Juvenile Justice In Canada

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History of juvenile justice in Canada originated in 1908, when law "On juvenile offenders» was enacted (Juvenile Delinquents Act - JDA), which provided a judicial approach to children that is fundamentally different from that applied to adults, and therefore to establish new juvenile courts. Although, it happened in the 20th century, youth crime had been problematized a long time ago. Because of different social and economic issues, Canadian society was conditioned to face many crimes committed by teenagers. The 18th early 19th centuries were known by great wave of immigrants to Canada who was looking for a job and better living conditions. However, life in general was harsh for everyone at that time, so the immigrants had to do whatever they were asked. Many of them, being stuck in a poverty trap, could not provide their children with proper education, so the last ones were grown “by the street”. A large number of young boys and girls were loitering around the streets, neglected by their parents. Social problems, lack of education, parental neglect, bad living conditions, and lack of medical care were the major factors that triggered the youth to commit a crime for making their living.…show more content…
For example, in a town of Quebec in the 17th century a young boy of 15 was hanged for theft. Some of young offenders were put in iron collars, the other ones were beaten with rods. However, it was established that children under age of 7 could not be punished, regardless of the crime, as far as they could not yet distinguish wrong from right. Later the governing councils suggested withholding harsh punishments for children under the age of 14. No matter how meticulous the authorities were towards young offenders, the last ones were kept in jails together with adult criminals (Kingston Prison, for example) until after 1857 when the first juvenile institutions were

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