Youth Crime Prevention and Sports Research Colloquium

Agenda for Colloquium 

 

Welcoming Remarks                                                                                        (9:00am—9:30am)

Dr. Satwinder Bains, Director, South Asian Studies Institute, University of the Fraser Valley

Dr. Garry Fehr, Associate Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies, University of the Fraser Valley

Introduction of Participants – Roundtable

Introduction to the Colloquium

Yvon Dandurand, Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley.

It is very clear that involvement in sport can impact different aspects of one’s personality and social setting in both positive and negative ways.  It is also clear that risk-based theories of youth crime prevention rest on shaky evidence and that positive youth development interventions, through sports or other forms of interventions, still must demonstrate how they can produce tangible crime prevention outcomes. The colloquium brings together Canadian researchers who focus on crime prevention and desistance from crime and researchers who study the role that sports can play in fostering positive youth development. What are some of the questions that impose themselves on researchers?

 

 

 

Panel 1 – Sport-based Crime Prevention Programs                                    (9:30am—10:45am)

Youth crime prevention initiatives are typically planned around risk and protective factors. That approach is linked to various attempts to reduce risk factors and, in many ways, serves to justify interventions that single out and target vulnerable or marginalized youth groups. In the search for new ideas to improve youth crime prevention, it is difficult to ignore the growing popularity of sport-based crime prevention programs. Various sport-based crime prevention programs targeting youth crime have been implemented over the last two decades. Unfortunately, the evidence of their impact on youth crime is still limited. In fact, despite their unrelenting claims of success, these programs are rarely subjected to anything close to a rigorous evaluation. Surprisingly, criminology has paid little attention to the role of sports in crime prevention. This panel examines the impact of sport-based crime prevention programs on youth crime and gang recruitment. It also attempts to conceptualize the links between criminological theory, youth development, and sport-based crime prevention programs.

Chair: Dr. Darryl Plecas, Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley

Dr. Jon Heidt, Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley.

The presentation attempts to conceptualize the links between criminological theory and sports-based crime prevention programmes. This is a pre-requisite to forming a cogent theory to explain how sport-based programmes can produce crime prevention outcomes at the individual level. To accomplish this, existing concepts will be connected to social scientific theories commonly used to understand young offending and desistance from crime. The focus here is on understanding how participation in sports-based prevention programmes at the community level may affect the likelihood that the targeted youth will become or continue to be involved with criminal activities or criminal groups.

Dr. Mark Norman, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and McMaster University.

Prisons and youth custody facilities are frequently sites of robust physical cultures, in which sports and various physical activities (ranging from weightlifting to yoga to dance, among many others) are popular and socially meaningful activities in the daily lives of incarcerated individuals. However, in comparison to the study of sport-based primary and secondary crime prevention interventions, fewer researchers have examined if and how correctional facilities can be sites where sport is directed toward tertiary crime prevention. This presentation reviews evidence about sport in prisons and youth custody facilities, recognizing that sport can have a diversity of positive or problematic outcomes depending on a variety of circumstances; and specifically focuses on research about the use sport to deter criminal behaviour after release. The potential effectiveness of such tertiary crime prevention initiatives is considered, drawing from qualitative research on how such programs may, or may not, succeed in assisting formerly incarcerated individuals to avoid reoffending.

 

Dr. John Corlett, MacEwan University.

The perception of the relationship between sport and the prevention of youth crime, particularly violent youth crime, is dependent on the lens through which the relationship is seen. Crime can be seen solely as the purview of the police, the courts, and as a collision between perpetrator and victim in the same way that health can be seen solely as the purview of doctors and nurses, the health care system, and as a collision between disease and victims of the illnesses they cause. However, we now understand the importance of the social determinants of health and not just the biomedical aspects of it. Similarly, we know that crime is a phenomenon with its own deeply rooted social determinants. It is truly a “wicked problem” that requires more than simple cause-and-effect solutions that treat the immediate symptoms. The question for sport is where, how, and why it fits into a crime prevention model that addresses meaningfully and successfully the wicked problem of youth crime.

 

Dr. Amanda McCormick, Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley.

 

Youth involved in gangs are responsible for a disproportionate amount of criminal activity, and gang affiliation reduces opportunities for prosocial lifestyles. Research has identified unique pathways into gang life for youth in British Columbia. Consequently, unique approaches to youth gang prevention are required. This presentation will address some of the distinct pathways into youth gangs in British Columbia and discuss the implications of these findings for the effective use of sports in youth gang prevention programming. 

 

Panel 2 – Research on Positive Youth Development Through Sports     (11:00am—12:00pm)

There is a rich corpus of research on positive youth development through sports which has not received enough attention in the field of crime prevention. What are the key findings of recent research on positive youth development through sports? How and under what circumstances can sports contribute to youth development? To what extent can sport-based programs to help youth develop human, social, and psychological capital prevent criminal behaviour or encourage desistance from crime? 

Chair: Dr. James Mandigo, Provost and Vice-President Academic, University of the Fraser Valley.

Dr. Nick Holt, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta.

Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a strengths-based approach to research and practice that is designed to promote the personal and social development of young people. Dr. Holt will present a model of PYD through sport and discuss research studies conducted with a variety of populations intended to address the question of ‘what works, with whom, and under what circumstances? Overall, this presentation will show that sport programs can promote PYD if they include intentionally designed strategies and initiatives delivered by caring adults.

 

Dr. Karl Erikson, School of Kinesiology & Health Science, York University.

Framed within the fields of positive youth development through sport most specifically and youth development more generally, the presentation situates the unique potential of youth sport coaches as agents of positive youth development. It addresses both the conceptual and practical implications of this research for real-world work with young people. Within the larger understanding of the roles of significant adults in youth development, this youth sport-focused discussion aims to spark avenues for potential cross-pollination with disciplines more directly addressing youth crime prevention and juvenile justice.

 

 

Panel 3 – Program Design and Delivery – What Works?                             (1:00pm—2:30pm)

Practitioners are looking for guidance on how to maximize the value and potential impact of crime prevention interventions through sports. When sport-based programs use an intentional approach to youth development, they can play an important part in helping young people reach adulthood with the necessary competencies to face the social challenges ahead. There is also a growing understanding of the cognitive processes through which skills acquired by sports participation can be effectively transferred to other aspects of the participant’s life. Research on this transfer process has begun to identify program features and delivery strategies that may aid such transfer, including creating conditions prior to the intervention that enhances transfer, mentoring, organizing peer discussions, providing opportunities for reflection after program activities, and including follow-up experiences to enhance and reinforce learning. The panel identifies emerging successful practices for promoting youth development through sport-based programs for crime prevention purposes. It also considers the non-sport components of effective sport-based crime prevention programs.

 

Chair: Dr. Irwin Cohen, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley. 

A presentation which builds off a decade of research and field experience supporting the implementation of sport for development programming in the Central American countries of El Salvador and Guatemala. With some of the highest youth violence rates in the world due to ongoing gang violence stemming from the civil wars of the 1980s, sport and physical education in both countries have been seen as a potential avenue to support the development of life skills. Programming that focuses on life skills has been identified in the sport for development literature as having a positive impact on violence prevention. This presentation highlights the results of research investigating the impact of this approach in both countries and the implementation lessons learned that can assist practitioners with effective pedagogical strategies that are designed to intentionally foster the development of life skills amongst children and youth. 

 

Dr. Joanna Sheppard, School of Kinesiology, University of the Fraser Valley.

How can physical health education and sport programs optimize life skills transfer through to home and community life? Dr. Sheppard will share her work in Antigua, Barbuda, with the “Champions for Health Promoting Schools”, a 15-year program that teaches life skills through physical and health education.

 

Dr. Leisha Strachan, Research and Graduate Studies, University of Manitoba.

Participation in organized sport is the most popular extracurricular youth activity in Canada. Over the past 20 years, the field of positive youth development (PYD) has advanced the idea that youth are resources to be cultivated; the development of young people involves fostering positive outcomes rather than simply reducing problem behaviours. In sport, Project SCORE is an online resource developed to assist coaches and parents to focus on positive youth sport program delivery. Project SCORE will be reviewed in this presentation as well as research extending into cultural relevancy and social justice in the field.

 

Dr. Corliss Bean, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock University.

What are the key ingredients of an effective sport-based youth development program? In this session, we explore the concept of intentionality when designing, carrying out, and evaluating youth sport programs as it relates to life skills development and transfer. 

 

Dr. Maji Shaikh, University of British Columbia – Okanagan.

What are some of the key considerations when engaging in evaluation with community sport-providing organizations? How to assess an organization’s evaluation capacity and formulate relevant evaluation questions? A case example will be discussed for evaluating the program delivery and outcomes of BGC Canada’s Bounce Back League, a sport-based, trauma-sensitive youth development program. 

 

Panel 4 – Implications for Future Research and Practice                           (2:45pm—3:30pm)

It is very clear that involvement in sport can impact different aspects of one’s personality and social setting in both positive and negative ways.  It is also clear that risk-based theories of youth crime prevention rest on shaky evidence and that positive youth development interventions, through sports or other forms of interventions, still must demonstrate how they can produce tangible crime prevention outcomes. The panel will discuss the need for further research and theory to identify the contexts and processes through which sport-based programs may contribute to crime prevention. The panel will also discuss the place of sports in overall crime prevention strategies and whether further investments in sport-based crime prevention programs are justified.

 

Chair: Dr. Amy Prevost, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley

Dr. Jon Heidt, Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley.

There is currently a lack of research on the impact of sport programs on behaviour in numerous areas. One goal of this talk will be to speculate on potentially fruitful directions for future theory and research.  The main focus of this presentation will be on theory building and will provide insight into further developing theory through strategic research.     

 

Dr. Martin Camiré, School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa.

In the last two decades, in sport research, positive youth development and life skills have garnered their own textbooks, training programs, teaching models, and validated scales. The goal of this presentation is twofold. First, the key conceptual models and empirical findings on positive youth development through sport will be situated. Second, given the rapid and ongoing changes occurring in society, a critical outlook will be taken to ascertain whether positive youth development and life skills have passed their prime as key protagonists of what we consider to be “development” through sport. Strategic theoretical maneuvering is needed by enacting transformative pedagogies, decentring development from the human subject, and attuning to the relationality and immanence of existence. Such manoeuvring may compel us to ask different questions, moving from “How can we mould youth into thriving citizens (i.e., fix youth)?” to “How can we transform the world and conceive of new generative ways of living and relating (i.e., address systemic social issues)?”

 

Wrap Up                                                                                                                  (4:00pm)

 

 

To watch online:

 

Nov. 25, 9 am – 4:30 pm COLLOQUIUM on Youth Crime Prevention and Sport

https://ufv-ca.zoom.us/j/67239586226?pwd=MkVPVlZuVG9xTCtRcGsvR2g0d3FUUT09

Meeting ID: 672 3958 6226 Passcode: 301575

 

 

 

 

 

 

FORUM PROGRAM

 

9:00 :  Welcome, territorial acknowledgement and introduction – Dr. Garry Fehr and Dr. Satwinder Bains

 

Moderator: Dr. Satwinder Bains

 

9:15:      Can sports really contribute to crime prevention? What do we Know?

Introduction: Prof. Yvon Dandurand

Discussants: Dr. John Corlett, Jon Heidt, Tyler Falk, Dr. Amanda McCormick

              (Examples of questions: What are your main takeaways from yesterday’s research colloquium and the research that was discussed then? Can sport prevent youth at risk from getting involved in crime or in gangs? Can sport help youth already engaged in criminal activity desist from crime?)

            

10:00:  How do sports contribute to positive youth development? 

Introduction: Dr. James Mandigo   

Discussants: Dr. Karl Erickson, Dr. John Corlett, Dr. Martin Camiré

(Examples of questions: How exactly can sports contribute to positive youth development? What is the evidence? Under what conditions is sport most conducive to positive youth development? Research emphasizes the role of intentionality in designing successful programs, what does that mean practically? What is the role of coaches in all this? Do they need different training?)

 

10:30: Break

 

10:45: What works?

Introduction: Dr. Darryl Plecas

Discussants: Dr. James Mandigo; Dr. Jo Sheppard, Dr. Maji Shaikh, Dr. Leisha Strachan

(Examples of questions: What are the main characteristics of successful programs? What are the greatest hurdles in implementing successful sport-based crime prevention programs? Should we be concerned that some sport activities might encourage criminal and aggressive behaviour? How do we recruit the youth who can benefit the most from the program? How do we make programs more culturally relevant? How are gender differences relevant to programming? What is the role of community organizations in all of that?)

 

11:30:  Going Forward: Implications for research and practice

Introduction: Dr. Jo Sheppard

 Discussants: Dr. Jon Heidt,  Dr. Martin Camiré

(Examples of questions: Where do we go from here? How do we develop more effective sport-based programs? Don’t we need more program evaluations? What are practitioners making of all this research? How can we connect researchers and practitioners)

 

12:00: Wrap up and conclusion

 

To participate online:

 

Nov. 26, 9 am -12 pm FORUM on Youth Crime Prevention and Sport

https://ufv-ca.zoom.us/j/64635237361?pwd=NWwydk9VdVNJWm01SG80MS9GUWlWdz09

Meeting ID: 646 3523 7361 Passcode: 691833