Summary
Youth criminal justice has been an ongoing narrative in Canada from the late 19th century which has interacted with the questions of the role of young people and appropriate punishments from the beginning. This project discusses those questions as a Foucauldian genealogy and considers how youth punishment is justified in Canada. Beginning with the work of John Joseph Kelso and the child saving movement from the late 19th century, the narrative of youth justice in Canada carries through the conversation surrounding the Juvenile Delinquents Act, the Young Offenders Act, and the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Through the public and federal debates, themes of hope and futurity, responsibilisation, and differing understandings of youth in society are constructed, which this project seeks to develop and explore.