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3. Referral Sources for ConferencesAs indicated by Charts 3.a. and 3.b., incidents were referred for Conferences from a variety of sources. Chart 3.a. describes referrals for court Conferences and Chart 3.b. summarizes referrals for school Conferences.
As portrayed in Chart 3.a., judges and defense lawyers each accounted for over one-third (40.0%) of the referrals for court Conferences. Probation officers accounted for an additional seven (15.6%) referrals. The balance of the referrals came from less common sources: one each from a victim and a parent of a young person. Regarding referrals from judges, while formal referrals to Conferencing were made by judges, it is likely that many of these were at the suggestion of a crown prosecutor. Chart 3.b. portrays referral sources for School Conferences.
With respect to referrals from school sources, administrators (principals and assistant principals) were responsible for almost three-quarters (13 or 72.2%) of the referrals for which the source was known. School counsellors and suspension desk personnel accounted for most of the balance of the referrals, with the one 'other' referral coming from a Calgary Police Youth Education Intervention officer.
Between January 1998 and the end of July 2000, 601 participants were directly involved in Conferences. When observers (i.e., those who attended the Conference but sat outside of the circle) are included, the number of participating individuals involved increases to 746. Chart 4.a. summarizes the number of direct participants involved in each Conference. Also presented is a break down of participants in school and court Conferences.
As can be noted from Chart 4.a., most conferences (39 or 60.0%) involved between six and 10 direct participants. Regardless of type of Conference, an average of nine individuals participated in each Conference. Direct participants in school Conferences accounted for 35.9% while participants in court Conferences accounted for 64.1% of all participants. In general, more individuals participated in school Conferences than in court Conferences, with averages of 11.4 and 8.4 participants, respectively. One of the school Conferences was considerably larger than all others, with 30 directly affected individuals. This Conference was with respect to the group related conflict that involved 12 young people. Chart 4.b. indicates the number of participants in Conferences by role.
As can be seen from Chart 4.b., supporters of young people accounted for the largest number of participants in Conferences (203 or 33.8%). Victims and young people accounted for just under one-quarter (143 or 23.8%) and just under one-fifth (104 or 17.3%) of participants, respectively. Victim supporters (83 or 13.8%) and others (68 or 11.3%) accounted for the balance of the total Conference participants. Details on each type of participant are provided below.
4.1 Young People Involved in Conferences One hundred and four youths responsible for harmful incidents participated in Conferences between January 1998 and July 2000. These youths accounted for 17.1% of the total Conference participants. Chart 4.c. portrays the number of young people in each Conference.
As can be seen from Chart 4.a., three-quarters (49 or 75.4%) of all 65 Conferences involved one young person. Eight Conferences (12.3%) involved two young people. The remaining eight conferences (12.3%) involved three (three Conferences), four (three Conferences), six (one Conference) and 12 (one Conference) young people. School Conferences tended to include more young people than court Conferences. All of the Conferences involving four or more young people were school Conferences.
4.2 Victims Involved in Conferences With respect to victims, 143 individuals who had experienced a harmful incident participated in Conferences between January 1998 and July 2000. Chart 4.d. portrays the number of victims in each Conference.
As can be noted from chart 4.d., a victim was not identified in all Conferences. In four school Conferences, the young-person/victim distinction was not appropriate. Two of these incidents involved physical fighting, the third involved verbal fighting and the fourth was group related conflict. One victim participated in over one-third (25 or 38.5%) of the 65 Conferences. An additional 18 Conferences (27.7%) involved two victims. Together, Conferences involving either one or two victims accounted for two-thirds (43 or 66.2%) of all Conferences. Seventeen Conferences (26.2%) involved three or more victims. The Conferences involving three or more victims tended to be court Conferences. Among these 17 conferences, three were school and 14 were court Conferences. The four school Conferences with more than three victims involved four victims each.
4.3 Young Person Supporters Involved in Conferences Supporters in Conferences included family members, friends, and professionals associated with the young person(s) or victim(s). Young person supporters in the 65 Conferences numbered 203. Chart 4.e. portrays the number of young person supporters in each Conference.
As noted in Chart 4.e., there was no Conference that did not include at least one young person supporter. Most Conferences involved two (18 or 27.7%) or three (18 or 27.7%) young person supporters (36 or 55.4%). Less than half (29 or 44.6%) of the Conferences included four or more young person supporters, with Conferences including four or five supporters accounting for most of these (13 or 20.0%). The Conference in which 15 young person supporters participated was the school group related conflict incident in which there were no identified victims.
4.4 Victim Supporters Involved in Conferences Eighty-three victim supporters participated in the 65 Conferences. The number of victim supporters in each Conference is portrayed in Chart 4.f.
As can be noted from Chart 4.f., victim supporters were not present in all Conferences. Of the 65 Conferences, four did not have an identified victim. Taking the Conferences in which victim supporters were not possible participants into consideration, at least one victim supporter was present in two-thirds of the Conferences (41 or 67.2%). Victims chose not to have a supporter in 24 Conferences (39.3%). One victim supporter was present in 10 Conferences (16.4%), two victim supporters were present in 17 Conferences (27.9%), and three victim supporters were present in five Conferences (8.2%). Five Conferences (8.2%) included four or more victim supporters.
4.5 Others Involved in Conferences Conferences often include other individuals who may be somewhat connected to either or both the victim or young person, but who are identified as personal supporters of neither. Chart 4.g. indicates the identities of the 'others' involved in the 65 Conferences.
While the identity of seven directly involved Conference participants was not specified, 61 could be sorted into 13 roles in four categories. Among these 61 participants, probation officers and school principals or assistant principals were the most frequently attending 'others' in Conferences, each accounting for almost one-quarter (24.6% and 23.2% respectively) of the total. As a group, criminal justice personnel and school personnel each accounted for about one-third (22 or 36.1%) of 'other' participants in Conferences. Resource professionals (counsellors, child welfare workers and interpreters) accounted for about one-fifth of 'other' Conference participants (12 or 19.7%). Chart 4.h. indicates the number of 'other' participants in each conference.
As can be noted from Chart 4.h., a number of Conferences (26 or 40.0%) did not involve participants identified as 'others.' Court Conferences were less likely than school Conferences to have no 'other' participants. Of the 46 court Conferences, over one-half (24 or 52%) did not have 'other' participants, while only one-tenth (2 or 10.5%) of the 19 school Conferences did not include at least one 'other' participant. Of the 39 Conferences that did include 'others', most (23 or 59.0%) included one participant identified as 'other'. Sixteen Conferences (41.0% of those that included at least one 'other' participant) involved two or more 'other' participants.
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