Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act : a case study using a penal populist framework

Abstract

My research project examined how the print and electronic news media, political actors and special interest groups represented the NCR Reform Act in ways that were consistent with penal populist tendencies. After performing a thematic analysis, seven interrelated themes and 17 subthemes were produced. The main findings indicated that these themes were reflective of penal populist tendencies. I found that the Conservative majority government strategically used the fear of crime, misinformation of criminal justice procedures and mental illness, and sensational NCR cases to their advantage. Furthermore, I saw that the Conservative majority government strategically displaced expertise and expert opinion to strengthen their own popularity and regain legitimacy. Lastly, the Conservative majority government politicized the image of the victim and symbolically used this image to demonstrate how the Canadian criminal justice system fails to prioritize victim rights by putting the rights of the criminals first.