Is It Too Late To Save Our Youth?
- Blog Updates, Standard Blog
- November 1, 2016
Bill C-4, also know as “Se’bastien’s Law,” was passed in March 2010 (Cook & Roesch, 2012). This bill amended provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act of Canada. The amendments are as followed:
- It modifies pre-sentence rules to facilitate the pretrial detention of youth accused of property crimes punishable by a maximum sentence of 5 years or more, authorize the use of prison sentences for youth previously subjected to extrajudicial sanctions,
- It prohibits the imprisonment of youth in adult prisons,
- Would require the Crown to consider seeking adult sentences for youth who are 14–17 years of age and convicted of certain violent crimes,
- facilitates the publication of the names of young offenders convicted of violent offences.
What troubles me about this bill is that I do not see anything that talks about reform or rehabilitation. Mentoring and Outreach programs would be perfect, because youth are still very impressionable. The older you get, the harder it is to break out of some of the bad habits that have been developed. Another part of C-4 that disturbs me is the fact that the young offenders names would be publicized. The stigma attached to being a young offender is hard enough; imagine being judged on this throughout your entire younger life because everyone know’s your name. Now, my passion for this is formulated around the fact that it is young black youth that are usually found in the criminal system. This could be a precursor to the self-fulfilling prophecy. Your thoughts?
Reference
Cook, A. N., & Roesch, R. (2012). “Tough on crime” reforms: What psychology has to say about the recent and proposed justice policy in Canada. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 53(3), 217.
