Volume
44, No. 2
April 2002
Editorial
Julian Roberts
Self-control
and social control in childhood misconduct and aggression: The role
of family structure, hyperactivity, and hostile parenting
Augustine Brannigan, William Gemmell, David J. Pevalin, and
Terrance J. Wade
Exploring
'youth' in court: An analysis of decision-making in youth court bail
hearings
Kimberley N. Varma
Two
solitudes or just one? - Provincial differences in youth court judges
and the operation of youth courts
Jane B. Sprott and Anthony N. Doob
Aboriginal
over-representation in the criminal justice system: A tale of nine
cities
Carol LaPrairie
Drogue
et alcool durant l'incarcération: Examen de la situation des
pénitenciers fédéraux québécois
Chantal Plourde et Serge Brochu
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SELF-CONTROL
AND SOCIAL CONTROL IN CHILDHOOD MISCONDUCT AND AGGRESSION: THE ROLE
OF FAMILY STRUCTURE, HYPERACTIVITY, AND HOSTILE PARENTING
Augustine Brannigan
Sociology, University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta
William Gemmell
Regina Regional Health Authority
Regina, Saskatchewan
David J. Pevalin
Institute for Social and Economic Research
University of Essex, United Kingdom
and
Terrance J. Wade
Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research
Department of Psychiatry
University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Debates
about the causes of childhood misconduct have juxtaposed the utility
of self-control models which stress persistent traits of impulsiveness
versus social control models which stress the benefits of social capital
arising from attachments to family and community over the life cycle.
To test the value of these approaches with population data, we examined
models of misconduct and aggression in children aged 4 to 11 using
data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (n=13,067).
We establish that structural, individual, and process variables contribute
individually and significantly to both aggression and misconduct.
Childhood hyperactivity and hostile parenting each appear to elevate
significantly the risks of youthful aggression and misconduct. The
proposition that self-control versus social control perspectives are
mutually exclusive is rejected. Aversive parenting practices as well
as individual traits contribute to child behavior problems in every
age cohort tested. Such aversive traits in parents and their children
appear to coincide. Further work is needed to determine the direction
of effect.
EXPLORING
'YOUTH' IN COURT: AN ANALYSIS OF DECISION-MAKING IN YOUTH COURT BAIL
HEARINGS
Kimberley N. Varma
Department of Sociology, Brock University
St. Catharines, Ontario
Among
the many decisions made every day in youth courts across Canada, the
decision to detain a young person alleged to have committed an offence
is arguably one of the most complicated. Judges and justices of the
peace must balance the requirements of section 515 of the Canadian
Criminal Code with the specific provisions of the Young Offenders
Act, which identifies age and state of maturity as relevant factors
when making decisions about youth suspected of violating the law.
This study explores decision-making in youth court bail hearings with
specific attention to the youth's age and apparent maturity in the
overall bail decision. The findings suggest that legal factors account
for a large part of decision-making as well as certain factors relating
to the youth's status - such as living at home and attending school
regularly. However, most significant was the effect of the Crown prosecutor's
decision on the outcome of the case. The implications of these findings
will be discussed in light of the expected replacement to the YOA,
the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
TWO
SOLITUDES OR JUST ONE? PROVINCIAL DIFFERENCES IN YOUTH COURT JUDGES
AND THE OPERATION OF YOUTH COURTS
Jane B. Sprott
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
and
Anthony N. Doob
Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
It
has often been recognized that Quebec has a different approach to
youth justice from that which exists in the rest of Canada. The largest
difference, however, appears to be in the rate of bringing cases into
youth court. Once a case arrives in youth court, inter-provincial
variation in the manner in which the case is handled diminishes. When
asked, judges in Quebec are more likely than judges in other provinces
to report that youths benefit from the youth court experience and
that few cases could be dealt with adequately outside of the youth
justice system. However, these differences appear to be accounted
for by the perceived adequacy of the administration of the Young Offenders
Act and not by more basic differences in the penal philosophies of
the two sets of judges.
ABORIGINAL OVER-REPRESENTATION IN THE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: A TALE OF NINE CITIES
Carol LaPrairie
Ottawa, Ontario
This
paper explores the contribution certain large Canadian cities may
make to the over-representation of aboriginal people in the criminal
justice system. The nine cities under study are large urban areas
known in Statistics Canada terms as Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA's).
The cities are located in eight provinces, and represent Western,
Prairie, Eastern and Atlantic Canada. For the analyses, a variety
of Statistics Canada and Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development (DIAND) data, as well as Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
(CCJS) and Correctional Services Canada (CSC) data on aboriginal offenders
and over- representation and other aboriginal criminal justice research,
were analysed. The paper explores a number of theoretical concepts
such as social disorganization, social learning theory, and posits
others to understand the urban reality for aboriginal populations
and, from that, regional variation in over-representation. Prairie
cities appear to contribute disproportionately to the over-representation
problem and advantage and disadvantage are disproportionately distributed
in urban centres across the country. The nine cities are grouped into
high, medium and low "contribution to over-representation"
cities based on the demographics of their aboriginal populations.
The paper suggests that more research is required to understand how
advantage and disadvantage are bestowed on reserve and, by implication,
on urban aboriginal populations.
DROGUE
ET ALCOOL DURANT L'INCARCÉRATION: EXAMEN DE LA SITUATION DES
PÉNITENCIERS FÉDÉRAUX QUÉBÉCOIS
Chantal Plourde
Centre de recherche de l'Hôpital Douglas
Université McGill, Montréal, Québec
and
Serge Brochu
Centre international de criminologie comparée
Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
La
consommation de substances psychoactives (SPA) des contrevenants constitue
une préoccupation majeure des cliniciens, chercheurs et administrateurs
du réseau correctionnel. Néanmoins, l'on sait très
peu de choses sur ce phénomène durant l'incarcération.
La présente recherche s'intéresse donc à la prévalence
d'usage de SPA à travers 10 pénitenciers québécois
répartis en trois niveaux sécuritaires. Sélectionnés
au hasard, 317 répondants furent rencontrés en entrevue
afin de compléter un questionnaire auto-révélé.
Dans le but d'obtenir des informations explicatives pertinentes à
une meilleure compréhension du phénomène, des
analyses ont été réalisées afin d'identifier
les relations possibles entre différents facteurs et caractéristiques
des sujets et la consommation entre les murs. Également, afin
de mieux comprendre certains enjeux associés à la consommation,
nous avons interrogés les participants sur des aspects tels
leur perception de la tolérance des gardiens face à
différents produits, leur perception du contrôle et de
la fréquence des fouilles. Les analyses rapportées dans
cet article indiquent que certaines caractéristiques des sujets,
notamment leur âge, leur profil de consommation pré-carcéral
et le nombre de séjours en pénitencier fédéral
sont reliées à la consommation entre les murs. D'autre
part, la tolérance des gardiens, selon les détenus,
varierait en fonction des SPA et selon les niveaux sécuritaires
