The subject under study is the social and family backgrounds of a group of juvenile delinquents who failed in rehabilitation in spite of services provided by the community. As a background, public concern with regard to the attitudes of professionals and the programmes provided for youthful offenders is discussed. A review is made of contrasting philosophies in relation to these offenders. Canadian programmes are shown to have evolved from both English and American systems. The detailed personal data was assembled for a sample group of boys (23), all under eighteen at the time of committal (Oakalla, November 1953). Material used included court and institutional records, social histories and case records, and summaries of other agency contacts. These were secured from the files of Oakalla Prison, the Boys Industrial School, and the Provincial Probation Branch. The study throws light on one aspect of the crucial and obstinate problem of recidivism. The ineffectiveness of the preventive and treatment programmes in reaching the ‘hard-core’ group of juvenile delinquents can be attributed at least in part to the fact that the existing programmes were not oriented to meet the needs of the emotionally disorganized individuals who were often further damaged through their experiences in treatment. Some of the implications of the study are (a) the need for early detection and diagnosis, (b) the development of diverse community and institutional programmes, (c) rational and consistent sentencing policies. It is also shown that there is a need for better coordination of services for delinquent and disturbed children. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study surveys the facilities and services for the children admitted to the Vancouver Detention Home. A comparison of this detention home and that of Frazer Detention Home, Portland, Oregon, has been made in certain instances. The Historical development of the Vancouver Home has been briefly covered, also probable future suggestions for improvements in treatment, in the Home and personnel have been discussed. One chapter is devoted entirely to case studies which were considered a "cross-section" of the kind of child admitted. Strengths and weaknesses in the treatment are noted. Emphasis is given to the professional requirements of personnel within the Home. Administration, Intake, Recreational Program, Work Program and School Program are reviewed. An Evaluation of the usefulness of the building is also made. The importance of understanding the needs for a specific child are discussed in some detail. The role of the social worker is emphasized. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to analyze information available in the records regarding the manifestations of behaviour disorders in the children and the background of the parents, (2) to make a tentative diagnosis of the relationships of the parents to their children, and (3) to examine the degree of correlation existing between the parents' attitudes and the child manifesting the behaviour problem. This is, therefore, an exploratory study on the familiar topic of parental attitudes and how they affect the behaviour of children. The selection of cases for study (40 in number) were all those accepted for treatment by the Provincial Child Guidance Clinic in an 18 month period, 1948-49. The children were either of pre-school age or their problems manifested themselves before they entered school. Certain limitations were set up. All the children were of at least normal intelligence, all came from homes where there was a normal family constellation, i.e., both parents were alive and living at home. No distinction was made between sexes, ordinal position of the child in the family, religion and nationality, and economic status. These cases were classified into three groups on the basis of "problems" of symptoms of maladjustment which led the parents to seek the services of the Provincial Child Guidance Clinic. The classification adopted distinguished (1) disturbances of social adaptation, (2) habit disorders, and (3) personality disorders. The emphasis of this study is based on the hypothesis that parental attitudes influence the behaviour of children. It seemed logical, therefore, to focus specific attention on attitudes reflected and expressed by the parent in the case work situation. The sample of cases included parents exhibiting rejecting, dominating and other deviant attitudes. — The greatest number of children in this group of clinical cases were those who were affected by the combined attitudes of mother and father. The deviant trait was the predominating parental inadequacy contributing to the behaviour problem. Next in importance were the attitudes expressed by the mothers, rejection being the outstanding trait. Fathers, on the whole, affected a smaller number of children than the mothers. In this group domination was the main contributing defect. Regardless of the adequacy of one parent, if the other parent failed to fulfil the parental role, the failings were reflected in the behaviour of the child. Though parental attitudes influenced the behaviour of all the children, different children reacted differently and in varying degrees to similar experiences. The behaviour manifestation appeared to show itself in a manner peculiar to the make-up of the particular child. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The subject of this is juvenile delinquency among the British Columbian Indian girls, but it is presented against a background of the living and opportunity conditions of the native Indian, especially the girl who leaves her home and comes unguarded to the metropolis. The study attempts to throw light on the causes of Indian delinquency and the current method of treating Indian offenders from a specific sample of cases. The main research material is taken from the Girls' Industrial School records of the girls of Indian blood (twenty in all), who were committed there between the years 1944 to 1948. The project was undertaken in full knowledge of the scant material available, but this very lack of material forms one of the findings of the study. So far as the records take the story, Indian delinquent girls show the same causes for their anti-social behaviour as White delinquent girls, but because they are Indian and part of a greater problem, negligible inquiries are made into the reasons for their actions, and their behaviour is explained as 'typically Indian'. Secondly the findings show that Indian girls are treated as an extraneous group. Their rehabilitation into society is unsuccessful because the British Columbian authorities are overwhelmed by the administrative difficulties involved, attention is at present concentrated on other delinquent problems which are not so complex. The conclusion is drawn that the fate of these Indian girls must promote greater awareness of the part social work could play in helping other Indian children. The conditions under which the Indians live are a discredit to Canadian welfare standards. It is evident that not only personal social services are needed, but-as with other delinquency problems - standards in homes, health and education must be raised. At present Indian delinquency is too isolated as a purely legal offence, a new approach is needed which will recognize it as a welfare problem as well as a criminal problem. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Numerous curricula for preschool music education have been developed in the past two decades. For the most part, however, these have not incorporated important evidence from three disciplines which has important implications for how the music education of preschool children should be approached. The first of these is the field of developmental neurobiology, which has provided relevant information concerning early learning and experience. The second is the research pioneered by Jean Piaget, whose insights into cognitive development bear heavily on curriculum planning for preschool music education. The third is research in musical development, which indicates what skills and behaviors can be expected of preschool children in a musical setting. The goal of this thesis is to demonstrate (a) why an understanding of the major findings from these fields is important to the formulation of a music education program for preschool children; and (b) how this understanding can and should impact on the curricular choices made for the musical education of preschool children. To this extent, a series of developmental and musical objectives for the music education of preschool children, specifically 4-year-olds, have been formulated to serve as a theoretical and practical foundation on which to develop and choose musical activities which are appropriate for this age group. The educational and practical value of each of these activities was tested with a group of 4-year-old children during a 12-week study carried out at the University of British Columbia Child Study Center. The activities which adequately demonstrated this value were then organized into a 12-week music curriculum for 4-year-old children. Four conclusions are made in this thesis. The first of these is that music education should begin early in life in order to influence the general learning patterns necessary for the development of musical skill. The second conclusion is that early exposure to music will be most effective when the activities chosen are complex and stimulating and allow for interaction with numerous musical stimuli on a variety of different levels. The third conclusion is that developmentally appropriate musical activities may make an important contribution to the enrichment of the learning environment during the preschool years and may subsequently enhance sensory, motor, verbal and nonverbal, social and creative thinking skills. Finally, it was concluded that preschool music education will be most effective when musical tasks reflect the limitations of children's cognitive development. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

On July 31, 1975, the Solicitor-General of Canada received from a Committee appointed by him a report containing proposals for new legislation to deal with young persons in conflict with the law and to replace the present Juvenile Delinquents Act. Since that date, consultations' with professionals involved in the field of juvenile justice, provincial officials and interested members of the public has yielded a wide range of reactions and suggestions. At the present time, it is expected that a Bill based on that report will be placed before Parliament in the fall of 1976. The purpose of this paper is to explore, from a number of perspectives, both the recent proposals and the legislation which they are meant to replace. To that end, this paper is divided into two major Parts. Part I consists primarily of a retrospective analysis of the first 100 years of the juvenile court movement in Canada. Chapter 1 traces its orgins from the inherent equitable jurisdiction of the Courts of Chancery and from the earliest legislative initiatives in the United States to the creation of this nation's first Juvenile Delinquents Act in 1908, and concludes with a discussion of the effect that attacks based on constitutional and Bill of Rights grounds have had upon its development and continued viability. Chapter 2 examines the demands for reform that had arisen by mid-century and compares and contrasts in detail the federal government's three major reform efforts to date: the Department of Justice Report (1965), Bill C-192: The Young Offenders Act (1970), and the Young Persons in Conflict with the Law Act (1975). In evaluating any reform efforts in this field a number of distinct areas of concern can be identified. The scope of the legislation, diversion and other pre-trial procedures, practice and procedure in the juvenile court, the dispositional alternatives, appeal and other methods of dispositional review, and the consequences of juvenile convictions are all equally important facets of delinquency law reform today. In Part II of this paper we focus on two of those areas-namely, the scope of the legislation and practice and procedure in the juvenile court-considering in detail the development of the law to date, the issues that are currently facing reformers, and the way in which those issues have been dealt with in each, of the three primary reform documents. Chapter 3 discusses the various jurisdictional issues that will determine the future role of the juvenile court: geographical scope, minimum and maximum age limits, offence jurisdiction, and finally, the complex problem of waiver. Chapter 4 examines another area of prime concern to lawyers, the rules governing practice and procedure in the juvenile court. Such topics as the right to counsel, publicity and private hearings, notice and duty to attend, and the conduct of the proceeding itself are considered and both judicial developments and the statutory reform proposals are described and evaluated. In Chapter 5 a number of other issues not discussed here but still requiring attention are identified. Finally, in the two Appendices, the problems of legislative reform in this field are considered from a different perspective, that of the individual provinces of British Columbia. After briefly summarizing the various sections of provincial legislation that affect the operation of the. federal Act, the major trends suggested by the recent federal report are compared to and contrasted with those found in the recent reports of the B.C. Royal Commission on Family and Children's Law. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

M.A. (Psychology) / The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether a group of compulsive stealers would differ from a group of non-compulsive juvenile delinquents in terms of certain personality traits. Using the theories of Freud and Erikson and Kohlberg' s theory of moral development, the general theory of adolescence as a development phase with increased tension and conflict is stressed. Against this background the causes of juvenile delinquency have been discussed in general, in order to better comprehend how the different ethiological factors can impede the heal thy development process. The hereditary factors, personal pathology, family background and sociological factors have all been taken into account. From the literature it would seem that the family background is of primary importance in the causation of juvenile delinquency. Hereafter a classification of the different types of stealers follows, as well as the ethiological factors of compulsive stealing. In the discussion of the ethiology, the psycho-dynamic view has been specifically stressed. The basic premise of this theory is that the compulsive stealer does so by virtue of a symbolic gratification of needs and that it particularly concerns unsatisfied affective and sexual needs...

This thesis discusses the history of law enforcement and the role of local law enforcement agencies dealing with juveniles and juvenile delinquency.

No description available.

Mental health professionals (MHPs) evaluate juveniles' competency to stand trial (JAC) for the courts more than any other psychological issue, but little research has been done about JAC. Only 2 previous studies have examined assessment procedures and tools used by MHPs to evaluate JAC. This quantitative nonexperimental study examined ratings by 44 MHPs in Wisconsin and Illinois for the importance of considering 6 different research-based factors linked to lifespan developmental theory and the usefulness of 3 assessment tools that have all been recommended previously by professional best practice guidelines to evaluate JAC. This study examined 2 levels of an independent variable, type of court, and how this affected ratings for importance of factors and usefulness of tools. When ratings were compared using paired t tests, the developmental factor that pertains to understanding court proceedings and working with one's attorney achieved statistical significance as more important for juvenile court than for adult court. Repeated measures ANOVA evaluated differences in ratings within groups for juvenile and adult court. The cognitive developmental factor was rated as statistically more important than other developmental factors for adult court. The results imply that, MHPs consider cognitive development and ability to understand and discuss court proceedings as critical to consider during JAC. Regarding ratings for usefulness of tools, there was not a statistically significant difference between the ratings for the 3 tools either between groups or within groups. These results could contribute to positive social change by increasing consistency in how JAC is evaluated and as a result, juveniles could be treated more fairly and in an equitable way during court proceedings.