April 2016
Volume 58, No. 2 | Go to abstracts
Articles
Page 137
A Proposal for the Political Economy of Green Criminology: Capitalism and the Case of the Alberta Tar Sands
Michael J. Lynch, Paul B. Stretesky, Michael A. Long
Page 161
Exploring Differences between Successful and Unsuccessful Mental Disorder Defences
Michael Gulayets
Page 194
What Do Meaningful Consequences and Fair and Proportionate Accountability Mean to Youth Offered Extrajudicial Sanctions in Ontario?
Carolyn Hyde, Voula Marinos, Nathan Innocente
Page 221
Tendances violentes de la droite radicale au Canada : analyses chronologiques et facteurs d’influence
Maxime Bérubé
Page 251
Abstracts
A Proposal for the Political Economy of Green Criminology: Capitalism and the Case of the Alberta Tar Sands
Michael J. Lynch, Paul B. Stretesky, Michael A. Long
Green criminology was proposed in 1990 to broaden the discipline and illustrate how environmental crime, deviance, and inequality can be interpreted through a critical lens influenced by political economic theory. Green criminology has yet to fulfill that theoretical promise. Instead, the political economic perspective on green criminology remains underdeveloped. The purpose of this study is to contribute to further development of a political economic green criminology by laying out the connection between ecological Marxism and green criminology. To carry out this task, we describe five propositions that criminologists must consider when developing a green criminology from a political economic perspective. Importantly, these propositions suggest that the environmentally destructive forces of capitalism are opposed to nature. That is, we argue that green criminologists must come to recognize that capitalism and nature cannot both survive over the long run, and in criminological terms, capitalism is therefore a crime against nature.
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Exploring Differences between Successful and Unsuccessful Mental Disorder Defences
Michael Gulayets
Beyond the legal definition of criminal insanity, the verdict of “not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder” (NCRMD) is a social construction. This study explores the differences between individuals who raise the mental disorder defence and are found NCRMD and those who raise this defence and are found guilty. Files of individuals assessed for criminal responsibility over a two-year period on a remand unit at a forensic psychiatric hospital were examined. Approximately one quarter (N = 36) of these individuals were found NCRMD, and the remaining 102 individuals were found guilty. The study examines differences between these groups along various dimensions such as demographic characteristics, offence characteristics, victim characteristics, criminal and psychiatric history, and psychiatric opinion. The results indicate that the most salient factors that distinguish between the two groups are factors related to psychiatric opinion (e.g., diagnosis of a psychotic disorder or recommendations psychiatrists make in reports to the court). The article concludes with a discussion of the impact of psychiatric opinion on the determination of criminal insanity and the apparent forensication of legal and mental health systems.
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What Do Meaningful Consequences and Fair and Proportionate Accountability Mean to Youth Offered Extrajudicial Sanctions in Ontario?
Carolyn Hyde, Voula Marinos, Nathan Innocente
Extrajudicial sanctions (EJS) under the YCJA are meant to make youth accountable in a fair and proportionate way and to be a meaningful consequence, yet little is known about whether these goals are being accomplished from the perspective of youth. This exploratory study was aimed at examining the perceptions of young persons who have accepted an EJS in a single courthouse in Ontario. Interviews were conducted with youth (N = 20) who provided critical insight into their views about valuable programs, such as counselling, and less valuable aspects, such as writing an essay about the impact of having a criminal record. Some youth revealed that the process of coming to court to be offered an EJS and accept it was more meaningful and made them more accountable than the requirements of the program itself. This research underscores the importance of considering the perspective of young people if the youth justice system is to accomplish its key goals. Such an approach may not only lead to responses that have a greater impact on their behaviour, but it may also, in turn, shift them to be more active and engaged participants in taking responsibility for their actions and the process of justice.
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Tendances violentes de la droite radicale au Canada : analyses chronologiques et facteurs d’influence
Maxime Bérubé
The lack of right-wing political parties at the national scale is, among other things, a reason why only a few studies have looked at the factors shaping far-right violent incidents in Canada. In other geopolitical contexts, however, many researchers have identified economic conditions, social developments, and political trends as sources of explanation for this radical tendency. In order to gain a better understanding of the Canadian phenomenon, we identified 241 incidents of right-wing violence between 1977 and 2010, on which we conducted ARIMA time-series analysis. Our study shows the relevance of political conditions for estimating the variations in incidents of extreme-right violence. Moreover, it demonstrates that all the explanatory factors are differently linked with specific incident rates based on racial, religious, and homophobic exclusion.
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Is Retail Alcohol Deregulation Correlated with More Crime and Traffic Injuries? Evidence from Canadian Provinces
Anindya Sen
Data across six Canadian provinces from 1993 to 2011 are employed to estimate the effects of differences in retail alcohol distribution systems on trends in per capita violent and property crime rates and fatality and injury rates from motor vehicle accidents. OLS estimates of dummy variables representing the presence of a more deregulated retail distribution system are either statistically insignificant or significant and negative with respect to different types of crime and traffic-related injuries. These results are robust to the inclusion of different covariates and province/year fixed effects. Estimates from multivariate regression models also reveal that per capita alcohol sales are not higher in provinces with deregulated retail access. Finally, data from the Canadian Community Health Surveys do not reveal any consistent differences between regulated and deregulated provinces in binge drinking among teens and young adults. In summary, provinces with more deregulated retail access to alcohol do not experience worse outcomes than jurisdictions with more controlled availability.