V. Marinos, WHATS INTERMEDIATE ABOUT INTERMEDIATE SANCTIONS - THE CASE OF YOUNG OFFENDER DISPOSITIONS IN CANADA, Canadian journal of criminology, 40(4), 1998, pp. 355-375
This analysis of youth court dispositions across Canadian provinces fo
cuses on the combinations of punishments imposed, and in particular th
e use of 'intermediate' sanctions. The study challenges simplistic con
ceptualizations of punishment - that sanctions differ solely on a dime
nsion of severity, and that sanctions are highly fluid and flexible en
tities which can easily be made, equivalent at sentencing. Recent sent
encing legislation in Canada suggests that judges should use intermedi
ate sanctions for young offenders as much as possible. Youth court dat
a reveal that custody for young offenders is frequently imposed, and i
n particular; that the use of short custodial sentences has increased
since the introduction of the Young Offenders Act. The present analysi
s suggests that intermediate sanctions lack the denunciatory power tha
t imprisonment possesses and that this will affect when and how they a
re imposed. It is argued that this purpose of punishment is seen by yo
uth court judges as being required for violent, sexual and serious pro
perty offences. For a certain level of offending across these serious
offences, denunciation is fulfilled by a short custodial term. In fulf
illing the minimum denunciatory component of the sentence through shor
t custody, judges are then able to impose intermediate sanctions. Thus
there is not much that is intermediate about 'intermediate' sanctions
on certain dimensions. The theoretical and policy implications of the
findings of the use of intermediate sanctions for young offenders in
Canada are explored.