Youth Violence And Crime In Toronto

Youth and juvenile crime is a common and serious issue in current society, and people, especially parents and educators, are pretty worried about the trend of this problem. According to Bala and Roberts, around 17% of criminals were youths, compared to 8% of Canadian population ranging between 12 to 18 years of age between 2003 and 2004 (2006, p37). As a big federal country, Canada has taken a series of actions since 1908. So far, there are three justice acts in the history of Canadian juvenile justice system, the 1908 Juvenile Delinquents Act, the 1982 Young Offenders Act, and the 2003 Youth Criminal Justice Act. In Canada, the judicial system and the principle of these laws have been debated for a long time. This paper will discuss how

In Spring 2009, three offenders, all in grade eleven , set two houses is Sherwood park on fire. The youth criminal justice Act (YCJA) provided opportunities for them to reintegrate and rehabilitate, instead of throwing them in jail. YCJA covers kids between the ages twelve to seventeen years old. It 's purpose is to handle youth offenders more differently than adults because of their undeveloped minds. The YCJA was released back in 2003. By protecting the rights and providing Youth Canadians the support they need, the YCJA benefits the offenders in a positive way. The act gentrust the youth a second chance to make sure they don 't reoffend by rehabilitating and reintegrating them. Also youth over the age 14 years can get an adult sentence if necessary. Therefore, the YCJA is an effective law because it supports everyone; youth will acquire the help they need and Public Safety is insured.

Youth crime is a growing epidemic that affects most teenagers at one point in their life. There is no question in society to whether or not youths are committing crimes. It has been shown that since 1986 to 1998 violent crime committed by youth jumped approximately 120% (CITE). The most controversial debate in Canadian history would have to be about the Young Offenders Act (YOA). In 1982, Parliament passed the Young Offenders Act (YOA). Effective since 1984, the Young Offenders Act replaced the most recent version of the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA). The Young Offenders Act’s purpose was to shift from a social welfare approach to making youth take responsibility for their actions. It also addressed concerns that the paternalistic

Youth gangs in Canada is becoming more and more of issue. Adolescents across Canada resort to joining youth gangs for many different reasons. A youth gang is a group of young adolescents who use intimidation and violence to gain prestige among other gangs and control certain areas of unlawful activities. For all the reasons an adolescent would join a youth gang, police and the Government have come up with programs to prevent youth from joining and to get them to leave the gangs. With programs involving prevention, intervention, and suppression, the Canadian Government is adequately addressing youth gangs within Canada.

A lot of Canadian youth face issues such as living in poverty, living in violent neighbourhoods and sometimes that leads to them becoming young offenders. In order to help these youth become positive contributing parts of Canadian society the impact that the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the Safe Streets and Communities Act has had on them must be studied. Therefore this essay will address the questions of whether the purpose of the legislation we have to deal with youth offenders is to rehabilitate youth or punish them, and whether or not the method being used by the Canadian government is effective in allowing young offenders to create and lead a stable life after being released from jail. This paper will argue that the main goal of the

Violent crime will always be a problem; just because Canada doesn’t face high rates of violent crime in comparison to other countries doesn’t deem it an unimportant issue. My knowledge about this topic, violent crime, has come from a variety of resources that will be discussed as this paper progresses. The crime control policies in Alberta and/or Canada to my knowledge are having a positive impact, but more could always be done. Overall, I believe an enhanced proactive approach is needed. The youth of our generation need to be educated more about the justice system, violent crimes, and risks of the gang life at an earlier age.

Youth crime is an issue in Canada and it needs to be dealt with correctly. In Canada there is a law called the “youth criminal justice act”, the purpose of the YCJA is to hold youth accountable to their actions and give them meaningful consequences, as well as promote rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Several studies show that a young person's brain and an adult's brain are not the same, therefore youth cases and adult cases must be sentenced and dealt with differently. In this cartoon, it depicts a young child going through a pair of handcuffs labelled as “law”, suggesting that the YCJA is too easy for offenders to get through and it does not help them or society. The artist believes that the justice system does not punish youth

Youth today are dealing with violence that’s happening across the globe. It is unknown to predict a state of action that the delinquent will do, but there are many preventions that we are able to take advantage of. Violence is one of the greatest fear that many of our youths may experience. Many recent activities that occurred with school shootings, those that are domestic or foreign abused, mass media of current brutality, even interpersonal conflicts may have conflicted with the state of mind that is threatening to our community. Instead, we can support with many preventable delinquency programs with the troubled youth that helps them get involved with the community such as afterschool programs, clubs, volunteer work, or even booth camps are one of many to interact

Back in the 1930’s, 120 000 youth crimes were committed a year. This might be a surprising figure, but when the Youth Criminal Justice Act came into effect in the year of 2003, the crime rate reduced to 50 000. This suggests that youth respond better to the societies who are helping them to reintegrate back into society. The YCJA is a more improved act that really distinguishes crimes and the court involved in the situation really needs to investigate to provide proper measures. Although one could argue that the YCJA provides an opportunity for a child to commit a crime, it is a fair and equitable act as it improves the youth justice system, has benefited Canada’s economy and provides great social benefits.

The failures of the Canadian criminal justice system can be clearly noted in our treatment of Aboriginal youth. While numbers have been declining, the incarceration rate of Aboriginal youth continues to be substantially higher than the rest of the Canadian population, as they are almost 8 times more likely to be in prison (Statistics Canada, 2011). This mass overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth offenders is not a random occurrence nor is it the result of a cultural

Our main focus is to reintegrate youth gang members back into conventional society. Each youth will focus on themselves, regain values and become accustom to their culture, spirituality, and community. The largest proportion of youth gangs members in Canada are 22% Aboriginal. In addition, Aboriginal people are three times more likely to be been victimized. For this reason our program will target Aboriginal Youth Gangs. Some conflicts we may come across helping these youths would be having them participate in the program. To overcome this difficultly, our program offers, a system similar to that of Big Brothers/Big Sisters pairing an elder or an ex-gang member to act as an authoritative figure from the aboriginal community with a youth. These

The role of theory in contemporary youth justice practice is crucial in shaping and conceptualising relationships between youth and crime. It provides a structure for how youth justice is practiced and helps make sense of today’s issues surrounding the topic.

New Brunswick’s rate of youth criminally charged has been decreasing ever since the introduction of Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) in 2002. However, a decade has passed with still no progress on lowering the number of youth sent to pretrial and secure custody, which is disproportionately high compared to other provinces. The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate’s More Less Court report identifies issues such as this and offers solutions to the problems with New Brunswick’s youth justice system. Vulnerable youth being caught up in the justice system and improvements on diverting youth from the criminal justice system are among other withstanding issues that will also be touched upon. The government of New Brunswick’s Provincial Crime Prevention

Statistics show that lower class youth commit four times more violent crimes as their counterparts of middle class youth. Also, studies show that 83% of gun related murders among teenagers occur in populations with poverty levels of twenty percent or higher. This proves that the more in income inequality there is a big effect on increasing crime rates. With all this being said there is a direct link between poverty and crime rates. In these impoverished communities these youth does not have the resources available to not only help them to overcome these statistics, but they do not have the tools to reach beyond the harsh truths of the world around them. The cycle is destined to repeat itself without the help from outside sources. Build a Center, Heal a Community, can provide the tools to build a bridge between these at risk youth and a more diverse world that they are capable of being a part

The federal government of Canada fifteen years ago, in 1984, the Liberal party changed the Juvenile Delinquents Acts to the Youth Offenders Act to have a “More human approach to the rights of young people before the law”(Leschild and Jaffe, 8:1991). In the present such as Premier, Mike Harris, of Ontario wants the federal government of Canada to scrap the Young Offenders Act. In 1999, the same party that came up with the act is making majors changes to the act. This report will look at the young offenders act at the present time, look at why kids commit crime, what is being done to improve the act, what has the province done towards teenagers and also a look at the United Sates youth system.