Adolescence is a challenging developmental period for all young people. For immigrant youth, their experiences are compounded by complex linguistic, acculturative, psychological, and economic difficulties. Rooted in the central premise that immigrant youth are entitled to services that effectively address their settlement needs and promote their full participation in Canadian society, this article critically reviews the selected programs and services for immigrant youth in three Canadian metropolitan centers, namely Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. The findings reveal various shades of patchwork, sidelining and marginalization of immigrant youth in the social services and education arenas. This article calls for a paradigm shift in immigrant youth services from charity-based programming to an entitlement/rights-based model of practice.

Using an anti-oppressive and social justice lens, this paper critically examines the prominent theories of unidirectional, bidimensional and interactive acculturation. The analysis reveals that all three theoretical schools of thought have omitted to critically examine acculturation in relation to dominant-subordinate oppression, mutual transformation of immigrants and the receiving society, formulation and reformulation of identities, and issues of social justice.

This study examined risk and protective factors associated with the criminal involvement of some members of the ethnocultural community. Results from ten focus groups comprised of diverse ethnocultural community members, law enforcement personnel, and service providers in four centres in Alberta revealed multiple, complex criminological risk factors related to home country experience, acculturation, strains in community interactions, socioeconomic disparity, negative media influence, and interaction with the criminal justice system. They also highlighted a number of protective factors that have prevented criminal involvement of ethnocultural community members, including family support, the strengths of ethnocultural communities, community engagement and civic participation, and access to social services. Insights from the focus groups served as the basis for a theoretical discussion and recommendations for crime prevention in a multicultural society.

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Grounded in the experiences of 30 gang-involved respondents in Calgary, this Canadian study examined criminal gang involvement of youth from immigrant families. Our analysis showed that gang-involved youth had experienced multiple, severe and prolonged personal and interpersonal challenges in all facets of their lives and that gradual disintegration of their relationships with family, school and community had resulted in the unravelling of self-concept, ethnic identity, sense of belonging and sense of citizenship and progressively propelled them towards membership in high-risk social cliques and criminal gangs. Our findings brought attention to the need for coordinated, comprehensive support for youth from immigrant families through family-based, school-based and community-based programs.