Understanding Risk in the Context of the Youth Criminal Justice Act

Maurutto, Paula; Hannah-Moffat, Kelly

doi:10.3138/cjccj.49.4.465

Cited by 59Criminal Justice and PenologyPsychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual OffendingCriminal Justice and Corrections Analysis

Understanding Risk in the Context of the Youth Criminal Justice Act

Maurutto, Paula, Hannah-Moffat, Kelly·2007·Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice

DOI 10.3138/cjccj.49.4.465

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Abstract

Increasingly, risk assessments are being adopted throughout the criminal justice system in Canada, and they are playing a significant role in the preparation of pre-sentence reports. Over the past five years, nine of Canada's jurisdictions have adopted the use of risk assessments for the preparation of youth pre-sentencing reports (PSR). While ample theoretical knowledge about risk exists, there are noticeably fewer empirical studies of how risk frameworks (re)shape and (re)organize local institutional decision-making practices or of what the socio-political effects of these processes are. Drawing on interviews, case law review, and analyses of risk-assessment documents, this article considers the implications of using risk assessments in the preparation of youth pre-sentencing reports (PSRs). In particular, attention is paid to the tensions between emerging risk practices and the emphasis on proportional sentencing under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).

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Questions and categories in some risk assessments resist objective answers, turning assessments into value-laden affairs imposing white, Western, middle-class standards on defendants.
“Such questions and categories resist objective answers, turning these assessments into value-laden affairs in which white, Western, and middle-class standards are imposed on defendants [64,106].”
From The false promise of risk assessments: epistemic reform and the limits of fairness (2020) · cites this paper as [106]

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Authors: Maurutto, P., & Hannah-Moffat, K.
Affiliations: University of Toronto (CA)
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto-Mississauga
ORCID: Maurutto, Paula
Venue: Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Publisher: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)
Published: 2007-10
Volume: 49
Issue: 4
Pages: 465-491
ISSN: 1707-7753 (ISSN-L)
1911-0219
DOI: 10.3138/cjccj.49.4.465
OpenAlex: W2137752781
Cited by: 59
References: 23
Citations by year: 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2012: 6
FWCI: 29.84
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice/La Revue canadienne de criminologie et de justice pénale (publishedVersion)
Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
Keywords: risk assessment, Youth Criminal Justice Act, juvenile justice, institutional decision-making, risk framework, sentencing policy, Canada

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Understanding Risk in the Context of the Youth Criminal Justice Act

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