Deck 2: Measuring Youth Crime in Canada: An Elusive Challenge

Question 1

Typical questions criminologists are asked about youth crime and justice include the following: ________.

A) How serious is the youth crime problem?
B) Is youth crime getting worse?
C) Is legislation to lenient?
D) All of the above
E) Both a and b

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Official accounts of social control include data collected by ________.

A) police
B) police and courts
C) police, courts, and corrections
D) police and corrections
E) courts and corrections

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Unofficial sources of data on youth crime include ________.

A) self-report studies
B) victimization surveys
C) participant observation studies
D) All of the above
E) Both a and b

Answer 3

E

Question 4

The term youth at risk refers to ________.

A) youth at risk of offending
B) youth at risk of offending or being victimized
C) youth at risk of offending, victimization, or mental health problems
D) youth at risk of offending and poor educational outcomes
E) None of the above

Question 5

The term youth offender refers to ________.

A) a clinical and legal label used to define youth deviance
B) a young person who commits behaviours that are against the Criminal Code
C) a young person who has offended the norms of society
D) a person who commits a crime against a young person
E) None of the above

Question 6

Historically, Canadian criminologists have tended to focus on ________ rather than on ________ or ________ definitions of youth crime.

A) psychological; sociological; legal
B) sociological; psychological; legal
C) legal; psychological; sociological
D) criminological; sociological; psychological
E) None of the above

Question 7

In general, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) defines a young person as person between ________ and ________ years old.

A) 10; 17
B) 12; 17
C) 13; 18
D) 14; 21
E) 14; 17

Question 8

The question of whether youth crime has increased and public fear ________.

A) was never debated by criminologists
B) is no longer debated by criminologists
C) is subject to continuous debate
D) is debated by criminologists but not politicians
E) is debated by politicians but not criminologists

Question 9

Youth crime in seventeenth century New France was most likely caused by ________.

A) immigration
B) poverty
C) uncontrolled growth
D) poor parenting
E) mortality rates

Question 10

One of the common views held in the late-nineteenth century was that juvenile delinquency was the ________.

A) product of parental neglect and/or maltreatment
B) result of mental illness
C) result of poor educational opportunities
D) product of the economic inequality
E) product of race inequality

Question 11

The Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA) was intended to support the young offender within the context of ________.

A) the family as a social unit
B) state intervention
C) formal social control
D) a global formal system
E) the education system

Question 12

The increase in recorded juvenile delinquency in the first half of the twentieth century reflected ________.

A) an increase in delinquency linked to rapid immigration
B) the growing birthrate during this period
C) the shift in formal attention to young offenders
D) All of the above
E) Both a and b

Question 13

The ________ philosophy marked the beginning of a new era in youth crime in early twentieth century Canada.

A) crime control
B) justice model
C) state intervention
D) industrial school
E) None of the above

Question 14

According to available data for the period, most of the offences committed by youth in early twentieth century Canada were ________.

A) vandalism-related offences
B) petty property-related offences
C) status offences
D) violent offences
E) drug offences

Question 15

Since the introduction of the YCJA in 2003, the youth court data reveal that ________.

A) male involvement in crime increases with age
B) female involvement peaks at around 15 years of age
C) males are more likely to be accused of sexual assault
D) All of the above
E) Both a and c

Question 16

According to 2008-2009 Statistics Canada data, older youth are proportionately more likely to commit ________.

A) property offences
B) property-related offences
C) administrative offences
D) drug-related offences
E) violent offences

Question 17

The CSI scores for all crimes ________ between 2003 and 2013.

A) increased slightly
B) declined steadily
C) increased substantially
D) declined slightly
E) did not change

Question 18

Beattie and Cotter (2010) observe that youth homicide rates were the highest they had been in 30 years with the greatest increase and number of incidents occurring in ________.

A) Ontario
B) Manitoba
C) British Columbia
D) Alberta
E) Prince Edward Island

Question 19

________ allows young offender who have committed serious, violent acts, or who are serious repeat offenders, to be detained during pre-trail detention and for courts to consider publishing the names of some young criminals.

A) Lacasse's Law
B) Sebastien's Law
C) Rob's Law
D) Nicholson's Law
E) Nicholas's Law

Question 20

Findings of the first International Self-Reported Delinquency Survey carried out in Toronto in 2006 included that ________ were more likely to report having committed delinquent acts.

A) Canadian-born youth
B) second-generation immigrant youth
C) recently arrived immigrant youth
D) youth from non-religious families
E) high-school graduates

Question 21

The term dark figure of crime refers to ________.

A) a crime committed that goes undetected or unreported to police
B) a crime committed by those who are a part of organized crime
C) a crime committed by those who do so at night time
D) a crime committed that is reported by the public but is not followed up on by the police
E) None of the above are true

Question 22

Historically, criminologists have tended to focus on the ________ definitions of youth crime.

A) sociological
B) theological
C) psychological
D) legal
E) philosophical

Question 23

Which of the following is not a limitation of using a strictly legal definition of crime?

A) Narrow scope
B) Policy variation
C) Reporting rates
D) Administration variation
E) All of the above are limitations

Question 24

Although they make up just 7 per cent of the total population in Canada, youths aged 12-17 make up about ________ of those accused of crimes in 2015.

A) 5 per cent
B) 13 per cent
C) 19 per cent
D) 24 per cent
E) 31 per cent

Question 25

Results of the Canadian Urbanization Victimization Study found that ________.

A) young persons (composing a 15-24 age group) were the most victimized age group
B) the age group of 15-24 had the highest incidence of repeat victimization
C) contrary to popular opinion, the difference between males and females in the percentage of victimization was not very large
D) the group ages 15-24 consistently had higher rates of victimization for personal theft, violent incidents, robbery, sexual assault, and common assault
E) All of the above were found

Question 26

With the passing of the Young Offenders Act (YOA) in 1984, the term juvenile delinquency was replaced with young person.

Question 27

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) places a greater emphasis on a legalistic approach under which young offenders are held legally responsible for their actions.

Question 28

In many ways, the delinquency problem in Canada at the end of the nineteenth century resembles the trends we are experiencing at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Question 29

J.J. Kelso played only a minor role in establishing Ontario's first juvenile court system.

Question 30

By the early 1980s, there was unanimous agreement that the growing problem of youth crime was due to the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA).

Question 31

The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) was replaced with the Young Offenders Act (YOA) in 2003.

Question 32

Official statistics remain the most consistent source of measurement for youth offending.

Question 33

Female young offenders are more likely to be involved in prostitution than common assault.

Question 34

According to official data on cases completed in Canadian youth courts, 12- and 13-year-olds are proportionately more frequently charged with "crimes against the person" than are 16- and 17-year-olds.

Question 35

The youth Crime Severity Index (CSI) measures the seriousness of crime reported to the police.

Question 36

Risk assessment of youth is not a common practice currently because there are no known predictors of recidivism.

Question 37

There is considerable variability between the provincial and territorial jurisdictions in how the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) is applied.

Question 38

Overall youth crime rates have been dropping in recent years.

Question 39

According to data on court dispositions, the percentage of convicted youth placed on probation declined from 2002-03 to 2011-12.

Question 40

Since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), the youth court caseload is dramatically lower than it was under the Young Offenders Act (YOA).

Question 41

Since the early 1990s and into the "new" millennium, there has been an apparent shift toward greater accountability of young offenders engaged in serious offences.

Question 42

Since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), there is no longer variation across provinces and territories in terms of the percentage of youth cases sentenced to custody in Canada.

Question 43

Since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), the average length of secure custody sentences has declined, except for more serious crimes such as homicide.

Question 44

Recidivism data on young offenders in Canada is always recorded.

Question 45

According to victimization data collected through the Canadian General Social Survey, about 80 per cent of youth aged 15 to 17 who were victimized do did not report the incident to police.

Question 46

Between 2014 and 2016 the crime severity index increased

Question 47

Gang related homicides are consistently higher for youths than for adults

Question 48

Quebec and Ontario, which have the highest youth crime rates, had custody rates of 14.1 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively in 2014-2015.

Question 49

How is the legal definition of youth crime limited by policy and administrative variation?

Question 50

Why is it not possible to accurately quantify the nature and extent of the problem of delinquency that might have existed in pre-Confederation Canada?

Question 51

Why is it important to know the facts about youth crime before recommending, or exploring, responses to youth crime?

Question 52

How is official data on youth crime collected? What are some of the challenges of collecting official youth crime data?

Question 53

What are the different ways in which the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) expresses youth crime data?

Question 54

Has the gender balance or ratio of youth crime changed in recent years?

Question 55

Has the age-related pattern of youth crime changed significantly in recent years?

Question 56

Data indicate that older youth are proportionately more likely to commit administrative offences. What are administrative offences, and what might account for older youth committing more of these types of offences?

Question 57

What were the two opposing interpretations offered in the 1990s regarding whether youth violent crime was increasing in Canada?

Question 58

What is the purpose of the youth Crime Severity Index (CSI)? What does it show about youth crime trends from 2003 to 2013?

Question 59

To what extent do official data sources reveal regional variations in the youth crime rate across Canada? Provide examples from the chapter that illustrate the extent of these variations.

Question 60

What has been the trend in recorded youth property crimes in Canada over the past two decades? Provide examples from the chapter that illustrate this trend.

Question 61

What has been the trend in recorded illicit drug offences committed by youth over the past two decades? Provide examples from the chapter that illustrate this trend.

Question 62

According to official data on court dispositions, to what extent has the use of probation as a youth sentence changed since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)?

Question 63

According to official data on court dispositions, to what extent has the use of secure custody as a youth sentence changed since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)?

Question 64

Which two provinces or territories show the greatest variation from each other in the use of secure custody since the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)?

Question 65

What affect has the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) had on youth court case processing times across Canada as a whole?

Question 66

Can young persons charged with criminal offences have their cases transferred to adult court in Canada today? Explain why.

Question 67

Tanner and Wortley (2000) conducted one of the largest victimization studies of its kind involving Toronto students as well as street youth. What were the results they found?

Question 68

What do researchers often rely on in an effort to accurately uncover the dark figure of crime?

Question 69

What is meant by narrow scope when talking about the limitations of having a legal definition of crime?

Question 70

How is the Crime Severity Index calculated?

Question 71

Discuss the limitations there are to assuming a purely legal definition of youth crime?

Question 72

What commonalities link the perceived delinquency problem at the end of the nineteenth century and the trends in youth crime experienced at the beginning of the twenty-first century?

Question 73

Discuss how the measurement of youth crime trends in Canada changed from pre-Confederation to the twentieth century.

Question 74

To what extent has youth violent crime increased or decreased in recent years? What are the major challenges involved in attempting to determine contemporary trends in youth violent crime?

Question 75

What has been the impact of the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) on youth custody rates in Canada since 2003?

Question 76

How has the introduction of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1changed the way in which youth can be made subject to adult sentences?

Question 77

What are the main differences between Self Report Studies and Victimization Studies?