Reimagining the Justice System for Neurodivergent Youth

• In Event: Reviewing Support Systems for Troubled Youth

Abstract

Neurodivergent youth are overrepresented in the justice system, both within Canada and internationally. In Canada, our youth criminal justice legislation, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), purports to hold youth accountable through proportionate responses, promote rehabilitation and reintegration, address the underlying causes of youth justice involvement, and respond to the needs of youth with special requirements. However, it is unclear the extent to which the YCJA achieves these ends with respect to neurodivergent youth. Indeed, research suggests that special requirements of this population may not be protected in the manner intended by the YCJA (Bendo et al., 2023; Marinos et al., 2020). Our presentation explores the justice experiences of neurodiverse youth in Ontario, Canada. Two phases of our research will be discussed. First, we will outline the development and execution of a youth advisory committee consisting of neurodiverse youth. Feedback generated through the advisory group informed our project design. Next, we will highlight findings from phase two of our project which involves interviews with neurodiverse justice-involved youth. Several findings from this phase will be discussed, including youth-led recommendations for enhancing the court process and interactions between youth and police and lawyers.

Authors

• Christine Goodwin De Faria, Trent University Durham

• Daniella Bendo, King's University College at Western University

• Voula Marinos, Brock University

• Nathan Innocente, University of Toronto Mississauga

• Dale Spencer, Carleton University