Equitable schooling requires that all students are able to participate, including those who are involved in the justice system. However, schools for youth who are in custody or in treatment are presented with challenges that may inhibit offering their student body science courses. This exclusion is a result of safety restrictions that coincide with what General Strain Theory (Agnew, 2006) refers to as having a strained population. Strained individuals experience significant life stressors that pressure them to anomie. Given the prevalent absence of strained individuals from science courses, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that the Healing Outdoor Program and Education (HOPE)–a remote treatment centre in a western province in Canada–had offered a for-credit high school science program during its operation from 2005 to 2020 that was a popular pick amongst students. In order to examine the science education experiences of youth who are involved in the justice system, this case study explores the types of strains that HOPE’s students faced, how those strains affected their learning, and how the pedagogical strategies mitigated/exacerbated strains. Document analysis, interviews with teachers and staff, and a field observation revealed that a pedagogy built on relationship, place-based science education, and personalized education were integral to academic success. However, underpinning educational achievement was a distinctive holistic approach to students’ wellness that addressed their physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social needs, through the use of Indigenous inspired practices, other forms of therapy, and the remote wilderness location. Furthermore, this case exemplified that it is not only feasible to offer science courses to strained individuals, but also possible to use science as a catalyst to reengage strained youth with schooling when teachers have the right conditions and supports. Therefore, this study presents pedagogical approaches that were successfully used with a marginalized group and provides recommendations for HOPE as they seek out funding partners to reinstate operations, so that they can continue providing youth with hope for a better future.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate young offenders’ first-hand views of community punishment within the context of the extant literature on communicative theories of sentencing. Fuelled by the traditional marginalisation of young offenders’ views of penal interventions, and drawing upon the qualitative information yielded by fifty semi-structured interviews with 16-18 year old offenders, the study purports to enhance our understanding of the penal messages that punishment communicates to those who experience it. This research initiative is premised on the belief that an empirically-driven research project of this nature can contribute to an improved understanding of the relationship between the youth justice system’s preventive and rehabilitative aims and how offenders themselves perceive the communicative dimensions traditionally attributed to punishment. The Introduction contains the genesis of this investigation and establishes the parameters of the inquiry. Chapter Two analyses the available literature on offenders’ views and argues the case for further research. The third chapter examines the literature on communicative sentencing and anchors the project firmly within the relevant academic debate against which the study’s findings are analysed. Chapter Four contains a detailed account of the methodology employed and prefaces the analysis of findings. While Chapters Five and Six examine the penal messages offenders perceive during sentencing, Chapter Seven explores conceptual issues relating to the communicative functions interviewees ascribed to hard treatment and censure. The next chapter takes cognisance of how offenders conceptualise the penal messages that are transmitted to them during the administration of their sentences. The Conclusion examines the implications of the study’s findings for theory and policy, and proposes a cultural shift from an overly sceptical perspective which does not always afford much value to offenders’ viewpoints, to the creation of a new framework which will allow for greater offender participation.

Demographic factors can influence criminal justice system outcomes. We examine legal system processing in 12 U.S. states from 1976-1991. Variables included: 1) race, age, and gender; 2) violent, sexual, and drug- and alcohol-related charges; 3) level of charge; 4) charges at arrest, trial, and final disposition; 5) time-lengths between each stage; 6) dismissal, plea bargaining, and conviction; and 7) final sentencing length. Significant differences in arrest, prosecution, plea bargaining, charge severity, and final sanctioning were observed dependent on race, gender, age, and the intersectionality of these characteristics. Implications for research policy to reduce the impact of disparities are discussed.