NCJ Number
129626
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 37 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (April 1991) Pages: 281-299
Date Published
1991
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Highlights are presented from a larger study tracing the history (1908-1984) of public policies affecting the disposition of delinquent, neglected, and emotionally disturbed, anglophone youth in Montreal.
Abstract
The impact of these policies was examined from the vantage point of a single organization, The Boys' Farm/Shawbridge Youth Centres, and its long attempt to control the admission of clients. An increasing involvement of professional social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists in the disposition of delinquent, neglected, and emotionally disturbed youth had a marked impact on client recruitment strategies. The analysis demonstrates that this professionalization facilitated the case-by-case selection of clients. It altered, masked, and legitimated organizational strategies for selecting desirable clients and excluded those regarded as undesirable. The introduction of individualized assessment as a client recruitment strategy was contested by the court but was the initial step toward the "differential treatment" ideology that eventually legitimated institutional control over admissions. 14 notes and 31 references (Author abstract modified)