Background
A review of current Canadian and international literature and practices about emerging adults, conducted for the Youth and Indigenous Justice Division at the Department of Justice Canada (Kimmitt, 2021), suggested the need to consider emerging adults (aged 18–25) as a distinct population within the criminal justice system. Young adults are at a unique stage of development where they can benefit from initiatives which support healthy brain development. They can also be adversely affected by punitive interventions that can compromise healthy development.
The 2021 review suggested that a number of potential approaches be considered for this population. These included the need to:
- Provide procedural protections during investigation and charge assessment procedures and recognition of potentially reduced understanding and culpability.
- Avoid the long-term negative implications of a criminal record.
- Consider the negative impacts of detention, both from within the custodial environment and on a young person’s external support structures.
- Recognize the negative impact of social isolation on the developing brain.
- Emphasize education, life and job skills training, counselling, release planning and transitional support within programming.
- Provide guidance and support in accessing community-based treatment and services for those serving community sentences.
Most of the young people who were interviewed for the current project offered suggestions which echoed those above. Their feedback is described in detail in the following pages. The first section discusses programming needs, the second considers legislative changes, and the third discusses the needs of diverse young people who interact with the criminal justice system. Findings from these three sections are then discussed in terms of brain development, before the final section offers a summary of how young people think emerging adults could be better served in the criminal justice system.
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