Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice/La Revue canadienne de criminologie et de justice pénale

This article addresses Carol La Prairie's (1992; 2002) hypothesis that the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the Canadian criminal justice system is, to a considerable extent, due to their disadvantaged urban living conditions. Specifically, it investigates the sources of the high level of police-reported Aboriginal crime in Winnipeg in 2001. Geocoded crime incident data from the incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and Census data for the City of Winnipeg are combined in a neighbourhood-level ecological analysis of urban Aboriginal crime. The results indicate that a substantial part of the elevated level of police-reported Aboriginal crime is explained by the structural characteristics of the neighbourhoods in which Aboriginal people tend to live. These results confirm La Prairie's hypothesis and point to the importance of considering community conditions in understanding and preventing crime. Yes Yes

Numerous reports and commissions of inquiry have documented the need for oversight and accountability mechanisms to redress illegalities and rights violations in Canada's women's prisons. This paper examines the recent troubled history of women's imprisonment in which the calls for meaningful accountability and oversight have arisen, outlines some necessary criteria for any effective oversight body within this context, and measures some of the key recommendations against those criteria. The authors conclude that the judicial oversight model and remedial sanction proposed by Justice Louise Arbour in 1996 in her Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston is the proposal that best meets the criteria and therefore ought to be implemented. Underlying this conclusion is the authors' view that prison reform is susceptible to what Pat Carlen has called "carceral clawback" and is, therefore, ultimately ineffective over the long term. They argue that the proven difficulty of making prisons humane and effectively overseen - of requiring that the Rule of Law take root inside prison walls - should give us pause and encourage us to take seriously the need for alternatives to, and even abolition of, prisons.

In Canada over the past 30 years there has been a vigorous controversy as to the measures necessary to ensure that the use of administrative segregation - which, in light of its indefinite duration and the severity of the conditions, is the most restrictive form of imprisonment - is consistent with human rights standards and subject to the rule of law. One of these measures is independent adjudication. This article describes the history of independent adjudication in federal corrections, the underlying issues of legal principle and operational reality, and the competing arguments surrounding its implementation for administrative segregation.

The author uses the premises and inquiries advanced by the literature on social inclusion to consider its potential for the re-visioning of criminal law and policy. She notes that criminal law and social inclusion are fundamentally at odds, but argues that governments and policy makers committed to inclusion in social and economic policy cannot fulfil that mandate without turning their attention to criminal law. She identifies the process of criminal law reform, the definition of crime, the enforcement of the law, and the outcomes of criminal law as areas for which social inclusion offers insights and directions.

The criminal justice system requires a reliable means of detecting truth and lies. A battery of emerging neuroimaging technologies make it possible to gauge and monitor brain activity without the need to penetrate the cranium. Bypassing external physiological indicators of dishonesty relied upon by previous lie detection techniques, some neuroimaging experts believe in the possibility of reliable brain scan lie detection systems in the criminal justice system. Although philosophers, psychologists and sociologists have appreciated the complexity of distinguishing truth from lies, our courts are increasingly looking to neuroscience as a means of reducing the search for truth to the existence or non-existence of certain brain states. In this article, the authors assert that Canadian courts' current approach to protecting privacy cannot easily accommodate the challenges caused by these emerging technologies, examine the possibility of remote, surreptitious brain surveillance and address the potential threat to privacy this poses. The article commences with an examination of the 'reasonable expectation of privacy' standard adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing that various courts across Canada have misunderstood and misapplied the Tessling decision by way of an inappropriate analogy. After a description of brain scan lie detection systems, the authors then examine the courts' use of the Tessling analogy in the context of brain privacy. In addition to demonstrating the danger in a generalized judicial proposition that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in information emanating from a private place into a public space, the authors conclude that a more robust account of brain privacy is required and speculate about possible sources of law from which this might derive. The article suggests that the goal of using brain based lie detection in our criminal justice system will require better developed theories and understanding of privacy.

À l'heure actuelle, les détenus dans les pénitenciers canadiens peuvent accéder à une large gamme de mécanismes devant assurer le respect de leurs droits, dont le régime interne de règlement des plaintes, la Commission canadienne des droits de la personne et le Bureau de l'Enqueöteur correctionnel. Cependant, divers facteurs font en sorte que ces mécanismes ne suffisent pas à insuffler au système correctionnel l'imputabilité ou le respect de la primauté de la loi nécessaires. L'auteur propose donc l'établissement d'un tribunal fédéral de traitement des plaintes qui soit habilité à statuer sur le bien-fondé de certaines plaintes. Ce tribunal, dont l'auteur présente une structure éventuelle, devrait eötre une instance indépendante et posséder, entre autres, la capacité de régler les plaintes avec rapidité et équité et d'émettre des ordonnances exécutoires. Federal inmates in Canada currently have access to a wide variety of mechanisms that purport to ensure their rights are respected: internal grievance systems, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, the court system, and more. However, for a variety of reasons, each of these mechanisms is inadequate to import accountability and the rule of law into the prison system. Instead, this article proposes the creation of a Federal Inmate Grievance Tribunal to rule on the merits of selected grievances. Key features of the proposed tribunal include fairness and independence; timely resolution of cases; and the ability to issue binding orders. In addition, the structure of the proposed tribunal is discussed.

Cross-national comparisons of crime across the world consistently show that homicide rates are higher in more impoverished countries. However, the role of formal social controls as mediators between social conditions and homicide has never been investigated across a large number of countries. To provide data on the efficiency of criminal justice systems across the world, we found 1,223 experts and had them fill out a questionnaire, providing data for 145 countries. Results from structural equations models (Amos) show that adverse social conditions (collective and individual poverty, inequality, and youthfulness of the population) downwardly affect the level of formal social control (application of the rule of law, low corruption rate, effectiveness of the criminal justice system, and satisfaction with the criminal justice agencies). Low levels of formal social control lead to higher levels of homicide. In other words, the effect of adverse social conditions on homicide is mediated by formal social control.

Cross-national comparisons of crime across the world consistently show that homicide rates are higher in more impoverished countries. However, the role of formal social controls as mediators between social conditions and homicide has never been investigated across a large number of countries. To provide data on the efficiency of criminal justice systems across the world, we found 1,223 experts and had them fill out a questionnaire, providing data for 145 countries. Results from structural equations models (Amos) show that adverse social conditions (collective and individual poverty, inequality, and youthfulness of the population) downwardly affect the level of formal social control (application of the rule of law, low corruption rate, effectiveness of the criminal justice system, and satisfaction with the criminal justice agencies). Low levels of formal social control lead to higher levels of homicide. In other words, the effect of adverse social conditions on homicide is mediated by formal social control.

Community-based risk management strategies for people convicted of sexual off ences (PCSO) can hinder successful reintegration, which plays an important role in reducing sexual recidivism. Section 161 of the Criminal Code is a Canadian risk management strategy, which aims to protect children by prohibiting people convicted of sexual offences against children (PCSO-C) from engaging in behaviours assumed (sometimes erroneously) to be associated with sexual off ending. This study was the first to evaluate Section 161 prohibition orders. We explored inconsistencies in the interpretation and (hypothetical) application of these conditions between PCSO-C subject to Section 161 and two non-forensic subsamples of the Canadian public – community members and undergraduate students. Non-forensic participants expressed more negative attitudes towards the treatment of PCSO, which were found to mediate the relationship between group membership and subjective legal decision-making. Degree of support for Section 161 conditions did not appear to moderate this effect. Results raise concerns about the potential for increased personal discretion when enforcing or adhering to ambiguous or overly broad legal conditions. We suggest the need for continued efforts to establish an empirical understanding of the application, efficacy, and potential collateral consequences associated with this Canadian risk management strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on crime in Canada and internationally. However, less is known about the impact of the pandemic on police-reported mental-health-related incidents. We explore three types of mental-health-related incidents (suicide and suicide attempts, Mental Health Act apprehensions, and mental health [other]) against property and violent crimes, across 13 police jurisdictions in Canada. Despite an international decline in most crime types during COVID-19, we find general stability across police-reported mental-health-related incidents. These findings suggest that the change in social behaviour that reduced opportunities for crime did not have a similar effect on mental-health-related incidents. It also suggests that calls for increased police budgets to respond to expected increases in mental-health-related incidents may be unjustified.

This article assesses the spatial distribution and developmental pattern of micro-level homicide clusters in Toronto between 1967 and 2003. The spatial unit of analysis is the street segment and is defined as the two block faces on both sides of a street between two intersections. Three time periods (1967 to 1979, 1980 to 1989, and 1990 to 2003) covering 1,671 homicides were pooled to ensure sufficient numbers for analysis. Given the qualitative strength of the dataset, a series of descriptive statistics and geospatial statistics are used. Toronto’s developmental homicide pattern is characterized by a dense concentration of single-homicide street segments within the downtown core between 1967 and 1989, with the mass dispersal of multi-homicide street segments across the city between 1990 and 2003. Single-homicide street segments accounted for 84% and 81% of homicides between 1967 and 1979 and 1980 and 1989, respectively. However, multi-homicide street segments tripled between 1990 and 2003, rising from 16% of homicides in the first time period to 45% in the third. This reflects a change in the character of homicides with drug and gang-related homicides increasing in the third time period.

In Quebec, the rate of sexual assault has risen since the 1980s, while the rate of aggravated (more serious) sexual assault has abated. How can these contradictory tendencies be explained? This study examines the empirical merits of the hypothesis that the increased rate of simple sexual assault is a result of more frequent denunciations of these offences in the period observed. The empirical corpus of this study is made up of 461 articles about sexual assault that appeared in the Journal de Montréal between 1974 and 2006. The results suggest that the increase in simple sexual assault in Quebec is an artificial phenomenon, attributable, in the main, to a higher level of denunciation of sexual assault, which has been encouraged by an increase in media coverage of sexual violence and the enactment of legislation in 1983. The secondary hypothesis that this denunciation has had a dissuasive effect is also examined.

Cet article estime la relation entre la disponibilité des armes à feu (AAF) et les homicides au Québec de 1974 à 2006. L’article se distingue des recherches préalablement réalisées, d’une part, en opérationnalisant des indicateurs de disponibilité selon le statut de l’arme et, d’autre part, en créant des taux d’homicide tenant compte de leur contexte. Des séries chronologiques furent analysées à l’aide d’une modélisation ARIMA. Les relations significatives s’observent principalement lorsque les deux phénomènes sont considérés au même temps de mesure. Par conséquent, il demeure difficile de déterminer si les AAF influent sur le taux d’homicide ou bien si ce sont les homicides qui affectent la disponibilité des AAF. La disponibilité des AAF entretient toutefois des liens étroits avec les homicides dans un contexte bien précis, soit celui des homicides conjugaux. Une augmentation des homicides conjugaux se traduit par une hausse de la disponibilité des armes longues. Par la suite, une recrudescence dans la disponibilité de ce type d’armes s’accompagne d’une baisse des homicides conjugaux. L’interprétation des résultats met l’accent sur l’importance des contextes et du statut de l’arme lors de l’étude de la disponibilité des AAF et des violences criminelles.

Sentencing in Canada is beset by many problems, yet one weakness stands above the rest: the disproportionately high rates of Aboriginal incarceration. This article documents current and historical trends in levels of Aboriginal incarceration at the provincial/territorial and federal levels since 1978. We pay particular attention to the years following two important Supreme Court judgements (in 1999 and 2012) that directed the courts to use custody with greater restraint when sentencing an Aboriginal offender. The primary data derive from the annual Adult Correctional Services survey conducted by Statistics Canada. In 2014, Aboriginal persons accounted for just over one quarter of all provincial and territorial admissions, significantly higher than the percentage recorded in 1978 (16%). In fact, over the past 20 years, all jurisdictions save one have experienced an increase in the percentage of Aboriginal admissions to provincial and territorial correctional institutions. Despite judgements from the Supreme Court and provincial courts of appeal, as well as several other remedial interventions, such as the creation of so-called Gladue courts and an alternate form of custody that would be served in the community, the problem of Aboriginal over-incarceration has worsened, not improved.

Driving while impaired by alcohol (DWI) is an important factor in fatal road accidents. Consequently, many countries have enacted laws to deter this behaviour. Although studies have concluded that such laws can improve road safety, criminologists do not unanimously support these findings. Many believe that these studies do not operationally authenticate the concepts linked to the theory of deterrence and, therefore, cannot accurately identify those mechanisms responsible for the success or failure of the laws. The present study takes these criticisms into account. The research is based on an assessment model that integrates the variety of legal actions possible according to the basic concepts of the theory of deterrence. Our results show that the increase in the likelihood of being incarcerated, combined with a continued intense policy of police arrests and media campaigns following the introduction of Bill C-18, yielded significant reductions in fatal accident rates associated with DWI in Quebec between 1980 and 2001. For this period, we estimate that approximately 2,000 fatal accidents were prevented as a result of the increased likelihood of incarceration.

Driving while impaired by alcohol (DWI) is an important factor infatal road accidents. Consequently, many countries have enacted laws to deter this behaviour. Although studies have concluded that such laws can improve road safety, criminologists do not unanimously support these findings. Many. believe that these studies do not operationally authenticate the concepts linked to the theory of deterrence and, therefore, cannot accurately identify those mechanisms responsible for the success or failure of the laws. The present study takes these criticisms into account. The research is based on an assessment model that integrates the variety of legal actions possible according to the basic concepts of the theory of deterrence. Our results show that the increase in the likelihood of being incarcerated, combined with a continued intense policy of police arrests and media campaigns following the introduction of Bill C-18, yielded significant reductions in fatal accident rates associated with DWI in Quebec between 1980 and 2001. For this period, we estimate that approximately 2,000 fatal accidents were prevented as a result of the increased likelihood of incarceration.

Trends in the seriousness of youth crime in Canada from 1984 to 2011 are assessed by analysing changes over time in the mix of offences for which young people have been reported by police as chargeable. Four indicators of seriousness are used: Statistics Canada crime seriousness weights, the proportion of youth accused of an indictable offence, a fivefold classification of offences; and a selection of high volume offences. All four analyses clearly indicate a substantial downward trend over the period in the overall seriousness of police-reported youth crime. The decline in seriousness is mainly due to a very large decrease in the proportion of youth accused of the serious offence of break and enter and a correspondingly large increase in the proportion accused of the minor offences of common assault, cannabis possession, and offences against the administration of justice. The proportion of chargeable youth accused of major offences against the person has increased substantially relative to its level in 1984, but it remains low compared to property and other offenders. Thus, reported youth crime in Canada has become proportionally more violent but less serious overall.

Criminologists have shown much interest in the distribution, causes, and consequences of fear of crime, but few studies have examined trends in fear. Using data from the Winnipeg Area Study from 1984, 1994, and 2004, and official crime data from the Winnipeg Police Service, we examine trends in fear of crime and compare them to reported crime. Fear of crime is evaluated by using an index compiled from five offence-specific indicators that asks how worried people are about becoming victims of theft, burglary, armed robbery, fraud, and sexual assault. Bonferonni procedures and regression methods are used to assess differences in fear of crime. The results show that respondents report low levels of fear of crime over the 20-year period. The results also indicate a lack of correspondence between fear of crime and official measures of crime. These findings challenge the use of fear of crime measures by policy makers seeking to evaluate criminal justice initiatives.

This article provides answers to questions about the size of the security and investigation services industry in Canada. Using Statistics Canada data sources, a profile of the industry is developed. The private security industry in Canada grew dramatically between 1991 and 2001. Employment increased by 69%, from 46,651 in 1991 to 78,919 in 2001. Growth was strongest in the latter years of the study period. All provinces for which data were available experienced growth in employment. Most security employees are men. Revenues in 2000 for security and investigation services were approximately $2.7 billion.

This article re-analyses official 2004 criminal incidence rates in Canada. Currently, official incidence rates are calculated using a technique known as capping, meaning that any respondent can represent a maximum of three incidents per crime type, regardless of how many incidents the individual reports. Given that research on other victimization surveys has cast doubt on the practice of capping, this research assesses the effects of capping in the Canadian Victimization Survey. Findings illustrate that there is significant cause to question the way in which official incidence rates are calculated. Specifically, this research shows that violent crime increases by 87% and household crime increases by 36% when all reported incidents are included. This pattern not only underscores the importance of understanding how incidence rates are produced but also suggests that capping may ignore genuine incidents because individuals who are victims of violent crimes are the most likely to be repeatedly victimized. These findings indicate numerous rates should be published, and more research needs to be conducted to understand recall in victimization surveys and determine the most accurate methods for incidence rate estimation.

Community gardens can bring many benefits to community members, including access to healthy, affordable foods and opportunities for social interaction. Less certain, however, is their contribution to neighbourhood resilience to crime. To date, few studies have focused on the ability of community gardens – as distinct from other types of green spaces – to promote social organization and reduce local crime. Findings of studies that do so are inconclusive, and at best suggestive of gardens’ crime-deterring effects. The present study spotlights community gardens as unique spaces promoting social capital development and attachment to place, testing the effect of new community gardens in Vancouver, BC. Using neighbourhood census data from 2005 to 2015, the effects of new community gardens, as well as median income, population size, homeownership, and ethnic diversity, on property crime are assessed with multilevel modeling. The results show significant negative effects of median income, population size, and new community gardens on crime, with the addition of just one garden reducing neighbourhood crime by approximately 49 counts, and with increases in population size (by 1,000 individuals) and median income (by CAD$1,000) lowering crime by 48 and 34 counts, respectively.

This paper examines support for the use of conducted energy weapons (CEWs) by police in Canada using data from the 2014 Alberta Survey (N = 1,204). Support for CEW use is measured using four Likert-scale questions, capturing different dimensions of CEW use: (1) “less-lethal” weapons such as Tasers should be made available to police officers; (2) Tasers are a safe policing tool; (3) the use of Tasers reduces levels of confidence in the police; and (4) official explanations regarding injuries and casualties in Taser-related incidents are satisfactory. Results of a logistic regression indicate that race, age, and gender are key predictors of perceptions of CEW use by police in Canada. Specifically, women, young people, and racialized minorities are least likely to be supportive of CEW use by police. Individuals identifying as white are over three times more likely to support CEW use by police, compared to those identifying as Aboriginal or members of another racialized group. Having a low household income, living in an urban area, and education are not statistically significant predictors of support for CEW use by police.

Margit Cohn and Mordechai Kremnitzer developed a multidimensional 17-parameter model, in 2005, to measure the judicial discourse in the decisions of constitutional courts.Acourt rendered a decision that was activist when it made a decision outside the traditional scope of judicial constraints on government action and that was restrained when they adhered to the principles of traditional adjudication roles. Previously, this model was successfully operationalized, by Jochelson et al. (2012), to analyse significant changes in the interpretation of search and seizure law in the judicial discourse of the Supreme Court of Canada, before and after 9/11. We now use the model to expand that analysis to section 24(2) exclusion of evidence cases under the Charter. By using a 1-10 Likert scale for each Cohn/Kremnitzer indicium of analysis, a value was assigned to each variable of every case and then the pre-9/11 case group were compared to the post-9/11 one. Our data analysis shows increased restraint on the part of the Supreme Court in 7 of the 13 variables of judicial discourse measured after 9/11, even when factoring in the landmark decision in R v Grant (2009). These changes are consistent with the post-9/11 literature on securitization: 9/11 was a moment when the state was given excuses to control, using security as justification for precautionary and risk-averse actions. While we cannot assert any causal relationships between these changes and 9/11, the caveats still permit significant findings, the most intriguing being that the Court has shifted, in its discourse on the exclusion of evidence, toward an ethic of more restraint. These findings stand alongside other studies that have found similarly in the area of search and seizure law.

In the January 2015 issue of the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Melanie Janelle Murchison and Richard Jochelson maintain that the Supreme Court of Canada has become more restrained since 9/11 in its exclusion of evidence decisions under section 24(2) of the Charter of Rights. In making this assertion, the authors provide Likert scale scores that attempt to measure different dimensions of activism and restraint. I argue that these measures of activism and restraint are flawed, particularly if one is interested in whether the Supreme Court is giving police more latitude to investigate crime. Using measures of whether evidence was actually excluded or not to assess activism or restraint, I argue that the Supreme Court has become somewhat less prone to exclude evidence over time but that 9/11 is not a convincing explanatory factor either empirically or logically. A Charter maturation effect and sensitivity to critique from law professors would appear to be better explanations.

This study examines whether changes in immigration are associated with changes in crime rates in Canadian census metropolitan areas for the period 1976–2011. Using data from the Uniform Crime Reports and the Canadian census, this study employs fixed effects regression models to analyse the changes in immigration and crime rates during this 35-year period. Controlling for changes in demographic and socio-economic co-variates, overall changes in the proportion of the population that is foreign-born are either not significantly associated or negatively associated with changes in crime rates within Canadian cities. Overall, this article adds to the literature by using a longitudinal design within a Canadian urban context, employing multiple measures of immigration, and extending the analysis beyond one type of crime.

This article presents an analysis of social media posts by laypersons regarding a finding of Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD) for Matthew de Grood after a high-profile trial in 2016 in Canada. From trial to verdict, a total of 4,991 tweets relating to the case were harvested from Twitter. Qualitative content analysis of 365 tweets by laypersons revealed three themes – largely equating the insanity defense to a legal loophole: (1) The case exemplified a misappropriation of the legal defense (e.g., due to privilege, due to the seriousness of the offence); (2) The perception existed that the NCRMD defence is a miscarriage of justice; (3) Many comments reflected a search for answers and justice. These embodied the ABCs of NCRMD: advocating, blaming, and clarifying. A need for public education about the forensic psychiatric system is evident; misconceptions about the insanity defence appeared pervasive. Further research could focus on the efficacy of knowledge translation over new media channels, such as Twitter.

The high rates of Aboriginal admissions to custody have been noted by Commissions of Inquiry, all levels of government, and Corrections texts in Canada for some time. In the most recent year for which data are available (2000-2001), Aboriginal offenders accounted for 19% of provincial admissions and 17% of federal admissions to custody. This article examines provincial custodial sentenced admissions for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders since 1978, when national statistics including the ethnicity of the offender were first published. Particular emphasis is paid in this analysis to recent trends during a period in which Parliament and the Supreme Court have tried to address the problem, the former by statutory recognition of the unique nature of Aboriginal offenders, the latter by judgments interpreting Criminal Code sentencing provisions introduced in 1996. The findings suggest that little progress has been made in reducing the number of Aboriginal sentenced admissions over the past few decades. Although the volume of Aboriginal admissions to custody has declined since 1993-1994, non-Aboriginal admissions have declined at an even faster rate, suggesting that specific policy changes are not responsible for the Aboriginal decline.

Interviews with ex-gang members, police officers, and correctional service personnel suggest that the risk factors for involvement in gangs are abundant for Aboriginal youth and young adults. Aboriginal ex-gang members report the burden of discrimination and labelling based on race, in addition to the structural inequality and lack of opportunity reported as causal factors to gang involvement by gang researchers. Disadvantaged and disillusioned, encouraged by gang-involved family and friends, Aboriginal youth turn to gangs for a sense of identity and purpose. Interestingly, decades after their formation, groups such as the Indian Posse, Manitoba Warriors, Alberta Warriors, and Native Syndicate may not only be relegated to the outskirts of legitimate society but are also marginalized within the criminal world, in their organization and behind bars. Understanding Aboriginal gangs requires consideration of contextual factors, including the presence and interaction of precursors to gang involvement. These factors contribute to their pronounced presence in prisons and the suggestion that despite decades of existence they are relegated to street gang status.

The statistical "over-representation" of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice systems (especially prisons) of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand is not disputed. Sentencing is often perceived as a point in the criminal justice system where, potentially, the problem of Aboriginal over-representation could be addressed. During the last 20 years there have been robust discussions in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand as to whether (and if so how) Aboriginality should be taken into account in sentencing. Reviewing and comparing the trajectories of these debates within the three countries during the last 20 years, in terms of legislative provisions, court decisions, and innovative sentencing practices, suggests that although the problem of over-incarceration is viewed similarly, sentencing responses have varied between nations, but have been equally unsuccessful in actually reducing rates of Aboriginal imprisonment.

The issue of partner and family violence in Aboriginal settings has long presented unique challenges for communities and criminal justice. Dissatisfaction with conventional legal responses, and especially with mandatory charging policies, whose implications for victims and families are, at best, mixed, has initiated a shift toward restorative justice, which is perceived to be more culturally appropriate and respectful of Aboriginal families. However, there are significant challenges arising from issues of community, culture, and context that must be seriously engaged before restorative justice can offer viable, safe, and sustainable alternatives to Aboriginal communities struggling with violence. Drawing upon years of work with Cree communities, this article explores the realities of intimate violence and restorative responses, arguing that there is additional work to be done before restorative processes can be applied to intimate violence in these communities.

Research has established eight theoretically based central risk/need factors predictive of recidivism; however, there is little research examining the applicability of these risk factors to Aboriginal offenders. A meta-analysis was undertaken to examine whether (1) criminal history, (2) pro-criminal attitudes, (3) pro-criminal associates, (4) antisocial personality pattern, (5) employment/ education, (6) family/marital, (7) substance abuse, and (8) leisure/recreation are applicable to Aboriginal offenders and whether these factors predict recidivism equally well for this group as they do for non-Aboriginal offenders. Thirty-two reports/articles and 12 data sets were reviewed which yielded 49 independent samples producing 1,908 effect sizes. Using both random and fixed effects analyses, results indicated that all of the central eight risk/need factors were predictive of general and violent recidivism for Aboriginal offenders; however, some factors predicted significantly better for non-Aboriginal offenders. This review also examined other factors (e.g., history of victimization and emotional factors) and there was an attempt to evaluate Aboriginal-specific risk factors (e.g., cultural identity) but no empirical studies existed on the latter. Limitations and future directions are discussed, but overall, the results support the position that the central eight risk factors are valid predictors of recidivism for Aboriginal offenders.

No nationally representative study has been conducted about differential confidence in the police between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal persons in Canada. Based on the 2009 General Social Survey of Canada, this article examines the influence of Aboriginal status on confidence in the police. Consistent with the theoretical prediction, results of multiple regression analyses show that Aboriginal people and visible minorities have a significantly lower level of confidence than other Canadians do, after the effects of both expressive and instrumental concerns are controlled for. The persistent effects of Aboriginal or visible minorities status raise questions about racial relationships in Canada. Other significant predictors of confidence in the police are expressive concerns, such as trust, and instrumental concerns, such as community context, crime experiences, perceptions of crime in one’s own neighbourhood, and police contact. Findings indicate that continued reform measures are needed for the police force to gain the confidence of Aboriginal people and visible minorities in Canada.

The purpose of this study is to compare sex offenders who claim to have been sexually abused in the past (n = 137) to sex offenders who report never having been sexually victimized (n = 141). The results show that a greater number of sex offender-victims were exposed to dysfunctional family dynamics, demonstrated some behavioural problems before the age of 18, or have a previous history of sex crimes. In addition, they were more sexually precocious and consider themselves sexually less competent than do sex offenders who have no previous history of sexual victimization. Despite the differences observed between the two groups of sex offenders, covariance analyses reveal that behavioural problems and sexual development are influenced more by exposure to dysfunctional family dynamics than by sexual victimization. Furthermore, whether or not they have been victims, the sex offenders in this study exhibit many common traits. These similarities appear to play a greater role than sexual victimization in the development of sex offenders and therefore deserve increased attention by researchers and clinicians.

The purpose of this study is to compare sex offenders who claim to have been sexually abused in the past (n = 137)to sex offenders who report never having been sexually victimized (n = 141). The results show that a greater number of sex offender-victims were exposed to dysfunctional family dynamics, demonstrated some behavioural problems before the age of 18, or have a previous history of sex crimes. In addition, they were more sexually precocious and consider themselves sexually less competent than do sex offenders who have no previous history of sexual victimization. Despite the differences observed between the two groups of sex offenders, covariance analyses reveal that behavioural problems and sexual development are influenced more by exposure to dysfunctional family dynamics than by sexual victimization. Furthermore, whether or not they have been victims, the sex offenders in this study exhibit many common traits. These similarities appear to play a greater role than sexual victimization in the development of sex offenders and therefore deserve increased attention by researchers and clinicians.

Many criminal justice organizations, including the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), grant research access through their own research branches. I attempted to interview CSC employees for research about programming and policy in relation to in-prison substance abuse, but access was denied. I have turned my experience into a case study, where I treat my correspondence with CSC as a unique source of data. Although access-denied case studies have appeared in the literature on conducting prison research, I apply a novel lens, reputational risk management, to expand the conceptual toolkit for future researchers. I also use interview data from a sample of 16 participants – former CSC senior administrative officials, former CSC front line staff, and external stakeholders – to supplement my analysis. The case study and interviews reveal new insights regarding access barriers, censorship, and the insular character of CSC research. These restrictions can lead to adverse consequences such as the (re)production of limited knowledge about corrections and the curtailment of innovative solutions to problems. I thus encourage researchers to further refine the application of reputational risk to criminal justice settings and to be persistent in their efforts to access correctional organizations.

Drawing on a qualitative study with former federal prisoners in Ontario and key medical and community professionals from across the country, this commentary aims to build dialogue with the Correctional Service Canada on an essential harm reduction measure in prison, namely, prison needle and syringe programs (PNSPs). Research participants elucidated the main issues and challenges related to the implementation of PNSPs, listing correctional officers and the union that represents them as a central barrier. As the primary front-line workers in the prison setting and the staff with whom prisoners have the most frequent contact, correctional officers play a significant role in the success or failure of these indispensable programs. Yet despite the more than two decades of international evaluations that have demonstrated PNSP effectiveness in improving staff occupational safety, correctional officers and prison services remain resistant.

Numerous reports and commissions of inquiry have documented the need for oversight and accountability mechanisms to redress illegalities and rights violations in Canada's women's prisons. This article examines the recent troubled history of women's imprisonment in which the calls for meaningful accountability and oversight have arisen, outlines the necessary criteria for any effective oversight body within this correctional context, and measures some of the key recommendations against those criteria. The authors conclude that the judicial oversight model and sanction proposed by Justice Louise Arbour in 1996 is the proposal that best meets the criteria and therefore ought to be implemented.

Since the restructuring of police services in Quebec, criminal intelligence now seems to play a primary role in optimizing police services and in crime-fighting strategies. This article examines the main challenges in developing a criminal intelligence community in Quebec. Specifically, the focus is on training and professional development. By revisiting the main failures in intelligence services over the past decade, and based on feedback gathered in a seminar on intelligence training, the author first presents a summary of the skills required to carry out this police duty, then describes efforts to develop a university training adapted to the needs of intelligence services. Lastly, the article examines how such training could promote accountability in police departments.

Extrajudicial sanctions (EJS) under the YCJA are meant to make youth accountable in a fair and proportionate way and to be a meaningful consequence, yet little is known about whether these goals are being accomplished from the perspective of youth. This exploratory study was aimed at examining the perceptions of young persons who have accepted an EJS in a single courthouse in Ontario. Interviews were conducted with youth (N = 20) who provided critical insight into their views about valuable programs, such as counselling, and less valuable aspects, such as writing an essay about the impact of having a criminal record. Some youth revealed that the process of coming to court to be offered an EJS and accept it was more meaningful and made them more accountable than the requirements of the program itself. This research underscores the importance of considering the perspective of young people if the youth justice system is to accomplish its key goals. Such an approach may not only lead to responses that have a greater impact on their behaviour, but it may also, in turn, shift them to be more active and engaged participants in taking responsibility for their actions and the process of justice.

Little research examines the communication work that public police do following police shootings. Based on an analysis of 85 press releases, press conferences, and media interviews after police shootings in Canada spanning 2010–2020, we analyse narrative techniques used in police communications. Contributing to literature on police image management, we examine patterns in these communications, and we also identify silences and absences. We argue police press conferences and press releases after police shootings are less oriented toward misinformation or agenda-setting and more toward risk aversion. Sixty-two percent of communications in our sample used “euphemisms,” which obfuscate elements of use of force, while 31% of communications were “silent” and provided no justification for or information on the shootings. For these reasons, these communications may contribute to a sense of injustice felt by families of the victims of police shootings. Our findings may give pause to police administrators and media liaison officers who should consider what message such risk-averse communications send to families of victims, as well as to the public. In conclusion, we reflect on what these findings mean for literature on police image management.

The Static Factors Assessment (SFA) is used by the Correctional Service of Canada to assess criminal risk. It includes 137 items in three sub-components: the Criminal History Record (CHR), Offence Severity Record (OSR), and Sex Offence History Checklist; the first two sub-components are examined in this study (109 items). Although the SFA has been used for all federal offenders for nearly 20 years, there are no studies examining its ability to predict community outcomes. This study included 8,767 federal offenders within a five-year follow-up period, and it examined revocations without an offence, readmissions for any offence, and readmissions for a violent offence. The overall SFA, CHR, and OSR were related to recidivism outcomes, although the sum of the items in the CHR significantly out-predicted the overall SFA rating. Most items in the CHR had significant predictive accuracy, whereas roughly half the OSR items were predictive; nonetheless, the OSR added positive incremental validity to the CHR. The SFA overall rating and the CHR and OSR sub-components are valid for offender risk assessment with Canadian federal offenders, although the current results suggest that improvements to the SFA should be undertaken.

Assessing offenders’ decision-making and stubborn persistence in crime has been an important challenge for criminologists. In this study, we focus on a key dimension of micro-anomie: exaggerated aspirations. An inmate survey in Quebec’s penitentiaries provided key information on inmates’ earnings during the three years prior to their current incarceration. Respondents’ criminal aspirations were elicited by asking them the amount of legitimate earnings that would “persuade” them to abandon their involvement in market and property offences. The disjuncture between their criminal aspirations and their likely prospects in conformity is found to have had a direct and significant impact on their risk-taking during the window period, controlling for low self-control predispositions and other related factors. Self-reported stakes in crime and conformity were used to identify their actual risk preferences during the window period. Findings also suggest that avoidance strategies minimizing losses caused by missed criminal opportunities may provide key insights on criminal aspirations, risk preferences, and likely duration of viable criminal careers.