CLASS ACTIVITIES

 

 January 4

 

 

 

 

January 9

 

 

Concept of crime

Crime definitions

 

  1. Home alone
  2. Beavis and Butthead: Pencils
  3. Beavis and Butthead: Role Playing
  4. Freaks and Geeks
  5. 90210: David
  6. 90210: Drugs
  7. 90210: Andrea
  8. Student Seduction
  9. Wonder Years

 

January 11

 

Sex crimes

 

Read this article and discuss these questions based on the article and the lecture on sex crimes:

 

Teacher Accused Of Having Inappropriate Contact With 17-Year-Old Student

Tuesday October 17, 2006

 

A 36-year-old female high school teacher is facing sexual assault charges after alleged inappropriate conduct with a 17-year-old student.

Cops say the victim was taught by the accused at Streetsville Secondary School in Mississauga.

The potential affair came to light earlier this month, after investigators discovered evidence the accused had allegedly traded sexually explicit emails with the young girl. 

 

Cops followed their trail from there, contending the two then met in Mississauga, during which an allegedly consented sexual relation took place.

 

Parents of students found out about the charges in a letter from the school's principal.� Shock was the overwhelming emotion that followed the allegations.�

 

"You hear about it and read about it, but it's always at another school so having it this close is definitely a concern," said Iris Pallas, whose daughter Jessica attends the school.�

 

"I was actually quite surprised that it happened because I didn't think any teach at our school would have that happen," Jessica adds.

 

Thirty-six year-old Leslie Merlino was collared by cops on October 13th. She's charged with sexual exploitation and sexual assault.

 

She's been released from custody under strict conditions - including that she stay away from the school -  and is scheduled to appear in a Brampton court November 20th.

 
Source: http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_4485.aspx

 

 

 

January 16

 

Sex crimes

 

 

 

January 18

Criminology views

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INDEPTH: CRIME
Tumultuous teens
CBC News Online | January 13, 2005

At the funeral of her son less than a month ago, the mother of a teen beaten and stabbed to death by other teens pleaded with youth in Toronto to end their spree of violence. A recent spate of youth violence � brawls, group assaults and the murder of two young people � has erupted in recent weeks in Canada's largest city.


According to the Canadian Centre for Justice Studies, after a record of relative stability, youth violence jumped in 2000. The overall violent crime rate increased 13 per cent between 1993f and 2003, and groups seem to be increasingly involved.

Some have speculated that the rise in violent crime numbers may be a result of aggressive "zero tolerance" strategies enacted by schools, social agencies and other institutions. But still others assert that the statistics reveal merely a partial picture, since they represent only the incidents reported to police.

 

The question of 'why'

Everything from violent video games to permissive parenting to the decline of religion has been offered to explain why an alarming number of teens are engaging in vicious behaviour.

The Wamback family circulated a petition in 2000 calling for mandatory counselling and tougher sentences for violent youth offenders to combat the violence.

It's difficult to pinpoint a single cause, and likely a myriad number of causes are to blame.

 

Questions:

 

  1. What criminology view/s explanations are given in this news article.
  2. Suppose you are a journalist. How would you complete this news story? Make reference to specific criminology views and theories.

 

 

January 23

 

The Youth Criminal Justice Act: Principles and rights

 

Video: Young offenders

 

Discussion questions:

 

 

 

 

January 25

 

 

Gangs

 

 

 

What is a gang?

Are there street gangs in Halifax? Nova Scotia?

Who joins gangs? Why?

What do young people look for in a gang?

Why do gangs fight each other?

Why do gang members commit so many crimes?

What criminology theory can best explain gang crimes?

Is the criminal justice system the best response to gang crimes committed by young people?

 

 

January 30

 

Criminology theories

 

The purpose of this activity is to compare popular culture images of youth offenders to the criminological theories discussed in class.

Select a movie, TV show, chapter from a novel, newspaper story, or TV documentary. Bring it to class. Compare your selected item to one of the theories or topics discussed so far in class.

  1. Briefly summarize the selected media item. What is the main youth criminal justice issue?
  2. In what ways do the criminological theories and media source agree? In what ways do they differ?
  3. What criminology view or theory best explains the young person�s crime? Which criminology theory offers the most insight on the media account?
  4. What are the most glaring kinds of information missing from the media account?

 

Kid Crime: Violent Crime and Children

 

Group discussion:

 

1)      What criminology theories transpire in the video?

2)      Is there a connection between guns and crime? Drugs and crime?

3)      What is wilding? Why does it occur?

4)      Is youth crime in Canada as rampant as in the US?

5)      Is there a bias against teenagers?

 

February 1

 

Extrajudicial measures and sanctions. Sentencing

 

 

What extrajudicial measures or extrajudicial sanctions would you apply in the following cases? Are there any cases which you would not divert? If so, what sentence would you give?

Jake�s Story

 

I�m Jake. I�m 15 years old and have never been in any trouble before. In fact, I�ve been on the honour roll all through high school. But now I�ve really got trouble. It all started out as fun. We were drinking beer and hanging around the school at night. We never got caught. I don�t know why I did it, but on a dare from a friend, I borrowed my sister-in-law�s car. You see, I knew she always kept the keys on the fridge. Right now, I wish they weren�t there that day. I was driving and had three buddies in the car with me. We drank a full six pack and still had the empty bottles in the car. Anyway, I guess I�m not that great a driver yet and the road was icy. I accidentally went up over a curb and hit an old lady, Mrs. McGee. Geez, she�s my grandma�s age, 72, and I hurt her bad! The police and ambulance showed up and I was arrested. I was charged with drunk driving and aggravated assault.

What a mess for me and my family. I�m really sorry about the old lady. Turns out she knows all my aunties. She hurt her back. She�s out of the hospital now. I�m really sorry. I�ll never do any drinking and joy-riding again."

Jake went to trial in youth court and pled guilty to drunk driving and aggravated assault. The judge agreed that the community should be involved in deciding what Jake�s sentence should be. Jake will participate in a sentencing circle.

 

Questions

 

�        What type of sentence should Jake receive?

�        Consider the purpose and the principles for sentencing as well as the factors for determining if a youth should receive a custodial sentence.

�        Jake has Aboriginal status. Would this information change your recommendation?

 

February 6

 

 

School violence and hazing

 

 

 

 

Hazing and Peer Intimidation

 

 

 

February 27 and March 1

 

Youth Crime Project

 

Criminal Court Observation
 

The purpose of this assignment is to examine the relationship between the formal rules and principles governing the youth criminal justice court process, and the theoretical issues analyzed in class. The project requires observation, description, and analysis.

You are required to attend part of a youth justice process, and you may want to observe more than one judge or court.  Often it is possible to speak to court staff, lawyers or police officers during a recess in the proceedings. Please read the guidelines on public access to the courts, particularly section 2. B. entitled Decorum in the Courtroom during trial.

 

Your paper should include the following:

(a) Date(s), time(s) and location(s) of your observations.
(b) A brief summary of the kinds of proceedings you observed.
(c) An analysis of the facts of the case(s).

You may also use these questions to guide your analysis:

 

March 6

Vandalism

 

Vandalism

 

March 13

Assault

 

 

Watch the video on Street Racing and discuss the following questions:

 

 

 

March 14

 

School shootings

Kids with guns

 

Slaughter at School Video

 

1)      Why do young people shoot at schools in the US?

2)      Are school shootings a problem in Canada?

3)      Do you agree with zero tolerance policy to prevent school shootings?

4)      What criminology views and theories transpire in the explanation of Barry Loukaitis� school shootings? And for Luke Woodham�s and Michael Carneals� shootings?

5)      Do you agree with the sentence given to Barry Loukaitis? Was it useful to deter other shootings?

6)      Is there a connection between being bullied and killing? Who should be responsible for the school shootings?

7)      What is the role of media in school shootings?

8)      How can school shootings be prevented?

 

 

 

March 21

Youth Corrections

 

Youth corrections activity

1 1 1 1