The Lived Experience of Youth Justice Policy: Responsibilization in a Carceral State

Abstract

<p>This study explores how neoliberal and neoconservative policies have impacted youth and their families involved with the Ontario youth justice system. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 37 participants, including 23 youth and 14 family members. Constructivist grounded theory was used to analyze findings, resulting in four overarching themes: Firstly, Adopting the Dominant Discourse illustrates how a discourse of responsibility is reinforced and how youth and their families interpret those messages; secondly, Hidden Injustice describes how inadequate support and resources and identity-based oppression contribute to a system that fails to respond to their needs; thirdly, Tangible Processes of Responsibilization depicts how youth and families experience responsibilization; and the fourth theme, Exercising Agency as Resistance, provides insight into how youth and family members exercise agency in the face of the above challenges. The four themes come together to inform a discussion of how policies of responsibilization—in their construction and implementation—work together with social institutions, system actors, and those with lived experience to perpetuate a culture of responsibilization. Based on these findings, I suggest the development of an intersectional social policy framework for youth justice as a means of addressing structural factors that contribute to youth criminalization.</p>