Juvenile crime makes headlines. It is the stock-in-trade of politicians and pundits. But young people are also the victims of crime. They too have demands to make of the police. Drawing upon survey and interview research with 11 to 15 year-olds in Edinburgh, this book examines how crime impacts upon young people's everyday lives. It reveals that young people experience far more serious problems as victims and witnesses of crime, than they cause as offenders. It shows that they report little of their experiences of crime to the police, and are left to find their own ways of managing risk, such as telling cautionary tales about dangerous people and places. The study concludes by examining young people's relations with the police, suggesting they are over-controlled as suspects and under-protected as victims.

Published in cooperation with the University of Michigan School of Social Work As a counselor or therapist, wouldn't it be useful to have a resource that clearly presents effective how-to guidelines for rehabilitating juvenile offenders? In Group Counseling with Juvenile Delinquents, Ferrara explores all aspects of counseling this special population, from the first group encounter through evaluating the effectiveness of the group. He examines various components of the group encounter including establishing a safe, helpful environment, replacing delinquent behaviors with prosocial ones, and responding to the specific needs of each juvenile delinquent. Included in this valuable volume are key points for conducting group sessions, a workbook and scenarios to use directly with group members, instructions for training staff, and a posttest for evaluating the effectiveness of the groups. "There is an extensive and useful discussion of intervention in terms of both traditional, guided group interactions and the more contemporary cognitive behavioral strategies. . . . Much effort has been exerted by Ferrara to insure that the program as presented has a strong empirical foundation. To this end, data and caveates are included as appropriate. As Ferrara wisely notes in his Preface, his program is likely to be most effective with those youths who would not have spontaneously self-corrected but are not seriously disturbed, chronic offenders. Among the various components of the group encounter program, the inclusion of a post-test for evaluating effectiveness is particularly encouraging." --Child & Family Behavior Therapy "It is obvious the author is experienced in group counseling of juvenile delinquents, in developing group counseling programs in juvenile correction facilities, and grounded in theories relevant to treating offenders. The book is succinctly and clearly written." -Social Work with Groups

Fifty years ago, David Matza wrote Delinquency and Drift, challenging the ways people thought about the development of criminals. Today, Delinquency and Drift Revisited reminds criminologists that they ignore Matza's writings at their own intellectual peril. Matza's work shows his insights on a range of core criminological issues, such as: the complex nature of culture and its connection to criminality; the extent to which rule-breakers are truly different from the "rest of us"; the importance of focusing on human agency in understanding the subjective side of offending; the interaction of propensity and peer influences in criminal involvement; the role of the state in signifying individuals as deviant and entrapping them in criminal roles; and the processes that lead offenders to desist from crime. This volume was not written to pay homage to Matza, but to show how his ideas remain relevant to criminology today by continuing to question conventional wisdom, by making us pay attention to realities we have overlooked, and by inspiring us to theorize more innovatively.

Generally naive about their world, children are thought to be nearly incapable of serious wrongdoing and are rarely suspects in violent crimes. Yet, from the 1960s to the mid-90s, the U.S. saw several waves of juvenile murders that caused widespread public concern. The phenomenon created longstanding debates about the sources or causes of a child killer's mindset. Some blame external triggers like video games, rock music or pornography, while others argue the causes are deeper issues, such as an underdeveloped brain experiencing abuse and neglect. The quest to uncover the causes of these crimes is ongoing, and how the American justice system should handle these young killers remains a controversy. This book assesses ten murder cases in modern American criminal history, examining the minds of the children who perpetrated them. Chapters compile decades of research on the psychology of child murderers in hopes of creating a more coherent understanding of why kids kill.

"Girls in Trouble with the Law offers readers a brilliant window for re-viewing the gender, race, and class politics of juvenile justice. Readers will be filled with outrage, and yet fueled by Schaffner's passionate sense of possibility and vision for 'what must be.'"--Michelle Fine, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, The Graduate Center, CUNY "This is a superb work, intermingling poetry, narrative, interviews, and examples to create a fascinating overview of what girls experience in the juvenile corrections system, as well as how they are perceived by the people entrusted with their care. Schaffner's book is well-conceived and beautifully written."--Lynn Chancer, author of High Profile Crimes: When Legal Cases Become Social Causes In Girls in Trouble with the Law, sociologist Laurie Schaffner takes us inside female detention centers and explores the worlds of those who are incarcerated. Across the country, she finds that an overwhelming majority of young women are from ethnic or racial minority groups, and most have experienced some form of sexual or physical assault. Focusing on the girls' experiences of violence and the inequities of the juvenile corrections system, Schaffner explores three central questions. How have changing social norms of sexuality and emotional expression influenced adolescent girls' trangressions? What do authority, consent, and choice mean to urban women in trouble? How do they experience and understand violent episodes in their lives? Offering a critical assessment of what she describes as a gender-archaic juvenile legal system, Schaffner makes a compelling argument that current policies do not go far enough to empower disadvantaged girls so that they can overcome the social limitations of gender, sexual, and racial/ethnic discrimination that continue to plague young women growing up in the contemporary United States. Laurie Schaffner is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A Volume in the Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies, edited by Myra Bluebond-Langner.

Building upon the success of the first edition, this second - and substantially revised - edition of Youth Crime and Justice comprises a range of cutting-edge contributions from leading national and international researchers. The book: Situates youth crime and youth justice within historical and social-structural contexts; Critically examines policy and practice trends and their relation to knowledge and 'evidence'; and Presents a forward looking vision of a rights compliant youth justice with integrity. An authoritative and accessible book, Youth Crime and Justice (2nd ed) provides a coherent, comprehensive and fully up-to-date analysis of contemporary developments and debates. A must for researchers, teachers, students and practitioners.

Juvenile justice has been and remains a topical issue at national and international levels. There are various standards and guidelines for administration, but six major models characterize juvenile justice systems worldwide: participatory, welfare, corporatism, modified justice, justice, and crime control. Juvenile Justice: International Perspectives, Models, and Trends presents contributions by authors from different countries in all five continents employing these six models. The book begins with a comprehensive overview of the topic and the various international standards and guidelines designed to inform juvenile justice practices. This introduction is followed by chapters on individual countries covered independently by resident experts, allowing readers to appreciate a range of comparisons and to critically reflect on the relative merits of the different models. Topics presented in each chapter include: The country's history of juvenile justice The nature and status of delinquency Current legislation on juvenile justice How well the legislation complies with the Standard Minimum Rules of the Administration of Juvenile Justice as defined by the United Nations The type of juvenile justice model followed Age limits for male and female juvenile offenders Legal and social issues confronting juvenile offenders Current theoretical biases used to explain and justify response to delinquency Future issues, challenges, and/or initiatives Text boxes supply current and relevant examples to contextualize key issues and themes. Each chapter features discussion questions and helpful web links to facilitate further research. Presented in an unbiased manner, the book is a consolidated yet comprehensive overview of juvenile justice models and practices worldwide. It enables readers to compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of different juvenile justice models/systems and to evaluate all countries in light of the larger international phenomena of delinquency.

Tackling juvenile offending has become a key part of crime reduction strategies. The articles selected for this volume examine juvenile offending from various critical perspectives and represent the work of the most influential international figures in the field. The issues addressed include: the different needs and perspectives of youth offenders; whether offenders should be treated differently from others because of their age; recommendations of policy changes; identification of risk factors; issues surrounding the sentencing of juvenile offenders; and the relevance of restorative justice.

Thought-provoking, pertinent and engaging, this book provides an overview of every aspect of carrying out research with children. It is unique in its particular focus on vulnerable groups of children such as those with mental-health problems, physical health problems and learning disabilities, along with young offenders and looked after children.

The book helpfully addresses each stage of the research process:

-Part I introduces the main elements of doing research with children, including seeking ethical approval for sensitive research topics.

-Part II guides the reader through the initial stages of the research project including recruitment issues and communicating with gatekeepers.

-Part III outlines the data collection, data analysis, writing up and dissemination stages of research and covers both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Filled with practical advice and useful activities for each chapter, this book is an essential resource for any student, academic or professional working with, or doing research with, children.

"Driving with Care: Education and Treatment of the Underage Impaired Driving Offender "is a supplementary guide for the Driving with Care Series. It deals specifically with Adolescent/young adult impaired driving, which presents a host of special challenges and special treatment issues. Underage impaired driving represents 15% of the DUI arrests nationwide, which translates into roughly 150,000 individuals a year. Underage drivers present a special challenge for education and treatment as their motivation to drink and drive is often quite different from the adult offender. Thus, the authors have compiled a rich set of educational protocols and treatment strategies that can supplement the various levels of treatment provided in all three Driving with Care workbooks. Section I provides a theoretical foundation for understanding underage impaired driving, including the scope, incidence, and prevalence of the problem and defines the causal and risk factors associated with underage drinking and driving. It also defines and covers legal and regulatory interventions that have been effective for treatment and provides guidelines that enhance the treatment and rehabilitation of this group. Section II provides specific guidelines and enhancements for the delivery of DWC for underage drivers, including activities, handouts, and various assessment tools.

SAGE offers treatment and training programs for mental health providers that you can easily incorporate into your existing programs. Visit www.sagepub.com/satreatments to learn more about these treatment and training programs.

When is it appropriate to punish a child in the same way as we do an adult criminal? Using cases from his own court in Manhattan, the author amply demonstrates that the current punitive policies fail to steer children away from crime and that both society and the child benefit from a more individualized approach.

'In this pathbreaking volume Muncie and Goldson bring together leading authors to examine and compare youth justice systems around the world. Comparative Youth Justice will be of interest to all criminologists concerned with comparative penal policy and will be essential to all scholars of youth justice' - Professor Tim Newburn, London School of Economics and Political Science and President of the British Society of Criminology 'Comparative Youth Justice is what we need in an era of hardening social policies and irresponsible political demagoguery: thoughtful critiques, comparative analysis, and a commitment to the rights of youth. John Muncie and Barry Goldson have done a fine job of bringing together a group of commentators who know the inner workings of juvenile justice and what it will take to change the current law and order model. A book that is required reading for practitioners, professors, policy makers, researchers, and students concerned about the bankrupt state of juvenile justice and willing to consider new ideas and directions' - Tony Platt, California State University, Sacramento With contributions from leading commentators from 13 different countries, this carefully integrated edited collection comprises the most authoritive comparative analysis of international youth justice currently available. However, Comparative Youth Justice is not simply an attempt to document national similarities and differences, but looks critically at how global trends are translated at the local level. This book also examines how youth justice is implemented in practice with a view to promoting change as well as reflection. Each chapter addresses key critical issues: - the degree of compliance with international law; - the extent of repenalistion; - adulteration; - tolerance; - the impact of experiments in restoration and risk management. This book is designed as a companion volume to Youth Crime and Justice, edited by Barry Goldson and John Muncie, published simultaneously by SAGE Publications. 'This is a brilliant set of edited volumes that will be an indispensable and timely source of information and analysis for anyone with an interest in issues of youth justice and comparative criminology.' David A. Green, Oxford University

This interesting and accessible volume examines several immigrant populations and explores why waves of youthful crime emerge in some of those populations but not in others. Author Tony Waters uses data from 100 years of Unites States immigration records (particularly in California) to examine immigrant groups such as Laotians, Koreans, and Mexicans in the late 20th century, as well as Mexicans and Molokan Russians in the early 20th century.

Crime and Immigrant Youth is a unique study of migration as a process that sometimes leads to youthful crime beyond the norms of either the home or host culture. Water concludes that when an immigrant group has a large population of young males (and not all immigrant groups do), it creates the potential for patterned misunderstandings between immigrant parents and their children. This situation, in turn, provides conditions for a predictable outbreak of crime within deviant subcultures (i.e. gangs), as shown in numerous case examples. Waters also explains how youthful immigrant crime often erupts because of the structural relationships between immigrant groups and the host community rather than the cultural differences imported from abroad.

Juveniles who commit crimes often find themselves in court systems that do not account for their young age, but it wasn't always this way. The original aim of a separate juvenile justice system was to treat young offenders as the children they were, considering their unique child status and amenability for reform. Now, after years punishing young offenders as if they were adults, slowly the justice system is making changes that would allow the original vision for juvenile justice to finally materialize. In its original design, the founders focused on treating youth offenders separately from adults and with a different approach. The hallmarks of this approach appreciated the fact that youth cannot fully understand the consequences of their actions and are therefore worthy of reduced culpability. The original design for youth justice prioritized brief and confidential contact with the juvenile justice system, so as to avoid the stigma that would otherwise mar a youth's chances for success upon release. Rehabilitation was seen as the priority, and efforts to redirect wayward youth were to be implemented when possible and appropriate. The original tenets of the juvenile justice system were slowly dismantled and replaced with a system more like the adult criminal justice system, one which takes no account of age. In recent years, the tide has turned again. The number of incarcerated youth has been cut in half nationally. In addition, juvenile justice practices are increasingly guided by scholarship in adolescent development that confirms important differences between youth and adults. And, states and localities are choosing to invest in evidence based approaches to juvenile crime prevention and intervention rather than in facilities to lock up errant youth. This book assesses the strategies and policies that have produced these important shifts in direction. Important contributing factors include the declining incidence of youth-committed crime, advances in adolescent brain science, nationwide budgetary concerns, focused advocacy with policymakers and practitioners, and successful public education campaigns that address extreme sanctions for youth such as solitary confinement and life sentences without the possibility of parole. Yet more needs to be done. The U.S. Supreme Court has recently voiced its unfaltering conclusion that children are different from adults in a series of landmark cases. The question now is how to take advantage of the opportunity for juvenile justice reform of the kind that would reorient the juvenile justice system to its original intent both in policy and practice, and would return to a system that treats children as children. Using case examples throughout, Nellis offers a compelling history and shows how we might continue on the road to reform.

How is the modern world shaping young people and youth crime? What impact is this having on the latest policies and practice? Are current youth justice services working? With contributions from leading researchers in the field, this book offers an insightful, scholarly and critical analysis of such key issues. Youth Offending and Youth Justice engages constructively with current policy and practice debates, tackling issues such as the criminalisation and penalisation of youth, sentencer decision-making, the incarceration of young people and the role of public opinion. It also features an applied focus on professional practice. Drawing on a wide range of high-quality research, this book will enrich the work of practitioners, managers, policy-makers, students and academics in social work, youth work, criminal justice and youth justice in the UK and beyond.

Children Who Commit Acts of Serious Interpersonal Violence explores risk management and successful intervention for children in public care who have committed, or are at risk of committing, acts of serious violence. The contributors identify different subgroups of children who are difficult to place, including those who sexually offend and those who murder, and outline the key characteristics and patterns of need they display. They provide an overview of the risk factors leading to extremely violent behaviour and discuss the complexities of diagnosis and definition from a multidisciplinary perspective. The book proposes strategies for effectively managing these children, drawing evidence from international practice and research projects. It highlights the limitations of current structures and makes recommendations for future development. Children Who Commit Acts of Serious Interpersonal Violence will be a key reference for those individuals and organisations working with potentially dangerous children, and will encourage the reader to think creatively about good practice.

Juvenile Delinquency is a timely and comprehensive introduction to crime, justice, and young people, with an emphasis on theory and practice. The third edition retains the overall structure of the second edition and features updates throughout, including new information on gangs and prevention, the impact of race and gender on crime and justice, additional comparative and international examples, and more. The book opens with an overview of delinquency; historical and contemporary discussions of juvenile justice; theories of delinquency; institutional contexts of delinquency, such as school and the family; and chapters on topics such as drug use, youth gangs, female delinquency, police, courts, and corrections. Many chapters discuss treatment programs as well as delinquency and illustrate theory put into practice. Most issues are examined through the lenses of race, class, and gender. Juvenile Delinquency covers the essentials of the topic with a price point far below most competitors. To enhance student learning, a complimentary instructor's manual and test bank are available. Please see the "Features" page for additional information.

In 1997 the newly modernized Labour party swept into power promising a radical overhaul of the youth justice system. The creation of inter-agency Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) for the delivery of youth justice services were the cornerstone of the new approach. These new YOTs were designed to tackle an 'excuse culture' that was allegedto pervade the youth justice system and aimed to encourage the emergence of a shared culture among youth justice practitioners from different agencies. The transformation of the youth justice system brought about a period of intense disruption for the practitioners working within it. The nature and purpose of contemporary youth justice work was called into question and wider issues of occupational identity and culture became of crucial importance. Through a detailed ethnographic study of the formation of a YOT this book explores a previously neglected area of organisational cultures in criminal justice. It examines the nature of occupational culture and professional identity through the lived experience of youth justice professionals in this time of transition and change.It shows how profound and complex of the effects of organisational change are, and the fundamental challenges it raises for practitioners' sense of professional identity and vocation. Transforming Youth Justice makes a highly significant contribution not only to the way that professional cultures are understood in criminal justice, but to an understanding of the often dissonant relationship between policy and practice.

"An American Travesty" is the first scholarly book in half a century to analyze the justice system's response to sexual misconduct by children and adolescents in the United States. Writing with a refreshing dose of common sense, Franklin E. Zimring discusses the "American travesty" noted in title--our society's failure to consider the developmental status of adolescent sex offenders. Too often, he argues, the American legal system ignores age and developmental status when adjudicating young sexual offenders, in many cases responding as they would to an adult.
This book is a summary of what we know about adolescent sex offenders, and a much-needed indictment of the legal system's ability to make appropriate decisions concerning young sexual offenders, and a call for specific reforms. Zimring shows that current policy toward young sex offenders is rarely based on facts and is often the result of and false judgements. Assumptions about juvenile sex offenders in current legislation and debate are often based only on the motives and inclinations of adult offenders. But seventy-five years' worth of empirical data show that such assumptions are wrong. After surveying the facts and outlining the additional information needed for rational policy, this book proposes a series of reforms in juvenile and criminal courts as well as sex offender registration laws. As such, "An American Travesty's" compelling argument will inform policymakers, lawyers, criminologists, psychologist, psychiatrists, social workers, and others trying to address the problem of the young sexual offender.

Since its inception in Illinois in 1899, the juvenile court has become a remarkable legal and social institution all over the developed world, one that plays a singular role in modern government. At its founding, the juvenile court was intended to reverse longstanding legal traditions, and place the child's interests first in areas of law ranging from dependency to delinquency. Yet in recent years legal responses to youths' offences have undergone striking changes, as more juveniles are being transferred to adult courts and serving adult sentences.
"A Century of Juvenile Justice" is the first standard, comprehensive and comparative reference work to span the history and current state of juvenile justice. An extraordinary assemblage of leading authorities have produced a accessible, illustrated document, designed as a reference for everyone from probation personnel and police to students, educators, lawyers, and social workers.
Editors' introductions place into context each of the book's five sections, which consider the history of the ideas around which the system was organized and the institutions and practices that resulted; the ways in which this set of institutions and practices interacts with other aspects of government policy toward children in the U.S. and in other nations; and also the ways in which changing social and legal meanings of childhood and youth have continued to influence juvenile justice. The doctrine and institutions of juvenile justice in Europe, Japan, England, and Scotland are profiled in depth to show the range of modern responses to youth crime and child endangerment. This comparative material provides a fresh basis for judging the direction of policy in the U.S.
Margaret K. Rosenheim is the Helen Ross professor Emerita in the School of Social Service Administration of the University of Chicago. Franklin Zimring is Professor of Law and Director of the Earl Warren Legal Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. David S. Tanenhaus is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Bernardine Dohrn is Director of the Children and Family Justice Center of Northwestern University Law School.
Contributors:
Anthony Bottoms
Jaap Doek
Bernardine Dohrn
Peter Edelman
John Eekelaar
David Farrington
Frank Furstenberg
Michael Grossberg
John Laub
Paul Lerman
Rolf Loeber
Akira Morita
Margaret K. Rosenheim
Elizabeth Scott
David S. Tanenhaus
Lee Teitelbaum
Mark Testa
Franklin E. Zimring

Providing a comprehensive and up-to-date review of research and the implications for practice, the second edition of Effective Practice in Youth Justice considers core areas of youth justice practice, such as how to engage young people effectively within the context of recent changes to the youth justice system brought about by the introduction of the scaled approach and the Youth Rehabilitation Order. It also provides an overview of the available research in specific areas of practice, including assessment; planning interventions and supervision; mental health; substance misuse; restorative justice; education, training and employment; and custody and resettlement. The content has been specifically developed to meet the needs of students taking Youth Justice Board (YJB) sponsored courses with the Open University and is required reading for many of these. The book is also an essential resource for professionals working within the youth justice system, those training to work in youth justice, and students taking courses in youth justice or related subjects.

Youth crime remains an enduring and growing problem and has been the subject of recent government policy initiatives. This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date and critical overview of the youth justice system, taking full account of the many changes that have been introduced - in particular the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in Britain and its subsequent implementation. A major goal of the book is to help youth justice practitioners and others studying youth crime and youth justice to make sense of these changes, to assess their implications for practice, and to understand some of the tensions and complexities that have arisen. The book begins by setting the youth justice system in historical context, and then it assesses the impact of political ideas and influence on both the structural arrangement for delivering youth justice (such as the Youth Justice Board and Youth Offending Teams) and practice initiatives (such as moves to implement forms of restorative justice). Taken togethe

Self-Selection Policing introduces and explores an approach for crime control which seeks to identify active, serious offenders by attending to the minor offences they commit. A foundation of theory and evidence is first supplied for the assertion that `those who do big bad things also do little bad things'. Original research presented in the book includes a study of offending by visitors to a prison, and the concurrent criminality of those committing common driving offences and failure to produce driving documents as required. It illustrates how self-selection can complement other police methods of identifying active, serious criminals by focusing on what offenders do rather than who they are and what they have done in the past. Concentrating on the `usual suspects' in the conventional way is often criticised as harassment and self-selection policing largely bypasses the issue of fairness this raises. The book concludes with a call for the consideration, development and wider adoption of the self-selection approach, and particularly the identification of other common minor offences which flag concurrent active criminality. The authors make important suggestions for the progression of SSP research and practice, including the identification of barriers to the implementation of the approach in wider police thinking, practice and policy. Practical guidance is also provided for those thinking of developing, testing and implementing the approach. In doing so, the book will be of particular interest for policing practitioners, as well as students and scholars of policing and crime control.