Les représentations sociales des acteurs judiciaires de la Chambre de la jeunesse du Québec au sujet de leurs rôles et du système de justice
Since the creation of the first youth criminal law in 1908, it has been modified several time. Canada’s vision about youth delinquents has evolved a lot between the Juvenile Delinquents Act (1908-1984), the Young Offenders Act (1984-2003) and the Youth Criminal Justice Act (2003 - present). As a result, we can observe a modification in the way the government takes the youth in charge. Seen at first as victim of their environment during most of the XX century, the minor received most of the accountability for their criminal behaviors afterwards. Nowadays, the political speeches are mainly oriented towards the protection of society and the risk management of criminals. This study wants to understand the social representations of the judicial actors about their own role in the justice system, the young criminals and the way they are supported by the system. The purpose of the thesis is also to understand the crime control paradigm present in the social representations of the judicial actors and how the changes in the law have influence or modified the social representations of the people who are in charge of applying the law. The twenty interviews done with the judges and the prosecutors allowed us to note a recurring tandem about the vision of the youth which will affect the way they will be supported. In any case, the protection of society is always the goal. Then, the concept of accountability, from the neoliberal philosophy, influences most of the discourse. Said discourse comes from the accountability of the professionals to the one of the young and their environment about the youth’s reeducation. At last, several elements influence the practice of the judicial actors, but the legislation’s modification is not the main one.
Youth Offender Accountability Neoliberalism Justice system