State of the Criminal Justice System Dashboard

Understanding the Experiences of Black Youth with the Criminal Justice System^Footnote138

Black communities have contributed to Canadian society for generations. However, the Black experience in Canada is rooted in a history of anti-Black systemic racism, through, for example colonialism, slavery, segregation, and restrictive immigration practices. This history set the stage for the experiences of subsequent generations of Black Canadians and Black newcomers. To this day, Black people continue to experience racism and unfair treatment in Canada, including in the criminal justice system.^Footnote139 For information on the history of Black people in Canada, click on Canadian Heritage’s Timeline of Significant Events in Black Canadian History.

In Canada, the Black population is diverse in terms of ethnic backgrounds, languages, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations, and countries of origin.^Footnote140 These characteristics intersect and overlap, creating different lived experiences. It is important to keep this in mind when looking at the information presented below. For information on the diverse socio-demographic characteristics of Canada’s Black population, go to Statistics Canada’s Diversity of the Black Population in Canada: An overview (2019) and Canada’s Black population: Education, labour and resilience (2020).

The following sections provide a brief overview of the context in which Black youth come into contact with the criminal justice system, as well as their experiences within the system. For more detailed information, please refer to Owusu-Bempah and Jeffers’s Black Youth and the Criminal Justice System: Summary report of an engagement process in Canada (2022), a report commissioned by the Department of Justice Canada, or bibliography.

• The Impact of Anti-Black Racism and Discrimination on Criminal Justice System Involvement

  A growing body of research has shed light on the historical and ongoing presence of anti-Black racism and discrimination in various social systems, such as the child welfare and educational systems, which can contribute to the involvement of Black youth with the criminal justice system.^Footnote141

  Child welfare

  Much of the existing research and literature on parenting is grounded in Eurocentric practices. This results in stereotyping parenting styles from other non-European cultures as inferior, authoritarian, or harmful. Consequently, professionals and educators may misrecognize certain parenting styles as requiring intervention by child welfare agencies. Police may also over rely on child welfare agencies to deal with conflicts within Black families. Research has found that youth in the child welfare system are more likely to come in contact with the criminal justice system in comparison to those without child welfare involvement.^Footnote142 Because of the overrepresentation of Black children and youth among child welfare cases,^Footnote143 these youth are disproportionately affected by the relationship between the child welfare system and the criminal justice system.^Footnote144 In addition, a study in Ontario found that Black youth involved in the child welfare system are “over-criminalized”, face more criminal charges and more severe criminal charges than White youth.^Footnote145 For more information about the relationship between contact with the child welfare system and criminal justice system involvement, please see the page on Understanding the Experiences of Justice-Involved Youth with Other Social Systems.

  Education

  The relationship between poor educational outcomes and criminal justice contact is well established.^Footnote146 Research suggests that Black students in Canada face multiple challenges within school systems, which are not equipped to meet their educational, emotional and developmental needs. For example, there are many reports of Black students being inappropriately streamed into non-university-track programs, being subjected to unjust disciplinary practices, and dropping out (or being pushed out) of school.^Footnote147 This phenomenon, also known as the school-to-prison-pipeline, is where institutionally-driven academic underperformance, absence from school, and failure to graduate increase the likelihood of criminal justice system contact for Black youth.^Footnote148 These educational challenges, along with the structural and institutional forms of discrimination experienced by Black youth, can lead to additional inequalities later in life, such as in the employment sector, for example.^Footnote149 Research has found that unemployment rates are higher among Black people compared to the rest of the population; for Black people who are employed, systemic discrimination often leads to lower-level positions, limited career development opportunities, and salary disparities.^Footnote150 For more information about the over-policing of Black youth in schools, please see the section on The Over- and Under-Policing of Black Youth in Schools and Economically Marginalized Neighbourhoods.

  Poverty

  The presence of anti-Black systemic racism and discrimination in Canada has led to lower employment rates and income for Black families.^Footnote151 Poverty is often geographically concentrated, meaning that Black youth and their families are overrepresented in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods are often underserved by various services—such as transit, libraries, schools and hospitals—that help create strong communities and protect residents from resorting to crime, gang membership and violence.^Footnote152 In the absence of these important social resources and in the face of increased poverty, Black youth may resort to crime, such as fraud, theft and drug dealing, as a means of employment.

  Furthermore, disadvantaged and underserved neighbourhoods often present higher crime and victimization rates. This can lead to more concentrated, enforcement-oriented styles of policing within these areas, which in turn results in further criminalizing Black youth.^Footnote153 For more information about the over-policing of Black youth in economically marginalized neighbourhoods, please see the next section on The Over- and Under-Policing of Black Youth in Schools and Economically Marginalized Neighbourhoods.

  Additional barriers to financial security—and successful settlement—are present among Black newcomers and refugees, such as language barriers, anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiment, and xenophobia. Research has found that some Black immigrants are overqualified for the jobs they are able to get and may take on “survival employment” to make ends meet.^Footnote154 Black boys may be pushed to engage in criminal behaviours, such as gang involvement, as a way to make money and to support their families. Others, especially youth with parents/guardians who are forced to have multiple jobs and spend a lot of time outside of the household, may use gang membership as a way to fulfil unmet needs such as love, acceptance, and family belonging. Research has found that gang membership further contributes to involvement in the criminal justice system.^Footnote155

• The Over- and Under-Policing of Black Youth in Schools and Economically Marginalized Neighbourhoods

  Forms of over- and under-policing generally shape the first contact of Black youth with police. The first experience with over-policing—described as an excessive response from law enforcement— often occurs in school settings through discriminatory and harsh practices, like zero-tolerance policies that treat Black students differently in comparison to non-Black students. Research has shown that these practices contribute to a greater proportion of Black youth being suspended, expelled, or pushed out of schools.^Footnote156 In addition, many reports highlight the overreliance of police in dealing with Black youth experiencing mental health or behavioural issues.^Footnote157 These issues often stem from experience with poverty, domestic issues at home and anti-Black systemic racism in the classroom and in society more broadly. For newcomers, there may be difficulties adapting to Canadian society, exclusion tied to having a mother tongue other than English or French, having an accent, migration-induced stress, or trauma from experiencing war or other threats to national security in their country of origin. In addition to experiences of over-policing, Black youth often lack adequate assistance from law enforcement in responding to victimization or potential victimization, a phenomenon known as under-policing.^Footnote158 For example, some newcomers recount experiencing bullying from peers and teachers, and report not being believed or taken seriously by the school’s administration.

  Many Black youth also have to deal with a heavy police presence in their neighbourhoods. This often translates in discriminatory practices such as stop and search activities—also known as racial profiling—and the differential application of police discretion, all of which contribute to the increased risk of victimization and criminalization of Black youth.^Footnote159 The over- and under-policing of Black youth can negatively affect their sense of community belonging and confidence in the police’s ability to maintain safe communities. These all ultimately play a key part in shaping Black youth’s first contact with the criminal justice system.

• The Ongoing Unfair Treatment of Black Youth Navigating the Criminal Justice System

  Once in the criminal justice system, Black youth often report experiencing anti-Black racism and discrimination throughout the various stages of the system, including the police, the court and correctional systems. In the court system, Black youth often receive longer sentences, more probation conditions, fewer extrajudicial measures, fewer referrals to mental health programs and other social services, and are more often denied bail, in comparison to White youth. Moreover, the overrepresentation of White people sitting on juries as well as court professionals such as judges, prosecutors and lawyers, significantly diminish the likelihood that the collective and individual histories of Black youth will be considered during decision-making. In the correctional system, Black youth often describe their experiences as dehumanizing, violent, and neglectful. Many reported accounts also highlight that Black youth are often subjected to increased surveillance, penalties and labelling.^Footnote160 Such negative and discriminatory experiences can lead to feelings of exclusion, anger, animosity, and unworthiness of just treatment, which can serve as a rationale to further engage in crime when they are released.

• A Need for Social, Structural and Institutional Culture Change

  As described above, the experiences and intergenerational impact of anti-Black racist and discriminatory treatment often leads to Black youth becoming victims and increases their involvement in the criminal justice system. Anti-Black systemic racism and discrimination produce and perpetuate different outcomes for Black youth in comparison to most other Canadian youth, including their overrepresentation in the Canadian youth criminal justice system. This reality has led to calls for increased awareness and delivery of culturally responsive and appropriate services and programming, increased diverse representation in the criminal justice system workforce, increased cultural awareness and cultural competency training, and overall social, structural and institutional culture change.^Footnote161