political perceptions. Negative experiences with the police can contribute to decreased perceptions of police legitimacy and negative views of the wider criminal justice system. Culturally responsive approaches to policing diverse communities are a good starting point, but need further work and attention. fi fl fi fi fl fi  Street involved youth in Canada De nition: includes youth 25 years or younger who do not have a safe home or are under housed, have been forced to leave their families of origin, who have run away from homes without the consent of their parent or guardian who left foster or group-care placements, who are not living on the street but who engage in street-involved activities and identify with street culture and peer groupings. Various terms used to describe types of street-involved youth Throwaways: youth asked or encouraged to leave home by their parents/guardians with the purpose of ending placement, at least overnight, without consent of their parents/guardians. Runaways: youth who have left their homes/welfare placement, at least overnight, without the consent of their parents/guardians. Homeless youth: include both of the above;the common factor being that they have no alternative home in which to live. Street entrenched youth: all youth who for various reasons spend at least part of their time under housed or living on the street. Common experience of street-involved youth the decrease in rights, opportunities, and social supports which may exacerbate the risks associated with living on the streets. Auerswald and Eyre’s (2002) “life -cycle model” youth encounter a series of stages on the streets: initial engagement in street life—a stage where youth become more comfortable with street life “stasis”—periods of crisis during which some may transition off the street “disequilibrium”—a cyclical pattern, in which many who exit the street may become re-involved Numbers of street-involved youth to date, there are no accurate estimates for th Canadian street-involved youth population. There are many challenges included in attempting to de ne and estimate the number of street-involved youth. These include questions of ‘what criteria determine street involvement’, ‘how can street-involved youth be identi ed and contacted’, ‘should shelter numbers be used on which to base predictors of the uncounted street-involved population’. Perspectives on street-involved youth the perspective we use to view street-involved youth affects the way we respond to their perceived needs. Pre-1960s; youth on the street were seen as delinquents who were there as a result of individual pathology and deviant nature. 1970s; factors related to family and school were primary areas of concern. 1980s and 1990s; maltreatment of children became a paramount concern. Currently, structural factors play and increasing role in understandings of street-involved youth Institutional Experiences of street-involved youth Education: many street-involved youth have dropped out of school, which makes it dif cult to nd and maintain a steady job in order to transition off the street, they also experience a higher rate of leaning dif culties. Lack of attendance is often a result of being suspended or expelled from school Child Welfare: a high percentage of street-involved youth have had previous child-welfare experiences and foster-care placements. Youth transitioning out of child-welfare care report feeling poorly prepared for independent living. Criminal justice system Crime and gang involvement: is related to several situational and personal factors in the lives of street- involved; monetary dissatisfaction, unemployment, deviant/criminal peers, being a victim of robbery, violence or theft, perception of blocked opportunities, drug/alcohol use, low self-control, high self-esteem fi fi November 28th, Guest Speaker: James Dorsey, author, grew up in BC as a foster child. Born in Edmonton to single mom, dad was mom’s boss who left her after nding out she’s pregnant as he had a family in Ontario. Mom remarried and had a son but had PPD which made her bipolar, depressed, step-daddy got tired and left as well. Ran away from foster care to the street where he got hooked on cigarettes and marijuana. Police picked him up, took him to new foster home but he kept escaping to go downtown and drinking, taking drugs, smoking, shoplifting, breaking into cars, robbery. Eventually went into juvie, skipped school, got expelled, Guest Speakers from Manitoba advocate for children and youth: Majority of child deaths (0-10): natural causes Majority of youth and young adults (10-17): suicide fi