Understanding the Experiences of Justice-Involved Youth with Other Social Systems

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Understanding the Experiences of Justice-Involved Youth with Other Social Systems

The following sections provide a brief overview of the experiences of justice-involved youth with other social systems, such as interventions from the education and child welfare systems. Similar to the experiences of youth as victims and survivors as well as accused and offenders, it is important to note the role that broader structural inequalities and systemic discrimination play in shaping the experiences and treatment of young people from various social institutions. For more information, click on Indigenous youth and Black youth. For additional resources on youth and the Canadian youth criminal justice system, click on bibliography.

  • The Education System

    Many justice-involved youth also experience intervention from the education system. Youth who experience multiple risk factors associated with criminal behaviour, such as past incidents of victimization, adverse childhood experiences, and neurodevelopmental disorders, may show less interest in their education, come into conflict with others in school (such as peers, teachers and other school staff), and attend school intermittently. As a result, these youth experience a heightened risk of being subjected to harsh school discipline, such as suspensions and expulsions. These disciplinary measures used in school settings can negatively affect at-risk youth and increase their likelihood of dropping-out.Footnote74,Footnote75 Academics have argued that school disciplinary actions may represent a significant turning point in the life of many youth by redirecting them toward an increased risk of criminal offending, arrest, and custody—a process called the school-to-prison pipeline.Footnote76 Research has found that schools use such disciplinary policies and practices to push out unwanted students and are disproportionately used against racialized students.Footnote77 For example, one study found that in Ontario, Black male students experience school suspensions throughout the duration of their education (from kindergarten to high school) at a rate four times higher than that of White classmates.Footnote78

  • The Child Welfare System

    In addition to the education system, many justice-involved youth experience overlapping exposure to, and intervention from, the child welfare system. Youth experiencing multiple forms of social system intervention, also known as “cross-over youth”, are at high risk of experiencing negative outcomes in and after care.Footnote79 One of the reasons for this is that youth in foster care are more likely than other youth to have contact with the justice system—often resulting from conflict between the youth and their caregivers. Typically, when a youth acts out in their family home, it is resolved without police involvement. However, in foster care settings, including group homes, caregivers are more likely to perceive youth that act out as threatening, leading them to call the police.Footnote80 Research has shown that police are more likely to lay criminal charges against youth in care than youth who are not in care.Footnote81

    As with the youth criminal justice system, Indigenous, Black, and other racialized youth are vastly overrepresented within the child welfare system.Footnote82 This web of multisystem interventions, often perpetuated by systemic discrimination, makes Indigenous, Black and racialized youth more likely to come in contact with the youth criminal justice system and compounds the negative effects these interventions can have on lives of these youth.

  • Emerging Adults and “Aging Out” of Care

    The transition into adulthood is an important, challenging, and uncertain period for adolescents. Generally, young people start the process of “emerging into adulthood”Footnote83 between their late teens and early twenties, as they slowly begin to establish their independence. While some youth may experience an overall smooth transition into adulthood, others may experience obstacles that challenge their ability to achieve the traditional milestones of adulthood, such as living independently, finishing school, and establishing financial independence. Over the last several decades, the transition into adulthood has been occurring increasingly later in young people’s lives. Most youth experience delays in reaching these traditional milestones associated with adulthood.Footnote84

    Youth “aging out”Footnote85 of the child welfare system are more likely to experience negative short- and long-term outcomes, compared to youth who have not been under the legal responsibility of the government. For example, youth “aging out” of foster care are less likely to be employed and pursue post-secondary education, and are more likely to experience poverty and financial instability, homelessness, substance use problems, mental health disorders, and criminal justice system involvement.Footnote86 In fact, researchers have noted that youth in care are more likely to receive a criminal record than a high school diploma.Footnote87 For cross-over youth, the transition into adulthood can be filled with seemingly insurmountable challenges as a consequence of circumstances that may have contributed to, and may have been exacerbated by, their multisystem involvement, including the justice system.Footnote88 Cross-over youth who “age out of care” are more likely to experience continued social and economic marginalization into adulthood which can lead to further risk of re-offending.

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