Youth at Risk and Youth Justice: A Canadian Overview

Youth at Risk and Youth Justice: A Canadian Overview provides an overview of juvenile delinquency in Canada by examining important patterns, theories, and emerging special topics. Topics considered fundamental to understanding the complexity of youth crime and youth justice such as the history of youth justice in Canada, current youth justice legislation, young female offenders, youth gangs, substance abuse, and Aboriginal youth in conflict with the law are covered in detail. Youth at Risk and Youth Justice also covers important, timely topics that are not commonly addressed in as much detail in other undergraduate textbooks. Chapters on street-involved youth (Chapter 11), the sexual exploitation of adolescent men (Chapter 13), Quebec's approach to youth justice, and that province's success in diverting offenders from custody (Chapter 14), and the coverage of restorative justice (Chapter 15) have received little to no attention in textbooks with a similar focus, but are included in this book to help students gain a better understanding of the cycle of victimization and criminal behaviour that affects many young people. Youth at Risk and Youth Justice is comprehensive in its coverage presenting many different points of view in a user-friendly way, encouraging students to read and be challenged, with the hope that they will continue to study youth justice issues. Each chapter offers readers current coverage and analysis on timely issues in the field. It is a contributed text with 30 expert contributors, each with their own unique interests and perspectives. By bringing together such a diverse group of contributors, the editors have provided students with the tools to help them think more broadly about the complexities of youth crime and delinquency.