Bernard Schissel
- Affiliation: University of Sakatchewan
Bernard Schissel is a professor of sociology at theUniversity of Saskatchewan. He is co-editor of the first edition of Marginality and Condemnation. His research focuses on the marginal position that children and youth occupy in western democracies and how such institutions as law, education, medicine, the political economy and the military exploit children and youth in very subtle, politically acceptable and publicly endorsed ways. His most recent books are Still Blaming Children and The Legacy of School for Aboriginal People (with Terry Wotherspoon) and Marginality and Condemnation: An Introduction to Critical Criminology (with Carolyn Brooks).
He works and writes extensively in the areas of youth crime and justice, the sociology of children and youth.
Books by Bernard Schissel
STILL Blaming Children
Youth Conduct and the Politics of Child Hating (2nd Edition)
Bernard Schissel
The media-enhanced moral panic surrounding youth has continued unabated over the past two decades. Its form and substance varies, but the politics of blaming and exploiting children underlies it all. Despite the reality that rates for most youth crime have gone down, the public condemnation of youth, especially through the news media, continue unabated, and the position of children and youth in our societies is still as precarious as ever. Put bluntly, the lives of too many children and youth are… (more information)
Marginality and Condemnation (Second Edition
An Introduction to Criminology, 2nd Edition
Edited by Carolyn Brooks, Bernard Schissel
This second edition of Marginality and Condemnation continues the approach of the first edition: it sees crime as a socio-political process. What is defined as criminal, how we respond to “crime” and why individuals behave in anti-social ways are the consequences of and reproduce social inequalities. While this book argues that the marginalized in society are most likely to feel the full force of criminal (in)justice, it does address the full range of criminological analysis. Marginality… (more information)
Blaming Children
Youth Crime, Moral Panics and the Politics of Hate
Bernard Schissel
This book argues that we are on the verge of an acute “moral panic” in this country that, if allowed to continue, willresult in the indictment of all adolescents, but especially those that are disadvantaged. Schissel explains the role of the media in this panic–its affiliation with information/political systems, with its readers/viewers, and with corporate Canada. The reality of youth crime is presented in stark contrast to the collective perception that youth crime is expanding… (more information)
About Canada: Children and Youth
Bernard Schissel
Canada is a signatory on the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which guarantees the protection and care of children and youth. About Canada: Children and Youth examines each of the rights within the Canadian context — and finds Canada wanting. Schissel argues that although our expressed desire is to protect and care for our children, the reality is that young people, in Canada and around the world, often lack basic human rights. The lives of young people are steeped in… (more information)