This document is a report on an interview I carried out on 26th October, at 10 am. I interviewed a correctional officer called Anne working for Calgary’s young offenders Center. The interview happened over a phone call after I explained to the officer that I am a student at Bow Valley College. I also informed the officer that I was studying to become a correctional officer and he more than obliged to help me out. My interview contained five questions and the responses received have been discussed below.
After greetings with the corrections officer, I was offered the opportunity to ask questions. Straight away, I asked him if the center handles youth that are involved in gang related offenses. The Officer confirmed that the center handles cases of youth that are involved in gang related offences. He went on to say that they house open custody, remand status and secure custody young offenders. The officer further informed me that the center also works with open custody offenders. He expounded that dealing with these young offenders is aimed at promoting correction of behavior in the young offenders. It also aims at reintegrating the young offenders back into the general community.
My next question was the types of youth gangs represented at this center. The officer told me that the most prevalent gangs represented at the center include Aryan Nation groups, Black street gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, Aboriginal street gangs, Asian street gangs, multicultural street gangs, and Hispanic street gangs.
I went ahead to ask the officer how the Calgary Young Offenders Centre deals with gang related offenders as well as issues. The officer gave me a detailed answer. He told me that the center takes the offenders through several programs before they can go back to the society. These programs include educational programs; life skills programs; medical and mental Health services; offender work programs; recreational programs; it all depended on the offence the individual had been brought in on. The offence or recommendation of the law enforcement agency determined the program(s) the offender had to undergo.
I went ahead to ask the officer if the center has any programs that deals with gang related issues. The officer was more than delighted to answer this question. He went ahead to remind me about the last program he had mentioned to me, the Aboriginal program. This program was aimed at young offenders who were from the Aboriginal community. He said that this community was over presented in the justice system because they have social difficulties. The aboriginal program has both the Aboriginal community program and the Aboriginal Custody program. In the first case, services are offered in conjunction with six other organizations. These organizations have the responsibility of delivering the program to the offenders.
Next, I inquired how the center identifies gang affiliation. The officer then told me that that the easiest way to find out an individual’s gang affiliation is by simply asking them. Most of the offenders are usually proud of their gangs. This implies that they will openly accept that they belong to a particular gang. The other way is by body markings that are associated to specific gangs. He added that they also use police reports and history of the offender to identify their affiliation.
I also asked the officer if there is special programming for gang members or if gang membership was addressed in some other way. With reference to this question, the officer said that they do not have programs that specifically tackle gang related offenders. The programs that are employed by the center aim at molding the individual from the offence into an all-round person. This also tackles the issue of gang involvement. With this in mind, the individual can be reintegrated into the society as a better person.
Lastly, I asked the officer his experience with gang-involved youth and what he thought would help in terms of rehabilitation. The officer told me that his experience with gang-involved youth was sometimes of pity, shock and worry. He told me that despite the center’s effort, the growing needs of the community were making it difficult for them to reach out to every young person who clearly needs their help. He said that this clearly showed that more needs to be done in order to have the youth involved with gangs reforming. For the rehabilitation to be effective, he said that more needed to be done by the people living with the offenders. This was because after the young offenders left the center, if not followed up on, chances were that the offenders would end up in the center again or worse in a prison after they were of age. He suggested that the general population be given the right information regarding the way in which to handle such individuals. It is with such information that the community can help these offenders sooner rather than later.
References:
Public Safety. (2012). Youth gangs in Canada: What do we know?. Retrieved from
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/cp/bldngevd/2007-yg-1-eng.aspx
