In 2004, the office of Child and Family Service Advocacy completed a study which concluded that 48% of youth interviewed said they have previous history of child welfare. Additionally, 37% of youth reported having engaged in one or more delinquent behaviours. Although youth crime has generally decreased, violent crime, drug related crime and youth in need have increased. This indicates that legislations regarding youth crime must continue to seek various options for dealing with different age groups and categories of offences. Peacemaking criminology, tied to restorative justice, is a new criminal perspective adopted by the public. This aims to fight social injustice and promotes penal abolition to reduce the need of the prison system. According to this approach, the fault is not with the offender, but with the community as a whole. Culture criminology is another approach which, if supported in Canada, can focus on repairing the damage caused by first nations intergenerational trauma. This reduces the emphasis on state definitions of crime and instead focuses on personal factors that leads individuals to crime. The goal is to challenge cultural constructions and assumptions on crime. There is no single theory that can account for all crime. Thus, we must continue to research youth crime in order to uncover new information that can aid in crime prevention. New ideas in youth justice surround elements of restorative justice. Programs such as Victim Offender Mediation (VOMs), which allows the confrontation of the victim and offender, seek to spark the healing process of all people involved in crime. These programs attempt to create a space for negotiation to determine a fair sentence. The Community Change Model takes a different approach in asserting that in order to move forward from a crime, communities must change. According to this, court processing must take into account the social inequalities that exist prior to the criminal act. The criminal justice system as a whole must retract from being revenge orientation and instead should focus on forgiveness. The YCJA is currently being amended under the Trudeau government and new laws have already been asserted, such as the legalization of marijuana. Additionally, lowering the minimum and maximum age of inclusion in the YCJA is currently under review. Future amendments to the YCJA must include clarification on parental responsibility and legal supports. Furthermore, cross-over kids, who have a history of movement from mental health facilities or child welfare, must receive more community support. Canada must follow a multifaceted programming approach to ensure individualized case management. Intensive reintegration programs must be taken advantage of to ensure the proper development of youth criminals resulting in a crime- ridden adult life. Racism, colonialism and social issues must be taken into account when determining sentencing. Canada’s duty to protect its citizens begins with youth. Young people are more likely to be victims of crime than adults. Thus, as citizens we have a duty to fight stigma and misconceptions of youth crime given through the media. Violence as entertainment causes our knowledge on issues to be far from reality. Our goal is to open dialogue about real issues and concerns of juvenile youth. Our country has come a long way regarding youth crime; however, there is still a significant amount of work to be done to improve our society and ensure true justice is being served.

SOURCES:

“A Statistical Snapshot of Youth at Risk and Youth Offending in Canada.” Public Safety Canada / Sécurité Publique Canada, 31 Jan. 2018, http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ststclsnpsht-yth/index-en.aspx#sec01.6.

Department of Justice. “Recent Changes to Canada’s Youth Justice System.” Youth Justice, 23 Sept. 2015, http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/sheets-feuillets/amend-modif.html.

FROM HARM TO HEALING: TRANSFORMING THE JUSTICE SYSTEM. Canadian Friends Service Committee, quakerservice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/From-Harm-to-Healing.pdf.

Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Communications and Marketing Branch. “Ministry of Children and Youth Services.” A Comparative Analysis of Youth Justice Approaches, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Communications and Marketing Branch, http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/professionals/oyap/roots/volume4/comparative_analysis.aspx.

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