NCJ Number
225483
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 50 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2008 Pages: 621-639
Date Published
October 2008
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined variation across provinces in Canada in self-reported offending (violence and property) to see whether police contacts or the use of court showed variation across regions that was similar to the picture one could get from self-report data.
Abstract
Examination of variation across provinces in self-reported violent and property offending by Canadian youth demonstrates considerably less variation than the rate of police-recorded contacts with youth or the rate of use of youth court for these youth. Official measures of offending by youth in Canada are probably best seen as reflections of the behavior of adults in deciding how to respond to offending by youth, rather than of the behavior of youth. It is well known that there is a good deal of variation across provinces in the administration of youth justice laws. Currently, there exists one cohort (age 12 to 17) of a relatively representative sample of Canadian youth available from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). These youth were interviewed in 2004 and asked a series of questions about their involvement in various types of offenses. Variation across provinces was examined to determine whether police contacts or the use of court showed variation across regions, similar to what was seen from self-report data. Figures, references, and appendix