Female Juvenile Delinquency in Canada

Female Juvenile Delinquency in Canada

The punishment for girls was much more harsh in the early days of Canada’s history when crime was seen as an intolerable part of town life. Young girls of age thirteen and fourteen were often hanged for theft in the mid to late 17th century Quebec or put in detention centres (usually a hospital) for as much as six years at a time (Carrigan 8). Age was sometimes taken into consideration for serious crimes and so whipping and branding was used instead of execution. The practise in Halifax in 1815 was to whip a girl thirty-nine times at the community whipping post (Carrigan 37). The most common problem among girls during this time and in the following years was prostitution and theft among young girls (Carrigan 23).

Moving into more modern times, crime rates among young girls continue to increase. From 1974 to 1993, crime went up about 6% among girls for all offences (Carrigan 203). Prostitution, again, is a huge concern with girls as young as eleven years old participating and statistics such as 5,000 to 10,000 girls across Canada engaging in this form of deviance (Carrigan 186).

Crimes that have been classed as particularly “male” crimes are now being committed more and more by females. These crimes include drug abuse, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and murder. Girls also resort to punching, kicking, cutting off another girl’s hair, and burning with a cigarette as forms of assault (Carrigan 186-188). The 1990’s has also seen the rise of female gangs, especially in the Toronto area. Girls are seen as just as violent as boys and showing as little remorse. Membership attitude is less rigid since members can come and go as they please, and often include bored, wealt...

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... therapy session. Individual counselling was also available. Group homes turned out to be a more successful rehabilitation device than training schools.

The coming of the Young Offenders Act brought about the building of new facilities called detention centres in Canada. The goals of these centres are to increase the offenders’ understanding of his/her behaviour, to improve their ability to control their behaviour, to promote interpersonal skills, and to provide for academic and vocational skills to build self-esteem and to provide access to employment once released (Carrigan 245). The Nova Scotia Youth Centre in Waterville is the closest detention centre in the area and it can house 120 males and females. It opened in July of 1988.

Reference

Carrigan, D. Owen. Juvenile Delinquency in Canada: A History. Irwin Publishing, Concord, Ontario, 1998.