Transcript Addressing the Roots of Youth Violence Dr. Scot Wortley Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto Metropolis Priority Leader: Justice, Policing and Security.

Addressing the Roots of
Youth Violence
Dr. Scot Wortley
Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto
Metropolis Priority Leader: Justice, Policing and Security
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
Ontario's Violent Crime Rate (per 100,000),
1986 to 2006
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Homicide Rates, 1961 to 2006,
United States, Canada and Ontario
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
United States
Canada
Ontario
20
06
20
03
20
00
19
97
19
94
19
91
19
88
19
85
19
82
19
79
19
76
19
73
19
70
19
67
19
64
19
61
0
Homicide Rates,
Ontario and Selected Countries (2006/2007 Statistics)
Hong Kong
0.5
Japan
0.6
Denmark
0.9
Australia
1.1
France
1.4
England and Wales
1.4
Ontario
1.5
Hungary
1.6
Canada
1.8
Finland
2.1
New Zealand
2.4
Sweden
2.6
Germany
2.9
5.7
United States
11.1
Lithuania
19.9
Russia
40.5
South Africa
53.3
Brazil
62.1
Jamaica
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2006 Homicide Rates,
by Selected Ontario and American Cities
Ottawa
1.8
Toronto
1.8
Salt Lake City
4.3
Seattle
5.1
New York
7.3
Minnesota
11.3
Los Angeles
12.4
Boston
13.3
Dallas
14.9
Chicago
16.4
Miami
19.6
Atlanta
22.6
Philadelphia
27.7
Washington D.C.
29.1
St. Louis
37.2
New Orleans
37.4
Baltimore
43.3
Detroit
47.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Percent of Population and Percent of all Criminal Charges,
by Age Group, Ontario 2007
30
28
% Ontario population
% criminal charges
24
25
% violence charges
21
22
20
17
16
14
15
15
17
16 16
14
13
12
9
10
8
6
6
5
5
2
er
ol
d
59
or
60
50
to
49
to
40
30
to
39
29
25
to
24
to
18
12
to
17
0
2
Violence-Related Criminal Charge Rate (per 100,000),
by Age Group, Ontario 2007
3000
2824
2500
2169
1904
2000
1445
1500
1133
1000
522
500
137
0
12
to
17
18
to
24
25
to
29
30
to
39
40
to
49
50
to
59
60
o
er
d
l
ro
Rate of Self-Reported Violent Victimization
(per 1,000), by Age Group,
2004 General Social Survey
250
226
200
157
150
115
100
62
45
50
0
15 to 24 yrs
25-34 yrs
35 to 44 yrs
45-54 yrs
55-64 yrs
Estimated Age of the Offender(s)
Involved in Violent Victimizations,
2004 General Social Survey
60
50
50
40
28
30
20
13
10
5
2
0
Under 12 yrs
12 to 17 yrs
18 to 34 yrs
35 to 54 yrs
55 yrs or older
Disturbing Trends
• Although official rates of violent crime are low by international
standards, Canadian surveys suggest that most young people will
experience some form of violent victimization.
• Most violent victimization incidents are never reported to parents,
police or other adult authority figures.
• Recent data suggests that the “reporting rate” for violent victimization
has decreased over the past decade (no snitching).
• Violent crime is becoming more concentrated among young people
(under 30 years of age).
• Violent victimization is increasingly concentrated among young,
minority males from disadvantaged communities.
Disturbing Trends
• Violent crime more likely to take place in public
spaces.
• Violence more likely to involve firearms.
• Apparent increase in gang activity.
• Increasing economic polarization in major
Canadian urban centres.
• The most economically disadvantaged
communities are highly racialized.
• IS CANADA AT ACROSSROADS?
The Roots Causes of Youth Violence
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Early childhood development
Mental health issues
Poor parenting/parental supervision
Absolute and relative deprivation
Anger/Frustration/Alienation/Hopelessness
Deviant peers (exposure to pro-crime values)
Violent media (exposure to pro-crime values)
Lack of pro-social role models
Labelling
Criminal opportunities
Lack of legitimate opportunites
Diverse Pathways to Youth Violence
• Early Onset/Lifetime Persistent
• Late Onset/Adolescent Limited
• Late Onset/Adult Persistent
• Do different types of youth require
different types of programming?
Shopping for Programs
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Suppression strategies
Surveillance strategies
Early childhood education programs
Parenting programs
Adult mentoring programs
Youth mentoring Programs
Educational enhancement programs
Youth employment programs
Youth engagement programs – sports, arts, culture
and other recreation strategies.
Evaluation Research
• Low quality evaluation (post-test testimonials).
• Medium quality evaluation (pre-test/post-test
design).
• High Quality Evaluation (pre-test/post
test/control group).
• The quality of the evaluation also depends on a
number of other factors including outcome
measures, data collection strategies, sampling
decisions, etc.
The Canadian Evaluation Record
• Many programs are funded by various levels of
government and private foundations.
• Besides financial audits and “output” reports, very
few programs are evaluated at all.
• Most of the evaluations that are conducted fit into
the “low quality” category.
• It is therefore very difficult to determine whether
these programs meet their stated objectives or not.
Obstacles to Program Evaluation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Resistance from Funders.
Resistance from program administrators and staff.
Competition for limited funds.
Lack of research funds.
Lack of research expertise.
Lack of public support or understanding.
Is Canada “anti-research”?
Some Promising Results
(from the International Literature)
• Intensive, long-term, multi-dimensional programs
are more effective than short-term, onedimensional programs.
• Programs that involve the family (parents,
siblings, etc.) and the community (including prosocial peers) are more effective than programs that
target youth in isolation.
• Programs must target the needs of specific youth.
One size does not fit all.
• The delivery of youth services must be
coordinated.
Conclusion
• In order to develop “best practices,”
evaluation needs to become a standard part
of program design and implementation.
• Programs should be given the opportunity
to evolve through evaluation. A “poor”
evaluation should not “doom” a program or
an organization.