This dissertation traces debates about youth crime and justice in Canada. On a substantive level, I ask how the social problem of youth crime and justice is constructed, focusing specifically on debates over the culpability of young offenders. I also examine debates over the degree and severity of youth crime and connect the divergent positions on this question to how young offenders are conceptualized. Related to these debates, I examine the search for solutions to youth crime. I argue that positions regarding how to address youth crime are rendered ambiguous given the creation of a hybridized youth justice context which combines various competing goals. On a theoretical level, I explore the relationship between how formulations of "deviant identities" (in this case "young offenders") are related to other areas of advocacy over a social problem. I explore the dynamics of a social problem debate which persists without resolution over an extended period of time. I also address the ways in which social context impacts upon claims made over a social problem. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/17181 |
| Date | 09 1900 |
| Creators | Adorjan, Michael C. |
| Contributors | Pawluch, Dorothy, Sociology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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