Apprenticed in Crime: Young Offenders, the Law, and Crime in Canada

Tony Barclay is a retired juvenile corrections probation officer and a
former public-health research associate at the University of Toronto.

This excellent book deals with some of the most troubling aspects of
youth and crime. A sampling of chapter titles from Part 1 (“Crime for
Profit and Fun,” “Crack on the Sidewalk,” “Fashionable Gangs,”
and “Murders and Sex Crimes”) gives a fair indication of the range
of subjects Marron handles.

The author is at his best when reporting on the conversation, he had
with young offenders. Like all good reporters, he has a flair for
getting close to his subjects and presenting them in all their
complexities. Though their view of the world is a one-sided one, which
would have been more balanced had Marron spent more time with the
parents, it is valuable nevertheless.

Part 2 examines the youth justice system, and is an excellent
introduction to the subject, well researched and containing interviews
with key figures. According to Marron, the greatest weakness in the
system is the lack of proper psychiatric services, particularly for
girls. The facts and figures Marron produces make for a damning
indictment of the system.

This is not an academic book. The vivid and often sensational chapters
read like newspaper stories (and are none the worse for it), while great
swaths of relevant material, such as the role of probation officers and
lawyers, are left out. Still, this book deserves to be widely read; with
luck, it will be followed up by an examination of possible ways to
reform the system.