Content Warning
Seeing as this website will be discussing a variety of topics that could make readers uncomfortable or trigger traumatic memories not only is this page a discussion of what crimes we will see in the primary sources, but it also works as a content warning for what will be talked about throughout the website. If any of the discussed topics are triggering to you, this may not be a website you want to visit. There will also be specific warnings in section headers if there are only sections of the content you wish to skip.
Crime Definitions
As this website will be discussing Canadian teenagers, we will refer to Canadian law. Below are definitions taken either from the Canadian Criminal Code, or other Laws and Acts that were in effect in the 1970s & 80s. Each will contain a link to where I got the information from if you wish to see the laws in their entirety.
Aggravated Assault is defined as wounding, maiming, disfiguring, or endangering the life of a human being (Canadian Criminal Code 268 (1)).
Arson is a crime where a person intentionally, or recklessly, causes damage by fire or explosion to property whether they own the property or not. (Canadian Criminal Code 433).
Breaking and Entering (B&E) is a crime where a person breaks into and enters a place with the intent to commit a crime within (Canadian Criminal Code 348).
Drug Offences. Under the Narcotics Control Act (which was repealed in 1997) the following activities were prohibited and considered drug offences: possession of a narcotic, possession for for the purpose of trafficking, cultivating, importing, or exporting. Narcotics covered drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and cannabis (Narcotics Control Act, 1961).
Homicide is defined as such: “A person commits homicide when, directly or indirectly, by any means, he causes the death of a human being” (Canadian Criminal Code 222 (1)). This definition includes such crimes as murder, manslaughter, and infanticide (killing a newborn) which are considered culpable homicides, meaning the person caused the death of a human being through unlawful acts, criminal negligence, causing the person to do something that caused their death,or wilfully frightening the person in the case of a child or ill person (Canadian Criminal Code 222 (5)). For the sake of this website, the term murder will be used often as that is the wording the papers often use, but terms like homicide and manslaughter may also appear. Likewise, degrees of murder will be brought up which are as follows:
- First Degree is premeditated and deliberate, meaning it was intentional and thought out. (i.e., planning a murder and going through with it.)
- Second Degree is unpremeditated but intentional, meaning the intent to murder was there but the action was not thought out before hand. (i.e., wanting to murder someone, but only doing so when the opportunity arises.)
- Voluntary Manslaughter is killing without and forethought, usually in a “heat-of-passion” situation. (i.e., shooting someone in the middle of a heated argument.)
- Involuntary Manslaughter is killing someone without any malice or forethought, such as through reckless activities. (i.e., drunk driving which kills a pedestrian.) (Hickey, 2003, 239-242)
Mischief is a term better understood to non-legal professionals as property damage. Mischief is the crime of destroying or damaging property or obstructing or interrupting the use of property (Canadian Criminal Code 430). Crimes such as vandalism fall under the category of mischief.
Rape is the act of engaging in intercourse with a non-consenting person, often using the threat of force, physical force, and intimidation (Hickey, 2003, 389).
Robbery is a crime where a person steals and uses violence or threats to commit the crime (Canadian Criminal Code 343).
Theft is a crime where a person takes, without the right to do so, the property of another (Canadian Criminal Code 322 (1)).
Definitions From:
Criminal Code of Canada, 1985, https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/index.html
Hickey, Eric W. Encyclopedia of Murder & Violent Crime London: SAGE Publications, 200), https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ufv.ca?url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/violentcrime