US youth justice policy transfer in Canada: we'll take the symbols but not the substance

TL;DRAbstract

On an average day in 1997 there were 4,687 youths in custodial facilities in Canada (a rate of 192.13 per 100,000) and by 2005–6 there were 1,987 (a rate of 77.42 per 100,000). Canada has a rather lengthy history of being concerned about the overuse of custody for youths and has struggled for some time to reduce it. In 1965 a government committee released the first report on youth justice and noted great concern about the use of court and custody for minor offences (Department of Justice 1965). Since then, most government reports have reiterated those concerns. However, during the late 1980s onwards the Canadian public became increasingly concerned about crime and wanted the government to 'toughen-up' the youth justice system. The government was therefore in a difficult position – for political reasons it felt that it should respond to the public, but there were also the persistent concerns that custody was actually being overused. How Canada managed to reduce the use of imprisonment f

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