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The relationship of social factors of the female juvenile offender to the disposition of her case in the juvenile court

University of British Columbia

In an attempt to look at the question of juvenile delinquency, an exploratory and descriptive study was undertaken to examine the relationship between selected social factors and the disposition by the court of the cases of female juveniles in the province of British Columbia. The study population consisted of 499 cases which appeared before the British Columbia courts in the year of 1966. This figure includes all female juvenile offenders with the exception of Vancouver where a sample population was selected. Data was collected from the Dominion Bureau of Vital Statistics, Form 3, 1966, coded and computerized in an attempt to correlate specific variables. The resulting univariate and bivariate tables were examined and certain conclusions were drawn. An important factor which must be taken into account, along with other difficulties, in considering such conclusions, was the inadequacy of available statistical data. Despite these limitations, it was found: that generally the disposition was appropriate to the offense; that older offenders were more frequently fined or required to make restitution; that the majority of fathers' occupations tended to fall into the lower socio-economic strata; and that dispositions involving loss of liberty were more likely to be imposed on children whose fathers were in the lower strata. Of interest were the findings which indicated that some current and popular assumptions regarding causative factors in juvenile delinquency were not supported by this study. With full knowledge that the hypothesis has not been conclusively proven, we hope that the merits of this study will encourage others, interested in this field or juvenile delinquency, to expand on the framework provided herein.

Text

2011-07-30

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/36399

Social Work

University of British Columbia

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