Full Test Bank Ch3 Understanding The Youth Criminal Justice

CHAPTER 3

Understanding the Youth Criminal Justice Act

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The Strategy for the Renewal of Youth Justice in 1998 provided a set of goals for new youth crime legislation in Canada including which of the following?
   1. Prevention and meaningful alternatives
   2. Meaningful consequences
   3. Rehabilitation and reintegration
   4. a and b only
   5. All of the above
2. The Strategy for the Renewal of Youth Justice 1998 report was predicated upon the notion that a Canadian “youth justice system must ________.”
   1. protect society
   2. reinforce social values
   3. give youth every opportunity to become productive, responsible citizens
   4. None of the above
   5. All of the above
3. According to the YCJA, a young person is defined as someone who is between ________ and ________ years of age at the time of the offence.
   1. Seven and 12
   2. Nine and 18
   3. 12 and 18
   4. 12 and 24
   5. 15 and 18
4. The YCJA (Youth Criminal Justice Act) came into law in which year?
   1. 1984
   2. 1993
   3. 2003
   4. 2012
   5. 2015
5. In general, the YCJA’s declaration of principles sets out that it should ________.
   1. establish a youth criminal justice system that promotes protection of the public and prioritizes rehabilitation
   2. administer justice in ways that resonate with the needs of youth
   3. provide for measures that balance restorative justice with accountability
   4. define special considerations for proceedings against youth
   5. All of the above
6. With youth, studies have demonstrated that some of the most effective ways to reduce recidivism is to ________.
   1. divert them from the criminal justice system
   2. incarcerate them
   3. apply mandatory minimum punishments
   4. apply corporal punishment
   5. None of the above
7. Extrajudicial Measures under the YCJA essentially replaced which section of the YOA?
   1. Extrajudicial measures
   2. Alternative measures
   3. Alternative sanctions
   4. Presumptive sentences
   5. None of the above
8. The YCJA provides an escalating schedule of measures to apply to youth including which of the following?
   1. A warning
   2. Police caution
   3. Referral to a community program
   4. a, b and c
   5. None of the above
9. In order to be granted an extrajudicial sanction, the youth in question must first ________.
   1. admit to the crime and all previous crimes
   2. accept responsibility for his/her actions
   3. fully accept and agree to participate in the sanction
   4. attend trial in court
   5. attend a period of probation
10. An English Common Law defence of doli incapax, a Latin term that translates to “incapable of crime,” which generally held that children under the age of ________ were incapable of differentiating between good and bad.
    1. Five
    2. Seven
    3. Nine
    4. 12
    5. 15
11. The JDA (Juvenile Delinquents Act) came into law in which year?
    1. 1889
    2. 1899
    3. 1908
    4. 1921
    5. 1951
12. Which two sections of the YCJA provide instructions for establishing and operating youth justice committees and youth justice conferences, which can provide advice and expertise to the court when considering a youth in conflict with the law?
    1. 18 and 19
    2. 25 and 26
    3. 28 and 29
    4. 33 and 34
    5. 40 and 41
13. The term parens patriae essentially means ________.
    1. buyer beware in the eyes of the court
    2. external to law
    3. parent of his or her country
    4. None of the above
14. In terms of chronological ordering, what is the correct sequence of the three youth criminal Acts we have had in Canada starting from the first?
    1. The YOA, followed by the YCJA, followed by the JDA
    2. The JDA, followed by the YOA, followed by the YCJA
    3. The YCJA, followed by the JDA, followed by the YOA
    4. All of the above are correct as each Act is still currently active.
    5. None of the above shows the correct chronological ordering.
15. Presumptive offences include all of the following except ________.
    1. murder
    2. attempted murder
    3. robbery
    4. manslaughter
    5. aggravated sexual assault
16. Approximately ________ per cent of Canada’s incarcerated youth are in custody before they have been legally convicted of anything.
    1. 20
    2. 30
    3. 40
    4. 50
    5. 60
17. The changes made to the YCJA in 2012 by the Conservative Government were generally ________.
    1. more punitive
    2. centered around rehabilitation
    3. centered around victims of crime
    4. centered around parenting
    5. There were no changes made to the Act in 2012
18. By the end of the 1990s, youth crime had been effectively framed as ________.
    1. an out of control problem
    2. under complete control
    3. diminishing rapidly
    4. unchanged over the previous two decades
    5. None of the above
19. In the context of criminal justice, what does the term populism refer to?
    1. Rehabilitation
    2. Tough on crime legislation
    3. Less police involvement
    4. Less court involvement
    5. Less correctional involvement
20. Extrajudicial Measures ________.
    1. are most often used for violent cases
    2. do not often hold the young person accountable
    3. are often the most effective way to deal with youth crime
    4. can be used for youth who have committed multiple offences in the past
    5. None of the above
21. A young person is defined by the YCJA as a person who is between ________ and ________ years of age.
    1. nine and 16
    2. nine and 18
    3. 12 and 18
    4. 12 and 21
    5. 12 and 25
22. The concept of diversion means that a young person ________.
    1. will be diverted from the criminal justice system
    2. will not be charged with an offence by a police officer
    3. will be sent to court but cannot be found guilty
    4. will be diverted into adult court
    5. None of the above

True or False Questions

1. The film Little Criminals articulates how the moral panics can affect young people in conflict with the law.
2. By the end of the 1990s, youth crime had been effectively framed as an out-of-control problem that was inadequately curbed by the YOA.
3. Populism is the term for appealing to or aim at what are popular concerns amongst the public.
4. Prevention and meaningful alternatives are terms used to describe community-based crime prevention strategies to address the “root causes” of delinquency
5. Rehabilitation and reintegration are terms used to describe community-based crime prevention strategies to address the “root causes” of delinquency
6. A young person defined by the YCJA is a young person who is at least 12 but younger than 18 years old at the time an offence is committed.
7. Diversion means keeping young people out of the criminal justice system through extrajudicial measures.
8. Youth justice courts are not the only body of court to have jurisdiction over Canadian youth
9. S. 718(d) of the Criminal Code (1985) explains that one of the primary purposes of sentencing is to assist with rehabilitating offenders.
10. Broadly defined, extrajudicial refers to actions taken outside of the court.
11. Crown cautions are like police cautions but a probation officer gives the caution after the police refer the case to them.
12. Doli incapax is a Latin term that translates to “incapable of crime”.
13. Jurisprudence literally translates to “practical wisdom about the law” and describes the process by which past legal interpretations of policy or law inform present applications.
14. The term just desert refers to a legal philosophy that gives primacy to rehabilitation over retributive punishments.
15. Under the YCJA personal identifying information about justice-involved youth is protected equally to that of what is expected for an adult
16. Research has proven that restorative justice practices are just as punitive as current criminal justice practices.
17. The restorative justice paradigm holds that the removal of transgressors from the public, or society, to which they belong, alienates them from their communities and impedes social healing processes.
18. Parens patriae literally translates to “parent of the nation”.
19. The YCJA defines a parent as any person who has a legal duty to provide for a young person, or any person who has custody or control of a young person otherwise.
20. Roughly 53 per cent of Canada’s incarcerated youth are in custody before they have been legally convicted of anything.

Short Answer Questions

1. Discuss the significance of the 1995 a made-for-TV movie called Little Criminals.
2. Briefly discuss the three main goals of the Strategy for the Renewal of Youth Justice.
3. According to the YCJA, how is the youth criminal justice system intended to protect society?
4. What is the purpose of diverting youth from the youth criminal justice system?
5. What does it mean when we say that the YCJA provides an escalating schedule of measures?
6. Discuss the schedule of extrajudicial measures.
7. What is meant by the term acute developmental crisis?
8. What does the term diminished moral blameworthiness mean?
9. What does it mean when we say that youth are in a state of “diminished responsibility”?
10. In the context of the YJCA, what does proportionality mean?
11. Discuss the concept of restorative justice.

Essay Questions

1. Discuss the four main principles as declared in the YCJA.
2. The 1998 Strategy for the Renewal of Youth Justice provided a set of goals for new youth crime legislation in Canada, focussing on three main points. Discuss these points in detail.
3. According to the YCJA, how is the youth justice system intended to protect the public?
4. In a Canadian context, rehabilitation is included as one of the primary goals of our legal and corrections system. Discuss what is contained in the YCJA that promotes rehabilitation.
5. Discuss how the YCJA has addressed issues concerning victims of crime.