Community-Based Interventions for At-Risk Youth in Ontario under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act: A Case Study of a “Runaway” Girl

Abstract

This article presents findings from ongoing research on interventions for violent and at-risk youth in Ontario through partnerships authorized under Canada's 2003 Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). After briefly describing and theoretically situating the YCJA's “preventative partnership” ( Garland 2000 ) strategy, we analyse an interview with a 16-year-old Ontario high school student (one of 85 interviews with female and male youth recruited through high schools, community agencies, youth advocacy networks, and correctional facilities between 2002 and 2006). In this interview, “Connie” describes her experiences with family and peer violence and her efforts to deal with these experiences through a range of escape and help-seeking behaviours. Drawing broadly upon governmentality discourses on advanced liberal governance, our analysis focuses on the ways in which victimization, running away, child protection involvement, criminal activity, and social exclusion are linked. We also discuss the promises and challenges of efforts to address the needs of youth caught up in this trajectory through community partnership strategies.

Posttraumatic Stress among Youths in Juvenile Detention

“…Not only are juvenile offenders at risk for PTS symptoms, they also experience a variety of challenges, such as substance abuse (Bender, 2010;Dembo, Schmeidler, & Childs, 2007), mental health challenges or learning disabilities (Mann, Senn, Girard, & Ackbar, 2007), family violence, victimization, delinquency (Montgomery, Thompson, & Barczyk, 2011) and gang involvement (Gatti, Tremblay, Vitaro, & McDuff, 2005). Among adolescents diagnosed with PTSD in one study, 80% met criteria for at least one comorbid mental disorder, and more than 40% had two or more lifetime disorders (Giaconia et al, 1995).…”

‘It's Kinda Punishment’: Tandem Logics and Penultimate Power in the Penal Voluntary Sector for Canadian Youth

“…The Youth Criminal Justice Act ‘has re‐authorised and re‐responsibilised communities, via publicly funded community‐based agencies and services’ (Mann et al . ). This shift makes the role of the YPVS in the youth criminal justice system even more significant and important to examine.…”

Amending theYouth Criminal Justice Act, 2007–2012: dynamics and contingencies of a ‘transforming Canada’ agenda

“…Previous scholarship is in agreement that Canada largely missed a global turn towards enhanced punitiveness due to a combination of institutional, cultural and political factors that fostered restraint in the use of incarceration and inhibited tendencies to politicise criminal justice (Doob & Webster, 2006;Lynch, 2012;Mann, 2011;Mann, Senn, Girard, & Ackbar, 2007;Meyer & O'Malley, 2005;O'Malley, 2002;Sprott, Webster, & Doob, 2013;Webster & Doob, 2007). Key among these is the Constitution Act of 1867, which assigns the federal government authority to legislate criminal law and the provinces authority to administer this law, necessitating federal -provincial consultation and compromise.…”

“…Regarding stakeholder input, policy-making in Canada has long incorporated advice of civil society actors, whose role as partners in justice and social intervention reach back a century (Mann et al, 2007). As one participant in the C-10 hearings stated, historically 'parents, youth, academics, law enforcement, public health professionals, and others .…”