NCJ Number
227224
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2009 Pages: 255-274
Date Published
April 2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This descriptive study interviewed Ontario police (Canada), defense and crown counsel, youth court judges, and probation officers regarding their perceptions of parental involvement in youth justice proceedings.
Abstract
Most of the respondents believe that Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) actively encourages parental involvement in the juvenile justice proceedings of their children. Many argue that there is a stronger focus on parents in YCJA than in previous legislation. There are concerns, however, especially among judges, that the parental involvement intended by the YCJA is not actually being implemented. There are also conflicting views about parental involvement that could lead to confusing messages for parents and youth, which may explain the low rates of parental involvement at the police station, which was reported in previous research. Police showed significantly less support for youths' legal rights than did crown attorneys. Police were also less likely than other respondent groups to indicate that youth justice legislation encouraged parental involvement; and they were more likely to state explicitly that it did not. Police were also less likely than other respondent groups to suggest advocacy or socialization as goals of parental involvement in the legislation. Judges were similar to police, in that few felt that the legislation encouraged parental involvement; however, most judges felt that YCJA did give "lip service" to parental involvement. The conflicting perspectives regarding the appropriate roles of parents at various stages of case processing suggest the need for inter-professional education and training that will increase the consistency with which justice officials understand how parents are to be involved in case processing. 5 tables, 4 notes, and 12 references