April 2020
Volume 62, No. 2 | Go to abstracts
Articles
Page 1
Reducing Criminal Justice Involvement of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Illness: Perspectives of Frontline Practitioners
Laurence Roy, Anne Crocker, Roch Hurtubise, Eric Latimer, Michelle Côté, Isabelle Billette, François Boissy
Page 22
Indigenous Over-representation in Canada’s Youth Correctional System: An Assessment of Regional Variability
Stephanie A. Wiley, Helene Love, Kelin A. Emmett
Page 44
Examining Micro-Level Homicide Patterns in Toronto, 1967 Through 2003
Vincent Harinam
Page 64
Exploring the Dark Figure of Hate: Experiences with Police Bias and the Under-reporting of Hate Crime
Caroline Erentzen, Regina Schuller
Abstracts
Reducing Criminal Justice Involvement of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Illness: Perspectives of Frontline Practitioners
Laurence Roy, Anne Crocker, Roch Hurtubise, Eric Latimer, Michelle Côté, Isabelle Billette, François Boissy
Stephen W. Baron, Scott Macdonald
Individuals experiencing both homelessness and mental illness have high rates of interaction with public safety and criminal justice institutions. Several cross-sector diversion programs have been developed over the past decades as alternatives to incarceration. Most of these initiatives rely on the commitment and expertise of frontline practitioners from different sectors and backgrounds. This research examines the perspectives of frontline practitioners regarding practices and policies that target justice involvement of individuals experiencing both homelessness and mental health issues in a Canadian urban context. Findings from focus groups with 55 participants drawn from the police, the community and public health and social services sectors indicate that frontline practitioners value and support close proximity in cross-sector action, while raising ethical and legal issues related to this type of practice. Participants also describe how exclusion from services for this population, lack of involvement from corrections, housing, and forensic mental health services, and ineffective use of involuntary treatment mechanisms shape and constrain frontline practice. The findings of this article give voice to the specific concerns of frontline service providers. Given these findings, we suggest potential strategies to better serve individuals who are identified as “harder to serve” but who might also benefit from diversion from the criminal justice system.
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Indigenous Over-representation in Canada’s Youth Correctional System: An Assessment of Regional Variability
Stephanie A. Wiley, Helene Love, Kelin A. Emmett
Although Indigenous youth make up 8% of Canada’s population, they are over-represented in the youth correctional system – comprising 46% of admissions in the 2016/17 fiscal year. The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) of 2003 calls for attention to the unique needs of Indigenous youth at all points of justice system contact, yet despite these special considerations and emphasis on fair treatment, overrepresentation has grown steadily in recent years. Examination of the number of correctional admissions for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth, as well as the percentage of Indigenous admissions, across the provinces and territories provides insight into this unexpected trend. By incorporating regional population data, this research uncovers the areas that report the greatest levels of over-representation and those which have successfully reduced the percentage of system-involved Indigenous youth or maintained proportionate representation. This information provides a starting point for future research to uncover the systemic causes of the over-representation problem. These findings also draw attention to issues with recording and reporting practices – a problem that must be addressed in order to act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to reduce criminal justice disparities among Indigenous youth.
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Examining Micro-Level Homicide Patterns in Toronto, 1967 Through 2003
Vincent Harinam
This article assesses the spatial distribution and developmental pattern of micro-level homicide clusters in Toronto between 1967 and 2003. The spatial unit of analysis is the street segment and is defined as the two block faces on both sides of a street between two intersections. Three time periods (1967 to 1979, 1980 to 1989, and 1990 to 2003) covering 1,671 homicides were pooled to ensure sufficient numbers for analysis. Given the qualitative strength of the dataset, a series of descriptive statistics and geospatial statistics are used. Toronto’s developmental homicide pattern is characterized by a dense concentration of single-homicide street segments within the downtown core between 1967 and 1989, with the mass dispersal of multi-homicide street segments across the city between 1990 and 2003. Single-homicide street segments accounted for 84% and 81% of homicides between 1967 and 1979 and 1980 and 1989, respectively. However, multi-homicide street segments tripled between 1990 and 2003, rising from 16% of homicides in the first time period to 45% in the third. This reflects a change in the character of homicides with drug and gang-related homicides increasing in the third time period.
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Exploring the Dark Figure of Hate: Experiences with Police Bias and the Under-reporting of Hate Crime
Caroline Erentzen, Regina Schuller
Hate crimes are notoriously under-reported, and the present research explores possible etiological factors for this phenomenon in a national Canadian sample. Controlling for demographic and offence characteristics, the research shows that victims who had prior experiences with police discrimination were significantly less likely to report hate crimes to police compared to victims of non-hate-based crimes. Additionally, victims experienced hate crimes in a more intersectional way than is typically reflected in police reports, as victims tended to interpret the offence as targeting multiple overlapping identities rather than a solitary hate motivation. These findings reflect the unique nature of hate-motivated offences, whose victims may find it futile to report bias-motivated offences to a police force whom they believe is itself biased. These results suggest possible opportunities to improve reporting of offences and relations between police and marginalized communities.