NCJ Number
163958
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 38 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1996) Pages: 271-290
Date Published
1996
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Information from an analysis of 113 newspaper articles, reports of 51 juvenile court cases, and a survey of 198 residents of Toronto, Ontario, Canada formed the basis of an analysis of public attitudes toward crime and the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
The analysis revealed that fewer than 25 percent of the youth court cases in Ontario involved violence, but 94 percent of the newspaper stories about youth crime involved cases of violence. In addition, the newspapers focused largely on the crime, the charge, and crime's impact on the victims, while legal reports of youth court dispositions focused more on the characteristics of the youth. Although the newspaper articles provide almost no information about youth court dispositions, the survey of Toronto residents revealed that most people believe that youth court dispositions are too lenient. Most of those who had this opinion were thinking of the minority of cases, which involved serious violent repeat offenders. The survey participants also had little knowledge of the operation of the youth court in Canada and underestimated the severity of dispositions available to the court under the law. They also held incorrect beliefs regarding constraints on transferring cases to adult court. Results suggest that the opinion that juvenile court are too lenient can be considered a general belief that is more linked to general views about crime and the criminal justice system than to knowledge or facts. Tables, notes, and 13 references (Author abstract modified)