Young offender diversion in Canada: tensions and contradictionsof social policy appropriation

Abstract

Under Canada’s Young Offenders Act (YOA, 1984–2003),the concept of diversion became an important feature of the youthjustice system. Consisting of the formally constituted AlternativeMeasures program and other more informally administered procedures,diversion was developed as a means of responding to youth aged 12–17years who have committed minor offences while minimizing their risksof stigmatization and recidivism. Although the YOA was subjectedto persistent criticism concerning its ambiguity and contradictions,and was recently replaced by the new Youth Justice Criminal Act,very little research has been devoted to the implementation of young offenderdiversion programs. In this paper we present the results of a phenomenologicalinquiry into the practice of diversion in one large southern Ontariocommunity. By regarding the implementation of diversion as a formof social policy appropriation by various professional groups, wehighlight the perspectives of 17 practitioners who have had extensiveexperience in administering particular aspects of diversion programs.These perspectives differ in some fundamental ways, and thus helpto illuminate the broad latitude that exists for discretionary decision-makingin sanctioning youth who have committed minor offences. Such differencesalso reflect the variation of diversion practices and correspondingtensions among those responsible for this form of young offender disposition.The paper concludes by surmising that a two-tiered system of diversionis emerging that inadvertently may be diminishing the rights ofminor young offenders.