Chinese Immigrant Youth and the Justice System in Canada - Coursework Example

Chinese Immigrant Youth and the Justice System in Canada The key argument of this article is that the policies in place and the servicedelivery models in Canada’s criminal justice system are lacking when it comes to Chinese immigrant youths. Based on their research, the authors of the article have discovered that there are many avenues where the Canadian government can implement changes in the treatment of this particular minority group. “At the local level, municipalities should work with the local police forces and school boards in addressing the challenges faced by Chinese immigrant youth (Siu Ming 119).” These institutions should have the initiative to work with the parents and find ways to encourage the immigrant child to be involved in school. Also, the authors suggest that the local police force be trained about the culture of the immigrants to enable them to communicate effectively with these groups. Another aspect to improve on is the degree of coordination with the immigrant parents. Government institutions should work hand-in-hand with the parents because the immigrant youths still turn to family even when immersed in criminal activities. Last, but not the least, the authors suggest the creation of advisory boards that will act upon the needs of the local community. These boards will serve as middlemen and facilitate between the immigrant group and the various agencies or organizations the minority needs to get in touch with. 2. The researchers used several methods in this study. First, theoretical sampling was employed in choosing the participants. Each participant was subjected to a 2-hour interview which was recorded and then transcribed. Then, open, axial and selective coding was used for the data. Grounded theory was employed to “understand the interactions of different social actors and the process of change of the experiences of Chinese immigrant youth in the criminal justice system.” 3. The researchers’ main contention is that the policies in place are not enough to help the Chinese immigrant youth. It has been proposed therefore that existing federal and provincial policies be reviewed and/or new ones be made in order to sufficiently address the ethnic immigrant youth. Interviews from the participants revealed the Chinese immigrant youth have the impression that the schools and government institutions are lacking in the understanding of what goes in the Chinese immigrant community. This is why the Chinese youths think they are discriminated against. This is also why the Chinese immigrant youth believes even their parents are taken advantage of because the adult Chinese does not know how to speak in English but are made to agree to many things with regards to their children’s conduct in school. To prove their main argument, researchers point to two pieces of information gathered from the 2-hour interview made with each participant. The first proof is that the Chinese immigrant youth who has shown aggressiveness is automatically believed to be part of a gang by school officials and local police enforcers. For example, one of the interviewees shared that after fighting with a white student, the interviewee, a Chinese immigrant, was suspended for two weeks and put in an alternative class. However, the white student only got a few days of suspension and was still allowed to attend regular classes. Another interviewee shared that while he was with his friends one night, the police treated them with disrespect. Supposedly, the police dragged him to the ground and started choking his friend when his friend talked back. The police officer allegedly said the friend could go back to his country if he did not like what the police were doing. From these two accounts, authorities appear to already be in the offensive because the person they are dealing with is a tough rebellious gang member in their eyes. The second proof the researchers point out to support the main argument of their paper is that despite the discrimination towards Chinese immigrant youths, these individuals and their families still regard the government and school institution as the authority. These minority groups still believe that these institutions have the power to help them. This information can also be deemed from the interviewees. First, when the Chinese youth’s misdemeanor is brought to the parent’s attention, the family does not question the complaint and automatically believe that the youth is the one responsible for the wrongdoing. Moreover, discrimination rarely crosses the parent’s minds and they even think they are to blame for not bringing up their children a better way. In addition, the Chinese immigrant youths themselves sometimes think that they do not stand a chance against the “white” people who bully them and that they, the other race and the outsiders, are not in a position to ask for change in policy. Second, even if the Chinese immigrant’s parents find it hard to communicate in English they do not hesitate to approach the schools and other organization for help with their children. They continue to ask assistance from these establishments because of their desire for their children to continue being in school. In this light, the researchers believe that a change in the existing policies will help enlighten administrators on the plight of Chinese immigrant families. The insight will thus lead to a better understanding of the needs of the Chinese immigrant youth. If so, then services will be delivered better to this minority group. After all, the Chinese immigrant youth and their families, despite the discrimination, still turn to these institutions for help. 4. In my opinion, the information is not verifiable and well-researched. To make this evaluation, I considered several factors. First, the information regarding the participants was not enough. Indeed, confidentiality in research when it is about the participants is a necessity. However, I believe the researchers could have provided more data without compromising the participant’s identity. Examples of such are the ratio of Chinese immigrant youth in the school population, their family status and the youth’s ability in communicating in English. The interviewers mentioned discrimination in the school. The number of Chinese immigrant youths in the schools is important because this determines how serious the discrimination the participant is referring to. If the population of the Chinese immigrant youth is 1% of the entire student population and the participant is the only one from that 1% who received a harsher punishment than his or her “white” classmate, then it is not a very severe problem to address. The time formulating a policy to address this issue could be used for a more stressing matter. Family status is also another aspect. Participants may have come from affluent Chinese immigrants or working class Chinese families. The social status of the youth’s family can play a role in his or her impression of the treatment from the “white” authorities. Those who have parents who belong to the working class and cannot afford luxuries often have a mindset that they are being discriminated against or are not afforded the same treatment or respect as those who are wealthy, even if both families are immigrants. A participant explained that his or her parents do not speak English well and were asked to sign a voluntary withdrawal from the school. I believe if the child can communicate in English well then he or she could translate for the parents. If so, then they would not be getting unfair agreements from the school as the participant shared because he or she would be on hand to translate the documents to the parents before the latter signs anything. Second, there were no statistics provided to support their claim about policy formulation. The researchers seem to have based their findings only on the participants’ replies to their interview questions. It is not contested that the participants’ experiences with the justice system is quite helpful since it is first-hand reporting. Also, since the focus of the study is the Chinese immigrant youths, there is no better group to talk to than these specific youths. Regardless, I think interviews alone are insufficient and may not be credible evidence all the time. Interviews can be influenced by many things like the interviewee’s partiality and truthfulness. I do not claim that the participants were dishonest. However, they probably did not like having a run-in with the justice system. As such, their opinions about their experiences may be tainted with hostility and resentment. Since the researchers were presenting the participants’ experiences with institutions like schools and the justice system, it would have been more credible to include data from these establishments as well. The numbers would give a definite picture of the actual problem. In some cases, it may even validate the complaints that the participants shared in their interviews. Third, there is no mention of any existing policy which exemplifies the supposed preferential treatment given to the “white” people as opposed to the minority. The researchers suggest that there is a need for policy formulation to address the unfavorable experience Chinese immigrant youths have with the justice system in Canada. But, there was no mention or example of any existing procedure the new policies would be applied to. Fourth, there are no numbers showing the relationship between the participants and the issues the researchers are pushing for such as systematic discrimination, inclusion of family in prevention and intervention and enhancement of service providers’ cultural knowledge and competency. There were 36 participants in the study but direct quotes included in the article to support the researchers’ summary of findings were only from 10 participants. Lastly, the researchers suggest that officials or administrators should be immersed in cultural instruction so as to better understand and deal with Chinese immigrant groups. Curiously, there no evidences presented of the actual limited knowledge these authorities have other than the participants’ personal opinions. As mentioned earlier, the interviewees who have received punishment from the government may be speaking out of anger which hinders objectivity. Indeed, there may be a lot of factors which affect the Chinese immigrant youth’s experience with the justice system in Canada. Of course, additional research is always welcome to better comprehend this circumstance. Understanding leads to interventions that can help improve the youth’s experiences and the Canadian justice system. Since further research and policies may be affected by previous researches, any study conducted which deals with people’s lives and government rules should always be done carefully and thoroughly. The need is even more if a research is one such as this because the researchers allude to the results possibly being a reference in studying other minority groups and their experiences with the Canadian justice system. Reference: Kwok, Siu-Ming & Tam, Dora Mei-ying. “Chinese Immigrant Youth and the Justice System in Canada”. Canadian Social Work (n.d.): 114-122. PDF file. Read More