Book Review: Young Offenders and the State: A Canadian Perspective on Delinquency
| Author | Satyanshu K Mukherjee |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486588501800209 |
| Published date | 01 June 1985 |
| Date | 01 June 1985 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
BOOK
REVIEWS 121
Notwithstanding some of the above comments, this work is an excellent
introduction to the areas which it purports to cover. Any counsel who refers to it
will be far better equipped for the leading or cross-examination of such testimony.
Hobart A G
MELICK
Young OtTt;Jlders
and
the State: A
Canadian
Perspective on Delinquency, WGordon
West, Butterworths (1984) 269 pp, Canadian $19.95.
It has become fashionable nowadays to explain increasing number and rate of
crime in Western societies by pointing fingers at today's juveniles. Indeed, many of
the criminological theories are based on delinquency of minors. Enormous amount
of government resources are invested to deal with delinquent behaviour. Yet, there
remain serious gaps in our knowledge about the phenomenon. In this book, Dr
West has attempted to present a systematic assessment of the popular myth of
delinquency, juvenile justice in historical perspective, theories of delinquency, the
role of schools in preparing future citizens, and other relevant issues.
Official crime statistics constitute the reasons for the present myth. With the help
of these statistics, Dr West shows that the present alarm about increasing crimes by
juveniles is misfounded. Indeed, it is clear that although juveniles appear in
disproportionately large number in charges for property offences, these offences
are minor as compared to those by members of other demographic groups. As
regards violent offences,
"It
is noteworthy that despite the myths and fears of
juvenile gangs and violence, disproportionately few of the most serious types of
violence (murders, aggravated assaults, or rapes) are committed by juveniles".
Actually, Dr West's very perusuasive arguments throughout the book could have
been supported much more strongly, had he analysed the "charges" figures
carefully. First of all, adults and juveniles charged (as shown in 3.2) do not mean
individuals charged simply because one individual could be charged for more than
once. But, much more importantly, the number of adults or juveniles charged do
not indicate the number of offences for which they are charged. Considering that
large number of offences by juveniles are committed in groups of two or more, the
number of juveniles charged cannot be used to calculate juvenile offence rate.
In Chapter 6, Dr West discusses the place and the role of schools, and also
examines the relationship between education and crime. Throughout the book, Dr
West has demonstrated the applicability of the Marxist theory in explaining current
social problems. He suggests that "compulsory schooling cuts adolescents off from
participating in the social and economic life of the community: it reduces their
commitments and attachments, which, I have argued, in turn makes delinquency
more likely". It appears that the school seeks to perpetuate the existing "class
structure of society rather than to change it".
In Chapter 8, Dr West discusses policies and politics and this shows certain
weaknesses in his arguments. The author analyses recent social policy experiments,
reforms, etc, and in most cases he is critical of the results.
For
instance, he indicates
that some correlates of delinquent behaviour are more amenable to policy change
than others, and "school failure" is one such variable. In light of his strong criticism
of the school system, how "school failure" can be eliminated or reduced without
substantially changing the entire school system is not clear. He has not offered
concrete proposals to change the system, and whenever he has made attempts to do
that he has
been
vague.
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