Definitions

State of the Criminal Justice System Dashboard

Definitions

60s Scoop: Government practice of the mass removal of Indigenous children from their homes, to be fostered by or adopted into non-Indigenous families, in most cases without the consent of their families or communities. The practice began in the late 1950s and continued into the 1980s, but was most common in the 1960s.

Administration of justice offences: Offences committed against the integrity of the criminal justice system. They include the following Criminal Code violations: fail to comply with order, escape or help to escape from lawful custody, prisoner unlawfully at large, fail to appear, breach of probation, misleading or lying to a justice official under oath, and public mischief.

Adverse childhood experiences: Negative, stressful and traumatic events experienced during childhood, such as sexual, physical or emotional abuse and/or neglect. Adverse childhood experiences can also include witnessing violence in the family household, experiencing a death in the family, having an incarcerated household member, experiencing parental separation or divorce, or having at least one parent with substance use or mental health problems.

Anti-Black racism: Prejudice, attitudes, beliefs, stereotyping and discrimination that are directed at people of African descent and are rooted in their unique history and experience of enslavement and its legacy. Anti-Black racism is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions, policies and practices, to the extent that it is either functionally normalized or rendered invisible to the larger White society. It is manifested in the current social, economic, and political marginalization of African Canadians, which results in unequal opportunities, lower socio-economic status, higher unemployment, significant poverty rates, and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.

Assimilation: Requiring a minority group to fit in with the dominant group.

Coercion: The use of intimidation to threaten, physically force or pressure someone to do something they are unwilling to do or to prevent them from doing something they want to do.

Colonialism: Policy of taking political and economic control over one group or nation by another, underpinned by racist doctrines of superiority.

Cross-over youth: Youth who are dually involved in child welfare and criminal justice systems.

Culturally relevant: Responses to the distinct needs, values and lived experiences of diverse cultural groups, such as programming designed to be accessible and effective for participants.

Delinquency: A term, along with juvenile delinquents, that was commonly used under the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA). It can be defined as misbehaviour committed by youth that is against the law or otherwise considered unacceptable by society. Under the JDA, youth were considered as delinquents for non-criminal actions (e.g., skipping school) and for being socially disadvantaged (e.g., orphaned, homeless, low socio-economic status).

Discrimination: The unfair treatment of someone by either imposing a burden on them, or denying them a privilege, benefit or opportunity enjoyed by others, because of their perceived race, citizenship, family status, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual identity or other personal characteristics.

Distinctions-based approach: An approach that recognizes the unique rights, interests and circumstances of First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis Nation as distinct groups.

Due process rights: Legal rights that a person is entitled to under the law, such as the presumption of innocence, the right to legal counsel, and the right to participate in the decisions that affect them.

Ethno-cultural background: An individual’s characteristics that are unique to, and recognized by, a certain community or group. This includes characteristics such as cultural traditions, ancestry, language, national identity, country of origin and/or physical traits.

Extrajudicial measures: A way to hold youth accountable for less serious offences without traditional court processing. Some examples of these measures include formal/informal warnings, cautions, or referrals. They also include traditional diversion programs such as community service, compensation to the victim, or counselling.

Gender: A person’s status in society as a man, woman, or as gender-diverse. A person’s gender may be influenced by several factors, including biological features, cultural and behavioural norms, and self-identity.

Gender-based violence: Violence targeted at a person because of their gender, gender expression, gender identity or perceived gender.

Gender expression: The way in which people publicly present their gender through aspects such as dress, hair, make-up, body language, and voice.

Gender identity: A person’s internal and deeply felt sense of being a man or woman, both or neither. A person’s gender identity may or may not align with the gender typically associated with their sex.

Indigenous identity: Individuals who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis.

Intergenerational trauma: Trauma that is passed from one generation to the next generation(s). Coping and adaptation patterns developed in response to traumatic experiences may be learned from or otherwise impact subsequent generations living with survivors, which in turn may be handed down to future generations. Intergenerational trauma may be experienced by groups of people with shared histories, and has resulted from, for example, the historical, systemic mistreatment of First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation.

Intersectionality: The interconnected nature of various social or identity factors, such as sex, gender, age, race, ethnicity, Indigenous identity, economic status, immigrant status, sexual orientation, disability, and geography, as they apply to a given individual or group, viewed as impacting experiences of discrimination or disadvantage. For example, intersectionality recognizes that Indigenous girls hold more than one identity. They are girls and share some common experiences with other girls, and they are Indigenous and have shared experiences with Indigenous boys. Trying to understand Indigenous girls’ experiences by focusing only on gender or only on Indigenous identity prevents us from seeing how these identities intersect to create a unique lived experience for Indigenous girls that is different from the experiences of Indigenous boys and non-Indigenous girls.

Intimate partner violence: Violent offences that occur between current and former legally married spouses, common-law partners, boyfriends and girlfriends and other kinds of intimate partners.

LGBTQ2: An acronym representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, two-spirit, as well as additional sexual orientations and gender identities.

Neurodevelopmental disorder: An umbrella term used to describe conditions where a disruption to brain development occurs during critical embryonic and childhood developmental periods. The disruption can be a result of factors such as genetics, prenatal exposure to drugs or substances, prenatal or birth trauma, and childhood injury or illness. Examples include intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities.

Online child sexual abuse materials: Actual or fictitious image, video, audio or written material, posted online, that shows a child as engaged or depicted as being engaged in a sexual activity, or as exposing a sexual region of their body.

Overrepresented: Disproportionate representation of a group within a subpopulation compared with their representation in the population as a whole; for example, a group that makes up a larger percentage of the prison population than of the general population is overrepresented in prison.

Pre-trial detention: When a young person accused of a crime is held in custody prior to their trial or bail hearing.

Property-related offences: Unlawful acts to gain property, but do not involve the use or threat of violence against the person. These can include offences such as theft, breaking and entering, burglary, auto theft, arson and vandalism.

Race: A term used to classify people into groups based principally on physical traits (phenotypes) such as skin colour. Racial categories are not based on science or biology but on differences that society has created (i.e., they are “socially constructed”), with significant consequences for people’s lives. Racial categories may vary over time and place and can overlap with ethnic, cultural or religious groupings.

Racialization: The process through which groups come to be socially constructed as races, based on characteristics such as ethnicity, language, economics, religion, culture, and politics.

Racialized: Individuals grouped as a result of racialization (see the definition of racialization for more information).

Racial profiling: Any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection, that relies on stereotypes about perceived race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin, or on a combination of those traits, rather than on a reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment.

Recidivism: The act of committing another crime or coming into subsequent contact with the criminal justice system.

Restitution: An order that requires an offender to pay the victim for any financial losses they suffered due to the offender’s crime.

Restorative justice principles: The principles of restorative justice are based on respect, compassion and inclusivity. Restorative justice encourages meaningful engagement and accountability and provides an opportunity for healing, reparation and reintegration. Restorative justice processes take various forms and may take place at all stages of the criminal justice system.

Risk factors: Negative influences shaping a person’s experiences that may originate at a community, individual, or family level and are associated with a higher likelihood of a variety of negative outcomes, such as criminal offending.

Segregation: The practice of separating individuals or a group of people based on their perceived race. It can lead to unequal access to opportunities and services, and the social, physical, political and economic exclusion of individuals within the larger society.

Sexual orientation: Romantic and sexual attraction for people of the same or another sex or gender.

Social determinants of crime: Social factors, such as income, employment and education, that can lead to exclusion and discrimination, and ultimately to inequities in justice outcomes. For more information about the social factors, see the definition of “social determinants of health” on which this definition is based.

Social determinants of health: Range of personal, social, economic and environmental factors that determine people’s health; these include income and social status, education, social supports and access to health services.

Socio-economic marginalization: Being blocked from or denied full access to economic opportunities, social opportunities, or resources (e.g., education, employment, housing) that other members of society have because of one or more personal characteristic(s) (e.g., poverty, health and mental health, sex and gender, race, ethnicity, Indigenous identity, immigrant status).

Stereotype: A misconception, preconceived generalization and/or oversimplification of a group of people. It is the process in which the misconception is attributed to all members of the group, based on social categories such as perceived race, country of origin or religion, despite their individual differences.

Structural inequalities: Conditions where one category of people have an unequal status in relation to other categories of people. This refers specifically to inequalities that are rooted in normal operations of dominant social institutions and can be divided into categories such as residential segregation or healthcare, employment, and educational discrimination.

Stigmatization: Negative attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours about or towards a group of people because of a characteristic, personal trait or their situation in life. It includes discrimination, prejudice, judgment, and stereotypes.

Systemic discrimination: Patterns of behaviour, as well as policies and practices, that create or continue disadvantages for a group of people with common characteristics, such as racialized identity.

Toxic stress: The response that a person’s physical body experiences after being excessively exposed to serious stress, without having the support to address those needs. This can be caused by adverse childhood experiences, such as neglect, abuse, witnessing family violence and the incarceration of a parent or family member. It can have long-lasting impacts on a person’s body and brain, and can lead to health problems.

Youth: A group of individuals who are between the stages of childhood and adulthood. While the federal government considers a person to be an adult at 18 years, the age of majority varies between provinces and territories. The term “youth” is used when referring to youth criminal justice legislation, such as the Juvenile Delinquents Act, the Young Offenders Act and the Youth Criminal Justice Act. In these cases, “youth” is defined as those younger than 18 at the time that they allegedly committed a criminal offence. Since 2003, any references to the youth criminal justice system define youth as those aged 12 to 17.

Xenophobia: The dislike or fear of people from countries other than your own.

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