The Edmonton Social Planning Council’s Research Review contains summaries of the latest social research publications. We keep up on your reading so you don't have to.
Inside this issue:
“An Introduction to the State of Poverty in Canada”reviewed by Ryan Dexter
“Educational and Labour Market Outcomes of Childhood Immigrants by Admission Class” reviewed by Irene Kakai
“Improving Access to Capital for Canada’s First Nation Communities” reviewed by Jan Sotocinal
“The Challenge of Homelessness to Spatial Practices” reviewed by Sheida Azimi
“They Go Up So Fast: 2015 Child Care Fees in Canadian Cities” reviewed by Janine Isaac
This paper identifies the issues surrounding the treatment of youth in conflict with the law, from the perspective of youth and youth workers at the Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP). The objectives of treatment are the reintegration of youth within their community, and reducing the re-offence rates. The paper compares the perspectives of the individuals at YRAP to current best practices, and offers recommendations in the treatment of youth in conflict with the law. A brief overview of current best practices revealed that program integrity and a program length of less than six months was correlated with lower rates of re-offence. The practice of Restorative Justice approaches was effective for lowering rates of re-offence, and left both victim and offender participants more satisfied than those that did not participate in such programs. The involvement of youth in the development of personalized treatment was also deemed important. Finally, collaboration between service organizations, especially in the form of Wraparound services, was recommended in the literature.