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Youth gangs are a pervasive problem of contemporary society. Since the first recorded work on this topic in Canada more than 70 years ago, many theoretical and empirical research studies have been added to this field of inquiry and efforts continue with the goal of better understanding and responding to this social issue. Over the past 20 years, research into desistance from gang involvement has gained popularity and, while we are gaining a better grasp of the area, additional work is needed to examine the processes associated with leaving gangs among justice-involved youth in the Canadian context. Drawing from focus groups and individual interviews with 30 justice-involved youth and 23 youth justice practitioners in the city of Ottawa, this doctoral dissertation sought to explore the subjective understandings and experiences of justice-involved youth with gang affiliations. Given the focus on the youth justice system, there was also interest in how the perspectives of justice-involved youth aligned with those of youth justice practitioners. The way in which these two groups define and attribute meaning to issues related to gang involvement and desistance and their views on the role of the youth justice system in supporting the latter should be taken into consideration in the development of future strategies to address youth gangs. The knowledge and insights gained through the findings from this research project can be used to inform policy and practice to prevent gang involvement among at-risk youth, to intervene with gang members, and to support desistance by helping motivated individuals to pursue alternatives to gang life. The recommendations provided in this doctoral dissertation contribute to the overall body of empirical research on youth gangs and highlight potential areas of future investigation for innovation and change on how we understand and address this social issue.

Aboriginal youth are overrepresented at Vancouver Island’s Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services (YFPS) clinics. Despite this, research on Aboriginal young offenders is very limited. Information of the unique needs of Aboriginal young offenders is needed to enhance culturally appropriate forensic services. The goal of this study was to identify psychosocial characteristics associated with delinquent behaviour that distinguish Aboriginal young offenders from non-Aboriginal young offenders. Utilizing data of 638 reports (168 Aboriginal young offenders and 470 non-Aboriginal young offenders) from the YFPS databank, logistic regression models were used to predict being an Aboriginal young offender, from 24 psychosocial characteristics. Aboriginal young offenders were differentiated based on 12 significant factors. Key findings were: Aboriginal youth were almost 5 times more likely to report alcohol use, 3 times more likely to be incarcerated and 3 times more likely to have lived with a step-parent, a non-parent and to be removed from their families for 1-2 months, than non-Aboriginal youth. The results are preliminary; significant amounts of unknown data was found for both ethnic groups in the YFPS databank. This study is an important first step in laying the foundation for empirical research on Aboriginal young offenders necessary for culturally appropriate treatment services. / Graduate

The central aim of this descriptive and exploratory study is to empirically examine the views and perspectives of practitioners working with young people in the youth justice system in England and Wales. Based on a case study of Peterborough youth offending service (PYOS), the study adopts a multi-method approach. Interviews with 22 practitioners, observations of their practice and key documentary evidence are reviewed, which identify the processes involved in the core practice of key practitioners and a deeper understanding of how policy and legislation reform are experienced in practice. Practitioners play key roles as case managers in the intervention process, yet youth justice literature somewhat neglects the role and perspective of staff within multi-agency youth offending teams (Case, 2007), despite increasing focus on youth justice practice through organisational analyses (see for example, Burnett and Appleton, 2002; 2004a; Field, 2007; Holdaway et al., 2001; Newburn et al., 2002; Souhami, 2007; Stahlkopf, 2008), and much critique of youth justice policy in England and Wales (see for example, Goldson, 2002; Goldson and Muncie, 2006; Pitts, 2003; Smith, 2007). The central argument of this thesis is that knowledge (what is known about effective practice) is not applied effectively in practice. Questions are raised regarding the use of professional discretion and the accountability of practitioners working with young offenders within a perceived managerialist process which neglects individuals needs in favour of achieving targets and performance measures. The findings of this study support the view that the use of standardised assessment tools increase accountability of practitioners whilst reducing their professional discretion, which constrains practice. A lack of structural support created a cultural divide between management and practitioners, which further confounded their practice. Practitioners face a multitude of obstructions to their work with young people, which seem to be further rooted in the prioritisation of recording information and meeting targets, which results in less time attributed to planning and delivering interventions. In a climate of uncertainty for the youth offending service (YOS), in which doubts about its future are frequently raised and further reductions are made to YOS budgets, there is increased need for well-informed and supported practitioners to be working with young people who offend.

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.